Astrology is a language of symbols. It is also a study of time. At any given point in time, astrological symbolism is present which assists in the understanding of that time.

Throughout our life, people come in and situations arise. On the surface, these people are indeed people, and these situations are indeed specific, identifiable conditions. However, these people and these situations are also symbolic of lessons in life which each one of us is working on. Our experiences with these people and these conditions afford us an opportunity to understand ourself more fully, to get a grasp on our patterns, and possibly to make a conscious effort to break those patterns if we so wish.

In the course of your solar return day, you will come into contact with people and situations, You will experience certain conditions that arise in your life. And you will react as well as interact with these people and circumstances. You will have impressions and make judgments concerning these events and interactions. In some cases, you will react favorably, and judge them as positive experiences. In other cases, you may react more critically, and judge them less favorably.

The moments of these experiences and these interactions with others during the solar return day can be progressed into the future of this year. Basically the premise is this: whatever you experience during the solar return day will symbolically represent the nature of your experiences during the solar return year. Furthermore, the time of these experiences - whether external or internal - will relate to a specific period in the year when that "symbolism" will likely repeat. The formula is the same as used in the calculation of the solar return Moon. That is, every two hours of time from your solar return represents one month of time from the date of your solar return. In the same token, approximately every four minutes of time is the equivalent of one day in the solar return year.

Therefore it can be very enlightening to carry paper and pen with you on the day of your solar return. Mark down the time in which things happen during this day. In fact, you may want to keep a very detailed daily record of what happened as it goes along. It is also a good idea to plan things during the day which you know will be favorable and enjoyable, as that will set the tone of a favorable and enjoyable activity later on this year.

To briefly illustrate, let us assume your solar return occurs at 6:00 PM. At 8:00 PM, the circumstances that you experience (in the external world, or your interior world) will be symbolic of what is going on in your life about one month after your birthday. If you went out and had a wonderful dinner with someone you love, then perhaps one month later you will find your life very wonderful, almost like being out for a wonderful dining experience.

The daily record should begin six hours before your solar return, and continue 30 hours afterwards. The six hours before are symbolic of the three months leading up to your birthday. Even these events and circumstances are symbolic of what you have already gone through, and seeing the symbolism helps put the recent past into perspective. The six hours following the 24 hours of the birthday are also important. They refer to the momentum of this year carrying into the next solar return, and your ability to make the successful transition from one year's issues to the next.

End of Solar Return Sample