Sabian Symbols, Evolutionary Configurations, and More.

This article covers significant aspects, degree symbols, and other important factors in this New Moon Eclipse happening October 14.

This brings the Light of solicitude wherever we have late Libra in our charts. Service is still accented, as is letting go of the past and its memories to refocus our sense of purpose. Accept what is passing, and return to simple pleasures and joys.

The last decan of Libra is about reconstructing something related to our view, understanding, or perception, and this part of Libra is about emotional and social repair or paying dues. There are hard adjustments and sacrifices indicated by this Solar eclipse, as well as seeing how we are living a new life with higher values, and occasionally seeing “hidden powers” come up to the surface.

The Planetary Spread

In this chart, because the inner planets are between early Virgo and early Scorpio in a 56+ degree span, we’re still experiencing a widespread field of activity. We now have all the inner planets in signs opposing those of the outer planets. Ordinarily this would create a “See Saw” Jones pattern, but there is only one extremely wide forming opposition in this chart. We then see there are four planets in the three Earth signs, creating a “tripod” emphasis indicating we are now in a Splay Jones pattern. At this time, we have planets in Capricorn, Pisces, Taurus, Virgo, Libra, and Scorpio.

Depending on the position of the Moon and the inner planets relative to the outer planets, different months bring us different Jones Patterns. These patterns operate their own independent influence, regardless of which planet is in which sign.

Currently, as just noted the outer planet occupied span begins with Pluto in late Capricorn, and proceeds through Saturn in early Pisces, Neptune in late Pisces, Jupiter in mid Taurus, and ends with Uranus in late Taurus. (We don’t include TransPluto, since Jones didn’t use it in defining his patterns). Because we have 6 signs represented in a 114+ degree span and another 56+ span, this chart is a “Splay” Jones Pattern.

So What is a “Splay Pattern” and how does it work?

Due to the way the planets are irregularly spread out among the signs, this type of spread which features all the planets in odd angles to each other with differing distributions among the signs, creates a “Splay” Jones Pattern. As Marc Jones put it, “the arrangement is neither even nor symmetrical,” revealing “strong and sharp aggregations of the planets at irregular points.”

Dr. Jones states “This suggests highly individual or purposeful emphases in the life, where the temperament juts out into experiences according to its own very special tastes.” This pattern “makes its own anchorage in existence,” and has a quality of “rugged resistance to pigeonholing, either in the near conventional compartments of nature, or in the idea-pockets of associates.”

He goes on to state this pattern gives a “persistent emphasis on individuality,” and the “spokelike emphases of the planetary groupings” are random, but have a “tripod” footing and approach to life circumstances. He says this pattern “reveals a very intensive personality who cannot be limited to any single steady point of application.” This temperament is “particular and impersonal in its interests,” rather than “universal-impersonal” or “particular-personal.”

This implies that affairs will be diversely spread out, some will not mesh well with others, and there will be a “hub and spoke" quality to what happens these next 4 weeks. This spread shows a wide diversity of things going on that promotes individuality.

The Sabian Symbol for the New Moon

A New Moon sets the seed forms for what the following month will demonstrate. This Lunation falls at falls at 22 Libra, and it is said that the third third (decan) of any sign deals with the individual, mental, and spiritual levels of life, and being the last decan of Libra it has a sub-influence of Gemini with an added dose of Jupiter. While I've given you a sense of this degree up to now, this is where we go into depth.

The Sabian Symbol for the 22nd degree of Libra is “A child giving birds a drink at a fountain.” In the Astrology of Personality, where Rudhyar uses the original Dr. Jones' class notes on the symbols, he states this degree is about “intuitive understanding of simple souls in spiritual matters,” “youthful life-enjoyment,” and “fresh grasp of the soul’s needs.”

In "The Astrological Mandala he states this degree is about “the concern of simple souls for the welfare and happiness of less-evolved beings who thirst for life renewal.” He says this is a counterpoint to the previous symbol with a beach, in that this symbol implies we can build something to bring the water to those who thirst for it. We do not go to the sea for water; instead, we bring “the purified, drinkable water to the birds needing it.”

He continues that the symbols of “’child’ and ‘birds’ implies a spontaneous, naïve rapport at the spiritual level, a soul-touch at the level of pure feeling.” He closes his comments reminding us of our ability to “transform wilderness into a garden, whose singing fountains will attract birds” in an atmosphere of solicitude. He states this symbol is in the Span of Revelation, the Act of Group-Integration, and is the counterpoint degree in the emotional and social level of the Scene of Reconstruction.

Dr. Marc E Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, says this is a degree of an “uncompromising faith in the friendly relationships characterizing the world at large,” and our “naïve optimism as (we) find that (we) can take advantage of one or another of life’s opportunities” when we choose to. He continues “here is self-fulfillment in the discovery that there are always the fruits of everyday to justify the simple fact of selfhood,” and that our responsibilities provide a consummation of our ideals.

He offers us the keyword SOLICITUDE. He states that when operating in a positive manner, this degree is “the creative concern for others by which any individual comes to experience his own immortality.”

From this symbol it seems the specific theme of the next month (and many years to come!) is about getting a fresh grasp of our Soul’s needs, the elimination of old ways of caring and the welcoming of new ways to care and new things to care about, and balancing karmic accounts in some way. This is a recalibration of karma, based in current and future consequences that in some way relate to what we’ve cared about in the past. It may mark the end of an area of “karmic consequence,” or show us past ways of caring which were left behind to fulfill something we needed to.

Important Aspects

Remember that in reading a Lunation chart (as well as a horary, inceptional, electional, or any event chart) the forming aspects show things to come, while separating aspects show things already past. Partile separating aspects show what’s been going on in the Now. This section covers only forming and partile separating aspects.

This month we have quite a few aspects, but only one evolutionary configuration. This is extremely rare. In this eclipse, the Moon and Sun both conjunct Mercury, semisquare Venus, quincunx Uranus, triseptile Neptune, and square Pluto. Mercury is semisquare Venus, triseptile Jupiter, sesquisquare Saturn, biquintile Uranus and quadranovile Neptune; Venus is trine Jupiter, biseptile Uranus, quadranovile Neptune, and biquintile Pluto; and the Sun makes the aspects listed above.

Outer planet aspects feature Mars in a wide opposition to Jupiter, trine Saturn, quadranovile Uranus, and biquintile Neptune; Jupiter is quintile Saturn and semisquare Neptune; Saturn is binovile Uranus, quindecile Neptune, and elftile Pluto, Uranus makes no other aspects, nor does Neptune.

Special Configurations in Evolutionary Astrology

As mentioned, this month is very strange, in that we have only one evolutionary configuration in play, with the Lunation playing no part.

1) Mars trine Saturn and quadranovile Uranus with Saturn binovile Uranus generates 3 points of a “9 Pointed Star of Revelation,” promising the birth of higher awareness for people with planets or points near 1-3 Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces, 11-13 Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius, and 21-23 Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn. Whether coming forth or gestating for a while, this will bring powerful realizations to any planet or point we have in any of the 9 affected sign areas.

Explaining Harmonics

This month we have relatively few aspects of any series with several specific aspects across the outer spiritual planets. The friction is provided by the Eclipse square Pluto and the many semisquares: The Lunation to Venus, Mercury to Venus, and Jupiter to Neptune. Add a sesquisquare and two quincunxes, and it’s easy to see there are plenty of internal crises which will push us toward a greater self-confidence based in our self-discipline and ability to concentrate. Many will be “facing facts” and going their own way when optimism sets in after a loss, as well as sensing new anticipations and new ways of turning inward to integrate our personality with our spiritual Self.

In the 7th harmonic aspect series of “destiny,” this month we return with several after none in last month’s New Moon. We have 1 biseptile and three triseptiles. In the 5th, 10th, 15th and 24th harmonic specialization series, we have 1 quindecile, 1 quintile, and 3 biquintiles. The 9th harmonic gives us 1 binovile, and 3 quadranoviles, and in the 11th harmonic faith series there is 1 elftile.

The novile (9th harmonic), septile (7th harmonic) and elftile (11th harmonic) series all feature spiritual aspects. All novile series (9th harmonic) aspects indicate things which need to be put on the shelf for a while, or that which has been waiting can now move forward. They represent gestative energies that can lead to great spiritual realizations. Septile series aspects represent forks in the road of destiny, while the 11th harmonic elftile series indicate that faith is required to deal with transcending some dualities, issues and points of evolution where we must make a leap of faith to attain a form of mastery over that type of duality. This series tests our faith. Both the 7th and 11th series involve non-rational aspect values, bringing an element of irrationality in behavior and circumstances.

The quintile and biquintile (5th harmonic) and related 10th (decile and tredecile), 15th (quindecile), and 20th harmonic (vigintile) aspects are all specialization aspects. You can find more by going to Astrology Class on the Specializing Aspects Pt. 1 – The Quintile and Biquintile, and Astrology Class on the Specializing Aspects Part 2 – The Decile, Tredecile, Quindecile and the Vigintile.

You can find out more about the spiritual aspects (septile, novile, and elftile series) by referencing this brief overview of Astrological Aspects – the 7th, 9th, and 11th Harmonic Series Aspects and their Symbols.

Element Balance and Who’s Leading the Sun

This month indicates a balanced imbalance in the elements, with the 10 traditional planets occupying 6 signs. We have no planets in Fire (inspiration and warmth), 4 planets in Earth (practical grounding), 3 in Air (relatedness and communicating), and 3 in Water (feelings and experiencing). This month we have half the signs represented.

Air and Earth are “cool” elements, while Fire and Water are “hot” elements. With this distribution, it’s very out of balance, with twice as much cool as heat. With so much Earth and Water, it should be good for making bricks but avoid getting stuck in the mud of ambivalence or thinking what’s passing is viable in your future.

Mercury is the planet leading the Sun. This is the “gateway to the Light” showing we will have to be aware of consequences and “the obligation of the individual and society in terms of their responsibilities to each other” as the means by which we come to illumination. This is a social-actional position, and is excellent in weighing and judging to find the biggest picture. The study of which planet leads the Sun is a crucial but overlooked part of understanding how the planets work in sequence.

The current sequence at present of Deciding, Feeling, and Thinking

We’ve been through several different sequences over the past few months. There are six patterns, and each has their strengths and weaknesses. This continues the pattern in play since last month. For now, as a process of moving through events, the most effective “firing sequence” for approaching life and experience over the next four weeks involves feeling, then thinking and communicating, and then making a decision.

So initiate activity by feeling your way into ideas, perceptions, and information. Let your hunches lead to new knowledge. Then, after a new idea, vision, or understanding, then make a decision and act on it! Try not to overplan too far into the future. Take your feeling-knowing one step at a time, and keep things in balanced motion, even if they go all over the place at times.

Once we’ve made a decision and acted on it, then a new feeling will naturally arise showing the next thing to learn about, communicate, or understand. So feel, flow, and experience, since these will lead you to ideas and views that will in turn lead to the next decision.

This pattern is sensitive to others’ feelings, and when healthy usually offers a positive and encouraging take on things. It is said this pattern has the best “bedside manner,” and can be a good sounding board to bounce all kinds of things off of until everything’s been discussed and processed so that a clear decision can be made. This pattern offers us that the journey of a thousand miles is truly one step at a time.

Summing Up

This New Moon Annular Solar Eclipse will take away a lot of our theoretical idealism, old ways of caring and old things we no longer care for, and help us redeem promises as we see through “life and death processes” and find a new mental maturity. Saying goodbye is always difficult when it’s something we love, but as all forms pass away in this impermanent world, open to the new since there’s more potential than there is in whatever is leaving.

While this is a somewhat ambivalent Lunation, stick to the plan, give your best effort at the right time, surrender old memories to new focus, and return to simpler joys for “pleasure and revitalization until you become more sure of yourself.” We’re still receiving rewards which “certify our worth,” and this time allows us to shed whatever we need to as we prepare to face forward toward new goals, new relationships, new ways of expressing compassion, and new ways of expressing our social or emotional potential.

Because the axis of power is in the oppositional awareness between three pairs of signs (with only one very wide opposition), show humility, an ability to see things from many points of view, and then make a decision to move things forward. With Saturn in Pisces, demonstrate practical compassion as you live at a higher level than you thought of living before now. We recently turned a corner which allowed us to see “the world of the 5 senses and the mind as the playground of God and Soul.”

We have been trained in expressing our integrated awareness from awakening to the simultaneity of past, present, and future all existing in the NOW. This one is another lunation where we turn corners to expand in a different, more secure direction while helping us express our divine discernment on a social level.

Saturn’s beckoning us to a life renewal as we stand for what we believe in, Neptune’s showing us the potential for future abundance, and Jupiter’s helping us expand the foundations we created in April and May. We’ve now finished many months of “tag team retrogrades” which have given us a look back to get a new understanding of values, relationships, work past and present, and what standards we want to uphold. This Lunation offers an ability to find new things to care about and new ways to care for them.

Remember the year’s theme involves understanding old answers can’t confirm the new conditions of existence, and old approaches won’t get the job done as we stand at the entrance to a new life and land, a new field and focus. Shed the ghosts of the past and enjoy the beauty of the maturity you are.

The Long View

In 2020 we entered a transition phase in human history. While we will be functioning within the Capricorn cycles we began then, we also have begun an era unknown to humanity since the 13th and 14th centuries. Even then, we were still in the depth of the Age of Pisces, so the awakening of new ideas then were relative to the old era, whereas what’s coming involves wave after wave of Aquarian energies, pushing us to the coming Great Age emerging in the second half of this century.

The long wave Aquarian pulses were initially set into motion by the Mars conjunct Saturn at 1 Aquarius on March 31, 2020, marking the initiation of archetypal Aquarian preliminary structures offered by Saturn. The promise and potential of the new Aquarian pulse then began to expand into a greater social and cultural vision beginning at the Jupiter conjunction with Saturn, the Grand Mutation of the Solstice also at 1 Aquarius. So we have 20 years of Aquarian energies set into motion by that conjunction!

When Venus and Mars conjuncted at 1 Aquarius in March 2022 it gave a new impetus and new expression to the Aquarian structures which took shape in 2021. The next time Mars transits Aquarius will be in February and March 2024, when it conjuncts Pluto at 1 Aquarius in February about 3 weeks after Pluto’s next ingress into Aquarius. That will strengthen the Pluto in Aquarius “generation” of the 21st century which lasts until 2043. As there will be a Jupiter conjunction with Pluto at 15 Aquarius in 2033, we’ll see the “expansion of the Angels of the Age of Aquarius” at that time.

2021 opened a new adventure for all of us, and the long term “metamorphosis” we went through showed us what the beginning of the coming Age of Aquarius is about. 2022 helped us remember we are Beings of Light, a Superstar shining the Light of our Eternal Love into our world. We’re now expanding our spiritual knowledge, understanding, and effective forms of service, and have entered a new phase with Jupiter in Taurus and Mars in Virgo.

New groups of Spiritual communities formed last year and will continue to form this year, and those which are Aquarian in nature were “lifted on the wings of angels” in 2021. Trust the process. Revolution is in the air! And when you find things and people of eternal worth, value them with all your heart.

Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend

Saturn is now solidly in Pisces. This helps us to a deeper feeling of connection with others and Source. Because Saturn plays such a large part in our lives, if you haven’t gotten your copy already, please give yourself the timeless gift of my book, Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend. This book shows you the way to take command of your power to steer your life in a conscious way, using Saturn’s strengths and skills to master life on your own terms. It was written for both astrologers and non-astrologers, and will help you understand how your life experiences assisted your Soul growth and your power to change negative karma to positive karma. Each time you re-read any part of it you’re sure to find undiscovered gems of insight helping you throw off attitudes which frustrate your ability to live your higher Purpose on your own terms.

And now, on a related note….

Because Venus occupies 6 Virgo in this chart and rules the Lunation, use skill to “win a prize.” We spent the Summer processing a lot of subconscious material about past and present relationships, and can be freer and happier in the future. Having remembered what made us feel loved and happy in the past, we can now embrace new forms of these appropriate to our evolved state.

As Venus is ruler of the Moon, Sun, Mercury, Jupiter and Uranus, She will bring beauty, creativity, love, heart, and strength to these planets. When Virgo is the backdrop to Libra and Taurus, it’s a very strong alliance with precision and the ability to execute a plan. Even though Venus is in Her Fall, she will still do well as She is trine Jupiter, bringing grounded harmony and understanding to all planets we have in the first half of the Earth and Water signs.

Venus direct and retrograde in Leo gave us 4 months of learning to like all things Leo! This brought beauty or something of value to wherever we have Leo in our charts, and people with significant Leo planets or points have found a new fire in their interactions.

If you want to know more about how Venus works its magic to bring us the people and things we need to find spiritual understanding, you can get a deeper understanding of you power to shape your future by getting your copy of The Magic of Venus: Friendships, Soul Mates, and Twin Flames. It is the most comprehensive book on Venus ever written, and offers a multi-faceted view of why we attract the people we do, as well as how to re-shape our inner Venus to create more satisfying relationships in the future.

This work is an in-depth examination of the psychological dimension of Venus, the spiritual dimension of Venus, and the astrological dimension of Venus. It offers practical techniques for changing your image of what you want to attract your heart’s desire, and how to make your relationships more fulfilling because you are living a Soul-ful life. You’ll find out about why you like or don’t like people and things, why you’ve attracted who you have in the past and present, and how to make those attractions more aligned with your Soul purpose in the future. A major theme weaving the various dimensions together involves understanding why Soul Mates come into our lives, and how to know the difference between a Soul Mate and our Twin Flame.

It has chapters on the qualities of each sign’s natural mate, the qualities of Venus in each sign, Venus retrograde, and when crucial choices and changes are made, affecting who we attract in the future. It was written for both astrologers and lay people, and as it has a thousand gems for better relationships, with self, others, and Source, please consider getting your copy by going to the link above! (And when you’re done, please leave a review on Amazon, since it helps the book and all other books on astrology as well!)

Reprinted on crystalwind.ca with written permission from Robert Wilkinson. Copying this article to other blogs is strictly prohibited. It is copyright protected. 

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