CHAPTER VII
REVOLUTIONS, ECLIPSES, INGRESSES, ETC.
Beyond the various time measures and indicators mentioned in [Section IV, Chapter II], there are others which have a certain reputation among astrological students. The chief of these, and one that has been in vogue for many centuries, is the
Solar Revolution,
or Birthday Figure, as it is sometimes called. It consists in a map of the heavens for the return of the Sun to the exact zodiacal position that it held at birth, and this sidereal revolution is made the basis of an annual forecast of the general trend of affairs in the life of the subject. To find the time of the Sun’s return to its own place in the zodiac is, of course, a simple matter of proportion from the ephemeris for the current year. This is effected by comparing the radical or birthplace of the Sun with the longitude of the Sun in the Ephemeris on the anniversary day, which will give the increment more or less required to be equated. Then with this difference of the two positions of the Sun (a) at birth and (b) at noon of the anniversary, find the diurnal proportional logarithm and subtract from this the logarithm for the Sun’s motion in 24 hours. The result will be the logarithm for the hours and minutes from Noon at which the Sun was in the exact position it held at the birth. Thus you have the time of the solar return, and all that is necessary is to erect a horoscope for this time and set the planets in the figure.
Then, if the benefic planets are in elevation and the Lord or Ruler of the Ascendant is well placed and aspected, there will be commensurate results, and a beneficial year may be predicted; but if, on the contrary, the malefic planets are elevated and the ruler of the horoscope is badly aspected, the year ensuing will be fraught with many troubles and vexatious events.
But inasmuch as the time-factor is here the return of the Sun to its radical place, chief attention must be paid to the aspects of the Sun, and conclusions agreeable to the nature of the afflicting planets or those that favourably aspect the luminary may be made accordingly.
As regards the time at which events signified by the aspects may be expected to transpire, I have found that they usually occur during the transit of the Sun over the places of the planets in the annual horoscope. Thus a person born in August may have the Sun in the annual horoscope in square aspect to Saturn, the Sun being in Leo and Saturn in Taurus. Then the evil signified by the aspect of Saturn to the Sun would transpire about the date that the Sun passed the opposition of Saturn in the sign Scorpio some time in November, or again in May of the following year when the Sun was in conjunction with the place of Saturn in the horoscope for the Solar return.
Events that are benefic in nature may be produced from the transit of the Sun over the places of the benefics in the Solar figure, or over the good aspects of the planet which in the annual horoscope gives promise of benefit.