Flag that turns into an eagle and crows

This universal idea is best expressed through planets in

12th degree of Sagittarius (11° - 12°)

ANNOUNCING THE AGE OF AQUARIUS
Humanity is on the verge of huge transformation and
those who can feel this have a duty to announce it

There is today a large movement, ill-defined and amorphous, which resonates with the idea that humanity is on the brink of a new age of enlightened consciousness. It is inevitable that there would those who are the first to notice what is coming – as a high soaring eagle is the first to see the sunrise of a new day – and that such people would be likely to find common cause. It is our privilege and duty to announce what we see.

Rudhyar:
A FLAG TURNS INTO AN EAGLE; THE EAGLE INTO A CHANTICLEER SALUTING THE DAWN

A flag turns into an eagle; the eagle into a chanticleer saluting the dawn

Adjustment

Willow bends, oak breaks – a balance is sought between real and ideal

The image for this degree is rather strange, yet we can see how the flag indicates allegiance, and we see how a noble bird behaves like a common crow. This hints at the need we have to adjust – and almost falsify – our true self, if we are to find existential security.

To some extent we must conform to pressures from the environment and the community if we are to survive. All around us, everywhere and without exception, there are forces that push and pull, largely through the use of words to make claims, which are rarely substantiated, and to promote idle prejudices. We form our loyalties – we have to if we are to survive – based on these doubtful claims and unexamined prejudices, typically before we are mature enough to validate them.

Yet also we must somehow maintain awareness of what makes us unique – our own inner values, which sponsor our preferences and decisions, and for which we also feel loyalty.

This world is a place of struggle – a dangerous environment that forces us to be cautious about full disclosure. The risk is real that, through this necessary survival-stratagem, we come to a position of crystallised, permanent self-deceit.

So, in order to hold true to our inner convictions, and often against the flow and pressure of mainstream thinking, we have to maintain a clear goal that is the shining light of our dreams, to project the highest part of our unique character into the world. This idealised ambition is a true and valid aspect of who we are – a precious illumination of hope.

As this projection interacts with life, a balance is found between the ideal and the real, the dream and the matter at hand. We can best see the resultant friction as the sandpaper that smooths down a rough-cut personality, and refines fancy into project.

The willow bends in the storm; the oak breaks. The lesson here is adjustment. We need to shuffle our dreams about until they fit the circumstances available to us. Of course we need to find a way to do this without capitulation, remaining true to our authenticity of being. Sufis teach of life as an interplay of struggle and surrender; the oak struggles against challenging forces, the willow surrenders to the inevitable. We need to have both qualities plus the awareness to adjust our posture to that which is currently appropriate.