So after making a break and going AWOL from societal tradition, as we did via yesterday’s symbol, we fittingly find that, today, at 4° Aquarius, A Hindu Yogi Demonstrates His Healing Powers. Again, how Aquarius is thus? Think of those disenfranchised “dawning of the Age of Aquarius” youths who let their conventional military buzzcuts grow out and followed the Beatles, like so many Mia Farrows, a Waterbearer, east to India in search of something more meaningful than what was on offer in the west. (I also gently remind my several readers that the Sabian Symbols were assigned out of order, the clairvoyant who divined them didn’t know which day of the calendar she was channeling, so it’s extra fun and magical and mystical when we see inherent, intellgent and elegant logic in their roll-out.)

The keynote of this oracle, according to scholar Dane Rudhyar is: The disciplined use of spiritual energies in restoring the natural harmony disturbed by man’s inharmonic attempts to transcend nature through the mind. Word. And let me tell you this couldn’t be any more spot on given the rulership, by Cancer, of this symbol, in a twelve fold sequence. The previous sign of Gemini’s motto is “I think” and, though it’s a good thing to do, your mind isn’t always your friend. As such Cancer, “I feel” and its rule of the astrological 4th house is all about hope and recovery and healing. When used as a lense, say, for the unfolding of biblical legend, the buzzy, mutable-air Gemini is about the Fall (the Twins symbol duality matching the apple of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, again duality), which provided Adam and Eve with “consciousness”, thinking seeing them cast out into the wilderness wherein the human story became increasingly fraught until the Flood. Air signs like Gemini are mental (as can people of the sign be); whilst water signs like Cancer are more emotional—we must get out of heads and into our feelings if we are going to achieve any kind of emotional healing or recovery. Noah’s being a drunk hits home the metaphoric nature of the flood, a rise of emotion, wiping out all the sick, addicted, mind-based thinking and allowing us to make it to another shore, that of recovery and deliverance from the perversion of our minds. Mercury, which rules Gemini is a trickster, as is our brain which will rationalize our actions and deny our own shortcomings and dis-ease. Cancer, ruled by the Moon, is about feelings which never lie, they are instinctual, inherent, intuitive and inalienable and in honoring them, over the workings of our mind, we might be at sea for awhile before we land and find new footing.

Yesterday we saw a sailor desert. He broke away from the strict mindset, the brainwashing, the bondage of his situation, trusting his feelings which send him AWOL. He realized that he couldn’t do the same things his mind told him to do, day in and day out, and expect to feel differently or freed from said bondage. He had to make a break for it, and so he did. And now we see this Hindu Yogi, this master, who shows us how to return to our true spiritual nature—emotions are the gateway to spirituality—to regain a sense of harmony with nature, and all existence, the universe, by transcending what the confounding, cunning, imperfect mind has to say, and what trouble it can get a person into. We are all the yogi and we’ve all got boo-boos (sorry, it was right there). Society overemphasizes the power of the mind and/or those who are really running the show (from behind that curtain we spoke about several days ago) know that our minds are the most malleable part of us. So society is all set up to manipulate our grey matter. Hello advertising. Ironically “civilization” tells us that we must use our minds to transcend our biological drives and desires which is a total recipe for disaster. It doesn’t work that way. We have to accept our biological drives and natures.

The true goal is to free our minds from such manipulation and, yes, come together, but not under some mass mind control like the poor enlisted sailor; but rather as self-motivated individuals freely associating with one another according to harmonic rules—unity with not control over others—and, to coin a phrase, let the healing begin. The world society we live in is, in many ways, a parody of civilization. Our processes of indivdualization have mainly separated us from one another, setting up heirarchies, which are all illusion—nobody is better or more than anyone else; we were indeed created equal and we remain that way, separate, different but equal. The sense that I am better than you because I have more money, or even that you’re better than me because you’re not materially minded is all, again, an illusion. There is no better. And these means of defining ourselves in shadowy versions of individuality only adds to the suffering and keeps our giant ship of fools perpetually at sea.

We all have a separate spiritual duty to heal ourselves, the taking of ultimate personal responsibility, and to ascend to our own highest power, safe in the knowledge that we can never be more or less than anybody else. We don’t Trump anyone. Of course that self-named not-politcian is a Gemini master of mind manipulation, a Mercury ruled author and Art[ist] of the Deal, who, Stella told me just the other day, went on record a decade ago saying (and I paraphrase) that if he ever ran for president he would do so as a Republican because the base of that party is so stupid that it would be so easy to tell them what they want to hear and convince them to elect him. Machiavelli? Also a Gemini. People of a particular sign are often the most vivid example we have of the energy of that sign, personified as it is, as a walking-talking illustration. I would venture to say that his goal is to rule over other people for personal, material gain. Sadly, he’s not in the minority. Maybe his definition of gain is money. Maybe Hillary Clinton’s definition of gain is pride. Maybe Barrack Obama’s defnition of gain was respect. All in all, it’s still personal gain. Who, in the attitude (if not mind) of the yogi would run for president; one might say that Gandhi’s leadership of India was more a less a byproduct of his lifelong work to free his people through pacifistic means. He didn’t exactly campaign.

If we heal ourselves, you see, then we can heal others. We climbed to the Capricorn mountain so that we could achieve this certain Aquarian enlightment and then bring it—like the water bearer John the Baptist, to the people—”Hey, I’ve got good news!” But in so doing most of us do tend to lose our head, right? Metaphorically speaking isn’t that what we aiming to do? Free ourselves from the workings of the mind and live in true spirit of compassion which is the daugther of diviersity. [All I did there was invert a Starsky + Cox saying: Diversity is the Mother of Compassion, as Aquarius will give way to Pisces, which is all about the Love. But we’ll get there. We’ll get there, thematically, in this Blague in the next two months; and we will hopefully, all get there, individually, in this lifetime, which means the human race, as a whole, would get there all together and evolve the entire being of our world, in which we are organs and instruments of that could-be enlightenment. Namaste, bitches.

P.S. I found a Gandhi/Trump quiz online.

Copyright 2015 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.

A Deserter From the Navy is the Aquarius 3° symbol. We are detaching, removing ourselves, going AWOL, whatever you call it. We are simply not going to tow the line. Aquarius is the rebel, with a cause, typically. This oracles expresses the fact that a collective status, tribe, institution has become unbearable and it doesn’t fit our process of individuation. This is the kind of Aquarian symbol associated with dropping out and letting your freak flag fly, burning your draft card, and turning on to other things more groovy, potentially. But first we have to break away, break out, break with tradition and cut ourselves a break. The institution might think we’ve had a break with reality, which we have; outmoded conventional reality. Talk about updating your status!

We refuse to accept what society has planned for us. We aren’t taking orders, we aren’t going to be at sea. Fuck that shit. Yes the water symbolizes a collective unconscious, but we don’t even want any part of that, sister or mister or whoever you are. We are going our own way by ourselves and you can’t stop us. So what if you label me an outcast. Fantastic. Who needs you? I’d rather be off the grid than spend another minute in service to some mob mentality who wants to use me as a pawn in their wars waged by those secret societies I done heard of. No way. Right On. I’m getting groovy. I don’t want your respectable social status; I’m not laying down my life for nobody but me. I’m not swabbing your deck, what do I look like? Balai Hai may call you but it’s not calling me not no how. I am individuizing my own consciousness, I don’t need your collective, mass fraud bullshit. You know how hot it is down below? That’s for patsies. You can’t sell me that Gene Kelly anchor’s away crap. And I predate the Village People so I wouldn’t know about that. Besides I’m not a queer. Well maybe I am but that’s beside the point. I want to be queer in my way, not in some white bell-bottomed sailor suit. I’m going to join a commune. No wait that would be the same thing. I’m going to just stick my thumb out and blow this clambake.

This symbol is ruled by Gemini in a twelve-fold sequence, whatever that means. It’s just something that keeps getting said, day after day. Well yeah, I do see things dually, I am at a crossroads, a crisis; and I’m bucking the system, just like those other Gemini archetypes like, oh I dunno, Robin Hood or Jack Sparrow or Peter Pan. I’m not going to be kept down or on the clock. And I’m not walking any planks. I will swashbuck my way out of this two-bit existence. The social value is being destroyed. And it’s not the destruction by thunderstorm; the storms are raging inside me and I am breaking the bonds of and patterns and brainwashing. I gotta find myself. So me out.

Copyright 2015 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.

At 2° Aquarius we are hit by An Unexpected Thunderstorm. Aquarius is ruled by planet Uranus and governs the eleventh astrological house—Uranus is a sudden, sweeping, revolutionary energy and “the unexpected” is always something we look out for with that planet. The eleventh house is that of revelation, revolution and evolution which, though it might be slow, is caused by sudden, unexpected mutation. Yesterday we saw an Adobe Mission which, made of mud, might potentially washed away by a flash thunderstorm. Revelation, as we know, happens in a flash. Enormous changes at the last minute are what we have here—expecting the unexpected. So we must be prepared. We see this in relation to the archetype of the Water Bearer John the Baptist whose message was what? Prepare yourself for the coming of the Lord, i.e. a completely new order, a revolution. I think of the title of the movie about Churchill and the beginnings of WWII: The Gathering Storm.

The need to develop the inner security which will enable us to meet unexpected crises is the keynote of this symbol, ruled by Taurus in a twelve-fold sequence. Looking back to 2° Taurus, we had An Electrical Storm. With Taurus we are always looking at potentiality, the building of energy readying for release. Sometimes it takes the form of temptation, sometime it’s latent talent ready to emerge, and sometimes its a charge, like that of the Bull, who might watch and wait to be incited into a sudden burst of blind rage. It works in a positive manner as well. Security too, is a Taurus notion. What might be building, along with the dangerous thunderstorm, is our ability to respond (also Taurus word) and weather it. But whereas Taurus energy is personalized, Aquarian energy is universalized. So we are here, more specifically, concerned with the individual’s preparedness within a social or collective sphere. Rain water will pour down. The thunder clouds are thus, themselves water bearers. If our life is one of metaphorical drought, an arid environment, socially or spiritually, then the storm might be a very good thing, so long as we are prepared to catch and channel what might be a sudden, saving grace. How do we catch and channel such manna? With open hearts. If we are closed to the sudden burst of would-be beneficial change than it can have devestating effects: it will simply wipe out the structures we have in place to not just protect ourselves but prevent us from receiving what might be said grace, truth, salvation or simply change.

Copyright 2015 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Okay, it’s the first full day of Aquarius; and what do we find? An Old Adobe Mission In California. Quite a turn from the hifalutin last thirty images of Aquarius. But of course that makes sense. With the end of Capricorn we hit our 300th image; and working in a twelve-fold sequence, it concluded with a (the last sign of) Pisces-ruled Capricorn symbol. So today, At Aquarius 1° we begin anew with Aries as the sequence ruler. Aries is all about birth and Aquarius (the Water Bearer, think John the Baptist) is all about re-birth. So what do we find: A simple bare-bones grass roots image that links the primal (symbolized by native American imagery) energy of Aries with that of the new (the good news of Aquarius symbolized by the mission).

The sign of Aquarius is associated with the “descending god/desses”; just as the previous sign of Capricorn draws on the ascending deities. The notion being that once we ascend and achieve a certain enlightment or deification it is our duty to return and uplift others. This is why Aquarius’ archetypes includ the goddess of the rainbow, Iris, who would basically sneak down to earth to give human folk divine 411, and the goddess of the Dawn, Eos and the prime one, herself, Hebe, the Water Bearer who poured out the nectar of eternal youth, keeping the other gods not only immortally alive but looking good in the process. And all of these female figures fell in love with mortals, again, a symbol of their love for humanity and their intent toward uplift-ment of others (not just ascension themselves).

And so we find that the keynote of this symbol is: the power inherent in all great human works to endure far beyond the workers’ life spans. We are meant to sacrifice and consecrate our acts to future generation and evolution and upliftment, says this image. Like relatively modern-day John-the Baptists (a male Water Bearer icon) Spanish priests set up missions in California; a couple of hundred years later, we see just how much influence they had. They “saw” the future without surving into it. They made an indelible mark. As we move into the Aquarian symbols we start with a more spiritualized and idealist picture of social force at work for the masses. The elevent Aquarian house of Zodiac rules humanity, groups, organizations and humanity as a whole, mainly in the way the collective mind might be infiltrated.

The missionary starts with a vision which might not be fully realized in his lifetime but is in sacrifice and dedication to an increasingly large collective of people; in this case, converts. Of course there is something a bit patronizing in this: A so-called civilized individual (a man from the future: Aquarius) converting a primitive people (those in their primal state: Aries). The individual (priest) will be “immoratlized” via his sacrifice to the civilizing of the locals. Saint Diego, San Pedro, San Juan, San Francisco, on and on. California is still he model of the new world, even in the new world. It seems to be the final frontier and, let’s face it, every progressive as well as crackpot religion has taken hold there.

Copyright 2015 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.

A Secret Meeting Of Men Responsible For Executive Decisions In World Affairs, the keynote of which is the power to assume responsibility for crucial choices arrived at after mature discussions with those who share the power, is the final Capricorn symbol at 30° of that sign; it is ruled by Pisces in a twelve-fold sequence. That sign rules that which is hidden, secret, forgotten or beyond the veil, behind the curtain. Pisces purpots that the seen world of so-called reality is the illusion, while true reality is non-material or energetic (and thus able to be manipulated as such). Yes this symbol refers to secret committees that run governments, let’s say, the White House, which ironically makes no bones about doing so. Neither does any regime. And of course we can wax conspiracy theorist in thinking the world has been run, for centures, by some secret coterie of Lizard Kings. Hello, Merovingians! But Pisces’ non-material-realm rulership actually points to something less terristrial and anything but sinistier.

We are here to entertain the probability of a spiritual order of quasi-divine beings who rule our world beyond its terristrial aspects. Some may call it the Great Lodge of the White Brotherhood or the Guardians of the Seven Rays or any some such. We students of esoteric philsophy believe in the existence of this “inner Government”—the Pisces mott is “I believe” with the parenthetical addendum of (without seeing). This is science. This is religion. We have just now conclusively determined that there is a “planet nine” in our solar system. Our belief in this is not unfounded. Have we seen it? No. The same is true of any god, yet we might sense the divine in, well, everything.

The notion that our evolution is being guided from on high is not only reassuring, it runs counter to the shadow-facts of terrestrial governments or organization (so many governments work secretly in hand with organized crime) directing the ways things go to benefit the few at the expense of the many. The feudal system? Have we ever really left that old chestnut behind? Or indeed have we not created new ones for profit. How about the prison system? Basically it’s the confederacy privatized. If you think the way I do about this then you are already channeling the energy of this symbol. Here, what is at state is seeing through the so-called facts of terrestrial processes in our human history. The thing about the conspiracy theories is that they seem so nuts; but what if they are true and the perpetrators rely on the fact that your good human character would find such things far fetched. They would exploit that no? Who would believe that 911 was an inside job? That’s unthinkable. Right? Right?

I have often said that I come from a long line of white-witch goody-goods who have run antithetical to the lizard kings. Indeed, I have joked, that “for each and every one of thos tired old Bush’s there have always been any number of Cox.” Ha, ha. Yeah, laugh it up. But I do mean it rather truthfully.

On whatever level you read this symbol—being guided from a host of etheric beings, being fucked over by century old families realted to the Rothchilds, being manipulated by banks who can fuck us up and get bailed out, or that we have no decision making power unless we were in the Skull-and-Bones Society—it refers to the highest (most powerful) form of social interaction. What better way to end the sign of Capricorn than with a symbol that speaks to the ultimate height of wordly sway and what one with such status might no with it, for ill or nill. What do you use your power for? To give? To get more power? To amass personal attention and worship? Do you know life is ephemeral. Or is it eternal. I’m going to stick with my brothers and sisters at the White Lodge.

Copyright 2015 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Marc Edmund Jones, who via the clairvoyant Elsie Wheeler, divined the Sabian Symbols, once said that the practice of astrology is based on a realization of “the relation of everything to everything else.” As above so below, and so forth. That realization is one I’ve had in a flash of spiritual revelation, just as it’s one that one typically encounters while tripping on something really good. The point is that is the point. And it is at the core of any practice of augury. Today, at 29° Capricorn, nearly at the end of this sign, we encounter A Woman Reading Tea Leaves, which is really no different from reading an astrological chart or a palm or cutting open one of the birds in yesterday’s aviary and interpreting its entrails. Okay maybe a little different but you get my little drifty.

This degree of the zodiac is hinged on the ability to see the Signature of hidden meaning in every occurrence drawing one’s attention. One of the main archetypes of the sign of Aquarius, which rules this symbol in a twelve-fold sequence, is that magical man Merlin who predicted the future—indeed he came from it. That genius madman visionary akin to the likewise predictive John the Baptist in Biblical lore—this is the sign of the water bearer after all and let us not forget that it was Merlin’s big idea for Arthur to quest for that similarly holy grail.

Priests of all ancient religions read omens. John and Merlin were both ancient priests. One might say that modern psychologists, in dream analysis, are also reading omens, on the individual level, as is the woman reading tea leaves. One generally turns to occult prediction in times of uncertainty. We don’t have to go all the way back to Elizabeth I consulting John Dee to see more mainstream usage of this with people in power; dreaded Nancy Reagan consulted an astrologer for herself and her feeble minded husband. Anyway, there is a certain Capricorn mastery involved here. We give ourselves over to the power of the priest/ess who has technical proficiency with an occult practice. I imagine that if this degree in your chart is highlighted it points to either a proclivity to look to others for answers on this level or a potential ability for expertise in doing so for others.

This oracle is the opposite of “just the facts;” we are seeing through the facts to see how they are related “to the realm of basic meanings or archetypal processes.” Our friend Dane Rudhyar pegs this as true Clairvoyance: The ability to see in everything that signature of deeper realities. Speaking for myself, the astrological chart, the palm, the tea leaves are simply the scaffolding on which i can allow my perception to climb down (or up) to unearth these deeper meanings.

Copyright 2015 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.

At Capricorn 28° we encounter A Large Aviary, a symbol that would be ruled by Capricorn, as well, in a twelve-fold sequence. Birds symbolize spiritual forces and the aviary represents these entities occupying minds (like ours?) open to psychic realities.

Although it is a valuable tool, you have often heard me caution against the world of social media and the cult of worship interbred by an outside need to show-off and attract attention. Well, I also believe that overindulgence in that arena might also dim the lights in said aviary, if you get my meaning. Should I be seeking to further open my mind to a collective of psychic forces and entities, then i can’t overly numb it with any external influences. I have dubbed 2016 the year of ascension, and it’s only right that the New Year begins with the sign of Capricorn whose cardinal-earth energy is that of the ultimate climb, ascension; never mind the fact that resolution, imposing a new structuring rule of self-containment also speaks to the energy of this Saturn-ruled sign.

The arduous ascent of the previous symbol has brought the revelation of spirits presenting themselves to the widening gyre of our brains. We are not only seeking synergy with cosmic energy, but some mastery over them. What this symbol is driving at is a sort of clairaudience, which is a transmission from entities in the spirit realm which happens through the hearing of sounds, voices, even music. Personally, this is not my form of reception, except for some very few occasions. The music thing, though, I get that a lot. Now, the fact that some reading this will think I’m crazy is the other (shadow) side of this oracle: We might not have mastery over these influcences but be subjected to them which, as people who experience this, is no fun.

Spirituality aside, if we look at this symbol as representing the achievement, not of revelation, but of certain success: even then we find we would have a lot of voices in our head, from all the entourage and managers and agents and fandom. And, as in the sense of spiritual ascension, we might achieve certain peak experiences and then plateau at a tender age, unprepared for all those sublte energies circling around us like so many birds. And, faster than you can say, Tippi Hendren (a Capricorn) we find our brains are being pecked uncontrollably. And instead of clarity, let alone clairvoyance, we are bombarded with confusion.

Copyright 2015 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.

At Capricorn 27° we find Pilgrims Climbing The Steep Steps Leading To A Mountain Shrine. Right away we see the Capricorniness here—the sign is symbolized by a mountain and the steep climb is most characteristic. Ruled by Sagittarius in a twelve-fold sequence, we have the notion of travel and seeking, endemic to that sign, in the form of the pilgrims. So many of the Capricorn symbols have been about structuring spiritual practice and this is no exception. Here we have the ascent of the individualized consciousness to the highest realizations reached by spiritual leaders of its culture, or so says our Sabian friend Dane Rudhyar.

The stairway to heaven here is a well trodden path. The meaning being that we are following in a tradition, again a most Capricorn word. We are following in the footsteps of the sages, gurus, teachers who have gone before us. Or at least, we are meant to believe, that this is what will provide us the most peak experience. We needn’t forge a new path. The shrine, so called, will have been structured and fashioned over Saturn-ruled Time, each individual, perhaps over generations and generations of pilgrims, adding to the power of the structure of this monument, this dedication, to something higher. Though every pilgrim will have a unique, individual experience, the shared devotion of the many how climbed there would have made the path hallowed ground.

While the previous symbol portrayed the emanation of a Nature goddess in the descending waterfall, today we have the aspirant wo/man ascending as is his/her nature in spiritual pursuit. We are called to the mountain to receive our revelation and experience ultimate transcendence. Spiritual pursuit is a steep climb and often a slippery slope and we are not, all of us, all of the time, as sure-footed as a goat. But strive we must or else what? I suppose one could live a life of luxury; I dare say I don’t mind a little of that; however it does make one soft over time and, for whatever reason, money-making has never been much of a calling whilst increased spiritual understanding is a bit more my speed. But I wouldn’t say I’m going for modern day sainthood. I do however like the feeling of upreaching. Ever upreaching.

Copyright 2015 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.

A Nature Spirit Dancing In The Iridescent Mist Of A Waterfall is the suprising symbol of 26° Capricorn. That said, the figure of the Fairy Queen, echoed in Shakespeare’s Titania, is one and the same as the Titan queen of the gods, Rhea-Cronos, the classic archetype of the Capricorn female. And it’s not the first nature spirit we’ve encountered in the Sabian Symbols. This oracle is hinged on the ability to perceive the hidden and creative spirit of natural phenomena. It is ruled by Scorpio in a twelve-fold sequence; and that sign is concerned with the hidden, invisible, what lies beneath the surface of consciousness and conscious reality. And here we are dealing with the revelation of the spiritual or pyschic forces related to the element of water—Scorpio is the fixed-water sign. Water signifies the constant flow of vital energies and the fluidity of consciousness, which is ever changing and, if we are following these symbols, growing and ascending. Both Capricorn and Scorpio are feminine signs and power signs to boot. We are wont to personify nature as female; she is the soul of the world, the anima mundi.

In scientific terms, we are speaking about the Telluric currents which are electrical currents that move underground and under the sea. The currents are a very low frequency and travel quite near the surface of the Earth, in its crust and mantle. They are geomagnetically induced from the interplay of solar wind and magnetosphere. Basically we’re talking about how we measure the Earth’s conductivity. I’m paraphrasing from Wikipedia—it’s not like I have this knowledge in my head—where is also found a list of literature and other media that use Telluric currents as a theme, mostly for science fiction and fantasy. In prospecting, the currents frequency is measured and used as a means for finding the best places to mine. Scorpio, fixed-water, is likened to ice, crystals, gems, ore and thus all minerals. I just saw this fascinating Nova on PBS last evening about the relationship between rocks and life; and how rocks actually created life and life in turn borrowed back from the mineral world, to create bones and teeth and so forth. Never will I look at a rock the same again. But I digress. How unlike me. Ha.

We are dealing here with occult energy; and, mind you, occult simply means hidden. As someone who does have a certain sensitivity in this area, I will say that it can sometimes be a mixed bag. I think the same personality who is psychically sensitive is also fairly susceptible to other influences and substances as well. Like the Celtic witches before me, psychic ability seems to go hand in hand with the tendency to be overserved at the bar. I’m not saying this would be true for everybody, but I surely notice it within my own gene pool. Through my work I have developed my talent in perceiving energies, personifiable or not. And surely as a child I witnessed the appearance of certain supernatural beings; but I don’t find this weird or shocking and neither should you. The same Nature that can self-create as millions of life forms on one tiny planet surely has the animating power to be perceived as an entity in her own right, at least to those who are open enough to witness such emanation. Fairies, gnomes, little people, what have you. They can be as real as the rock your standing on. And surely, in the spray of a waterfall, Nature herself might choose to make an appearance.

Copyright 2015 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.

If you’re one of the handful of people who actually reads the Cosmic Blague then you’ll know that the Capricorn symbols over nearly the past month have all dealt, in some way or another with Time and Tradition which are two keynotes of the sign whose overall theme is that of Structure and Containment—did you know Capricorn rules the skeleton and skin? Well it does. So there. Myaaaah. (Sticking tongue out at you.) I’m in a weird mood today. I have been quite structured and contained myself and I think it’s making me a little cuckoo. Anyway, the next symbol up is A Store Filled With Precious Oriental Rugs at Capricorn 25°, ruled by Libra in a twelve-fold sequence. As is typical, whenever Libra rears its beautiful abstract head we are talking about artistic and aesthetic influences. The rug symbolizes a basis on which we stand or build, the cultural and artistic process involved in the creation of the rug enhances personal comfort and appreciation. In the case of prayer rugs, they can have spiritual significance as well, art and spirituality often being linked in civilization.

Unlike the previous symbol where renunciation of comforts was a prerequisite to spiritual transcendence, here a little Libra pleasure seeking and comfort goes a long way to afford the devotee a basis upon which to pray or meditate without the need for asceticism. Perhaps we needn’t strip away everything to find this transcendence; although, admittedly and ironically it might be more difficult to focus solely on spirituality when on a lush carpet. Then again, maybe not. Or maybe the added challenge (of comfort) will be an obstacle of sorts to overcome.

I can’t help thinking about a magic carpet ride, which might be metaphoric for the use of these rugs for prayer. Surely flying through the air speaks to Libra’s cardinal-air assignation; and mixed with Capricorn energy, both signs seek a certain ascendency. Oriental rugs feature abstract patterns—human figures never appear in Islamic iconography. As the only non-organic sign of the Zodiac, the scales also speaks to the notion of thought forms being made alive, whether one is casting spells or uttering prayers, one uses both mind and spirit in the process of this particular means of transendence, without having to eschew the cultural richness on which the petitioner stands.

Copyright 2015 Wheel Atelier Inc. All Rights Reserved.