The Book Of THoTH

                        Bill VanAlstyne
                    StarQuest Data Services
                       29 December, 1989

Over the ten or so years I have been practicing astrology, I have found Dane Rudhyar's 1973 reformulation of Marc Edmund Jones' original Sabian Symbols (An Astrological Mandala: The Cycle of Transformations and Its 360 Symbolic Phases) to be a profoundly enlightening and powerful adjunct to chart delineation. Though there are many ways to use the symbols (and Rudhyar's interpretations of them) in astrological work, I have found applying them to the angles of a chart -- especially the Ascendant -- to be the most immediately rewarding.

I have summarized Rudhyar's delineation of the four angles as they are related to the Symbols. In general:

Ascendant:
"WHAT is the essence-meaning or theme?"

Descendant:
"WHERETO will this theme lead?"

Nadir:
"HOW can one best act in order to succeed?"

Midheaven:
"WHY this process? What is the purpose of all this?

Specifically, then, for a Natal chart:

Discovering and meditating upon the correct Sabian Symbol for one's Ascendant is a tremendously powerful experience for most people, as it clearly defines the consciousness-essence of the Self in the present lifetime. It has been my experience that a correct birth-time and place will ALWAYS produce an Ascendant degree whose Sabian Symbol explicitly answers Question 1 above. Clients whose consciousness is oriented along a path of self- knowing will relate to the correct symbol immediately, often with emotional and body language (not to mention verbal communication) which indicates a great sense of excitement or, in many cases, seeming relief at being reminded of something forgotten in the confusion of incarnate existence. There is a definite sense of, "Whew! That's right! I'd almost forgotten, THAT'S who I am!"

Others, and oftentimes younger people, may not be able to see it quite so clearly; nevertheless, as you the Astrologer get to know the client's life-process and dynamics through the chart and your work with him or her, the correctness of the Sabian Symbol will at some point (usually quite early on) become quite apparent to YOU, even if it isn't yet to the client!

What can be easily overlooked is that the Sabian Symbols are a DYNAMIC symbol system representing a seamless and never-ending evolutionary process. I have seen many clients (including, some years ago, myself) who feel a peculia