The Art of Forecasting using Solar Returns

I have scores of astrology books and no fewer than five dedicated solely to Solar Returns. This one is the first astrology book that I enjoyed so much I didn't want it to end! This is not merely an astrology cookbook -- a simple listing of "if your Sun falls in this house, you will experience X & Y this year." Instead, it's a nuts and bolts examination of the technique of Solar Returns as used by different astrologers, with delineations of numerous charts to illustrate these techniques. It's chock full of tips and covers numerous subjects, from how to cast a SR when the birth time is unknown, to using firdaria, finding Emerson's Point of Death, using parans and antiscia/contra-antiscia, a discussion of whether to precess or not, progressing the SR, and more. It also gives a good overview of modern writers on the subject, from Mary Fortier Shea to Ray Merriman to James Eshelman. And finally, the author goes in-depth into the techniques of Volguine and Morin, including Morin's 31 aphorisms for judging Solar Returns. (I have Volguine's book, and while it's valuable, it's not nearly as well-written as this one. Part of that, though, could be due to the translation.) The author does include the requisite keywords for rising signs and there is a cookbook chapter on aspects, which -- while not as extensive as what one finds in so many other books -- still offers just enough information to make your Solar Return tool belt complete. I found the writing clear, concise and easy to understand, and the numerous chart delineations fascinating and thorough. This may not be the best choice for a complete novice (Ray Merriman's book is probably better for beginners), but for those who are ready to sink their teeth into something more substantial, this book is highly recommended.

This treasure chest of knowledge blew me out of the water! Couldn't help but love Dr. Louis and his writing style. Definitely going to buy all his books now. His ability to weave his professionalism, morals, ethics.. into a cohesive book that honors the traditional & sacred elements of the craft, delineating them through solid foundation and thorough examples - truly chefs kiss. I went through a lot of reviews searching for the right SR book... Glad I listened. This has greatly expanded my understanding of SR charts and even my practice. Thanks Dr. Louis for this piece of work!

Great

Not for the beginners for sure. I got very confused. I gave it 5 Stars because even as a complete beginner i can see that the book is great and gives you an idea how to think and analyze. I am keeping it for the future!

Anthony Louis uses real life examples of Solar Return charts of living and dead people illustrating how their Solar Return Charts forecast what was to occur in their lives. This is excellent because he provides a history of the teachings of Morin and Volguine regarding the topic.

This is an extremely well written and clear text for interpreting solar return charts. Lots of examples plus historical material as well. It's easy to use as a reference text.

great book, exceptional condition, and experience with vendor was trouble free. would recommend on both counts

Not helpful

At the beginning of the book, the author expressed his worry about “spinning tales in the world of fantasy and illusion” without the actual charts. Well, this is exactly what happened. The whole book’s value is close to zero, because of one major methodological flaw – all charts are done in hindsight. What does it mean? It means “believing is seeing”. The author has a pre-conceived system of the astrological symbolism, combined with numerous “rules” and “universal laws” transmitted from the “ancient astrologers”, and he readily applies it to charts with known outcomes. In other words, he is seeking and expecting for certain indicators to come up, while freely ignoring other indicators that contradict his theories. He’s apparently unconscious of this process as he mentions “striking revelations” in almost all the charts he chooses to demonstrate. The book has a clear negative bias towards death and other misfortunes – the epic battle between the archvillains/gods of the Greco-Romain pantheon such as Saturn, Pluto, Mars (and occasionally Neptune with Uranus) takes place in the author’s mind. Whatever he puts his attention to, the ugly heads of “malefics” seem to presage the worst. The cherry on the cake is the final example of a death from cancer of a close friend. By unfortunate coincidence, the author couldn’t cast the chart in advance and warn his friend of the potential deadly illness, so… you guessed it, he’s doing it in hindsight as a sort of redemption. And as you may guess it again, everything in the charts/techniques points to death. When a person has an inoperable metastasized cancer, the ”prediction” of the astrologer is that…he will unfortunately die. It reminds me of “predictions” that when a woman gets pregnant, in 9 months something important will happen to her, or that an entrepreneur may have potential financial difficulties when starting a business (all these complicated astrological rules to “predict” that? It’s like a mountain in labour that gives birth to a mouse). Just for information, most of predictive techniques in astrology rely on the premise that either the 6 hours after your birth tell you everything about your life, or that every day after your life equals a year (you can choose either solar or sidereal day/year), or that every birthday is indicative of the year head. The rate of advancement is usually the actual or mean motion of the Sun in either longitudinal or equatorial coordinate system. Other techniques are purely symbolical, meaning there is no actual chart that marks their beginning, just a passing of a year/or an allocated number of years: for example the planetary periods (profections, firdaria, zodiacal releasing). As you may imagine, there is no one unique way of calculating each and every ”predictive” technique (or you can call it a divinatory system), but with all this variety and diversity of methods, the American astrological community happily predicted Hillary Clinton as the next president of the US in 2016. When the charts don’t seem to match exactly as the author expects, the symbolism becomes flexible and additional “unconventional” techniques are called for. One of the funny examples of the “flexible” and essentially selective interpretation is the aspect called “combust” (any planet conjoining the sun within 8 degrees of longitudinal arc): in some examples it’s a nasty debility and affliction, while in others it is a “protective” influence - depending on the outcome of the case. In example concerning John Lennon, to justify his mother’s fatal accident, the author recurs to the “paran-squares” (an aspect that you see only if you choose another system of coordinates, the prime vertical here) that occurred before and after the solar return, but not in the solar return itself. This apparently explains everything that followed as the moon was put to much “astrological pressure”. In the last example of an ill friend, the author talks about a hidden square (115 degrees on the ecliptic) between Saturn and Neptune, by “contrascion”, which surely indicates the cancer. An interesting passage talks about the comparison of non precessed vs precessed solar return (essentially, it means whether you take into account the backward movement of the vernal equinox and the subsequent slight change of the return position of the sun). Unsurprisingly, the author finds that both charts ”work”, but differently. The first is psychological, the second is more event-oriented. Weird conclusion, if we take into account that 99% of the charts in the book are not precessed and interpreted as events. Alternative conclusion is more plausible to my view. As I mentioned, ”believing is seeing”. If you have a known chart and a system of meanings to apply to it, any chart will “work”. I would even say, you are bound to find spurious patterns in ANY chart, to confirm what you have in mind. Another example is the apparent link across time between speculative charts of the US history, and at least 6 charts of the 4th July 1776 – all surprisingly “working”. The author has an admiration for Jean-Baptiste Morin, a French mathematician and astrologer of the 17th century. He was kind of an outsider in the scientific community and was pretty reactionary as well (he was against Galileo and insisted that the Earth was fixed in space). His hardly-digestible opus of +800p length was published after his death and didn’t interest anybody until recently. I wonder what is the value of “brilliant astrological insights” of a man who was a staunch geocentrist in a pre-Newtonian historical period? By the way, the prediction by Morin of his own death (”as a grand authentic astrologer”) is an astrological urban myth transmitted and recounted in articles by…astrologers themselves. Apart from rehashes and blind repetitions (from numerous astrological books) of planetary, house and lunar phase meanings, the author also contributes his own understanding of a compilation of the repetitive and laborious 12 steps and 31 aphorisms of Morin. The bottom line is: analyse every possible variable, and in case of blatant contradictions – “synthesize” everything, whatever that means. Lastly, the “recommended reading” section is firmly rooted within the bubble of the astrological literature. No perspective on astrology through history of science, no reports on empirical, real blind tests, no additional perspective from outside world. To promote critical thinking, I highly recommend the reader to familiarise him/herself with all empirical studies on astrology carried out during the 20-21 centuries. I give this book one star for the sincerity of the author, clear explanations of the technicalities such as the primary directions, progressions by a mean quotidian rate as well as his own technique of progressing lunar returns. While reading this book, I have mostly learned about human psychology and cognitive biases, rather than anything that would validate any claims of astrology.

A must read for anybody interested in Solar Returns. Well documented and illustrated with a good number of charts.

This book is completely fantastic. What a font of information. I have bought it before and done a review but this time it was bought for a friend. It is a great read generally but you do need to know a bit about astrology. You will find yourself doing your own Solar Return, and Lunar Return and checking out the year ahead. Its brimming with great tips and advice. The author is really an excellent astrologer and teacher.

Es lo mejor que hay en el mercado editorial sobre revoluciones solares

This book has given me some additional insight into the world of Solar Return Astrology. However, it didn't really deliver as much depth as I would have wanted or enjoyed. For anyone who studies Astrology and particularly who wants to focus in on predictive Astrology, I would recommend it.