INDIANA JONES AND THE QUEST FOR THE SABIAN SYMBOLS

“The dawn of a new day, everything changed … a canoe approaching safety through dangerous waters ... reaches …the gate to the garden of desire.”

Wait A Minute … NOT that Dr. Jones …

THIS Dr. Jones …

The late, great Marc Edmund Jones is widely remembered and accepted as the Dean of American Astrology. He remains one of the foremost reformers and pioneers in the field of astrology who made great strides in de-mystifying the science by correcting many of the misnomers connected to it. His work was dedicated to finding competent rather than superficial answers to the problems of life. He did not believe that an astrological chart carried “pre-destiny” but rather reflected human tendencies that could be understood and corrected by the proper use of astrology.

Jones was a high school drop out who ventured into the “business” world at an early age. This included experience with railroad yards, a machine shop and a stint at the Western Electric Company.  He managed to finish his formal education years later earning a Ph.D. in philosophy from Columbia University and as a philosopher par excellence authored Occult Philosophy a major metaphysical work. A highly spiritual and creative Soul, he served as a Presbyterian minister and as a screen writer at the dawn of the movie industry. He was instrumental in founding the Photoplay Authors League which would eventually become known as the Screen Writer’s Guild of America. As an astrology master and teacher, he believed in a comprehensive yet varied approach to astrology and his works and techniques are invaluable to today’s contemporary astrologers and students.

The Sabian Symbols, original to Marc Jones, are channeled symbols for each degree of the Zodiac. Each symbol carries a psychic description - a short vignette, a psychological delineation, and a keyword. Please note that the quote at the beginning of this post consists of three Sabian Symbol vignettes strung together. (Well, we have to have some fun don't we?) Jones was not the first astrologer to accomplish the feat of psychically channeled astro symbols. He was inspired to create a new set after studying the work of Charubel, an English seer whose real name was John Thomas. Charubel had psychically channeled his own set of astrological degrees which he used in the rectification process of horoscopes. Jones contemplated getting permission from Charubel to recast the overall descriptions of the symbols which he felt did not suit his more psychological purposes but quickly decided this was not the best route to follow. He decided to experiment and with the help of experienced psychic Zoe Wells obtained symbolic degrees for a deck of regular playing cards.

During this experiment, Wells apparently tapped into information that was pre-Mesopotamian and at the end of the session, “…an ancient seal was described by Miss Wells, as a mode of certification for what had been put down."  This impacted Jones but because of his own admitted scientific skepticism he disavowed the information. He also felt that the channeled interpretation was too general and not specific enough for his needs so he let the experiment slide. Unfortunately, there were no records made of the session and later attempts to retrieve the information were unsuccessful.

In 1923, Jones met Elise Wheeler who became one of his students. There is very little known about Elsie Wheeler. She was severely crippled with arthritis and was confined to a wheel chair. Due to her incapacitation, she was limited in worldly experience and for the most part, frightened of anything psychic but Jones recognized and appreciated her inner spark and accepted her as a student. Elsie was a natural medium and she learned a great deal from Jones. In a short time, her mediumistic talents grew enough to the point where she was able to support herself. She often complained to Jones that she wanted to do something more meaningful. When Jones decided to run the experiment again he asked Elise Wheeler to assist him. His feeling was that Elsie would have a fresher perspective because of her lesser degree of experience. So the experiment began…

The first concern was finding a place that would be environmentally proper for Elsie. She would be channeling symbols for the entire 360 degrees of the zodiac while tapping into information from what Jones referred to as “one of the (ancient spirit) Brothers who had the age-old saturation in the true Memphite (earlier Egyptian) schematism from which the zodiac was originally derived.” The experiment needed to be conducted in privacy and without distraction or interruption. Jones selected a section of Balboa Park in San Diego, California where there was little traffic and where the two could sit in a parked car without attracting attention. So, on an unrecorded date in 1925, Marc Jones picked Elsie Wheeler up in his car and drove them both to Balboa Park to begin the laborious task that would bear the fruits known as the Sabian Symbols.

Jones had prepared 360 plain index cards each bearing one of the astrological degrees upon which he would record the images that Elsie reported. Allowing for possible interruptions, he broke the session into quarters. The cards were shuffled continuously during the sessions and were placed face down so neither of them knew which degree was being channeled. Jones believed that shuffling “maintained the immediate synchronization with the source material.” As Elsie described each image, Jones would write the description down as quickly as he could with, “critical rejection and selection at each point of progress.” After the experiment was completed, Jones felt that one of the symbols was incorrect and he asked Elsie to channel it again. Since Jones was relying on cooperation from the ancient spirit “Brother” he asked Elsie if the Brother was there and if so, why he hadn’t corrected the error. Elsie responded that the Brother was there, “standing with his arms folded.” Concerning the error, she retorted that the Brother said … “that is up to you,” indicating that it was up to Jones to correct the error! (Nice to know that humor has no Universal bounds!)

Since Jones was still in a more scientific frame of mind at that time, he put the cards away in a trunk until he was able to structurally correlate them. After he worked out a mathematical structure for them, he expanded each original description with an accompanying vignette and keyword. He then turned them into an astrological lesson series called Symbolic Astrology. His ongoing dissatisfaction with the project lead to further changes until the official version of his work currently known as the Sabian Symbols in Astrology was published in 1953. The use of the word Sabian came about by accident according to Jones. It was a term that was used casually by his students while they were studying the Babylonian cultures. The students preferred to refer to these cultures as Sabian rather than Chaldean due to the unpleasant connotation connected to the term Chaldean at that time. Dr. Jones left the planet on March 5, 1980. He was 91 years young.

The Sabian symbols are used extensively by today’s astrological community but use of them is not restricted to this group. According to Jones, “There are unlimited ways in which these Sabian symbols can be interpreted and the practiced student or professional astrologer need not confine himself to any one mode of approach … however, the Sabian symbols are a fact and they may be examined and employed by anyone who wishes. They have entered the realm of common reality and become subject to the universal logic of man’s mind.” The symbols often add psychological depth to an astrological esoteric delineation and are used in various ways in esoteric techniques. Some astrologers believe that the degree and Sabian Symbol of one’s Ascendant holds special importance that is connected to past and future lifetimes. Remember the Sabian Symbols can be applied to anything and everything in an astrology chart of any kind.

When one is exposed to the Sabian Symbols for the first time it is an experience that can be likened to Walt Disney meets Carl Jung. Elsie Wheeler’s seemingly naïve one line impressions are backed by the powerful philosophy and psychology of Marc Jones. Consider the Sabian symbol for 21 degrees Pisces, A little white lamb, a child and a Chinese servant (can’t get much more Disney than that!). The keyword for this degree is TALENT and by vignette, Jones describes this as, “a symbol of the scattered divisions of labor through which any over-all reality is encountered by man in his everyday or more haphazard existence, and of the necessity that he brings the threads of his diffusion into a skein of meaning and opportunity.” Psychologically, Jones goes on to say that man, “… must learn that nothing acts alone or persists in a vacuum, and that in consequence there is an integrating significance throughout his own experience.  He must find this and draw it to a single focus in some special design of expression.” Simply put, this degree signifies that cohesive use of one’s talents leads to ‘Self’ discovery which contributes to ‘Self’ expansion. Conversely, choosing to remain clueless equates with refusal to grow in Spirit which contributes to an aimless state of life. So, what would an astrologer do with this information? Generally speaking, an astrologer would apply the Sabian information to a planet or point of the same degree and sign. It should be noted that just like everything else in astrology, the symbols work in polarity, yin/yang, positive/negative. For example, a person with Venus well aspected in Pisces could be capable of great artistry. At 21 degrees colored by the Sabian symbol, the individual would be able to draw on the Higher realms as artistic resources, bring the information into reality and create productively (integration). Poorly aspected Venus under these conditions could be ‘Self’ indulgent and ‘Self” centered and with Sabian coloring, lacking in objective perception of reality resulting in diffused talent (vacuum).

Ask your astrologer about the Sabian symbols in your chart. You might be pleasantly surprised or at the very least enlightened.