Sabian Symbols: Halloween Jester
Halloween Jester
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This universal idea is best expressed through planets in
Scorpio 30 (29° - 30°)LETTING OFF STEAM
Civilisation can tame our instincts only to a certain extent and society therefore has to allow moments of controlled 'madness' Repeatedly we come to see that, whatever our best intentions, unrefined energies will find their way out. Society has evolved ways to give vent to such unruly energies by offering carefully contained opportunities for greater wildness. At Christmas we are allowed gluttony and hedonism, on All Fool’s Day we may more safely rebel against authority, and at Halloween we are allowed to be ghoulish and disrespectful towards the sacredness of death. It is healthy to let one’s hair down once in a while.
Rudhyar: CHILDREN IN HALLOWEEN COSTUMES INDULGE IN VARIOUS PRANKS |
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Children in Halloween costumes indulge in various pranks
Spontaneity
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Our inner jester challenges authority and upholds unorthodox spiritual understandings
All too often our spontaneous, but rather inept, attempts to express certain idiosyncratic aspects of ourselves, in contempt for established values, lead to nothing but social pressure of embarrassment and the consequential reduction of influence. This is because it is otherwise uncontrolled and a threat to the status quo; Society curbs the free spirit of individuals in order to protect its rule of order. However, Society does recognise the need for the release of buoyant energies and has created events and media for the proper demonstration of informal behaviour. There are certain accepted roles at certain times such as April Fool’s Day and Halloween when unusual behaviour is sponsored. Ultimately this leads to a more genuine spiritual sensitiveness. When we let our hair down, for example by playing the fool at Halloween, we become somewhat refreshed – and our strange quirks are welcomed as a grace that enriches our community rather than being viewed as unacceptable oddness to be hidden away. Our overboard humour is thus dignified and can even be seen as sacred. Since days of lore, the jester’s function was not only to cock a snoop at overblown authority figures – indeed the Court Jester had the task to limit the King’s eccentricities and selfishness – but also to keep alive some of the more unorthodox spiritual teachings. Spontaneity is irrational and out of control, so it allows for the possibility that non-ordinary wisdom can occur, and this emerges as inherent within the unconscious bank of knowledge that the community has available. In unusual, troubled times, this can be of crucial importance. Even if the strange behaviour has little relevance to current community needs, it does allow the individual their chance to go a little mad now and then. This release from the hard press of daily life has profound therapeutic value for everyone, not just the jester. Society’s ability to control its members, in an attempt to achieve wider and deeper uniformity, is not absolute. It is a long established cross-cultural wisdom that any regime that forbids the jester is tyranny; there must be chinks in the armour – times for rebellious energies to dissipate without danger. The same principle applies on an individual level too, we each must allow occasional moments of madness so that inner tensions can be released before they crystalize permanently into a rigid aspect of personality and thus inhibit spirit. |
