10 Indians in the Sabian Symbols

Ten of the Sabian Symbols make reference to "Indians." Nine of those are references to what are now termed "Native Americans" and one refers to a native of the country India.

Aries 15: An Indian weaving a blanket.
Taurus 24: A mounted Indian with scalp locks.
Taurus 27: A squaw selling beads.
Cancer 28: A modern Pocahontas.
Leo 20: The Zuni sun worshippers.
Scorpio 26: Indians making camp.
Scorpio 29: An Indian squaw pleading to the chief for the lives of her children.
Capricorn 01: An Indian chief demanding recognition.
Capricorn 05: Indians rowing a canoe and dancing a war dance.
Aquarius 04: A Hindu healer.

Is that the only pattern that you noticed as far as repeated themes or a connecting thread? Do you interpret that to have any significance?

student4life said:

Is that the only pattern that you noticed as far as repeated themes or a connecting thread? Do you interpret that to have any significance?

Click to expand...

student4life, thanks for the question. My last four posts have had similar subject matter--the repetition of certain objects or themes across the set of 360 Symbols. Those brief posts noted three literary references, five flags, ten Indians, and four butterflies. There are dozens of examples like this in the Sabian Symbols and I'll be includes about 36 of them in the appendices of my "book" on the Sabian Symbols.

Among the other oft-repeated themes are

* Five (5) references to weather, mostly to storms
* Thirty-nine (39) references to proper nouns, i.e. to specific people, places, or things
* Eight (8) references to water-craft, i.e. boats, canoes, ships, etc.
* Eight (8) references to sports or athletic activity
* Twenty (20) references to what I labled "Mystical, magical, mythical"
* Nine (9) references to reading and or reading material
* Thirty-four (34) references to the Sun, Moon, and the sky
* Twenty-one (21) references to "Armies & Arms, Soldier & Warriors, and Hunters"

In a discussion tied to the appendices I'll explain what I think are some of the possible reasons for this repetition. Because of my tight focus on the words and linguistic properties of these symbols, perhaps it is no surprise that I find some answers in related fields of study. One of these is narrative structure and in particular, the role of repetition in narrative structure. If you want to get a sense of what I mean, just Google the terms "narrative" and "repetition" and see what comes back. In short, I think that in addition to their use in chart interpretation, the Sabian Symbols are also useful in understanding narrative and dramatic structure. Rudhyar's discussion of the "Cross and the Star" is an indispensable aid in building out this argument.

Again, thanks for the question and for the chance it gave me to clarify my thinking a little more on this matter.

thoughtfully
sdh3