Sabian Symbols: Fat boy mowing the lawn
Fat boy mowing the lawn
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This universal idea is best expressed through planets in
Sagittarius 29 (28° - 29°)FITTING IN WITH SOCIAL EXPECTATIONS
However eccentric we may be there is always interface with society, which requires us to conform to its collective sense of respectability When someone maintains a garden so that it has both natural and cultivated aspects the result pleases the community deeply. A wild garden appears to threaten the status quo being seen as the product of a lazy, slovenly person or a careless rebel. An absolutely manicured garden with no evidence of self-expression is often indicative of cold authority and extreme control. So too with our lives – a little bit of wildness and a lot of disciplined social consciousness is a formula that gains social approval, and actually is often the healthiness strategy since it usually requires us to do physical exercise.
Rudhyar: A FAT BOY MOWING THE LAWN OF HIS HOUSE ON AN ELEGANT SUBURBAN STREET |
A fat boy mowing the lawn of his house on an elegant suburban street
Participation
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To be involved in community, we must each find a way to attend to another’s needs
All of us must participate as individuals within a group context and this inevitably requires us to offer a service that has practical relevance to our community. ‘Community’ is a concept; in reality we have to find a way to attend to the needs of individuals. Doing so, we give evidence of a broader competency. Not only can we mow this lawn, we can probably mow other lawns, and perhaps even trim hedges. The range of our potential contributions is like an artist’s palette, and speaks of what we have made familiar over the years through the innumerable choices that express our preferences. We can now see that how we serve is the creative expression of who we are. If this service is half-hearted, we will not win full acceptance from our fellows. In most cases, doing our very best is enough to earn full approval, with all the benefits that go along with that approval. It is by mastering challenges that we gain respect – the community needs its members to rise up and overcome. The grinding pressure to conform can mould a person tightly into a pattern that will only ever throw up clones and robots whose projection into the future is dull and perfunctory. The true servant of collective well-being will be able to meet this life-denying force and assert a more creative outcome. In adulthood, the refinement of selfhood thrives on this. Counter-intuitively, the grind is what throws up individuality so much more extravagantly than would a supportive, encouraging environment. The power of social moulding typically tries to disempower primitive appetites and instincts yet can have the exact opposite effect – and the person who can access both the primitive and the social is rare and special. This is the one who has learned to tame the beast. A calm disposition engenders an effective attitude of service, yet the inner passion that allows unbridled appetite is never far away. |
