Squaw Selling Beads is the Sabian Symbol for the 27th degree of Taurus. Here it is described using the 7 Words System - a way of understanding the complexity of human interactions that can be applied to all aspects of self-awareness and relationship, so that you quickly change your perspectives and get to a deep sense of what to do to improve things.

When you think about it – have you ever contemplated that your sun sign, whereas it may say quite a lot, does not truly classify you very specifically? Certainly not with an exceptional sense that makes everything take on a different meaning. Have a look at the Sabian Symbols – they could well make you see things differently! The Sabian method certainly is very distinctive.

So you may want to find out what these Sabian Symbols actually are? The Sabian Symbols are images – one for each point of the zodiac circle – that were clairvoyantly revealed by a mystic, Elsie Wheeler, and clarified by a leading astrologer, Dr Marc Edmund Jones. Each of them gives an ingenious clue about the central sense of that degree, and that will probably unlock some very useful and thought-provoking points of view that undoubtedly will get you thinking.

It works even if it’s not your particular degree – and yet a lot better if it is. It’s best to allow yourself time to do it slowly, like a meditation. Let each of the short paragraphs sink in slowly and try to feel what it means, as well as using the mind…or just sit with the images for a while and use your power of imagination to create some playful stories around it. (You will find your own Sabian Symbol by following the link below)

Having come to some new realizations about the essence of who you are, there is another stage you can adopt – to decide to be different. You can influence a lot more of your circumstances than you usually do when you engage fully with the deepest part of your unique identity, by taking on the qualities indicated by your Sabian symbol.

Also if you are clearer about who you are, then you become a lot more certain about what you want out of life. You can set your goals according to an overall vision of the bigger picture, and that itself leads to a much greater chance of success. It helps with focus so that you keep your attention fixed on the required outcome.

Reading your own Sabian Symbol is a bit like getting a brother or sister to speak honestly about you. They know you well, with all your dark bits and your light, and although they love you, they’ll tell you the hard truth! It can be difficult to hear, yet useful for those who are trying to become better people. It may be necessary to reread it a few times and think deeply about what is actually being said.

There is so much we could do with our lives! Opportunities are endless and very diverse, each day bringing little clues and teases to nudge us toward a little more unfolding of potential. Saying No to this and Yes to that surely requires us to trust our feelings and surrender to the inevitable – that, come what may, we all end up being who we are: nothing more, nothing less.

Whatever life throws up as a challenge or temptation, a person who is anchored to an inner sense of self will hold true and, touched little by outer circumstances, remain dignified and calm.

A squaw scratching a living at the roadside is an image associated with squalor and poverty – yet these are the outer conditions of her life and say nothing of the depth of richness experienced within.

This inner wealth is a cornucopia of gifts, and when a person draws upon these hidden resources of inventiveness they pay tribute to what is the heritage – the soul – of their culture. We can see the beads now as having a much deeper meaning, they are more than demonstrations of skill; they contain a poignant record of times gone by, anchoring us to a past upon which today’s reality is built.

Humanity has an astonishing ability to respond to any situation, however squalid, and find a way to express joy and creativity within it. One who has this realisation will move from one thing to another with no attachment to anything permanent – since anyway nothing is permanent – and no attachment to positions of importance, since nothing external has importance to the soul.

We need to avoid being stuck in the distorted interpretation that ‘nothing matters so life is sterile’. This leads to isolation and the self-fulfilling outcome of unfruitfulness. The fruits of ones abilities may well be inconsequential, yet without them, the skills that produce them cannot be developed, and these skills are treasures. The beads are near worthless; the skill is priceless.

Detachment is a state of grace; it is sometimes described by Sufis as ‘being in the world but not of the world.’ It certainly does not preclude full and sensitive participation in the affairs of others, it simply allows for that participation to be without agenda – having no intention to exert unasked-for influence.

The soul is impervious to the needs of the personality and seeks to be neither rich nor poor, neither loved nor despised, neither respected nor disdained. These are petty irrelevances that threaten to distract from the true purpose of the inner self, which is to experience itself as fully as possible.