In the winter of 1995/96 the roof of the family home of the late Charles E. O. Carter caught fire. Possibly timed by transiting Pluto opposing Carter's natal Pluto, the ancestral blaze in Parkstone, Dorset released another astrological phoenix in the same vicinity.  In January 1996, at the Grasshopper Pub, an experimental evening was held to initiate a new set of zodiac degree symbols - initially entitled The Degree Symbols 2000.
   One zodiac degree of a Great Age had precessed since Marc Edmund Jones and Elsie Wheeler received The Sabian Symbols in San Diego, California in 1925, and it was time to update and possibly produce the first set of collectively divined pictorial degree symbols.
   Approximately 30 people took part in the initial experiment from which the first fifty symbols were obtained.  The list was extended a little further over the following years by astrological students in small groups, and then in September 1999, 32 additional symbols were added.  The total was still far short of a complete set of 360 images, but now numbered 122.  (The names of those who helped to build the symbols over the years are given below).
   In September 2000 it was deliberately decided to try and obtain collective images for the zodiac degrees occupied by planets on the birth chart of The Wessex Astrologers Group, as hardly any of these had turned up in the random process so far.  Subsequently 12 more images were added to the list.

The Method : In the first experiment, which took place on Wednesday 17th January 1996 between 8.15 and 8.45 pm, the names of individual stars were used to spark off a picture in the minds of those participating.  The antiscion degree of each star's current zodiac position was used to record the collective image thus obtained.  (This was done to make the whole thing as random as possible).  In the second main exercise in September 1999 a list of Islamic God-names were used as the sound keys.  In September 2000 the names of the actual Planets that occupied the desired degrees on the Wessex Group's birth chart were collectively meditated on.

0.
1. A jousting knight is lowered into his armour.
2. In the running water an elephant, on the elephant a dwarf, on the dwarf a blue turban, in the turban a jewel.
3. Rest and peace emanate from twin trees in a grove in the valley.
4.
5. Women dance in a long mirrored room, the light sparkling around them.
6.
7.
8.
9. Flavoursome juices squirting and flowing.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14. A blue cloak agitating bright buzzing insects.
15.
16.
17.
18. Holes in an orange metal suggest a code.
19.
20.
21. A lone bird hovers over the land of the Titans.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29. In a cobbled market place craftsmen weave strips together

0. A king measures Time.
1. Geometric shapes whiz by, while a tall stiletto shape stands firm on the skyline.
2. Only a wise elder remains as the caravan leaves the burnt and demolished town.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9. In space, a heart is pounding with scientific intelligence.
10. Strength and beauty, like the Moon reflecting on water.
11. A full moon gleams blue and chill over frozen wastes.
12.
13.
14.
15. A piece of driftwood lies on the shore, its surface covered with seaweed, runes and gems.
16. In confined rooms a jury stuck for decision talk it out.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21. In the misty mountains the cradle of a baby king is being rocked.
22. Flowers, music, high art and culture - all on an island in the sea.
23.
24.   The victorious army cheers at the gates while behind them a sandstorm explodes.
25.
26.
27.
28.   Under a hail of gems, men dance merrily around a maypole on a cruise liner.
29.

0.    A coil of soft grey clay at the entrance to a secret tunnel.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.    Branches rise up from a lemon tree.
8.
9. Sweet golden rain falls on the centre of the forehead.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15. A dog lying in a dusty road becomes Anubis crowned with golden light in a futuristic city.
16. A mourning candlelit dancer on an uphill slope.
17.
18.
19.
20.   A kind physician dreams of fiery Aztec ceremonies.
21.
22.   Water circles in subdued colours where the river meets the sea.
23.
24.
25.
26. A macaw disturbs green glass bottles on a shelf.
27.
28.
29.

0. Human antennae.
1. A song of advancing technology.
2. A mermaid on the rocks against the stars.
3.
4.
5.  At night, hollow trees have eyes and cracks appear in a concrete city.
6.
7.
8. A solitary night-owl follows foot-prints along a narrow path.
9. Dogs and kittens dance through poppy fields while a fat juggler laughs.
10.
11.   Playing cards and tongues of fire blow across a row of dreamcatchers.
12. The blue eye of Nefertiti.
13. Steps lead to the empty shuttered temple.  A fence surrounds the shrine.  Sea-gulls plummet, but we have been summoned there.
14.
15. A smiling conjuror in a thickly textured cloak.
16.   Unending bags of gold piled behind the door.
17.
18.
19.
20.   Flamenco dancers waving long scarves.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26. A faun looks out from a wood across hills stretched sunward to the sea.
27.
28.
29.

0.     Distant love.
1. An assortment of colourful sweets and seeds.
2.
3.     Inside a cave, sun-dried flowers release crystal energy.
4.
5.     Sharp, glinting metal.
6.     The Sword of Damocles hangs in the sunset.
7.
8.
9.     A richly apparelled company crosses a shallow ford.
10.
11.
12.
13.    Rock people observe in anticipation as a vehicle skids off an icy road.
14.
15.
16.
17.    Reaching nirvana through ships, shops, sand, and a tin of meat.
18.
19.    Blood-red clothes wrap tight around the circling dancer.
20.
21.
22.     An Arabian Prince rides across desert sands.
23.
24.
25.
26.     Laughing people pack into an open horse-drawn carriage.
27.
28.     A two-faced goddess of life and death, adorned with trinkets and war-paint.
29. Sweeping a sacred circle.

0.       In formal suits and rustling gowns, guests serve the hosts at a stately banquet.
1.
2.
3.      Through a forest glade an old gnome leads his horse, like an owl carrying a dead mouse.
4.      A white-gowned maiden lies asleep on a snowy moor.
5.
6.      Establishment figures in a checkered stone hall.
7.      Baboons hurl chalky-white pebbles clattering into the distance.
8.      A homeless mother and her child wait outside the eating house.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.     Little red mice in the corn and in the city.
16.
17.
18.     A bus ride home to tea.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.    A babble of voices above New York City.
28.
29.

0.      Unravelling the tapestry suddenly reveals a leopard lying in the sun.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.      A gliding magician in a marbled-red cloak.
7.      Snow white grains of salt.
8.     A cheroot fizzing in the folds of a tapestry.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.    Pulsing, hot-blooded rainbow rays, in an ardent tempo.
15.
16.    Pineapples, roses and butterflies.
17.
18.    A bearded old man.
19.
20.
21.    Like the fizz from an opened bottle, earth magic is broadcast quickly.
22.    Fish we see but cannot catch.
23.
24.    A hedge enclosing a sleepy, foreign village.
25.
26.    A hauntingly fragrant silver breeze.
27.
28.
29.

0.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.       Herbs and cacti on a balcony overlooking a busy street.
7.       Bright round marbles in a wooden box.
8.       A drum beats as the enslaved princesses await their fate.
9.
10.
11.
12.      A basket on sandy cliffs.
13.
14.
15.     With a squelchy sound a butterfly changes into a caterpillar and a zebra becomes a rhinoceros.
16.     An ear with a sharp cedar-wood pencil behind it.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.     Nymphs bathe under the all-seeing eye of the Sun as a round island floats to the surface.
25.
26.     A jade elephant.
27.     Through a sunny delta of islets, a flat barge glides majestically.
28.     Shafts of light from a holy vessel disappear into the blue horizon.
29.     A homely supper: China tea with lemon slices in a porcelain cup and an open jar of marmalade.

0.
1.
2.
3.      After a war, flowers and plants grow happy-go-luckily.
4.
5.
6.      In streams of early sunlight a woman in fine clothes is milking a cow.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.     On the slim finger of a clown the magic ring gives happy spells, but on the wrong hand it is  treacherous.
12.
13.
14.     A spinning star-ship descends; its captain standing at the open door.
15.
16.     The entry point to healing and renewal hangs open.
17.     Below a dripping dungeon wall the jailer leaves a gift. A pile of warm golden coins and the key to the door.
18.
29.
20.
21.      Bright shiny things dancing in arcs in a vegetable garden.
22.      A herd of white unicorns in the sky, a migration of crabs in the sea, and  a ring of dancing fairies weaving threads of dewdrops into soul dreams.
23.      In a dense forest at night, lights show a laden tree dropping healing leaves and special fruit.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.

0.       Two people, closely tied in union, turn off the road towards a bed of reeds and darkness on the left.
1.       A group of women listening and discussing the dreams of a raw fish.
2.       Green mould.  The discovery of Penicillin.
3.
4.       The turquoise sky is full of scything bees while children play traditional games and adults draw wishes from the well.
5.       A young person shivers on a stairway to the distant future.
6.
7.       From the dark Victorian streets a purple dwarf is watching the Full Moon.
8.
9.
10.
11.     A Time Line has been breached.  Snow falls from bright blue skies, a mermaid is washed into a cave of goblins, symbols on our bodies move around........but the seats stay in place.
12.     A Viking warrior lays aside outdated weapons and ponders his battle scars.
13.     Monk or drunkard?  "Dark-eyes" publicly gives up the marathon.
14.     Hats, shoes and ornaments of golden red.
15.
16.     Medieval knights ride in the moonlight.
17.
18.
19.
20.     A sharp peak.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.      Walnuts in a roaring fire.
26.
27.      Under the eyes of over-seeing priests, a carpet is unrolled and viewed.
28.      Very slowly, a man in feathers emerges from a silent underground stream.
29.

0.       Across wind-swept plains all life hurries to its leader.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.       A woman smiles as she takes a higher view over flat roof-tops.
7.       Ancient rings on a hand in a beautiful temple.
8.       A meadow of golden buttercups.
9.
10.
11.
12.     Peaceful undulating smiles and fair play.
13.
14.
15.
16.     While the horned one plays his pipe, a liquid beam of silver light catches a gnome picking mushrooms in a forest glade.
17.     A unicorn suddenly disturbs peacefully grazing cattle.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.      Orphaned children play and dance, imagining their mothers' skirts.
23.
24.
25.
26.       An insect runs for shelter from a giant.
27.
28.
29.

0.
1.         Foods and fruits locked tight in a hut.
2.        The wind spirit spirals, the Lady smiles.  All is well and all will be well.
3.
4.        Witches, monks and spiders climb a huge black arrow.
5.        A legendary ship floats quietly home to be greeted by old citizens on the beach.
6.        Washing velvet cloaks clean in a dirty pond.
7.        Nomadic tribes-people watch thick smoke curling from an unknown colony underground.
8.
9.
10.       A fat man on a cushion chomping sweets.
11.      The king's robes are like golden billowing curtains and pale blue ribbons of light exploding into white bits.
12.
13.       In a wardrobe clothes are rolling and snaking noisily.
14.
15.
16.       The shaman's congealing ointment is cold and spicy and burns at first.
17.
18.
19.       Like anxious thoughts, flowers bend to the wind releasing scents and seeds.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.       A fairy queen in a cottage garden.
26.       A ghost appears to a gathered group.
27.
28.
29.       Outside the houseboat an oar lies in still water; inside a squirrel raids the kitchen.

Kate Lobley, Zach Matthews, Geoff Dale, Allan Tidmarsh, Lorraine Exley, Vivienne Baker, Gloria Singleton, Karen Viney, Cliff Ellis, Susy Ellis, Mick Tracy, Colin Wareham, Nigel Street, Leila Carpenter, John Bonfield, Karen Bainbridge, Sandy Vine, Carlo Babboni, Natalino Puglia, Wendy Davey, Eileen Willett, Sheila Bennell, Jackie O'Hanlon, Alan Yaxley, Val Mundy, Margaret Cahill, Marilyn Jolley, Brian Morland, Anita Garth,  Kate Pearce, Catherine Miller, Jenny Green, Eileen Richardson, Carol Haynes, Bernadette McQuin, Muriel Francis, Anna Paolucci, Jill Robinson.