Aries Sabians

"a woman has risen out of the ocean, a seal is embracing her"

This is actually a Selkie - a woman stepping out of her seal glossy coat and leaving the sea behind, yet still connected to the collective psyche and knowing. Worth looking into the legends, and deepening in. It’s bringing things from the depths and into the light of consciousness, creating something out of nothing, but often in the legends the impulse to come to land and live in human form is tied to a longing for love. This is a Symbol deeply tied to the Divine Feminine.

"a comedian entertaining the group"

Whereas it may seem that the comedian adapts to the audience, this is not necessarily the meaning of this Symbol. Rather, let us reflect upon the goal of comedy beyond entertainment - a comedian can express the foibles of human nature in a way which doesn’t offend. Often, satire was the only form of protest and self-expression against oppressive rulers. By not taking ourselves too seriously, self-awareness increases and the hold of the ego loosens.

"a cameo profile of a man in the outline of his country"

The man’s profile suggests the profile of the country - culture here is present in the man, and the man is a product of his culture. The test, of course, is to rise above such a patriotic level of being and doing and grasp that humanity is whole and undivided, but this is not yet the level of such achievement. Here, there is still identification with a group of people, with a history, with the land, however noble.

"two lovers strolling through a secluded walk"

Duality cannot be resolved and reconciled - it is meant to be, as a dynamic creative interdependency. Like the Yin/Yang symbol, duality makes the world move. The best level at which to work on and understand such interdependency is the lovers - intimate relationships between the two different polarities. Creating balance is not a matter of stillness, but of movement, the dance of creation, Shiva/Shakti.

"a triangle with wings"

A triangle with wings is the triangle moving upwards - there is a strong foundation arising from the mastery of the lesson of duality, and now we are moving upwards, towards Spirit and co-creation. This has been one of the most difficult images to make with Midjourney, and I still don’t feel that I have done this Symbol justice. We are mobilizing our Masculine and Feminine, our mind and our heart, and ascending.

"a square brightly lighted on one side"

This Symbol can also be viewed very geometrically, and abstract, but we have a tendency to want to consolidate our gains, even spiritual ones, and create stability for ourselves, and structures. For this, I felt that the image of the city square works as well, as it’s about the need to build solid after a period of dynamic growth. The square being lighted on one side means that the focus is on the missing piece to bring us to this stable configuration.

"a man successfully expressing himself in two realms at once"

This flamboyant imagery is one of my personal favorites for Aries. The key here is the both/and - the successful self-expression at the two levels of existence. We can be material and spiritual, and even employ different personas in our interactions with the world. It doesn’t matter, as long as we are aware of these being different facets and potentialities of the self, and remain true to our authentic nature. This is not a mask used to hide, it’s the beautiful self we create.

"a woman’s hat with streamers blown by the east wind"

This imagery, related to the east wind, is more a measure of the benevolence of the spiritual forces represented here (whereas the east wind in many cultures stands for divine destruction). The wind is not too strong, and the hat is not blown off entirely, but the woman is able to receive guidance on what is superfluous. We may even imagine that the trappings of the overinflated ego may be blown off like the streamers, and carried away.

"a crystal gazer"

If we have paid attention to the messages, and developed our inner sight, we may be granted in the crystal a glimpse of the right pattern, a Gestalt moment of knowing what our potentialities and unfolding may be. This is done with a “soft gaze”, not by analyzing the crystal structures scientifically but by opening ourselves up to what something whole may have to tell us about our own wholeness, the mirror of ourselves, without judgment.

"a teacher gives new symbolic forms to traditional images"

This Gestalt understanding allows us to deepen existing knowledge in an entirely new way, as if the light has shifted and we can see them - and their underlying reasons and meanings - for the first time, or at least with fresh eyes, and they suddenly make sense. It is not a secret that over time the meanings of old images get enriched as well as distorted by a lack of understanding, and meaning-making coloured by ego or culture.

"the ruler of a nation"

From this place of higher understanding, it becomes possible to have such a grasp and control over human affairs that it could be comparable to the power of a ruler of a nation. This Symbol may even indicate such political responsibilities, but it can also be seen to simply reflect a deeply integrated personality which is effective and able to deal with emergencies as well as success in worldly affairs.

"a flock of wild geese"

This Symbol is also described as “triangularly shaped flight of wild geese”, and it reflects the myths of the Hamsa, divine vehicle of the Creator, representing the soul following its own rules and guiding us towards spiritual evolution irrespective of what worldly plans our egos may have. As the birds migrate on instinct, our souls have their own power to direct us towards our destiny, which is not necessarily tied to the mastery of human affairs and thus often difficult for the ego to accept and follow.

"a bomb which failed to explode is now safely concealed"

Sometimes, frustration is the result of the conflict between the soul’s urges, and constraints from existing systems. Such frustration is a signal of impending evolution and not bad in itself, although if poorly understood, it could result in social unrest and unnecessary destruction. For this reason, it is important for society to remain fluid and allow freedom of expression for different ideas, emotions and urges, albeit in a non-harmful form.

"a serpent coiling near a man and a woman"

There is a resonance here with Aries 4 - within the dance of duality, a third force is created, that of evolution itself. Life itself is both the purpose and the cause of the Shakti/Shiva dance, which is in itself sacred. In the Midjourney art created for this Symbol, the woman herself is the serpent, a reference to many of the creation myths. Yet the meaning of the card is not temptation, but the sacredness of the polarities meeting in union.

"an Indian weaving a blanket"

This is a Symbol which literally tells us how we are to be weaving the body of light. It is in making sacred the mundane, in living life as co-creation with the divine, in the genuine pouring of our self-expression in our best efforts to do anything and everything, in putting soul in everything we do. The weaving is in itself an old symbol, and very powerful.