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THE FAIRCHILD SYMBOLS BOOK
	The book is available from Alice Kashuba. Price $10 USD Call 954-894-8685 or Fax 954-894-4081 or email: Alice@AstroViews.com

THE FAIRCHILD SYMBOLS

Introduction

This set of symbols contained in this booklet was divined by a clairvoyant who shall remain anonymous for the time being. We had discussed the technique that was used by Marc Edmund Jones and Elsie Wheeler almost 85 years ago for the creation of the Sabian Symbols and felt that we wanted to create a set for the current generation and the 21st century. On a clear day, January 6, 2001, we sat in a tropical setting at Fairchild Gardens in Miami, Florida. We set ourselves the task of creating 360 symbols in the same space of time that Marc and Elsie did in 1925. We began at 9:30 AM. I had 360 index cards, each with one degree of the zodiac on it. I shuffled the cards and the clairvoyant would give a symbol, which I would write on the card. Then I shuffled the cards again and repeated the process. We took a break for lunch, completing the 360 degrees by 4:30 PM.

The Palm Tree

The word Palm brings to mind two images _ the posterior side of the hand exposed with fingers outstretched and the magnificent tree whose branches stretch towards the heavens. The word comes from the Greek palame, or the Latin palmus meaning the palm of the hand. A little imagination can see the resemblance between the tall arm of the palm tree capped by outstretched fronds seeking light and the hand at the end of the arm asking for food and friendship.

On the desert, in the tropics, and wherever there are warm breezes and water currents, the palm thrives. Its presence in the desert signifies an oasis of cool waters and shade after a long trek under the heat of the desert sun. On tropical islands the coconut palm provides food and drink. The fronds and dried bark provide raffia and rattan for shelter, clothes, and furniture. Our industrial civilization extracts oil from the palm and we have soap, candles, lubricants, margarine, and fuel.

In the Sabian Symbol Set Gemini 25 is A Man Trimming Palms. Old dry foliage often remains on the palm for a long period of time. Trimming them makes the tree more aesthetically pleasing and encourages continued growth. This picture can be a symbol of the care which man takes of the earth and its resources. On an esoteric level it can symbolize the removal of old behaviors in order to move forward on our spiritual journey towards light and love.

In the Fairchild Set Sagittarius 20 is A small Asian child standing on the palm of a giant's hand. The palm in this symbol reiterates the concept of support, substance, and upliftment - gifts we receive from the Palm tree.

In a previous home we had a tall Queen Palm whose fragrant flowers attracted lightning bugs. At night I would look up among the fronds. The tree was decked out in its own set of twinkling lights. On an esoteric level we reach out of the darkness of our lives seeking light and food to nourish our soul and body. It is my hope that this new set of symbols will provide you with that sustenance.

Independent Review

Not since the Sabian Symbols of Marc Edmund Jones and Elsie Wheeler back in 1925 has there been such a complete and workable set of new zodiac images for our contemplation. And it is not surprising that the Jones/Wheeler heritage was acknowledged and employed so successfully because the astrologer in charge of the Fairchild proceedings, Alice Kashuba, is the editor of the Sabian Symbol International Newsletter.

Her undoubted familiarity with the usage and accuracy of this intuitive area of astrological work, as well as an awareness of its grayer areas and possible pitfalls, made her the perfect facilitator for this task.

We are told in the Introduction to 'The Fairchild Symbols' that Alice's all important accomplice in this experiment, the clairvoyant, preferred to remain anonymous for the time being, and so for the moment no more can be said. But what we are left with is an intriguing set of 360 concise and contemporary images.

Perhaps 'contemporary' is misleading as not all the symbols are necessarily portraits of modern life. Most are timeless. Yet there are many that speak in today's language, and remind us that we are now in the 21st century rather than the 1920s. We would be unlikely to find symbols described as "A woman balancing the chakras of a man in a blue suit" [Leo 3], or "Crop circles" [Libra 14], in the existing Sabian symbols set. But the release of this new collection at this time is not intended to render the Sabian symbols (or any previous collection of degree symbols) invalid, rather it is to offer another option in their stead.

As with all degree symbols the proof of the pudding is in the eating and if we apply the Fairchild symbols to the chart of an event which took place not long after their formulation - the World Trade Center attack in 2001 - the relevance is impressive, if not staggering. The Fairchild set includes two degree symbols out of the entire 360 that mention New York by name (29th Gemini and 15th Libra) and both of these appear prominently on the September 11th chart, one being the degree of the Moon and the other the degree of the Ascendant/Mercury. The degree of the Sun (9th Virgo) speaks of leaders of nations at war.

The booklet's layout is straightforward and simple, uncluttered by explanations of possible meanings of a symbol or lists of famous people who might happen to have planets in that particular zodiac degree. Hence the lists are eminently workable for astrologers who want to browse quickly across symbols, identifying a theme or following a transit, or even checking the strange mathematical symmetry that tends to emerge in the mandala of zodiac degree images. Maybe a fuller work will come later when more time has elapsed to test their validity. For the moment 'The Fairchild Symbols', with buff colored cover and palm tree logo, are offered to us in the spirit of "try them and see", the correct stance for any new astrological discovery.

You may be pleasantly surprised by what you find.

Reviewed by Paul F. Newman who can be reached at pneuma@ukonline.co.uk