Scorpio is quite hinged on ritual, especially as it impresses the subconscious, which may be akin to ritual having occult power. It’s all of a piece. At 4° Scoprio the symbol is A Youth Carries A Lighted Candle In A Devotional Ritual. It’s about the power of ceremony which, through acts and images, more than words, galvanizes a community of participants—bringing the power to the people or creating the power via the people. This is the infinite question—Scorpio is the eighth sign of the zodiac and the 8 is akin to the lemniscate which is the symbol of infinity. This symbol would be ruled by Capricorn in a twelve-fold sequence and (I think this is why Scorpios are so attracted to Capricorns) the sign of the SeaGoat is hinged on preservation, conservation, tradition and rich culture—that which the experience of ritual is seeking to establish, achieve, attain. The tarot card associated with Capricorn is the Hierophant, the one who has achieved ultimate wisdom, an embodiment of religion (means to re-link) in all its forms—he wears the triple-crown of spirit, consciousness and unconsciousness. The youth here in this image will one day become him. For now the youth is like us:

Here: We are seeking to become ensouled by a few basic symbols that structure and illustrate a collective way of life. As is true for the youth, our minds and feelings are formed by the participation with others in ritualized activities, whether they be going to church, doing a particular yoga practice, performing fraternity rituals, or attending weekly football matches. Scorpio is all about merging with other beings—where as Libra was about being with other individuals, remaining separate but equal. Here we become one actual body. Doing the wave at a sports game is a ritual illustration of becoming one organic entity, like individual coral on a reef. Scorpio rules sex and death, both of which entail becoming one with other—another human (hopefully) and with the great spiritual collective (double hopefully). In occult practices, which also fall under Scorpio rule, we sometimes see ritualistic sex as a powerful tool for uniting people at the root level. But I’m never invited to parties such as these.

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At 3° Scorpio we encounter A House-Raising Party In A Small Village Enlists The Neighbor’s Cooperation, signifiying the feeling of community via a basic joint effort. Here we see the “we have” of Scorpio being demonstrated by group-making of the most essential of possessions, a home. Paradoxically, the home will belong to one family and yet, as everyone has built it, it will be home to all—the impication here is that this is a circular enterprise, that everyone has had a hand in the making of everyone else’s home so that home is everywhere the tribe has collectively made it. This is ruled by Sagittarius in a twelve-fold sequence and we see that sign’s expansive energy radiating outward from the first group effort. We not only have our own home but we are at home everywhere we go. I remember witnessing a barn-raising in Amish country in Pennsylvania as a child; and of course there is that famous scene in Seven Brides For Seven Brothers. It is a rural experience to be sure, in reality; while metaphorically speaking it goes beyond the duality of mine/yours to that tertiary Sagittarian realm of ours. We have emotional investment in each other’s well being, security, protection and comfort. And there is a sense of freedom, one imagines, in communities built in this way. Doors are likely left unlocked and we are free to enter in wherever we are in said community. If we think about this as a metaphor for the doors of perception, we can see our neighbors as ourselves and presumably treat them with the kind of respect we hope to receive in return.

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At 3° Scorpio we encounter A House-Raising Party In A Small Village Enlists The Neighbor’s Cooperation, signifying the feeling of community via a basic joint effort. Here we see the “we have” of Scorpio being demonstrated by group-making of the most essential of possessions, a home. Paradoxically, the home will belong to one family and yet, as everyone has built it, it will be home to all—the impication here is that this is a circular enterprise, that everyone has had a hand in the making of everyone else’s home so that home is everywhere the tribe has collectively made it. This is ruled by Sagittarius in a twelve-fold sequence and we see that sign’s expansive energy radiating outward from the first group effort. We not only have our own home but we are at home everywhere we go. I remember witnessing a barn-raising in Amish country in Pennsylvania as a child; and of course there is that famous scene in Seven Brides For Seven Brothers. It is a rural experience to be sure, in reality; while metaphorically speaking it goes beyond the duality of mine/yours to that tertiary Sagittarian realm of ours. We have emotional investment in each other’s well being, security, protection and comfort. And there is a sense of freedom, one imagines, in communities built in this way. Doors are likely left unlocked and we are free to enter in wherever we are in said community. If we think about this as a metaphor for the doors of perception, we can see our neighbors as ourselves and presumably treat them with the kind of respect we hope to receive in return.

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A Delicate Bottle of Perfume Lies Broken, Releasing Its Fragrance is the symbol at 2° Scorpio, which is ruled by that same sign in a twelve-fold sequence. As Stella will tell you I’m not great with things I love breaking. Just minutes before alighting on this image, a favorite shirt of mine ripped and I was on the brink of despair (yes over a shirt). I often attach too much meaning to a fallen teacup or bent spoke. Not sure why that is but the meaning of this symbol is helping me: The accidental nature of opportunities that impel one to break from the past, the remembrance of which is still poignant and cherished.

New understanding does usually require surrender or sacrifice. And, really, it always comes down to the meaning of the thing not the thing itself. It’s not the shirt. It’s the memories that the shirt recalls. It’s not the teacup. It’s the thirty years drinking from it every day. But the thing must be sacrificed, often, to gain the apprecation of its associative meaning. An old friendship (for me, one in particular with a Scorpio comes to mind) must die for one to glean the importance, the good stuff, of what that relationship provided or taught (if only as a cautionary tale to keep one repeating with similar types).

Remembrance is emotional. Though we think of memory as a thing of the mind it isn’t. Any actor worth his salt knows what emotional recall really means. In that craft we call upon our own real feelings when working on material, as a character, who is experiencing like circumstance, and we act from that place. Memories are painful; especially the happy ones. A ripped shirt or broken teacup or bottle of perfume is a reminder, you see, of our own impending doom. What? You thought the Scorpio symbols were going to be a cake walk?

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Entering the sign of Scorpio, we encounter A Crowded Sightseeing Bus On A City Street. We have left the realm of Libra “we are” and have entered that of Scorpio “we have”; and this symbol is ruled by Libra in a twelve-fold sequence, making this a gentle transition. What this busload of people have is a shared experience; they have, as a tribe of one sort, entered into a new reality, a city, that was built by a separate tribe or collective. Or perhaps the bus is filled with people of a variety of sorts coming together to commune in this new experience that is foreign to them all, despite their own differences. It strikes me that this image depicts a busload of Libra entering into a new environment of Scorpio.

This new environment has its own rules and rhythms of activity. We will certainly find new sensations and feelings here. Libra took us to the height of consciousness in its realm of light where we may have met the archetypes of the seven rays watching over us, vibrating on the highest of conscious levels. Now we shall plunge into the depths of human (sub)consciousness and uncover the mysteries that lurk therein. It is the feeling mind, in a sense, not to be confused with the emotional intelligence associated with the signs of Cancer and Virgo. We are entering the world of the hidden and even the repressed and the compulsive, just as we are unlocking new secrets to feed that outer world of consciousness, which depends on new realities being brought to light. We need to touch the darkness to know the full breadth of our being.

Speaking of which, I must dig below the surface here myself, in meta fashion, not in terms of anything personal (then again, who knows) but in regard to the Cosmic Blague. What is the wider meaning of these symbols? Well, for starters: Let’s say you have a planet at this particular degree in your chart; we might examine how that planet channels the energy of this degree in your chart and in what area of life—which astrological house—this symbol “lives”. Say you have this degree falling into your tenth house. Well then we might see how this manifests in the area of your life concerned with career, public image and your sway in the world.

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Three Mounds of Knowledge On A Philosopher’s Head is the Sabian Symbol at Libra 30°—the Sun enters Scorpio this evening (Europe time) around 5:46 PM, that’s nigh on noon for you folk back home in the good ol’ US of A. This is a Virgo-ruled Libran Symbol and this makes sense given the alchemical energy of the mutable-earth sign of Virgo for whom the Philosopher’s Stone is a central archetypal emblem. The three mounds, I believe refer to the physical, emotional and mental levels of existence which must blend to creat the spiritual forth. Three is a number of fulfillment forming the perfect circle, and thus an understand of a cyclical, non-linear pattern to life. The true philosopher lives this meaning. He understands the workings of the world. He is beyond mere knowledge, the three mounds of knowledge is forming a three-fold wisdom. Wisdom is based on experience rather than acquired learning. Here we have a holistic approach to knowledge which is based on that universal experience, having worked through so many Libran symbols of interpersonal realtionships and that with the collective, of full understanding of the We Are. And We Are a circle of life, a connected humanity, and that which we share is what contributes to our wisdom about ourselves and our world. Here we don’t simply entertain abstract concepts unless in their direct application to the human experience.

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The oracle at 29° Libra, which would be ruled by Leo in a twelve-fold sequence is: Mankind’s Vast And Enduring Effort To Reach For Knowledge Transferable From Generation To Generation. It speaks to our characteristic human train of transfering to other humans, as yet unborn, all that we have learned via our conscious experience and endeavors. There is no biological reason to do this. It is choice, decision, based on high consciousness and self-sacrifice for others. We are. How Libra. After yesterday’s oracle about unseen forces helping and guiding us, we now become those unseen forces. We have sacrificed what we have harvested, mentally and culturally, passing it along to people we will never know, helping them and guiding them. We give them a past and make them feel part of the fabric, helping to eradicate any feelings of their loneliness.

We are consciously participating in a civilization that will last longer, terrestrially, than we will. This is what makes us divinely human. The legacy, which is a very Leo word indeed. I’m going to let that be all I say on this.

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As I said a day or two ago, I’m learning so much about Libra (and all the signs) in working through these 360°s of Sabian Symbols. The one at 28° Libra is A Man Becoming Aware Of Spiritual Forces Surrounding Him. Again I’m reminded that Libra isn’t “all air”, it’s inanimate symbol pointing to the purely abstract elements of life; but rather the living archetypal energies of life which is pretty validating for a Libra (me) who works in archetypes and does feel himself surrounded by assisting, unseen entities. Some people will think I’m crazy for that sentence and some will understand—I’ve pretty much weeded out any friends that fall into the former category because being open to this unseen assistance does require total belief in it and nonbelievers in your midst can mess with your channels.

The gist of this oracle is that we are never alone; that there is always a community, visible or not, that is behind your best intended efforts. The trick is to allow the assistance and not put up blocks to it which we all do, all the time. My own personal block usually surrounds abundance in which I belive in my mind, but I strive to feel. I once said that “prosperity is a sustained emotion”, but my speaking the truth of this isn’t enough, I must practice what I preach. And mainly that means not putting up roadblocks of fear and anxiety, not just over money but over time which, in astrology, is ruled by the same second house. These commodities can be a mindfuck for many and I have had my own screwed up history due to the fact, probably, that I know a lot of wealthy people, those with penthouses in new york and castles in scotland and townhouses in london and manses on hilltops overlooking the côte d’azure. And I’ve never once been jealous of other people’s money but I have hoped to be increasingly comfortable in time, which if you haven’t noticed, has a way of marching on. But that’s me. Meanwhile, I have never done without and I have created a decent lifestyle for myself, living where I want when I want, and traveling in the same manner, without ever really having worked for any one or any monolithic thing. So, really, my life has been most abundant.

But back to never being alone. When it comes to actual living human interaction the world can be a lonely place. However, I don’t think we know either how lonely or how not so until we need to rely on others, which, quite frankly, I’ve never had to do and I don’t want to test this theory to be perfectly honest. I don’t like relying on others. It’s not so much a trust issue—I’m just pathologically self-sufficient. To a fault, most likely. But when it comes to the might unseen forces, I suppose, I could ask for a bit more help. I wonder if that’s true for you. We are all part of an organized whole whether we recognize it or not. The center does hold, me thinks. And this whole is indeed greater than the sum of its parts and it’s terrifically sustaining. What separates us is the “dark path of ego separation” which, given what I just said, I might fall victim to in my in ability to ask for help. I think we all fall victim or else this would be a perfect world. In extreme cases of ego-isolation, one falls prey to destruction and self-loss.

In real terms we have communities we can reach out to; in spiritual terms there is the collective mind, the noosphere, but there is something beyond: what is known to mystics and esotericists as the White Lodge, a very Libran world, one imagines. And, as this oracle would be ruled by Cancer in a twelve-fold sequence, we know that emotionality is highlighted here. Emotions are the gateway to our spirituality, and the higher consciousness associated with Libra, a sign of the mind, is ironically directed by emotional, moral compass. If ever you’ve experienced a sense of oneness, even for an instant, you have felt the assurance that you are not alone and this isn’t all there is to answer Peggy Lee’s eternal question. I have had my own experiences with the notion of the White Lodge and its inhabitants, and I can tell you that it is a temple within us. And so the assurance we seek, our yearnful sense of belonging, isn’t satisfied via the outside world.

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We are still in the sky as the sign of Libra winds down. Here today at Libra 27° we encounter An Airplane Sails High In The Clear Sky which is about transcending the polarity of duality and is fittingly ruled by the sign of Gemini in a twelve-fold sequence. Through our gift of consciousness, we are able to rise above the conflicts and pressures of our personal life. We embrace our latent capacity to see the issues that plague us (as a result of duality) from so high a level, that we gain new persepctive and reach a place of peacful freedom. As the supernal air sign, Libra emphasizes the boon of celestial-level consciosness and indeed urges us to live in this high state of understanding as a means of right-sizing our problems. Ruled by Venus and hinged on the notion of balance, Unity is the key note of the sign and of this particular image in particular which seeks to find harmony between Gemininan opposites. There is always unity beyond polarity. Everything is itself and its opposite. That is the transcendent realization we alight on here.

So here I am in the south of France which will sound very glamorous which it is in some ways. Meanwhile, I’ve been working constantly, getting writing projects along with Starsky + Cox and Afterglow business mapped out for the year ahead. The Fall is always my most ambitious time, business-wise, and I find it’s not in conflict with travel but rather I gain the right kind of persepctive on issues that seem to crowd me when I’m back at home. Something about flying away and working on things in a different landscape from a different level of consciousness naturally prioritizes not only what needs to be done next but what new direction life should take. Along with this detachment also comes the realization of who are the radiators and who are the drains in ones life, a metaphor borrowed from a London friend of mine. If you’ve been paying attention I divide people into those who celebrate and those who tolerate. I find this is one polarity that remains rather black and white; although radiators can be drains or vice versa, but mainly they stay in one camp. I find that travel gives me a perspective on this particular issue as well. Being away makes me want to return to my usual surroundings to live life in a new way.

There are always things too that are better about Europe (or anywhere) than about America and the inverse is also true. And what is considered good or better also shifts like the sands of Cape Cod or the Mediterranean. The trick is to alight on that which remains true north in our experience and to channel energy into that which makes us most happy. I don’t like moving sideways in life although I am aware that is how much of the momentum manifests. And I’m not one to push to make things happen (despite what donors to my non-profit arts company might think); I”m more about helping the pieces ease into place at this point. And removing any square pegs from the pile before I start doing so.

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Is it me or has this Blague gone to the birds?…and butterflies and falling leaves. Libra is the cardinal air sign so it would be little wonder that all the images are airborne, except when we remember they were divined randomly, out of order. It’s pretty cool. At Libra 26° we discover An Eagle And A Large White Dove Change Into Each Other. Here we see the Love principle interacting with the Spiritual Will. Libra and Taurus are both ruled by Venus, named for the goddess of Love, whose totem is a dove. The eagle is the totem of the chief god, the crowning representative of spirit. This oracle is ruled by Taurus in a twelve-fold sequence—Venus rules Taurus on the earthly plane and Libra on the astral.

The yang and yin of the primal male and female energies herein mix because we have moved beyond this greatest duality of Will and Love, represented as male and female, seeing them combine, both within our selves and in our actual relationships with others. The spiritual marriage of the will within us and our transcendent capcity for love constitutes a great adeptness, one of the highest order. This is major enlightment energy, surely of the Gandhi level but probably even of the Gandalf variety. When our will becomes love and our love becomes will we have transcnded the limits of physical reality, time and space. At this level of consciousness anything is possible. We can move mountains, we can heal the sick, we can walk on water, we can do anything in the will-love state.

As in a lucid dream, we are in the ultimate flow state, but if we try to impose our will for selfish purposes or gain the dream dissolves. It’s the same in our waking life at this highest level of consciousness—Libra represents the height of conscious being—where we might perceive ourselves, and indeed everything, as pure light. The reality is that’s what we are. If you break us, and all life and matter (for that matter) down to it’s most essential, divisible by smaller and smaller particles, what are we? We are energy and we are light like the stars from which we are born. When we can have our will and our love merge into one by removing the obstacles to this fusion (most readily through the energy of forgiveness—of ourselves and others and society and the world—surrendering the entirety of our will to the purpose and power of love, all moves through us; we are the agents of this Libran pale pink light of love.

Being an adept thus requires no teacher, no guru, only that inner oracular guidance system that is most poignantly associated, via archetype, with the sign of Libra which we will in a matter of days leave. Being a Libra it is a special sign for me and I must say that via this Blague and meditation on these symbols I have learned a lot about my own particular sun sign. It is not just the abstract, conceptual, artful energy of the zodiac it is the animating force, the light, that powers all love. And its rule by Venus sees the love as light that can be directed, via the mind, in highest consciousness, out, universally, into the world. Libra’s motto “we are” points to the interconnectedness of we beings via this light love. The dove and the eagle can change bodies because they are the one and the same light that animates all physical being. We can direct our energy of love and light into the bodies of other beings to bring about healing, we can travel to the stars, our original home, we can seek to enter the hearts and minds of those who are not yet even slightly awake and whose wills are bent by greed and hatred; we can cast out those demons by filling the space they occupy with our light love. This is what it meas to be an adept. This is what it means to be a magi or a saint or a shaman or a wizard or a demigod.

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