USING THE SABIAN SYMBOLS IN CHART ANGLE DELINEATION Bill VanAlstyne StarQuest Data Services 29 December, 1989 Over the ten or so years I have been practicing astrology, I have found Dane Rudhyar's 1973 reformulation of Marc Edmund Jones' original Sabian Symbols (An Astrological Mandala: The Cycle of Transformations and Its 360 Symbolic Phases) to be a profoundly enlightening and powerful adjunct to chart delineation. Though there are many ways to use the symbols (and Rudhyar's interpretations of them) in astrological work, I have found applying them to the angles of a chart -- especially the Ascendant -- to be the most immediately rewarding. I have summarized Rudhyar's delineation of the four angles as they are related to the Symbols. In general: Ascendant: "WHAT is the essence-meaning or theme?" Descendant: "WHERETO will this theme lead?" Nadir: "HOW can one best act in order to succeed?" Midheaven: "WHY this process? What is the purpose of all this? Specifically, then, for a Natal chart: 1> Ascendant: "Who am I?" 2> Descendant: "Where am I going?" 3> Nadir: "How do I best get there?" 4> Midheaven: "Why am I living this lifetime?" Discovering and meditating upon the correct Sabian Symbol for one's Ascendant is a tremendously powerful experience for most people, as it clearly defines the consciousness-essence of the Self in the present lifetime. It has been my experience that a correct birth-time and place will ALWAYS produce an Ascendant degree whose Sabian Symbol explicitly answers Question 1 above. Clients whose consciousness is oriented along a path of self- knowing will relate to the correct symbol immediately, often with emotional and body language (not to mention verbal communication) which indicates a great sense of excitement or, in many cases, seeming relief at being reminded of something forgotten in the confusion of incarnate existence. There is a definite sense of, "Whew! That's right! I'd almost forgotten, THAT'S who I am!" Others, and oftentimes younger people, may not be able to see it quite so clearly; nevertheless, as you the Astrologer get to know the client's life-process and dynamics through the chart and your work with him or her, the correctness of the Sabian Symbol will at some point (usually quite early on) become quite apparent to YOU, even if it isn't yet to the client! What can be easily overlooked is that the Sabian Symbols are a DYNAMIC symbol system representing a seamless and never-ending evolutionary process. I have seen many clients (including, some years ago, myself) who feel a peculiar "longing" for identification with the next symbol in sequence after the one indicated by the chart, especially if the chart-indicated symbol describes a difficult or unpleasant process. I have also seen a preference to identify with the previous symbol, as it represents a process with which the client is already familiar and comfortable. The correct symbol for the client's current lifetime may or may not be the one the client's ego would LIKE to embody, but it is always, in my experience, the one the client IS in fact working on at a transpersonal level. For this reason, it is appropriate to temper the client's instinctive sense of identification (which may reflect a greater or lesser degree of ego projection) with a little objective analysis on your own part. I have found that by sensibly combining the client's gut reactions with my own intuitive and analytical tools, a clear perception and acceptance of the Ascendant symbol can almost always be obtained. Obviously, this process can also be used as a "fine-tuning" tool when the time of birth is somewhat uncertain; I've found those infamous "8 AM" birth times respond quite well to what I have come to call "Sabian rectification". I should also hasten to point out that this technique should by no means be considered a panacea for the rectification problem, and it certainly does not replace the more traditional rectification techniques. My own experience tends to indicate that it is inaccurate for birth time uncertainties in excess of 10 or 15 minutes, as the theme or vibration of the symbols tend to repeat harmonically; the harmonic, cyclic nature of the evolutionary process is, after all, fundamental to Rudhyar's whole thesis about why the symbols work as they do. "Cuspal" degrees. ================ What of a "cuspal" symbol -- that is, an angle that, when accurately computed, falls nearly exactly on a degree cusp? There is obviously the exactness of the time and place of birth to consider, but, assuming these factors are precise, only working with the client will tell the tale. My own belief relative to cusps of any kind, whether sign or house or degree, is that they are TRANSITION GATEWAYS, and as such are dynamic. Allegorically: As you are passing through a door from one room to another, how can you say precisely when you are on ONE side of the door, and when you are on the OTHER side? And even when you appear to have just fully emerged into the new room, can you say that you now have no awareness of, or identification with, the room you just left? Or can you say that you already know enough about the room you have just entered to be fully identified with its unique characteristics, vibrations, potentialities? A cuspal degree, therefore, is a degree in transition. Work with the client to see if his or her process with the degree being vacated seems about complete, and if there is now some energy being directed toward the new degree. I have seen this phenomenon present in several clients with fairly reliable birth information whose Ascendant degree is within 5 minutes or so of being an exact degree. This is highly speculative, of course, and hardly constitutes a statistically significant correlation. Reliable research is difficult in view of the inaccuracy of many people's birth information, but in spite of this, the Sabian symbols do seem to be remarkably accurate in describing the transpersonal process of individuals, even when cuspal. Composite relationship charts. ============================= Not surprisingly, the Sabian Symbols seem to work equally well for composite charts, at least so far as I have been able to determine. My own work with couples usually focuses on the interpersonal dynamics present in the relationship, and I find myself dealing with inter-chart aspects as descriptors of conflict paradigms, more often than with composite charts. When I use a composite chart, it is usually to help a couple see what they are working on TOGETHER, what the essence or purpose of their union is. Further research definitely needs to be done here, so here are some suggested questions for the four angles when applied to a composite chart: 1> Ascendant: "Who are we together?" 2> Descendant: "Where are we going?" 3> Nadir: "How do we best get there?" 4> Midheaven: "Why are we having this relationship?" When erecting a composite chart for this purpose, of course, the method of determining the composite angles of the chart immediately becomes of paramount importance. (There are several ways to do it; the Astrolabe NOVA software I use for chart calculations gives me quite a few choices.) I will leave this problem to those with more experience in composite charts. Suffice it to say, however, that using the Sabian Symbols may well prove to be a useful new tool in validating one or another method of computing composite chart angularity. Event charts. ============ I have found Event charts to be every bit as valid and enlightening as individual natal charts, for exactly the same reasons: they represent the beginning of a SOMETHING, an entity, a gestalt of some significance. I do event charts for turning- point or traumatic life experiences, for the birth-points of new endeavors like businesses, and so on. For an Event chart, ask the following questions: 1> Ascendant: "What is the essence of this event?" 2> Descendant: "To what will this event lead?" 3> Nadir: "What kind of continuing activity will further progress in this direction?" 4> Midheaven: "For what purpose is all this happening?" Using the Symbols judiciously. ============================= Dane Rudhyar was a brilliant man and a seminal channel for the development of modern astrological thought. With his early Aries Sun and Aquarian Moon, however, he did have his own share of obsessions and peculiarities, among which was his strong belief that one should never allow the exact degree of one's Ascendant to become generally known. One can only speculate upon the reason for such a prejudice; Rudhyar, of course, was an esoteric mystic as well as an astrologer, and I feel a certain kinship between his position on this matter and the "secret name" rites of Native American and other cultures. Be that as it may, it is clear through this and many other indications that the Great Dane was, after all, quite as subject to the limitations of the ego as are the rest of us. I have been awed and amazed by the accuracy of the Sabian Symbols, and have for the most part found Rudhyar's analysis and commentary useful and illuminating. However, I have also encountered a few symbols which I felt he misconstrued, or at least cast in a poor light, when compared with the others. I therefore feel impelled to caution against regarding this remarkable reference work as "holy writ". Use it, by all means, but if an interpretation or reading doesn't seem to fit, or if you desire to access your own higher knowing about the Symbol, meditate on the original vision, the Symbol itself, and see what comes through for you. In truth, we are all psychics and channels, and we all have the capability to access our Knowing directly. Astrology is a wonderful tool for helping our left brain cope with the overwhelmingness of the Mystery; what is wonderful about the Sabian Symbols is that they bring the right brain into play as well, allowing us a more balanced and holistic experience of our astrological model.