Sabian Symbols: A square brightly lighted on one side

A SQUARE BRIGHTLY LIGHTED ON ONE SIDE

This universal idea is best expressed through planets in

6th degree of Aries (5°- 6°)

SETTING STABLE LIFE PRINCIPLES
The desire to establish oneself as a unique person

The desire to individuate is expressed as single-pointedness of focus towards a particular aim. We must convince our fellows that we are not their enemy, and find an aspect of who we are that meets with society’s requirements of us. And we must also convince ourselves that we can find a way authentically to fit in.
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The regressive pulling-back – into non-individualisation within the vast womb of Nature – must be resisted, and the force of resistance is our urge to become different. Our sense of differentiation first awakens at the level of family and tribe (culture operates on the principle of exclusion: and one blood, one land, one people) and so we take on conventional behaviours, beliefs and practices. However, our yearning to be expressive as an individual focuses as a drive to achieve our own special goals and have our own special attitudes to life.

Rudhyar:
A SQUARE WITH ONE OF ITS SIDES BRIGHTLY ILLUMINED

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A square with one of its sides brightly illumined

Set

​A square brightly lighted on one side

The meaning of life is the relationship between knowledge and experience 

This image employs traditional symbolism: a square indicates materiality, and the light is spirituality. We are all challenged to set ourselves upon an enlightened path as we struggle with physicality.

Life gives an unending flow of encounters to assimilate into consciousness, which is possible only by giving meaning to these experiences; a path must have meaning, or events are disconnected and lack depth of purpose. Spiritual philosophy teaches that all is symbolic.

Knowledge and Experience

Without knowledge, experience is meaningless, yet without experience, knowledge is two-dimensional. Can we see that knowledge is the symbol of experience, and experience the symbol of knowledge? Each is the meaning of the other, and neither has meaning alone.

How we choose to create meaning out of experience is entirely dependent upon our system of values and preferences. There is interplay between what we value, how we understand things, and what we accumulate as knowledge. This subtle connection informs our every choice and our every response.

The events that reach deep into the core of our being do so because they can awaken hidden aspects within. Establishing our unique authentic identity is a prodigious task. We are taken into states of confusion, timidity and indecision – all of which are the antithesis of spirit, whose essential nature is spontaneous, courageous and certain – then our thoughts waver, and even the best of us lose sight of what we are becoming.

A set life-direction

A set life-direction, based on passionately-held principles and adherence to standards, is of greater worth than one that lacks purpose or clarity. It is more useful to oneself and the community; it brings substance and distinction, and in time it develops gravitas and wisdom.
It takes strength to assert oneself against the many forces that constantly push and pull from all sides; we must not surrender to the frustrations that arise, or the integrity of true self will be lost to distortion. Yet we still have to accommodate others’ positions and visions in order to maintain relevance and win support.

A set attitude to life will create two types of experiences – supportive and challenging – and both will be clearer and stronger according to the clarity and strength of our decided purpose to give a set form to our beliefs. We must learn to welcome each experience wholeheartedly, because both are eventually needed if we are to optimise our required outcomes, and integrate knowledge of the meaning of our lives.

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