The Sabian Oracle -- In Practice

Richard Hill The greatest difficulty in dealing with communications from the intuitive/unconscious/right side of the brain is accurately understanding the message. Our world, particularly the Western world, has developed such a dependence on rational/conscious/left side of the brain thought patterns that it can become downright confusing dealing with the different method of thinking that arises from the intuitive. The principal differences between the two styles of thinking are that the rational is predominantly literal, speaking in words and dependent on personal or learnt experience, whereas the intuitive is predominantly symbolic, expressed in images, colours, feelings, shapes, perceptions and abstractions, and is inherently aware of all past experience. In the main, symbolic representation requires some form of processing to arrive at a deeper and more purposeful meaning. It is even possible, and often necessary, to conduct a number of processing sessions where each session reveals another level of depth and a clearer meaning. In this day and age the main obstacle to this type of deep personal resolution is time. By moulding our behaviour and response to logical and rational precedent, regardless of the conflict with personal desire, society can function in a more predictable and practical way. This is assuming that imposed practicality is the best way to achieve a happier and more fulfilled existence. I do not believe this to be so. Carl Jung's philosophy of life is described in Man and his Symbols as: Man becomes whole, integrated, calm, fertile and happy when (and only when) the process of individuation is complete, when the conscious and the unconscious have learnt to live at peace and to complement each other. The Sabian Symbols are one of the tools that can assist in this process. The purpose of the explanatory text by Lynda and myself is to also assist in speeding up the process and perhaps satisfying some of the time constraints. The text is only meant to be a guide. Sometimes it will be the symbol which opens up the flow of intuitive dialogue, sometimes the text, other times just snippets of each. It doesn't matter, so long as it works. There are a number of generally accepted meanings and archetypes to certain symbols. It is, however, important to realise that each individual has a personal experience of a symbol. Symbols will have different meanings to different people at different times in different situations, although the symbol will define the parameters. During a workshop I was conducting on development of the intuition, I asked each person to draw a Sabian and try to discover the intuitive message the it inspired. Later, I asked them to gather in pairs and draw another symbol. This time I told them to read the symbol for their partner. One woman immediately let out a quiet "ooh-ah". She told me that her perception of the symbol had suddenly changed when I said it should relate to her partner. Even more to the point is that her "reading" for her partner was uncannily accurate and the different "reading" for herself was equally uncannily accurate. Despite stating all this, there are a number of recurrent symbols throughout the Sabians and in symbolism generally that have a standard acceptance and warrant being mentioned. Water is generally accepted as representing the emotions; Ocean, the source of life; Breath, the spirit; Triangle, the spiritual trinity; Square, the combination of the four elements; East, the spiritual focal point; Flight, thought and imagination; Serpent, new life, sexuality, evil force; Dance, the act of creation; Birds, human souls; Window, consciousness; Steps, ascension, higher self; Rainbow, bridge from heaven to earth, conscious to unconscious. This list is by no means exhaustive and there are a number of good books available that will expand your knowledge. These symbols, and many others, occur throughout the Sabians. What separates the Sabians from most other symbolic oracles are the modern images. More ancient symbolic systems require an understanding of the culture at that time. The Sabians are more accessible to people of today and still have the deeper archetypal resonance. The Car is symbolic of the individual; the Train, the collective; Window Shopping, things out of reach; Glass Bottomed Boat, viewing the emotions; Santa Claus, the bringer of gifts and so on. It is quite extraordinary that in the creation of 360 symbols in one day that there is very little overlap or duplication. One example of similar symbols is Aquarius 9: "A flag turned into an eagle" and Sagittarius 12:"A flag that turns into an eagle that crows". There is a strong difference, however, in the addition of the crowing. One is the turning from idealism to reality and the other is where the idealism is not only realised, but loudly declared. Remembering that the symbols were created in random order, it is interesting that Pisces 26, 27, and 28 all reflect aspects and attitudes of the Moon, a very Piscean relationship. There is also a very broad variety of symbols ranging from the very mundane, Cancer 5:"An automobile wrecked by a train" to the purely esoteric Aries 5:"A triangle with wings" to the delightfully humanistic Gemini 24:"Children skating on ice". From an astrological point of view there are a number of structural interrelationships and progressions, but that is not essential in the use of the Sabians as an oracle. Although it isn't necessary to analyse the relationship and structure of the symbols to use them as an oracle, it is interesting nonetheless. As you work with the symbols you may find yourself noticing relationships between the symbols, but these too will vary according to your needs at the time. It is also not necessary to have any special knowledge of astrology or symbolism to be able to use the oracle, although such knowledge will no doubt be useful. The important thing is to open up to the intuitive dialogue from within and let the Sabians guide and inspire. As a clairvoyant, I use the Sabians as an inspirational tool. The accuracy and depth that the symbols release never cease to amaze me. One client was very perplexed as to what to do with her future. She was in her forties and wished to move to another area and start afresh. I could see clairvoyantly that she would be working with quite old and also quite young people. They seemed to be very ill. Drawing the symbol Aquarius 20:"A big white dove, a message bearer" led us to piece together her skills as a beautician, her desire to talk with others and the revelations she had had the previous year about death after caring for her mother in her last months. These became a practical vision of her working with terminal patients as a comforter and using her beautician skills to pamper or do face painting or a makeover to lift their spirits. She was thrilled. Another client was discussing her issues and I couldn't help feeling that she was too fussy and this was contributing to her problems. Drawing Virgo 5:"An ornamental handkerchief" confirmed my feelings and gave us the perfect image to help modify her fussiness. She could see that an ornamental handkerchief is only brought out on specific occasions, not really for day to day use. She was very pleased to understand how to manage her fussiness in a positive way. An example of different clients drawing the same symbol is with Gemini 11:"Newly opened lands open virgin realms of experience". The first client was in the doldrums and was looking to me to give her some sense of purpose. I sensed that her problem was not so much that she was inactive, but that she wanted to be more active. With the guidance of Gemini 11 she admitted that she wanted to do things, but felt frightened and incapable. The Sabians inspired her to take courage and follow her heart. In the second case the client was focussing on selling her home. She didn't really have to, but after I sensed that where she was living held a great deal of unpleasant history she opened up to the truth of her marriage separation and loss of friends. Gemini 11 gave her the feeling of an adventurous pioneer and this felt good to her. She decided to move forward. Another client who wished to travel, but was unable to take the plunge, drew quite a different Sabian, Taurus 5:"A widow at an open grave". I clairvoyantly sensed a deadness in my belly and a swelling of anguished tears into my throat. She had, indeed, lost a child in childbirth and Taurus 5 helped her to realise that she had to let go, not just suppress. We both had a little cry and she felt she could begin the real process of letting go. Her trip away was postponed for just a short while. These examples are only a brief portion of the reading and I would select several other Sabians to arrive at the clear picture, but I am sure you can see the guidance and deeper understanding found and how the Sabians acted as a key to open the flow of intuitive clairvoyance. Jung talks of the conscious and the unconscious as being separate parts of the mind that come together cooperatively in individuation. The Sabians Symbols can act as the catalyst. The intuitive part of the mind thinks symbolically and by using symbols the mind seems to find it easier to switch to the intuition. In my client examples you can see that the left side takes in the words of the symbol and creates an image that opens the right side. This allows the inherent wisdom of the intuition to flow. Contemplation of the feelings and symbols from the intuition are eventually able to be communicated through to the left side and expressed in language. But what is this clairvoyant knowledge that comes out? How can we know intimate details of other lives? This is, I find, the most curious aspect of "reading". For me it comes as pictures and feelings, often duplicating physical symptoms of the client in my own body. Some people have spirits and guides that tell them (clairaudience), some channel, some use colours or essences or jewellery. Others are inspired by the tarot or numerology or astrology or palms. Some say it comes from within and others say it is given from without. In the final analysis it is probably best not to analyse at all. It is not the degree to which we can pin something down that is as important as using something that "works" for practical benefit. The sceptics, of course, argue that if you don't know how it works then it isn't real. To some degree this is true. You can't just make anything up and expect people to believe it, nor should you blindly believe everything presented to you. But I often remind sceptics that there are many things we don't truly understand. Scientific explanation is, by its nature, based on things that already exist. Once explained, however, greater clarity and understanding can be achieved. I still hear people attributing esoteric qualities to things that have quite different qualities. This is one of the reasons why sceptics are able to maintain their rage. The concept of universal consciousness is on the lines of, if the universe is connected in its pattern and flow, like some huge pool of water, then no matter where or how the water is affected we can all share the experience and knowledge. I believe this to be true because I have seen it happen time and time again with my own eyes and heart. The Sabian Symbols have opened up a wealth of understanding and vision in my practice and in my life. I can't rationally explain how it works (although given 250 pages I'd give it a good try), but I am enriched and privileged to "use it".