How Libra these last half a dozen images feel. This one—A Man Watches His Ideals Taking A Concrete Form Before His Inner Vision—is seriously so. Here at 6° Libra we are under the rule of Virgo, the mutable-earth sign that is all about shaping, molding, composing, taking form. I remember back in the late middle 80s being a bit ahead of the curve of my other cronies, praising the power of crystals, building my inner temple, toting around Shakti Gawain’s Creative Visualization. It’s funny how such personal fads, for lack of a better word, do get dropped and replaced. I used to creatively visualize actively back before I realized that you can have this sort of mechanism going on in the back of your brain all the time. And, of course, I employ that “skill” to help others, clients, visualize better lives for themselves. I realize that, in terms of my indidvidual self, that I’ve gotten a bit floppy on that score. But as today is the first full day after my birthday I think I’ll make it a point to sharpen up on this score. There are things I want to achieve, now that I am free from psychic-friends’ ties that bind, and the power of these Sabian Symbols, in writing about them, weaving my own personal feelings and experiences into the fabric of these (I think) powerful oracles, is beginning to take hold. I hope that was a sentence—as it is I think the official tagline of this Blague shall be: Typos Happen. I’m off on several tangents. Come back.

Hi, I’m back. Dane Rudhyar, that old cut-up, says that the keynote for this image is: The need to visualize clearly one’s dremas or ideals in order to make them truly effectual. Word. And I for one need to be more concentrated on this score. He then goes on to quote a French proverb, which is cool, because guess who’s heading to France today via Eurostar. According to this proverb: What is well conceived can be easily formulated.” I think this is also true, but I’m not sure it’s the way I work. I mean I tend not to conceive before formulating. I tend to just jump in and start formulating because I find that the process informs the conception. In our circles, in our circles. Oh but hey, the Ruddy says this: The process of interior visualization can be quite essential EXCEPT in the case of a creative individual who has become a totally pure channel for the descent of spiritual Power and a clear lens through which the Archetype in the Mind of Man (or God) can be projected without distortion wherever needed. Yeah that’s more me. Ha. I wish.

I have had moments in creation where I have felt that direct connection to the Muses and have had it last for months or even a year or so on end. Recipe for madness as well as strokes of genius. And maybe the reason I haven’t created any, say, solo performance work to speak of as of yet, or written any full songs for that matter (i have reams of half-written ditties) is because I haven’t creatively visualized and fully conceived—gotta love that word in this context—that which I want to express. Now, Virgo is the Virgin after all i.e. she is designed to conceive. The sign rules digestion as well as gestation. So maybe I need to get into emotionally-intelligently hatching an idea from visualization to execution. Sounds so simple. Yeah right. Again, I’m more a flash of ideas and then a jumping into the deep end of creativity without quite knowing how to swim sort of creative, opening channels to inspiration; I suppose I’ve always considered ultimate conception of creative vision to be a bit, well, too thought-out. Then again, maybe that’s why I don’t have a very large body of work. Food for thought. Must have been a Virgo who invented that phrase.

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These Libra images seem to all be on the same thing or is it me. A Man Revealing To His Students The Foundation Of An Inner Knowledge Upon Which A ‘New World’ Could Be Built is the Libra 5° symbol, which champions the notion that when the student is ready the teacher will come. It’s all about transmission and it is something to which I for one am very open. At least I think I am. I am often in the role of the teacher expressing whatever mastery I may, such as it is; but I have for the last few years been very open to the notion of a master appearing to me. I thought it might happen last time I traveled to Paris. It was just an inkling I had. I think I wrote about it in one of my early blagues from this year. Later I thought maybe I should have had my cards read by Jodorowsky. Perhaps I’ll see if I can see him this trip.

I recently watched “Jodorowsky’s Dune”. Have you seen that? It’s fascinating. In the end so many filmmakers, I want to say, “borrowed” from him. George Lucas, especially, in the making of Star Wars. Seems almost completely ripped off at times. And then I thought about the character Yoda. Well, the way one pronounces Yoda is the same two-syllable sound of how Jodorowsky’s friends refer to him, “Jodo”, making that J into a Y. I don’t know if anyone has ever made this connection before. I find it pretty obvious, now, in the circumstance. George Lucas is a Taurus after all. And Taureans have a way of solidifying thought forms that have been put into action by others. There is some theory or book that Stella turned me onto, can’t remember what it is, that proposes that Imitation not Initiation is more a recipe for success. Well I’m a Libra and I tend to initiate. I seem incapable of any form of imitation. If you don’t believe me just ask my bank account.

Of course this symbol is ruled by Leo, a fixed sign like Taurus. Leo is all about co-creating with god and as Leo energy hinges on authority and creativity, building ones own castle if you will, a main archetype being that once and furture king, Arthur, we have evolved from that campfire of yesterday, a symbol of the roundtable, to the need for a devotion to said guru. Merlin of course comes to mind as the original life coach, akin to Yoda. Like any true guru, Yoda and Merlin teach us how to be rather than how to act. How to become one with certain experiences and how to overcome thought and ego, especially.

A year ago I was rather reeling from some blows to my own wee me-go; now, a year on, I feel very happy to have been purified in the fire of my own being. You see, I had these friends (so-called) one of whom I could only really take in small doses—we’d been friends since the mid eighties—and from whom I tried to remain lovingly detached. This fellow always had to be center of attention and grandstand, flaunting his material wealth, and never entering into anyone elses world. He had to play host, never guest. He was a control freak and everything always had to be the exact same in terms of an evening spent with friends. Cooking together and playing some kind of board games. Bored. Games. So I was going for small doses but he would retaliate with some psychic Scorpion sting if we politely declined every other invitation. I was labelled “erratic” by this individual because I didn’t consistently comply and conform to his sinister need to be the host with the most. And he started to create a subtext and spread rumors based on his own opinions which he experienced as facts. And he convinced a bunch of mutual friends that I was acting loony. Seriously. You can’t make this shite up.

So, although I did ultimately give him a snootful piece of my mind on the subject, I basically just let it happen. I figured if people were followers enough (this individual had accolytes, to whom he played a maniacal guru role—see, I am still on theme here—a bevy of sycophants, not really friends, who thought they would benefit by way of his association) to buy into this character assasination, then so be it. It is against my personal religion to resist such large tidal shifts in human relationships. If I were to “lose” this entire circle of so-calleds then perhaps it truly was meant to be. Well, it truly was meant to be. Because a) it made me stronger via the working through of the ego pain of being effectively dumped when I was kindly trying to, as I say, small-dose things as a means of keeping some kind of relationship with this chap; and b) stepping out from the shadow of others’ perspective and assigned role freed me to be that much more fiercely individual this past year; and, others’ opinions be damned, I feel for the first time in my life that I really didn’t give a crap about what others thought of me. And so I made some great strides creatively this year but also in terms of personal development and growth and discpline, including the initation of this blague which is the blogging equivalent of dancing while nobody’s looking; and c) for the first time ever I feel unanchored enough to actually attract slash stumble upon slash welcome a masterful presence into my life.

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Around A Campfire A Group Of Young People Sit In Spiritual Communion is the image at 4° Libra. And its keynote is “the necessity to unite with kindred spirits as one enters unbeaten paths ilumined by the still-insecure light of a dawning intuition and new values. (Again I remind you that these images were chosen at random and yet we see how they seamlessly fall into a 360° cycle-system.) So as we venture out in a new role we find like minds who are likewise doing so—kindred spirits kindling the same fire. We are “young” because we are trodding a new path with a refreshed spirit. We have the urge to create new society, having perhaps rid ourselves of old ties that bound us to an identity we no longer express. We are in the forest because we haven’t yet built our new culture, though we are stoking our desired plans to do so. The fire is the emblem of spiritual communion; we are burning to venture out once we are warmed by mutual inspiriation. Together we who are alight with inspiration for a more ideal world of our own creation form a crucible. Our doubts may be purified in that fire. We form a circle of fire for protection as well, becoming the receptors, the grail, if you will, of grace as we embark on our quest. This is, after all, an emblem of the round table that finds us circled around Hestia’s hearth. We are planning a new Utopia, a Camelot, and drawing on the source of the goddess. This oracle is ruled by Cancer in a twelve-fold sequence whose archetypes include the great goddess Themis who sees the future. We may all bring pieces of the overall vision to the circle and together we will create the new society, contributing our part as is archetypall ordained.

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At Libra 3°, the image ruled by Gemini in a three-fold sequence is The Dawn Of A New Day Reveals Everything Changed. You got that right. It’s all about “the ever-presnet possibility of beginning again on a new foundation of values.” Dawn happens, and with regularity. This should be inspiration enough to know that new beginnings are always available to us. More than New Year’s Day, really, I find early September—le rentrée—feels like a fresh start. Actually the first three degrees of Libra all hinge on new beginnings a form a bit of a tryptique. We had the initiation and the energetic push forward, now we see energy reembodies in a new creative act. We are truly ready today to make our mark, and to create a new life for ourselves. I’m packing for a bit of a trip on which I shall plan my next stage of world domination. How about you?

This image is ruled by Gemini in a twelve-fold sequence, and the motto of that sign is I Think. With a parentetical (powerfully positively). We are now working our plan. We are in a new role, one of our own making. Again, this is a trusim on a daily basis, but there is a more distinct and sweeping change in character going on today. We are stepping into a new identity for which we have heretofore held the place, whether we knew it or not. It is part of our evolution of self. And the key not is innovation. So let us try imagining ourselves to be the most postive and progressive we’s we can be.

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Well, of course these symbols are being a bit more abstract, now, that we are in the sign of Libra. But I will remind you that they were divined randomly. At 2° Libra we find The Transmuatation Of The Fruits Of Past Experiences Into The Seed-Realizations Of The Forever Creative Spirit. Esoteric to be sure. Apparently the original wording was “The Light of the Sixth Race Transmuted to the Seventh” which is super-occulty and relates to Theosophical study and the notion that there are seven “schools” or epochs of learning in the development of the human consciousness. In astrological terms, it is the transition from the sixth sign and house of Virgo to that of the 7th Libra. Libra is light, made up of seven rays of color. Creation happens in 6 days but the day of rest, or non activity, is still to be observed. Which brings us to this image, for we are taking the moment to see the labors of the past (the six days) become the creation of the future. It all begins to gel, I suppose, on that day. It’s an energy of regrouping, of centralizing one’s power. This symbol makes my brain hurt a bit. I hope tomorrow’s is less abstract.

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We have turned the corner folks. And are now at Libra 1° in the second half of our circular journey around the cosmic wheel. Today’s oracle is ruled by Aries in a twelve-fold sequence: In A Collection of Perfect Specimens Of Many Biological Forms, A Butterfly Displays The Beauty Of Its Wings, Its Body Impaled By A Fine Dart. Quite a mouthful. The keynote expressed here, which I love is: The immortal archetypal reality that a perfect dedicated life reveals. This is very inspiring idea-wise and I’ll tell you why.

Aries rules the first astrological house of self and it’s so-called opposite (not an opposite at all) Libra rules the astrological seventh house of other. I have often spoken about how they are both houses/signs of self and that the “other” is the developed character or personality of the self, the desired software, which is often the truer self than the Aries hardware of self. And now there is a new twist turning in my pea brain. That the “other” is not just the development of character/personality but the reveal of the archetypal (truest) self. This makes perfect sense in that Libra is the only inanimate sign of the Zodiac (the Scales) and so it points to the person in the abstract (which I saw as mere character or personality but now see is also that of true archetype). And again, this makes sense because Libra is the sign of light (cardinal-air) ruled by Venus on the astral plane whose archetypes are Apollo god of light and female light-beings like Astraea, Sophia and Psyche along with oracular goddesses of prophesy, as Apollo is also god thereof, all such projections of light or psychic future understanding. Okay….

The first Sabian Symbol at Aries 1° was about differentiation of Self from an Ocean of Potentiality. Realization of Individual. Now we move along that circle where we enter into a reveal to our intuitive conscioness that which is our essential (archetypal) character. Both Aries and Libra are seed signs, Aries being the germ taking root in the Earth and Springing (with the advent of that season) to life. At this point, at Libra, we are the seed—in Sextrology we speak of Pip (meaning seed) from Dickens’ Great Expectations, being an archetype of male Libradom. At harvest all is going to seed and those seeds are taking flight into the cardinal-air, propehsying the future. Oh lord, is this ever fun. They will be frozen come Scorpio time by that fixed-water (ice) sign, but now they are taking wing, like the butterfly in this Sabian symbol. Thoughts take wing, projections, expectiations. Of course Dickens doesn’t know he’s waxing astrological by putting Pip and Great Expectations together. Just as Charles Schultz didn’t know that Linus (Apollo’s son, gifted with oracular power) waiting for his Great Pumpkin embodies that same archetype, but he does. Let’s not forget his speech come Christmas time.

Archetypes. Thought Forms. The only abstract sign. Apollo god of abstracts—order, music, prophesy, peace, music, reason—these non-tangibles are all of a piece. We are moving from the earthy worm to the etheric butterfly, the most perfect form of metamorphosed being. In terms of symbolism, the butterfly has always represented the transcendent nature of self, the highest form and the most delicate. That etheric plane of Libra with it’s beings made of light, with gossamer wings. And in terms of what it means for all of us: It points to our transhuman nature, that which lies dormant in us, waiting to break out of the cacoon of limited consciousness. I’m ready, how about you?. We saw the initiate the other day in the boy holding the censer, and now we are becoming the adept, the perfect being.

And what of that dart through the butterfly. Well, there is certain sacrifice, crucifying ourselves, is there not?, in our becoming more perfect beings. The dart also pins that butterfly at the point where it is seen as “the perfect specimen”; making it into an archetype, as scholor of these symbols Dane Rudhyar points out. We were made perfect in the fiery crucible of Virgo, ruled by Vulcan, god of the forge, so now what? Libra is often seen as the pedestal on which perfection is judged—that Lady of the Scales, looming, blinded, therefore not judging with her physical eyes but with a psychic scanning of karmic weight. It’s easy to topple from said pedestal as we all know and all will, time and again. Thank goodness the Zodiac, like life, isn’t linear, for we cyclically get opportunities to work on our so-called perfection, something that is happening inside the cocoon of our own conscience and consciousness. I can stop there, right?

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Totally Intent Upon Completing An Immediate Task, A Man Is Deaf To Any Allurement is the symbol for Virgo 30° which would be ruled by Pisces in a twelve-fold sequence. It portrays the total concentration required for reaching any spiritual goal. This marks the final symbol of the first half of the entire symbol cycle. Did you hear that? I’m halfway through my goal of chronically the entire year via these symbols. Horray. And I know it’s Math, probably, that see’s the twelfth, final Zodiacal sign of Pisces mark this end point as it will (I’m not stupid—okay I am a little) the second half of the Sabian Symbols in turn.

We started at Vernal Equinox and here we are at Autumnal Equinox, “with autumn closing in” as Van Morrison so gut-wrenchingly sung it. I’m going to quote Rudhyar here:

Through spring and summer many ways and byways have been experienced. The last message of this hemicycle of “Individualization” is that on all decisive occasions what must be done has to be done so intently that no outer voices can penetrate the mind, still less the soul. The neophyte stands at the gates of the sacred Pyramid. There is only one step he can take — ahead, or he is lost. This is the culminating step, the decision that results from a myriad of small choices. Still a shadow of hesitation can remain. Attention may be distracted from the Now by a voice from the past, glamorizing some old memory. The outer doors of perception and thought must be closed, so the soul can complete its Conquest of Illusion.

Sounds like the Fool card in the Tarot to me. Which is also fitting because that is the start of any circle. I’m beginning to get a sense of needing to meditate more on these images in the next go-round, to truly have their meanings infiltrate as opposed to just entertain them which is a natural step, I suppose. I am just getting to know these images. And trying, from time to time, to relate them to my own experience. On that note I am about to embark on several new adventures. Some travel. Fresh projects. And, yes, I have silenced the other voices, I think, finally. Now the real work begins, in effect. I don’t know what I mean by that exactly but I know that it’s true. I am looking forward to this next phase of life, or at least the year ahead, though not without some trepidation, the hesitation spoken of above. But I will not have old memories glamorized. In fact I look around and see cautionary tales of people doing that, perhaps, in an effort to cash in on some forms of nostalgia, while it only weakens the great work already done. Nay, I will stay in the now and I will let my spotted soul take as many swipes at the grand illusion as it may. Silence!

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Under a twelve-fold rulership of Aquarius, A Seeker After Occult Knowledge Is Reading An Ancient Scroll Which Illumines His Mind is the Sabian Symbol at Virgo 29°. This is about realigning with primordial Revelation of the Truth of Man; and if you’re a follower of Starsky + Cox then you know that the words Revelation and Truth are Aquarius biggies! It’s not enough to break things down and seize power as was portrayed by yesterday’s oracle. After such crisis, overcoming static situations and the status quo, we must tap the most essential realities of what we represent and what we signify, lest we just live in a shadow state of what we overcame.

Think of Obama bopping in after Bush. It’s not just a matter of being like, hey, we are a new order. No. He had to keep speaking to our essential, better nature. It had to be hit home time and again (and still it hasn’t infiltrated some numb skulls). Rudhyar tells us, in occult teaching that there actually is something called the Pattern of Man that can be tapped into, especially, after we experience crisis. Though it is always the same, at each new cycle, it manifests in a different light and manner. In short we’ve got to get down to the nitty gritty to annihilate  every itty bitty piece of outmoded constructs that had previously paralyzed us.

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Virgo 28° sees A Baldheaded Man Who Has Seized Power as it’s symbol. We are ruled here by Capricorn in a twelve-fold sequence. Dane Rudhyar speaks of this as the catabolic state, that which we know as one over-training, say, of an athlete without proper nutrition. You know, exactly how one feels after a full week of Afterglow Festival shows, rehearsing three shows a day, producing three shows a night, with added partying and late night revelry, no sleep, and no time to properly sit down for meals. That sounds about right. And yet this break down is meant to be a seizure of power, taking things in a new direction and decisions into ones own hands. It’s a major shifting of gears that’s for sure.

This day we witness the sheer power of human will and it is awesome.

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The Symbol for 27° Virgo, which coincided with our final night of Afterglow Festival shows on Sunday evening, is A Group Of Aristocratic Ladies Meet Ceremonially At A Court’s Function. Fittingly, the Sunday night program was made up of three great ladies and their roles, as women, females, was the thread that ran through it.

First Nora Burns’ piece David’s Friend explored her role as best friend and “fag hag” to someone she loved who died of AIDS at the age of 31. Roles, in so far as they relate to formality, was the keynote here. For she lamented the fact that, though she is mother and partner, that she can never be best friend again. It was a very moving piece and, despite the fact that Nora claims she has no spirituality, quite soulful and there were two sets of undry astrologists eyes in the audience I can tell you that. Nora’s journey parallels our own in many ways, coming of age in Boston and moving to New York at a time when the crescendo of disco cum punk club scene was crashing into AIDS crisis. It was a tough one but beautifully done.

Next, Fauxnique performed The F Word, being that of feminist and she explored this role from a fresh perspective via spoken word and song and her signature interpretative dance suffused form of the best drag on the planet. A real woman, whose real mother was something of a drag mother, Fauxnique owns the role of drag queen just as she owns the role of feminist, there being no mutual exclusion in the mix. And it’s a visual feast because she changes clothes and wigs and looks so fast before your eyes it would be dizzying but for the fact she keeps it real and unslick and speaks to her transformation, typically as she is making it.

Bridget Barkan

And then there was Bridget Barkan whose show, Songs For Recovery served as finale to the festival. Emphasis on the word: served. The pipes on this young woman are astounding…is astounding? Whatever. It was such a great show in which she explored the role of woman who loves to much in a fresh, unique way. In her case she is actually recovering from the role she’s played as a member of the female persuasion in the face of gender counterparts. Performance art meets pop divadom. So powerful. And, ironically there was a row of drunken women—in the front row. They wouldn’t shut up. Especially the most incoherent one on the end. I tried to reason. That only made them louder. Ultimately Bridget paused and schooled them from the stage with a compassionate appeal to their better natures and it sort of worked. Well, long enough to get through the show anyway.

Taken together there was something truly archetypal about the evening. Indeed, something ceremonial in their exploration of their assigned, assumed, assuaged and aspirational roles. They played their parts and they did so exceedingly well. This symbol is ruled by Sagittarius in a twelve-fold sequence, a sign governed by Jupiter. The female archetype of Jupiter is his sister-wife Juno, goddess of women and knowledge and power.

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