The Rich History and Modern Use for the Sabian Symbols
For those who prefer to skip the reading and get straight to the How-To portion of this post, I've added the video here at the beginning. If you're interested in more of the history and my personal musings, I invite you to continue reading below.
Since childhood, I've been captivated by time travel stories. Somewhere out there is a mystery novel from my grandmother's collection I found after her passing. I can't recall the title, but the story remains one of my favorites to this day. Similar to Outlander, it's about a woman who travels back in time, is mistaken for a witch due to her modern knowledge of remedies, and falls in love with a knight or prince who, of course, she hates at first. I remember it ending with her returning to her time, and while on a plane returning to her regular life, a man sits beside her resembling her lost lover from the past. And we know she's found him again and they're going to live happily ever after.
Speaking of Outlander, it's a series I've watched multiple times, leading me down a rabbit hole of Scottish clan history research. A Discovery of Witches is another series I've watched and read more times than I'll admit. And so on and so on to explain why Netflix and Amazon now offer me endless time-travel-themed suggestions.
Given my fascination, it's no wonder my degree is in Art History. My interest in tarot, astrology, and all forms of divination is deeply rooted in learning the historical narratives that inform these practices. Engaging with the divine connects us to our ancient and recent past, tapping into the collective unconscious—a timeless realm where I believe true time travel occurs.
Carl Jung—the Swiss psychiatrist who founded analytical psychology—defined the collective unconscious as a shared psychic reservoir distinct from the personal unconscious due to its lack of personal experiential origins. It is a repository of universal patterns and predispositions known as archetypes, rather than individual memories.
When we engage with tarot or astrology, we commune with these archetypes and symbols, transcending time to access a universal realm. As a traditionalist, I am drawn to historical practices and love exploring their origins. This doesn't, however, preclude my interest in modern practices.
Therefore, when someone mentioned "The Sabian Symbols" in the Zoom chat during an astrology class with the brilliant Cristina Farella, I was intrigued. I had no idea what "Sabian" meant, but the mention of "symbols" piqued my interest. And led to this past year of interests.
So, without further ado, let me introduce The Sabian Symbols.
In 1925, astrologer Marc Edmond Jones visited Balboa Park in San Diego, accompanied by clairvoyant Elsie Wheeler. He brought a stack of 360 cards, each labeled with a zodiac sign and degree. Over the course of an afternoon, Jones randomly pulled cards while Wheeler channeled phrases and symbols, creating what we now call the "Sabian Symbols." Named after the Sabian Brotherhood, an ancient Mesopotamian group known for their astrological, alchemical, and hermetic pursuits, these symbols are guardians of ancient astrological wisdom.
I've recently begun integrating these symbols into my astrology readings, alongside traditional chart interpretations. This method has been a joy to develop, allowing me to craft personal mythic journeys for my clients—a narrative woven from these symbols. As someone with a background in tarot, this approach feels incredibly natural, promising a harmonious future for my practice.
The Sabian Brotherhood's rich history is something I might never have explored (considering my focus on Hellenistic astrology) had it not been for these symbols. Their work developed correspondences between planets, metals, colors, numbers, and talismans, synthesizing elements from Babylonian, Hellenistic, Hermetic, and Neo-Platonic traditions. This synthesis advanced astrology, alchemy, and talismanic magic, profoundly influencing Islamic and Western practices.
To the Brotherhood, symbols were more than mere representations—they were gateways to spiritual forces. Their work with talismanic magic and hermeticism emphasized that astrological degrees and planetary positions could unlock archetypal energies and mythic narratives. These foundations paved the way for systems like the Sabian Symbols. While I'm still investigating, I suspect their philosophy also contributed to the development of herbal, geological, and tarot correspondences in astrology by later groups like the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
Connecting to such ancient wisdom through modern practices like the Sabian Symbols and reading the Tarot feels like the closest I can get to time travel in the story of my own life. Each interaction with these symbols bridges the gap between past and present, allowing us to transcend time itself.
If you want to know more about your Sabian Symbols, perhaps you'd like a copy of your personal Mythic Journey, send me a request and I will be thrilled to create one for you ♥️
For Further Reading on this Topic, see The Sabian Symbols by Dr. Marc Edmund Jones.
And the websites used in my video are:
