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