Sabian Symbols: History, Info & Articles.

Yea

Just one more comment on the Garden of the Tuileries, in my minds eye I always associated this symbol with RED.. now I have a better understanding of why I suppose...

I love the petrified forest symbol.. you have so much information here Elven.. its excellent.. I have got some petrified wood at home - not of the crystal variety but it looks like perfect wood, really beautiful..

Thank you Elven!

Marina

Gemini 4: Holly And Mistletoe

Hi All,

I just read this wonderful explaination by MCsea on Mistletoe and Holly and thought it needed to go here as it is very interesting and relates so well to the Symbol GEMINI 4:HOLLY AND MISTLETOE BRING CHRISTMAS SPIRIT TO A HOME.
Thankyou MCsea I love it:

MCsea said:

Forget Christmas being religous, remember spiritual... MORE on Holly and Mistletoe - for others interested in this symbol (in regard to relationships)

When Balder, the son of the Norse goddess Frigga, was killed by an arrow made of mistletoe by Loki, and evil spirit, she wept tears of white berries which brought him back to life. Overjoyed, Frigga blessed the plant and bestowed to kiss all who passed beneath it.

Mistletoe was held sacred by the Norse, the Celtic Druids and the North American Indians. The Druid priests would cut mistletoe from an oak tree with a golden sickle. The branches had to be caught before they touched the ground. They then divided the branches into many sprigs and distributed them to the people, who hung them over doorways as protection against thunder, lightning and other evils. The folklore continued over the centuries. It was believed that a sprig placed in a baby's cradle would protect the child from goblins. Giving a sprig to the first cow calving after New Year would protect the entire herd.

Holly was the sacred plant of Saturn and was used at the Roman Saturnalia festival to honour him. Romans gave one another holly wreaths and carried them about decorating images of Saturn with it. It was used as folk medicine for toothache, measles and dog bites.

Mistletoe and holly at Christmas
To avoid persecution during the Roman pagan festival of Saturnalis, the early Christians decked their homes with Saturnalia holly. As Christian numbers increased and their customs prevailed, holly and mistletoe lost their pagan associations and became symbols of Christmas.

Peace and joy... and kisses
Mistletoe is a symbol for peace and joy. The idea originated in the ancient times of the Druids: whenever enemies met under the mistletoe in the forest, they had to lay down their arms and observe a truce until the next day. From this comes the custom of hanging a ball of mistletoe from the ceiling and exchanging kisses under it as a sign of friendship and goodwill.

At Christmas a young lady standing under a ball of mistletoe cannot refuse to be kissed. The kiss could mean deep romance, lasting friendship and goodwill.

Mistletoe is a partial parasite, a "hemiparasite." As a parasitic plant, it grows on the branches or trunk of a tree and actually sends out roots that penetrate into the tree and take up nutrients. It is also capable for growing on its own, producing its own food by photosynthesis.

SO really this symbol has alot to DO with relationships..
Protection - are you seeking protection or giving it? And the mistletoe... did it mean deep roamance ------ or goodwill.

Click to expand...

Blessings
Elven x

Sabian Symbol GEMINI 4: HOLLY AND MISTLETOE BRING CHRISTMAS SPIRIT TO A HOME.

Some more info and history on Misletoe!

There are some pictures of Mistletoe are here. The text is in the post!
Enjoy.
http://www.apsnet.org/online/feature/mistletoe/

Not many generations ago, before the advent of television and home entertainment centers, neighbors and relatives frequently visited each other for fellowship and did so especially during the holidays. A common custom at Christmas-time was for the homemaker to place a sprig of mistletoe above a door frame or hang it from the ceiling of the dwelling. During the frequent get-togethers, any female who lingered there was fair game for a harmless kiss from nearby males. During the Yule season, mistletoe plants were sold in the market place and were as plentiful there as holly and the other widely used Christmas greenery. Today, greenery is still much used, but the use of mistletoe is seldom practiced even though almost everyone has heard of the custom of kissing under the mistletoe. In an era of televised and widely accepted sexual freedom such a custom seems sweetly quaint and naive and perhaps is not sophisticated enough to survive our modern moral standards.

Mistletoes are flowering plants (angiosperms) that obtain their nutrition by living on and parasitizing other plants. This relationship was observed across the European continent by ancient peoples who were so impressed with these plants that the mistletoe became interwoven into legends, myths, and religious beliefs. It will be my purpose to acquaint the reader with the historic origins of some of these customs, especially with those on the European continent, and why they have survived to some extent to the present day.


History

As ancient European people interacted with their environment and began to reason why certain things were the way they were, they developed an intense interest in trees. Possibly because of the many amenities derived from trees, and especially the oaks, trees came to be worshiped by these early Europeans. This eventually led to another Christmas ritual that has survived almost to the present, along with the seasonal ritual use of mistletoe. As part of a series of rituals, they burned logs around the time of the winter solstice. After conversion of the people to Christianity, the tradition of burning logs was changed to begin early on Christmas eve. A log was to be kept burning all night, and this culminated in a great celebration on Christmas morning. This yuletide custom of burning the Yule log was widely practiced until only a few decades ago, and probably ceased with the advent of centralized heating. The decline in the use of mistletoe probably was due to other factors.

Although the Greek philosopher Theophrastus (370 to 270 BC) described the common European leafy mistletoe, it was Pliny the Elder (23 to 79 BC) who wrote detailed descriptions of the attitude of some people toward the mistletoe. He recorded the widely held belief that whatever grew on the sacred oak was sent from heaven and, since mistletoe was only occasionally found on the oak, it was indeed cause for celebration when it was encountered (4). Pliny also recorded the belief that the mistletoe in winter contained the life of the oak after it had lost its leaves the preceding autumn. It was believed that the mistletoe plant was protected in some mystical sense from injury or harm. If it was cut from the oak, it retained some of these mystical powers, which could be channeled as healing powers. However, if it touched the ground after it was harvested, its healing powers would be lost.

While mistletoe played an important part in some later Greek and Nordic myths and legends, its relationship with the ancient Celts, who lived in ancient Gaul, Britain, and Ireland, is one of the earliest known examples of the importance of mistletoe. The Druids, who were the priests of a Celtic religious order, regarded the leafy mistletoes as having mystical properties and worshiped them (10). This belief in mystical properties was due, at least in part, to the fact that mistletoes often grew on the branches of the revered oak tree. In the autumn, as the length of the day decreased, religious significance was focused on the winter solstice, the shortest day of the entire year. The people observed that the mistletoe plants growing on the oaks retained their leaves while at the same time the oaks lost theirs. During the winter, the golden boughs of the mistletoe plant, with its yellow-green leaves and large white berries, seemed to be a remarkable phenomenon, and thus, the mistletoe plant was believed to have mystical properties.


The Druids also had a ceremony at Midsummer Eve which involved cutting a mistletoe plant from an oak tree with a golden sickle to initiate a ceremony in which animals and human beings were slain and burned (Fig. 5). When the Celts were later Christianized, they may have found it difficult to completely abandon their respect for the mistletoe plant, and it somehow became incorporated into a supposedly harmless custom which the early Christian church overlooked, even though it was widely practiced by its members.

While a feeling of veneration for mistletoe was widely shared by early European peoples, it was the Greeks who incorporated mistletoe into some of their myths and legends. The "Golden Bough" of Virgil's hero, Aeneas, was in fact mistletoe. Aeneas was arbitrarily chosen by the Latin poets to be the mythical progenitor of the Roman people. It was Aeneas' wish to visit hell, but on his way there he first had to pass through a vast and gloomy forest. Two doves guided him to a tree bearing a mistletoe plant (Fig. 6). He took the golden bough, and with its flickering light he was able to pass through the forest. When he emerged from the forest and showed the bough to the reluctant ferryman at the river Styx, both were immediately transported to the nether world. Such was the power of the mistletoe plant!


Another popular myth that involved mistletoe was that of the Norse god Balder. The myth held that the heavenly bodies, which included the gods, were created fresh every day. Odin, Balder's father, tried to help prolong Balder's life beyond that day and extracted a promise from all living beings not to harm him. However, he overlooked the mistletoe, and during archery practice, a rival gave an arrow made from a twig of mistletoe to Balder=s blind brother who accidentally shot Balder and killed him. This doesn't make too much sense to us today, but it probably made good logic at that time within the constraints of a myth. Probably as a result of trial and error, mistletoe plants were also found to have certain medicinal properties, and knowledge of these characteristics undoubtedly contributed to the mystical nature of mistletoe. In the ancient language of the Druids, mistletoe meant "all-healing." Some attributes were undoubtedly based in truth. However, others were certainly based on faulty reasoning. For example as late as 1900, an interesting use of mistletoe was for the treatment of epilepsy (10), which two millennia earlier was documented by Pliny. The rationale was that since mistletoe was rooted in the branch of a tree, and could not possibly fall to the ground, so too, an epileptic who took a decoction of mistletoe or carried it in his pocket could not possibly fall to the ground.


From the Middle Ages to the last century, the literature is filled with examples of different uses for mistletoe plants, especially among rural people. It was cut, tied in bunches, and hung in front of cottages to scare away passing demons. It was hung over doors of stables to protect horses and cattle against witchcraft. In Sweden, it was kept in houses to prevent fire. It Italy it was believed to be able to extinguish fire. It was widely held to be a universal healer. As a potion it would make barren animals conceive. Even Pliny had known it was a cure for epilepsy, and that it could be used to promote conception. It healed ulcers if chewed. In Wales it was thought that, if placed under a pillow, mistletoe would induce dreams of omen. There were various customs in several countries that utilized mistletoe plants in rituals to find treasure. Collectively, these customs prove that mistletoe had a profound effect on people's lives and imaginations.

When Christianity became widespread in Europe after the 3rd century AD, the religious or mystical respect for the mistletoe plant was integrated to an extent into the new religion. In some way that is not presently understood, this may have led to the widespread custom of kissing under the mistletoe plant during the Christmas season, possibly relating to the belief in the effects on fertility and conception. The earliest documented case of kissing under the mistletoe dates from 16th century England, a custom that was apparently very popular at that time.

Much less is known about early historical aspects of the dwarf mistletoes. Because the plants of the dwarf mistletoes were small in size and not very abundant on the European continent, there is no record that ancient peoples of this region took any interest in the dwarf mistletoes. Although there are several species of dwarf mistletoes (Arceuthobium) in the European, Asian, and African continents, their most extensive development occurred in Central and North America, where there are over 3 dozen species of dwarf mistletoes.

One of the smallest and most evolutionarily advanced species is Arceuthobium pusillum, which is found mainly in the spruce forests of eastern Canada and the eastern United States. The leafy mistletoes do not occur there because it is too cold in winter. However, even though the leafy mistletoes were not found there, Fernald (2) states that the women of the St. John and St. Lawrence River valleys wore sprigs of dwarf mistletoe in their hair while attending dances, following the European custom of women wearing leafy mistletoe in their hair, long before this species of dwarf mistletoe was known to science.

WOW
Blessings
Elven x

Hi Symbollers

Ok, I thought I would post again because I wasnt sure what an Old Adobe Mission was - until I found one. 'Adobe' is also the type of brick made for the building.
This is in relationship to AQUARIUS DEGREE 1: AN OLD ADOBE MISSION IN CALIFORNIA.

The 'Old Adobe Mission' thread below is included here as it is actually called that. There is a picture and a small amount of history and photos. I also included it because I liked the name of the Parish: Our Lady of Perpetual Help!! Elsie Wheeler is with us.

http://www.olphaz.com/old_adobe_mission.htm

The Old Adobe Mission is a true historic monument. Its beauty and simplicity of design, and the quiet majesty of the structure continues to call people to contemplation and serenity - truly, a still point in a turning world.

Click to expand...

Making something from the natural elements:

Missions were generally made out of local materials. Originally, there were largely reed structures; often no more than huts. As the colonization continued and more native peoples were made available for work, the missions started to be constructed out of adobe but they still had reed roofs and dirt floors. Still later, after some of the uprisings, the mission roofs were covered with tile over the reed roofing; this helped to prevent fires and better protected the adobe walls which tended to basically melt in the rains. The dirt floors were eventually replaced with adobe/clay, tile, what's called Roman Cement, or wood or stone. Of these materials, adobe was the most common as it's basically dried mud made from local dirts with added vegetable materials.

Construction of an adobe building is actually fairly straightforward; although very labor intensive. Raw materials have to be gathered; bricks, tiles and lumber have to be made or worked; and then all the processed raw materials had to be put together into the building. Of course, all of this work required labor and also had to be coordinated with all the other daily tasks (e.g., tending to the agriculture and livestock plus prayers and education).

What is adobe?
Adobe, by name, dates from the Spanish colonization times. However, adobe as a building material can be traced as far back as 7000 BC where it was known by the Arab word "at-tub" (or Earth bricks). There are also biblical references to mixing straw and mud for construction purposes. In Spanish cultures "at-tub" became "adob" and the ending "e" was added during the combining of the Spanish and American Indian cultures during the colonization period. So, what we know as adobe has its roots in pre-history as a building material.


Now all I need is some info on one in California!
Enjoy
Blessings
Elven x

ARIES 5: A TRIANGLE WITH WINGS.
A WHITE TRIANGLE IS SEEN; IT HAS GOLDEN WINGS.


Studying this symbol, from Lynda Hills book, The Symbol speaks of spiritual ascention, rising above the ordinary, using your natural gifts and finding a new perspective. Uplifting and expanding. Being grounded and aware of reality. Balance and perspective. Inspiration and zeal. Taking off and finding new dimensions.

With some further study I also found that the representation of the TRIANGLE WITH WINGS is used in many ways - but has a tendecy to around certain subjects. This has to do with aviation, especially with the significance of signias and design of aircraft (wings and proportion), coats of arms and emblems, butterflys and insects, constellation patterns, Sailing and boats - especially sail design and also in architecture.
Even the choas theory gives me some insight into butterflys and perpetual triangles!

These Symbols make me think of Elsie Wheeler and her passion for 'aeroplanes', also the little sailing boats that are in Balboa Park and in the ponds of the Garden of Tuileries (Gemini 3).

Some examples for inspiration.

Insignias - emblems for the USA Marines:
Commander, Attack Wing, Pacific Fleet, Winded bomb on globe on black and gold bordered Navy blue triangle
Winged “1” on black bordered triangle.
Numeral “8” and eagle on triangle.
Gold-bordered, Navy triangle w/control tower & gold aviator's wings.
Fig of bird in flight below rainbow on gray bordered 4 ½ In. black triangle.
Gooney Bird in flight above ship & aircraft on red bordered 4 ½ In. Navy blue triangle


A type of plane.
The Triangle is a weird Czech ARF plane. It's super lightweight, with a 24" wingspan, yet supposedly fully aerobatic.


Delta Plane wings
The French made jet, Mirage 2000 has large triangular delta wings. (Delta is a Greek letter that looks like a triangle) The delta wings of this plane provide exceptional high-speed flight performance.


Emblems
Legend of the Foundation of Ancient Mexico City
By AD 1325, according to legend, the wandering Mexica tribe (Aztecs) wished to build a permanent city. They have been told by the gods to build their city in the spot where an eagle, perched on a cactus, would be seen eating a snake. The symbols were found in a region of lakes and islands. It was in this area where the Aztecs founded their great city of Tenochtitlán, right where we have today's Mexico City.
There is an additional feature to this symbol: there is a scarab right on the eagle's chest. The Scarab is a symbol for eternity. We may also notice that an upright equilateral triangle is formed when extrapolating the sides of the eagle's wings upwards, meeting at a point right above the serpent; the base of this imaginary triangle is found by connecting the tips of the wings through an imaginary horizontal line. The upright triangle has been used as a symbol of the three primary forces of the universe, whose names are varied in many cultures and throughout many different times and social circumstances: 1st Logos (represented with the blue color), 2nd Logos (represented in yellow) and 3rd Logos (represented in red); the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; Sephiroths Kether, Chockmah, and Binah (see the Tree of Life diagram in the Kabbalah section); Brahama, Vishnu, and Shiva; the "positive", the "negative" and the "neutral"; and others. Interestingly, the diverse combinations of these primary colors make up the rest of the colors of the color spectrum of the universe as it is visible to the human eye. All these three principles are nothing but three aspects of the same Beginning, the same Creator. This upright equilateral triangle represents also the ascension of materialism towards spirituality (represented many times by high-altitude birds such as eagles and hawks), the human disposition of transcending gross human imperfection (which causes attachment, desire and suffering) in order to experience permanent conscious complete enlightenment. The eagle devouring the serpent in this figure here represents, thus, within the process of complete enlightenment, the overcoming of human attachment and desire that usually lead to suffering.


Emblems - Coat of arms.
Cox Coat of Arms 3
On a wreath of the colors, an eagle displayed or, the wings vair, holding in each claw three ears of wheat, as in the arms. Motto: Super sidera votum.
(Arms: On a field of gold, a perched golden eagle, facing left, with wings raised, is on an inverted red triangle whose edges are like a silhouette of rounded nail heads fitted together alternating one up and on down all between six ears of wheat torn from the stem, arranged three on each side of the triangle, two crossing each other with on upright ear between them. Mantling: Ornamental drapery colored red and gold. Crest: On a wreath of gold and red, a gold eagle with wings of bell-shaped fur, holding in each claw three ears of wheat positioned the same as in the shield. Motto: My wishes are above the stars.) Traditional coat of arms of Henry Cox of London


Achitecture - Statue/Flight.
The Triangle Icon, which is located at RDU, commemorates the 100th anniversary of powered flight by Orville and Wilbur Wright on December 17, 1903. http://www.rdu.com/news/Stories/icon2.htm


Construction
Tension/compression triangle
Working much like a sling used by riggers for hoisting, triangles of type 1 are formed with two struts and two tendons. The two tension lines run from the end of one strut to the two ends of a second strut. Type 1 triangles always occur in pairs like butterfly wings.


Sails
An easy way to move around in the water is to use a sail. A sail is a piece of cloth on a pole (mast) in a boat. The wind fills the sail with air. The sailboat moves forward.
There must be wind to fill the sail and push the boat. A sail with three corners (triangle) will make the boat go fast.


The Triangle Butterfly
Graphium sarpedon earns its common name from the characteristic turquoise patches in the middle of its forewings and hind wings. The patches form a triangle with the apex pointing toward the tip of the lepidopteran's abdomen. Blue triangle butterflies bred in captivity display greener wing triangles and often lack the brilliance of free, native specimens.


Space: The Summer Triangle - Constellations.
my.voyager.net/~stargazer/telescope.html
The Summer Triangle is very easy to find. Around mid-July the Summer Triangle reaches the zenith, or the highest part of the sky, around 12:30 am EDT. The brightest star of the group is Vega, on the right side of the base of the triangle (as you face south and look upward). Vega is in the constellation Lyra "The Harp." It's difficult to imagine a Lyra since most people don't even know what a Lyra is! So just look for a small triangle, Vega once again being on the right side of the base, and a parallelogram just below the small triangle running north and south.
Eastward from Vega is the next star in the Summer Triangle, Deneb. Deneb basically means "Tail of the swan," telling us that we have come across the constellation Cygnus "The Swan." The bright star closest to Deneb is Sadr. This star marks the mid-body of the swan. Going to the northeast and southwest (Deneb being to the northwest) traces out the wings of the swan. At about the middle of the Summer Triangle is a bright star. The star, Albireo, represents the head of the swan. Albireo is perhaps the most beautiful binary star in the sky. What makes it so wonderful are the colors they reveal through even the smallest of telescopes. The brightest of the pair is a golden yellow and the other a sapphire blue.
The third constellation of the Summer Triangle is southward from Cygnus. The bright star, Altair, marks the head of Aquila "The Eagle." To either side of Altair is another star forming a vertical line of stars. These stars mark the beginning of the eagles wings. Each star points to another star showing us the tips of the wings. A triangular shape makes up the eagles body and two stars downward from the tip of the triangle make the eagles tail feathers.
Inside the Summer Triangle are two more constellations, Sagitta "The Arrow" and Vulpecula "The Fox." To the west of Aquila is a group of bright stars that form a backward "C". A closer look shows that the upper portion of the "C" makes a small diamond shape, this forms the head of Delphinus "The Dolphin" (Flipper if you prefer).

Romanian astronomer Oswald Thomas (1882-1963) described Vega, Altair and Deneb as "Grosses Dreieck" (Great Triangle) in the late 1920s and "Sommerliches Dreieck" (Summerly Triangle) in 1934.

http://www.neuliep.com/stellar-mythology/su-triangle.html
The Summer Triangle is a marker that helped the ancients identify the time of the year. These constellations are only some the summer constellations. The Summer Triangle contain some of the brightest stars in this section of sky. Vega, in Lyra, is the fifth brightest star in the night sky. Altair, in Aquila, is the eleventh brightest star. Deneb, of Cygnus, is the twentieth brightest star in the heavens. The Arabs used to say that summer came in on the wings of birds. At that time, all three constellations were pictured as birds, a swan, vulture and an eagle.


Im sure there are many more - but I found this very interesting. It has given me a 'heightened perspective' indeed!

Many Blessings
Elven x

Elven
that is fantastic, thank you - again,
I DO like the triangle with golden wings symbol..
it reminds me of the square brightly lit on one side,
which is my Chiron symbol... Ill share - where I SAW it
The night the Pope died I SAW that symbol - St Peters - SQUARE was brightly lit - from ONE side!
Yes bought up a Roman Catholic it meant - so much to me.

Marina

Hi MCsea - I have a bit of a connection with the 'square' Symbol as well. I've found it to be a great healing tool. To use it to write out your problems around the square and to see the answer on the lit side - have had some amazing insights for me!
I forgot to add to the 'Triangle with Wings' - the Bermuda triangle as well - due to the huge amount of planes which have dissappeared in the area.

Thanks MCsea
Blessings
Elven x

I don't know if this is the right place for this question.
However, I'll ask it anyway.

A couple of yearsago He bought me a big fat book called;
The Astrological Oracle by Lyn Birkbeck.

These are the Sabian Symbols (or so it says)
360 of them,ine for every degree of the zodiac.
Ways of drawing one, using cards or dice.
etc.

Anyhow, I didn't know anything about these symbols, except for what it said in the book, until I started noticing these posts about the Sabian Symbols.

Well, what I want to know is, how many books on the symbols are there?
And are they all the same
And does anyone else use the version I have?
If not, what other books/versions are there?

Hi lillie,

I might be able to answer some of the question here, but Lynda Hill who is the author of 360 degrees of Wisdom and www.sabiansymbols.com would be the authority on this. Lynda has lectured all over the world as is a member of this forum (How lucky are we!!!) and often helps us understand what the Symbols are about.

1: The Sabian Symbols were created or 'seen' by Elsie Wheeler - a Clairvoyant.
2:They were written down as Elsie saw them - by Mark Edmund Jones - an astrolger.
3:This was done at Balboa Park in San Diego in the early 1900's.
4:The 'original' words that Elsie used were scribbled down on randomly selected cards by Jones. The cards had an astrological degree on one side and Elsies words on the other.

These would be the original Sabian Symbols.

In this thread a little further up - there are some writings and insights about the symbols and how they have evolved since.

I think your question is a great one, beacause it can be confusing about 'which' are the correct Symbols and how are they used.
I use Lynda Hills books - I have 3 of them - they are all slightly different. But I will also refer to the Original symbols as well - just the headings - as I am not an astrolger, but use them for Oracle readings and practical personal advice. They dont defer much from the originals but, there is so much information bound within them. Ive found them to be the best oracle I have come across.

Maybe we could produce a list of known available books and resources for the Sabian Symbols. I know others have put their books in the thread as well.
Hopefully Lynda or MCsea will add to this as well.

Many Blessings
Elven x

This post has been edited to add the correct website address!!

Hmm.
I just went to www.sabiansymbol.com
It wasn't about sabian symbols, and then it tried to download a truckfull of spyware onto me.

Anyhow. I've been to the other site mentioned somewhere in this thread.
Curious stuff.

Like I said before, I did not choose to get the symbols. I got given them, and I have been puzzled by them ever since.

I have just been checking my book against some of the symbols given here at AT and also on the site about them.

They seem to be the same, sort of.
For instance, what is mentioned above as Aries 4; A triangle with wings. A white triangle is seen, it has golden wings.
My book just says A triangle with wings, and then goes on to give 4 interpretations of this for different parts of life.

So, what I am wondering now. Elsie in the park, what did she say?
Just the triangle with wings?
Or the whole thing, white triangle, golden wings?
And did she say anything else?
Are the interprtations part of what she said/saw?
Or are they made up by different authors for each book about the symbols?

As might be obvious by now, I am more than a little confused by this stuff.
I am not at all sure what to make of it.
There are some good images there, and lots of them, athough quite a few seem to be very time/culture specific.

No, I really don't know what to make of it.