The Sabian Symbols - Gemini 16-30

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SCENE SIX: EXTERIORIZATION

Dane Rudhyar

(Gemini 15° to Gemini 30°)

FIRST LEVEL: ACTIONAL

PHASE 76 (GEMINI 16°): A WOMAN ACTIVIST IN AN EMOTIONAL SPEECH DRAMATIZING HER CAUSE.

KEYNOTE: A passionate response to a deeply felt new experience.

What has been "discovered" not only needs to be discussed and tested through an intellectual exchange which permits its formulation, it also demands "exteriorization." This implies the act of dealing with those who are still unaware of the new knowledge or realization. A public is needed, and it has to be convinced; its inertial resistance to change has to be overcome. This usually requires an emotional dramatization of the issues at stake. Here again, as at the very start of the cycle (Aries 1°), a woman is depicted, which means a person depending upon feelings and fiery images to sway the receptive public.

This is the first stage in the sixteenth five-fold sequence in the cyclic process. We are dealing now with the exteriorization of the original impulse — i.e. the emergence from the vast ocean of potentiality which constitutes human nature at all levels. What is at stake is a process of communication of new experiences. The mind is called upon to perform its work, but what comes first is the action of that mind which is violently moved and which attempts to move other minds by violent means, the PROSELYTIZING MIND.

PHASE 77 (GEMINI 17°): THE HEAD OF A ROBUST YOUTH CHANGES INTO THAT OF A MATURE THINKER.

KEYNOTE: The transformation of physical vitality into the power to build concepts and intellectual formulations through which knowledge can be transferred.

While in the preceding symbol we see the explosive release of impulses generated by a new realization of what is right and wrong - the "woman" way controlled by feelings - now we have a picture of a process of quiet and steady metamorphosis of biological energy into mind-power, which can be seen symbolically as the "man" way. The symbolism may seem old-fashioned today, but the two contrasting approaches to communication of new experiences remain evident, however one wishes to symbolize them.

This second stage of the sixteenth sequence, as is nearly always the case, presents a contrast with the first stage. What we see pictured is the transformation of emotions into mind, of instincts into thoughts - a process of MENTAL METAMORPHOSIS.

PHASE 78 (GEMINI 18°): TWO CHINESE MEN CONVERSE IN THEIR NATIVE TONGUE IN AN AMERICAN CITY.

KEYNOTE: The need for the mind to retain its independence from its physical environment in order to concentrate on its special problems.

Individuals who have entered into a new realm of activity usually find themselves alienated from their social environment. In a sense they "live in the world" (the world of ordinary men still bound to common earthly and biological pursuits) but "are not of the world." They normally seek companions who can speak their language. It may be an "old" language, that of wisdom rather than that of knowledge. China's culture is far older than that of the American masses swarming through greed-infested cities.

This third stage of the process reveals what may occur when the individual has developed new capacities for experience that may enable him to tap the vast reservoir of the planetary mind of Man. To the common man he appears to speak a foreign tongue. He experiences a process of INSULATION; yet he is never really alone. Here and there he finds those who can understand him.

PHASE 79 (GEMINI 19°): A LARGE ARCHAIC VOLUME REVEALS A TRADITIONAL WISDOM.

KEYNOTE: Contacting the all-human planetary Mind underlying any cultural and personal mentality.

Occult tradition tells us that all cyclic manifestations of the human mind have had a primordial revelatory Source. It speaks of ancient books made of especially treated papyrus leaves and conveying through symbols the archetypal processes at the root of all earthly existence (see Blavatsky's Secret Doctrine). Such volumes, said to remain in the possession of certain Adepts, constitute the "exteriorization" of archetypal knowledge and wisdom. They contain the "seed-ideas" from which the human mind grows, cyclically producing cultures of various types.

This fourth stage symbol evokes for us the "technique" by means of which the human mind can uncover the foundations of its nature and acquire what might be called SEED-KNOWLEDGE, the knowledge of the structure of cyclic and cosmic manifestations of life on this planet.

PHASE 80 (GEMINI 20°): A MODERN CAFETERIA DISPLAYS AN ABUNDANCE OF FOOD, PRODUCTS OF VARIOUS REGIONS.

KEYNOTE: The assimilation of multifarious knowledge through the synthesizing power of the mind.

From the One, the Many arise in due time. The Original Source gives birth to the mountain stream which, gathering to itself the down-flow of rain water, becomes the large river around which cities are built. These in turn pollute the river on its way to the vast ocean. This modern symbol expresses the fact that man, now at the close of a cultural cycle, is able to gather foodstuffs - mental as well as physical - from many regions of the globe. His diet has acquired a planet-wide foundation; history tells us that the search for salt and spices, then for commodities rare in local regions, provided the impetus for global trade and thus eventually for a planetary consciousness. The results may be satiety and indigestion, and mental confusion caused by lack of discrimination.

This is the last symbol of the sixteenth five-fold sequence. As is most often the case such a fifth stage implies a certain kind of synthesis or at least a preparation which leads to a new level. The keynote here is indeed ASSIMILATION; the negative potentiality of the symbol is WASTE.

SECOND LEVEL: EMOTIONAL/CULTURAL

PHASE81 (GEMINI 21°): A TUMULTUOUS LABOUR DEMONSTRATION

KEYNOTE: The revolutionary impact of mental concepts upon the collective emotions and desires of man.

This symbol parallels the one that began the process of "exteriorization" (Gemini 16°), but the process is seen here operating definitively at the level of collective responses. The mass of men have been aroused by mental images, slogans and an appetite for the abundance the "ruling class" enjoys. This also applies to the individual person in whom contrasting spheres of activity have taken shape as the result of the mind-based individualizing process. The organic functions make their collective demands upon the lordly intellect. The stage may be set for the kind of "revolution" we call psychoneurosis.

This begins the seventeenth five-fold sequence of symbols. It sets the stage for a tumultuous process, which may lead to a new approach to the problems resulting from individualization. The repressed or oppressed instincts stage an EMOTIONAL OUTBURST, claiming their due.

PHASE 82 (GEMINI 22°): DANCING COUPLES IN A HARVEST FESTIVAL.

KEYNOTE: The wholesome enjoyment of organic processes and emotional drives.

Again we have an image in strong contrast to the first of this series. From the mind-built city, where workmen claim a larger sphere of social abundance, we find ourselves in the village, where men and women live in far greater harmony with natural and seasonal processes, giving free rein to their emotional instincts. The two poles of a wholesome society - the large industrial city and the agricultural village - should be included; likewise the two poles of a healthy personality - mind and natural emotions - should be active.

This is the contrasting second stage of the seventeenth sequence of five symbols. It stresses the value of rhythmic, healthful activity in a natural setup, for this leads to an often much needed process of BIOENERGETIC REBUILDING.

PHASE 83 (GEMINI 23°): THREE FLEDGLINGS IN A NEST HIGH IN A TREE.

KEYNOTE: The growth of spiritually creative processes in an at least relatively integrated mind.

In traditional symbolism birds usually refer to spiritual forces, or at least to the higher and freer aspects of the mind. Here we see only the very beginning of a process in what we might also call "the upper chamber" of the consciousness where the creative power of the spirit can be received and assimilated. Fecundated by the spirit and supported by a deeply rooted cultural and vitalistic tradition, man can gradually develop an integral personality. It is essentially three-fold, reflecting the Divine Trinity, in India expressed as Sat-Chit-Ananda.

This is the third stage of a process which should lead to a deeper and more natural understanding of human existence. It suggests that the ambitious mass protests of aroused and largely blind desires should be transmuted through harmonization with natural drives and in terms of spontaneous responses attuned to the phases of natural evolution. Stressed here is CREATIVE INTEGRATION.

PHASE 84 (GEMINI 24°): CHILDREN SKATING OVER A FROZEN VILLAGE POND.

KEYNOTE: The use of inhibiting circumstances for the development of character and a transcendent approach to the environment.

Winter symbolizes darkness and the restrictions imposed upon living things by cold. Natural life is in a state of hibernation or inward-turned activity. Yet the developing mind can learn to use restrictions and the disciplining power of "cold" external responses to rise above the outer "freeze" and to grow in strength and skill. Man is nature rising above the cyclic oscillation of natural polarities. His way is often the via negativa. He learns rhythmic freedom ("skating") by using the most binding situations ("ice") to demonstrate his transcendent capacity for pleasure and self-mobilization.

Here again the fourth stage symbol presents us with a special technique. It is a mental technique inasmuch as it is through mind that man can transcend the entropy of the universal process of existence. We see here indeed man's TRIUMPH OVER ENTROPY.

PHASE 85 (GEMINI 25°): A GARDENER TRIMMING LARGE PALM TREES.

KEYNOTE: Bringing under control nature's power of expansion.

The intellect of man is like a tropical plant in that it tends to expand “wildly” in many directions, seeking direct contact with the sun’s rays. Like a palm tree it uses its dead leaves to protect itself against dry heat, the heat of the realm of mind when deprived of the complementary power of the feelings. A culture is characterized by specific "forms" and "prime symbols"; education's main object, at least in cultural and classical periods, has been to contain the imagination of individuals within these traditional forms. An entirely different approach to education is being attempted in our transitional age.

At this last stage of the seventeenth five-fold sequence we have reached the level of fulfillment of the impulses which began at the first stage (Gemini 21°) in a tumultuous upsurge of self-assertion and protest against the past. Now this upsurge has found its place in the evolution of mankind and society; and - symbolically speaking - "labor" has become not only unionized, but a strong force in the body politic. Yet the energies released seek constant expansion and therefore have to be controlled. There is need for repeated PRUNING.

THIRD LEVEL: INDIVIDUAL/MENTAL

PHASE 86 (GEMINI 26°): FROST-COVERED TREES AGAINST WINTER SKIES.

KEYNOTE: The revelation of archetypal form and essential rhythm of existence.

At this third level of "exteriorization" a contact with archetypes and pure forms of individual selfhood is to be sought - also with the characteristic images (Spengler's Ur-symbols) of the culture. Externals are left behind. This is a step beyond "pruning"; it is rather a process of removal of all superficialities of existence. Cyclically, nature helps us to reach this state of bare reality. It is not that we experience the Buddhist's void (sunya), but rather that we reach the essence of our individual being, the form of pure selfhood which is the structuring power underneath all external features - all that belong to the "leaf" realm.

This is the first stage of the five-fold process, now in its eighteenth phase. In a sense we can speak of it as a stage of ascetic repudiation, but it is also one of ESSENTIALIZATION.

PHASE 87 (GEMINI 27°): A GYPSY EMERGING FROM THE FOREST WHEREIN HER TRIBE IS ENCAMPED.

KEYNOTE: Reaching out toward participation in a larger whole of mind-structured existence.

The contrast between this and the preceding symbol is significant. The first revealed the periodic opportunity nature offers man to penetrate beyond mere appearances and the glamour of existential abundance (the mass of green leaves); now we see at work another process which depends upon the individual - a conscious attempt to leave behind the tribal-instinctual stage of earthbound existence and to emerge into the realm of mind and complex, tense interpersonal relationships (i.e. the city). The "wild" drives of nature are reaching toward a situation in which they will be "tamed.

This is the second stage of the five-fold sequence. It reveals a period of transition, a more or less clear yearning for a new state of consciousness, and thus for inner transformation. It is a phase of REPOLARIZATION.

PHASE 88 (GEMINI 28°): THROUGH BANKRUPTCY, SOCIETY GIVES TO AN OVERBURDENED INDIVIDUAL THE OPPORTUNITY TO BEGIN AGAIN.

KEYNOTE: A release from unbearable pressures, freeing one for new tasks.

This symbol can easily be misinterpreted, for while it obviously has a connotation of failure, it nevertheless depicts a particular state of the complex relationship of an individual to his community. The bankruptcy proceedings mentioned here should not be construed as referring to a fraudulent type of bankruptcy. At least in the United States bankruptcy does not imply a moral condemnation; rather, it means that individual failure cannot be separated from the health of the community. The special nature of the whole is implied in the failure of the part to perform adequately under particularly harsh economic conditions. A society which enthrones the principle of ruthless competition must also develop mechanisms to exteriorize the principle of compassion. The latter was at first emphasized by Northern Buddhism, and soon after by Christianity. The concept of atonement is directly related to that of release from unbearable economic pressures in bankruptcy.

This is the third stage in the eighteenth sequence of cyclic phases. In the first two stages we have seen the emergence of a new consciousness based on leaving behind the externals of bio-psychic living in its at least relatively wild and exuberant aspect. Here we have another kind of "leaving behind," a LIBERATION FROM THE PAST.

PHASE 89 (GEMINI 29°): THE FIRST MOCKINGBIRD OF SPRING.

KEYNOTE: The creative exuberance of the human soul in response to basic life experiences.

The mockingbird is able to imitate sounds he hears, but actually he does more than imitate, for he weaves all these sounds into melodies which at times can have joyous amplitude and instinctively creative spontaneity. The symbol refers to the capacity which the talented individual has to take collective material and to transform it under the urge of biological productivity and instinctual love. The song rises, powered by these great natural drives, very much as so-called popular songs rise from the youthful soul in response to deep personal or social emotions.

At this fourth stage of the five-fold sequence, what is presented to us symbolically is the reaction of the individual who has become sensitive to many life currents in his environment and who is able to exteriorize this welling-up response as a gift to his society, displaying VIRTUOSITY.

PHASE 90 (GEMINI 30°): A PARADE OF BATHING BEAUTIES BEFORE LARGE BEACH CROWDS.

KEYNOTE: The setting of social standards through personal excellence and competition.

In this very American scene we see a very ancient and basic process which can operate at several levels. Society sets certain collectively acceptable cultural standards, and recompenses by prestige and fame the persons who embody them, physically or mentally. This generates emulation and the desire to bring the social images to their most perfect and concrete manifestation. The archetypal image or canon of proportion is thus incarnated for all to behold and be fascinated by. The process of exteriorization is completed.

This is the last phase of the sixth scene. In the zodiac the spring season has come to a close. It is summer solstice. Fulfillment leads to new demands upon the individual human consciousness. The SHOW is over. Now comes the hour of decision.

An Astrological Mandala

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SCENE SIX: EXTERIORIZATION