Sabian Symbols in Astrology: The Mystical Messages Hidden in Every Degree
A wheelchair-bound woman with severe arthritis and a scholarly astrologer sitting in a car in San Diego's Balboa Park, channeling mystical images that would revolutionise how we interpret birth charts. Sounds like fiction? It's absolutely not.
This remarkable scene unfolded on an unrecorded day in 1925, giving birth to what we now know as the Sabian Symbols – 360 poetic images that correspond to each degree of the zodiac wheel.
What Are Sabian Symbols?
The Sabian Symbols are essentially short, pithy descriptions which are associated with the 360 degrees of the zodiac, so that each degree has its own symbolic meaning. Think of them as astrological haikus – brief but profound snapshots that capture the essence of each zodiacal degree.
Rather than just knowing your Sun is at 15 degrees Gemini, the Sabian Symbol reveals that degree as "Two Dutch children talking to each other, exchanging their knowledge." Suddenly, there's a whole story unfolding about communication, childhood innocence, and cultural exchange.
These aren't your typical astrological descriptions. They're vivid, sometimes quirky images like "A powerful statesman wins to his cause a hysterical mob" (Virgo 13) or "A high mountain lake is bathed in the full moonlight" (Scorpio 8). Each symbol carries layers of meaning that speak directly to our unconscious minds.
The Extraordinary Birth of the Symbols
The creation story reads like something from a spiritual thriller. Marc Edmund Jones, born in 1888, was a Presbyterian minister turned astrologer with an insatiable hunger for deeper astrological understanding. He'd been experimenting with degree symbols for years when he met Elsie Wheeler in 1923.
Elsie was quite a character herself. Born in Norris City, Illinois, in 1887, she'd been wheelchair-bound since age three due to severe rheumatoid arthritis. For nearly thirty years, she lived at Bethesda Hospital and Home For The Incurables in St. Louis – rather grim name, that. But Elsie had something special: a gift for clairvoyance that would eventually change astrology forever.
When Jones met Elsie, he admired her spunk. Despite her physical limitations, she had a brilliant, imaginative mind. Initially scared of anything psychic, within a year she'd become Jones' student, joined a spiritualist church, and was earning her living as a medium.
But here's the clever bit: Jones realised Elsie's limited worldly experience might actually be perfect for his experiment. As he put it, "She had too limited experience and so had to have a very limited picture." This wasn't a limitation – it was exactly what he needed.
The Ritual in Balboa Park
On that fateful day in 1925, Jones carefully prepared 360 cards, each marked with only a zodiacal sign and degree. He needed a location with "the turmoil of some metropolitan center" but privacy for Elsie to work. Balboa Park provided the perfect spot – near a busy intersection but screened by trees.
The process was methodical yet mystical. Jones continuously shuffled the cards and placed them face-down before Elsie, ensuring neither knew which degree they were working on. In fleeting seconds, Elsie would describe the picture that flashed to her inner vision, and Jones would frantically scribble notes.
Remarkably, all 360 symbols were channeled in a single day, split into four sessions. No pressure, then!
Jones believed they weren't working alone. He felt an ancient mind-matrix was at work, connecting them to what he called the Sabian Brotherhood – ancient Mesopotamian alchemists from Harran, where astrology itself supposedly originated.
Whether you buy into the mystical aspects or not, the synchronicity is striking. The ancient Sabians were real – they were skilled alchemists and astronomers who lived along the Euphrates River from the third millennium BC to the thirteenth century AD.
How to Use Sabian Symbols in Practice
Right, enough mystical backstory. How do these symbols actually help modern astrologers and spiritually curious folk?
In Birth Chart Interpretation
The most common use is adding depth to planetary positions. If your Moon sits at 28 degrees Aries, you'd look up the 29th degree symbol (always round up). In this case, it's "A Celestial Choir Singing" – quite different from simply knowing you have an Aries Moon!
Lynda Hill, considered the premier modern authority on Sabian Symbols, explains that they "bring to light issues that aren't shown through other methods of chart reading." Her book The Sabian Oracle: 360 Degrees of Wisdom has become the go-to resource for symbol interpretation.
As an Oracle System
You can also use the symbols as a standalone divination tool. Ask a question, randomly select a degree, and let the symbol guide your understanding. It's less complex than Tarot but often uncannily accurate.
Timing and Transits
When planets transit specific degrees, their Sabian Symbols can reveal the flavour of that time period. If Jupiter's moving through the degree symbolised by "A revolutionary magazine asking for action," expect some shake-ups in your belief systems!
The Authenticity Question
Here's where things get interesting. Many astrology books present "versions" of the Sabian Symbols without mentioning they've been altered. Dane Rudhyar's popular interpretation in "An Astrological Mandala" changed many original symbols, but people often assume these are the authentic versions.
The originals, exactly as Jones scribbled them down in 1925, remain the most potent. They're raw, unpolished, and retain the spontaneous energy of that remarkable day in Balboa Park.
Modern Applications and Interpretations
Today's astrologers use Sabian Symbols in increasingly creative ways. Some explore the symbols opposite to their planetary positions for additional insight. Others examine symbols within the same five-degree groupings for thematic connections.
Wilfred Hazelwood practitioners often find the symbols particularly useful for counselling clients who struggle with traditional astrological language. A symbol like "A little child learning to walk with the encouragement of his parents" speaks to everyone, regardless of their astrological knowledge.
The symbols work beautifully for exploring the "meta-meaning" of events – the deeper significance beneath surface observations. That job interview that went sideways might make more sense when you discover it happened during a transit to a degree symbolised by "A student of nature lecturing, revealing little-known aspects of life."
The Continuing Mystery
What makes the Sabian Symbols endlessly fascinating is their apparent randomness combined with uncanny accuracy. How did Elsie, with her limited worldly experience, channel images that remain relevant nearly a century later?
Perhaps it doesn't matter. What matters is that they work.
Modern practitioners report that the symbols often reveal exactly what they need to hear, even when – especially when – it's not what they expected. It's as if these 360 images captured something timeless about human experience, filtered through the lens of 1920s American consciousness.
Finding Your Symbols
Getting started with Sabian Symbols is straightforward. Calculate your planetary positions to the exact degree and minute, then round up to find the corresponding symbol. Remember: 28 degrees 46 minutes becomes the 29th degree symbol, not the 28th.
Whether you use them for birth chart analysis, as an oracle, or simply for meditation, the Sabian Symbols offer a unique window into the poetry of astrology. They remind us that behind every degree lies a story – and behind every story lies a deeper truth about our cosmic dance.
In our data-driven age, perhaps we need these mystical images more than ever. They reconnect us with astrology's roots in symbolism and story, offering wisdom that speaks to both heart and mind.
After all, sometimes the most profound insights come not from complex calculations but from simple images that somehow capture the essence of a moment, a degree, a destiny.
The wheelchair-bound visionary and the scholarly astrologer gave us more than 360 symbols that day in Balboa Park. They gave us a new language for speaking with the stars.
