Sabian Symbols: The Pope
The Pope
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This universal idea is best expressed through planets in
Sagittarius 30 (29° - 30°)LIVING AS A SYMBOL
At high levels of leadership, we become the embodiment of an ideal, losing the right to excessive displays of emotion or individuality Society today is based on the principle that any particular group consciousness is held by an individual representative. For the Roman church it is the Pope, for the USA the President. These are people, and yet they are asked to embody transpersonal ideas and qualities. Sometimes we too are placed in central positions as spokespersons whose task is to speak for the group within which for a while we have found ourselves to be the most influential factor. It is a great challenge.
Rudhyar: THE POPE, BLESSING THE FAITHFUL |
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The Pope, blessing the faithful
Sanctity
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We raise ourselves up by sanctifying our highest values
The Pope represents the principle that ordinary people can raise themselves up to a place of excellence by acknowledging that certain values, attitudes and qualities have special worth, even to the point of sanctifying them. Each of us reaches the highest dignity of being only to the extent that we have made sacred those of our qualities that we hold up as the best we have to offer. To some extent we are all tempted by a lust for power and the love of self-display. It is very difficult to resist the egotistical sense that we are more important – or less important – than anyone else, so we can easily be drawn into a distorted sense of self. We eventually learn that of itself raw ambition is inadequate – except when it meets the exceptional needs of our own personal day-to-day life experiences. Positions of high profile rarely answer all of our personal needs and desires, although the illusion that they will may be a major motivating force to drive us to seek elevated status. One example of these exceptional needs is the appreciation we receive from our fellows. This actually is a type of energy; it strengthens us, and further boosts our appetite for self-disclosure. Our eagerness for position may well be motivated by a yearning for admiration, and the benefits that that brings. Thus we find the vigour to climb to a position, inevitably dramatising our skills and abilities as we do. This supports our essential life-purpose, to experience ourselves as fully as possible in all ways imaginable. Social and political hierarchies must exist in a civilised grouping, and they are constructed upon a value system, which is raised in importance by rituals and sacredness. That can be religious, it can be cultural, it can be scientific, yet we will always be measured by whether our choices and behaviours are consistent with the predominant establishment. People are capable of spectacular self-surrender in service to their family, nation and race. Without established value systems, such service will never occur, and the opportunity to experience the high spiritual principle of sacrifice is not sponsored. |
