LUNAR degree: Sabian SYmBol

The Sabian symbol is a series of messages channelled by the medium, Elsie Wheeler, and interpreted by the astrologer, Marc Edmund Jones, during the course of one day in 1925. They give a set of symbols, word associations and images for each of the 360 degrees of the tropical zodiac. The duo believed that they had managed to tap into what Jones called ‘ancient mind matrix’ of the Sabian Brotherhood of ancient Mesopotamia – an occult sect from the city of Harran that was keen to preserve the original Chaldean traditions, centered around moon worship (the name Chaldean literally means ‘moon worshippers’), which underpinned the very earliest beginnings of astrology. This included talismanic or sympathetic magic, which Michael Baigent describes as “the magic whereby a deity’s power is attracted or coerced down to be concentrated into a physical object” using resonant symbols, metals, colours and numbers. We see this continued in texts such as the Picatrix – and later in the natural magic of Marsilio Ficino.

There’s a strong need to find balance and pace yourself during October. With many of the outer planets going direct, it’s a strong likelihood that life will get a lot busier than it has been in a while, making it important to make sure you make time for regular downtime so that you don’t burn out.

LUNAR FACE: SECOND DEMI-DECAN OF LIBRA

Rather than use the decans, which divide each zodiac sign into three, we will be zooming in 2X to look at what Marc Edmund Jones (who created the Sabian symbols) and Alan Leo – the father of modern horoscopic astrology – called a‘ demi-decan’ which in turn, has ties to the traditional astrological concept of planetary ‘face’. By way of analogy, think of it as being like the five-minute intervals we have on the face of a clock. Together with the Sabian symbol, which uses a channelled image to describe the nature of each individual degree of the zodiac wheel, I think that that this offers us a more in-depth snapshot of the ‘quality of time’ represented by each moon phase rather than simply looking at something as general as zodiac sign.

Lightheartedness

In 360 degrees of wisdom, James Burgess describes the nature of this particular demi-decan as follows:

It is highly beneficial to relax and enjoy simple pleasures in beautiful places, because this is how we dissolve the darker, heavy clouds of a worried mind. The very act of perception of beauty is therapeutic, a smile heals, and love is a potent tool of joy. We are studying the law of attraction, which is a fundamental life mystery – like attracts like; it may not always be self-evident, but it is known by esotericists as a universal law. So we make ourselves light in order to lighten our lives. The refinement of self is a process of mind. If we think only clear and loving thoughts then we tend to pull situations to us that are conducive to happiness. We need to associate only with empathic people, have only good intentions, expect only what supports our vision, and allow only love to inhabit the heart. This lightens our lives. Anxiety, fear, resentment and prejudiced judgements are invasions – we must cast them out.

Thanks to the lunar face, which is all about cultivating happiness and focusing on what makes your heart sing, we’re being asked to invite more lightness of spirit and joy into our lives – anything that lightens our outlook and brings us into higher vibrational energy frequencies, because from here, we are better able to attract in what we truly desire.

One way to do this is to deliberately look for, and include, beauty into our everyday lives. For, as the Greek philosopher, Plotinus reminds us, beauty induces in us a sense of wonderment, reverence and delight, inspiring what he calls a ‘loftiness of spirit’ that in turn, but also awakens in us a desire to live more noble and refined lives, but also to become more beautiful: to aspire for what is best in ourselves and others.