11° Libra, ruled by Aquarius in a twelve-fold sequence, is A Professor Peering Over His Glasses At His Students, and it’s funny, but I kind of feel that perspective in my bones, today, universally. If one imagines they are doing likewise it indicates to simultaneous points of view: that close at hand requiring personal focus, if not introspection, and a certain checking up on the behavior of others. We keep finding images of the Master in these Libra symbols (though I’ve yet to bump into any immortal alchemists on the streets of Paris this past week, while I’m still hoping) and this one addresses the “problems attending the transmission of knowledge in a special cultural setup. Sure, sure.

There is something inately humorous if not sit-comy about this image, as if the old professor (played by Jim Broadbent in my mind) brings a wealth of mystical knowledge to the table while dealing with the comic antics of students who can’t yet grasp the wisdom but for a few Harrys, Rons and Hermoines in the bunch. Something like that. But I am trying to take this oracle seriously. The professor must look up from his books, the source of his own great wisdom, and observe the very human beings of his students who will not easily or readily absorb the information he’s transmitting. If not an image of kindly affection, it is surely one of patience. We can’t expect everyone to get what we’re putting out there. We must gauge their reactions and measure their absorbtionability. We must see over, even, our own great intelligence, rising above even our wisdom, to find compassion for those who are grappling and yet don’t possess the enlightenment we enjoy. The professor is only partly looking down his nose, he cannot be fully suffused with superiority or he would alienate those he is encouraging a long the path he has trodden. He is focused on instruction—the putting of knowledge into others—rather than their education—the drawing out of others elements of character—and so he is experiencing shifting limits and obstacles to that aim. I hear you professor, I hear you.

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