Sabian Symbols: A man in fur leading a shaggy deer

A man in fur leading a shaggy deer

This universal idea is best expressed through planets in

Cancer 3 (2° - 3°)

STRENGTH OF WILL
​We can only develop a stronger will when 
​challenged by great difficulty
"Facing up to challenges with ardent determination"

There are challenges that arise when we face new levels of responsibility, we have others to consider and we are as yet inexperienced in expressing ourselves as part of the greater whole. It takes more than desire or energised curiosity to manage our  lives - now it requires strengthening of will.

Rudhyar: 
A MAN BUNDLED IN FUR LEADS A SHAGGY DEER

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A man bundled in fur leads a shaggy deer

Indomitability

We are fully alive only when experiencing what is uncontrollable

The strange image suggests an outdoorsman with little adherence to conventionality or home comforts, and is indicative of the indomitable spirit of humanity as it faces the challenge of harsh conditions with confidence and grit.

Each of us has highly individual roots, and from these we grow firm in our conviction of who we are and what gives us our power. That part of us, which is concerned with survival and individuality, insists on strengthening itself through new experiences.

It is most helpful to consider all particular restrictions and handicaps as actually self-imposed and eventually unnecessary. We tend to accept limitations because of the comforts we require – but they are not beyond repudiation if our taste is for adventure.

From cradle to grave, we go through various phases of self-discovery, and at each point, we must find the inner resources we need to deal with what comes up – however strange, however challenging.

The trail-blazing instinct is writ deep and clear in the human heart. We are all pioneers on some level, and any permanent capitulation in the name of safety and pleasure is a distortion – an abuse of the principle of recuperation and rest.

Most normal experiences are self-limiting when allowed to become habitual and unconscious. Opportunities are everywhere to be found by one who disdains limitations and thus rejects the inevitability of always returning to the status quo and therefore the imposed authority of the powers that be.
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Life is real and rewarding only as it can be carried on from something known to something unknown. We are fully alive only when experiencing the adventure of what is essentially uncontrollable.

A man all bundled up in fur leading a shaggy deer

Advanced Level: Elven Star Analysis

​Although we can find relevance in some way to all 360 degrees, each degree resonates particularly, and mysteriously, with the 6 other points of its Elven Star and clues, from the 7 Words System, and the Sabian Journey, are shown in the text below. This third degree of the Expression "Pragmatism" is the Reconciling principle.

The scope of Cancer 3 is "Facing up to challenges with ardent determination", and its means of expansion is Sagittarius 7, "Being receptive to the stirring of emotions". Its preferred path, Taurus 11, "Constructing a beautiful personality", leads to its principle challenge, found in Libra 15, "Serene realisation of the cycles of creation and destruction".
Awareness of its spiritual purpose is described in Pisces 20, "Live with an attitude of gratitude", which generates the feedback found in Leo 24, "Giving attention only to what matters" and thus the evolutionary gateway offered by Capricorn 28, "Awareness of signs and subtle metaphors in life". 

​(This list will differ slightly from your Elven Star points unless your degree is exact, such as Taurus 15:00 not Taurus 15:39)

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