Hello Everyone,
I'm new to this forum and my post might be quite long so bear with me because I would really appreciate your thoughts!

I recently celebrated my 31st birthday and solar return on July 26th in Istanbul, Turkey. I'm American and living in Tokyo as an aspiring international actor and became interested in solar return travel last year. I figured, "hey, why not take a vacation on my birthday and travel to a 'lucky' place as well?!?!?"

Last year I went to San Diego because in the non-precession corrected return chart (which I got from Astro.com), I had a grand trine with Jupiter in the 2nd house, Moon in the 5th, and the Midheaven. Also, there was a conjunction of the Sun and Mercury in the 8th house, which in my mind would represent contracts and negotiations. I can say that the past year didn't turn out as I expected...... No increase in income and I actually went 7 months without any acting/modeling gigs. Honestly, I just couldn't seem to pass an audition or a picture selection to save my life, no matter how hard I tried!!! And I don't even want to talk about the state of my finances!! HA! HA! HA!

Then I came across Bob Mark's astrology site and he wrote many case studies about how people travelled on their birthdays, but he strongly recommends using Precession Corrected charts because they are more indicative of events.

Astro.com (which I believe is what most people use in order to obtain free charts) does not have a function to pression correct charts. So I found a software called Janus 4.1 which has both functions.

As it turned out, in my precession corrected chart for last year's solar return in San Diego, the cusp of my 2nd house was ruled by Cancer. Where was the ruler (the moon)? In the 12th house..... Also, Jupiter was in the 8th, while the conjunction of the Sun and Mercury was in the 3rd. So in my mind, the precession corrected chart seemed to represent my past year more than the non-precession corrected chart.

After reviewing Bob Marks's website about Precession Corrected Solar Returns as well as reading his book, "How to Get More Love, Money, and Success by Traveling on Your Birthday", I thought this year I would take another stab and this time focus on the precession corrected method. I'll have to admit that his case studies are quite compelling if I do say so myself! For more info please refer to the following links:

http://www.bobmarksastrologer.com/19.1Birthdays.htm

http://www.amazon.com/More-Money-Succes ... 023&sr=8-3

Anyhow, when using Astro.com's free chart service, my non-precession Solar Return location set for Pago Pago, American Samoa looked good. However, I thought this year, I would focus on Bob Marks's method of using Precession Corrected charts. In doing so (using my Janus 4.1 software), my birthday destination for this year on July 26th was set for Istanbul, Turkey.

For your reference, attached at the bottom of this post are my:
1. Natal Chart
2. Precession Corrected Return Chart for Istanbul
3. Non-Precession Corrected Return Chart for Istanbul
4. Precession Corrected Bi-Wheel Return Chart
5. Non-Precession Corrected Bi-Wheel Return Chart

*In the Bi-Wheel Charts, the solar return chart is in the inner wheel while my natal chart is in the outer wheel.

Anyhow, I had a great birthday vacation and was in Istanbul between July 24th-27th. As I decided to focus on the Precession Corrected Return Chart for Istanbul I noticed some interesting aspects:

1. The Solar Return Ascendant is at 0 degrees Capricorn, which I heard is related to the Cardinal Axis (in terms of being "connected" to the world).

2. Pluto is less than 1 degree conjunct the Ascendant in the 1st house, both of which receive sextiles from Part of Fortune in the 2nd house.

3. Midheaven is conjunct the fixed star Spica.

4. Sun is in an angular house (7th) and makes a sextile with the Moon in Libra in the 9th house.

5. Jupiter, Chiron, Neptune in the 2nd house with Venus in the 6th form a tight Grand Trine with the Midheaven (as well as the fixed star Spica).

6. Also, when looking at my natal chart, the recent Solar Eclipse on July 22nd occurred very close to my natal sun and Midheaven. In the Solar Return Chart for Istanbul, the eclipse fell within my 7th house.

I'm only 2-3 weeks into my solar return, but I was wondering if anyone would like to add their thoughts/opinions as to what the upcoming year might hold for me? Thanks very much in advance for your time and expertise. I look forward to reading your insights!!!

1. Natal Chart 2. Precession Corrected Return Chart for Istanbul 3. Non-Precession Corrected Return Chart for Istanbul 4. Precession Corrected Bi-Wheel Return Chart 5. Non-Precession Corrected Bi-Wheel Return Chart

I haven't tried relocational myself but I'm doubtful of it (the non-deterministic aspect of predictive astrology I see as spotting opportunities instead of "cheating fate"). A precessed chart means using the Sun exactly where it was physically at the moment of birth. If one also uses the same birth location I get Pluto quincunx 2nd ruler and Saturn in 2nd for last year, and for this year 10th ruler Moon on the ascendant trine 2nd ruler Mars (so ought to be better career & money wise, but of course not taking into account national or global factors like recessions).

I haven't tried relocational myself but I'm doubtful of it

I have never tried it either, but I share your doubts. Relocation can change the houses where an aspect falls, but the aspects, planets' dignities, lordships, conjunction to fixed stars etc. won't change. The natal chart won't change either.

The event one wishes to avoid or to produce is the final outcome of a causality chain. If I have kept an extremely unhealthy lifestyle for years and years, changing the location of my birthday won't reduce the risk of a stroke - my arteries are already clogged.

As an illustration, I am posting my solar return chart for 2007. Advocates of relocation may have suggested I travel around my birthday, to avoid the effects of the Mars/Jupiter opposition between the sixth and twelfth houses. In my radix, Jupiter rules the eighth house cusp, and Mars the rest of it. Before, the solar return, I had some problems with my ankle. To cut a long story short, I could not walk properly and felt a constant pain. It was a psychosomatic condition.

I didn't travel, and had a good year nonetheless. The opposition and all the other hard aspects in the chart didn't work in the bad ways I had expected, given how things were in August 2007. I can tell what happened if people are curious.

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/4060/sr2007.gif

I would agree with both of the poster's responses, you cannot
escape one's own destiny or path (fate) by trying to cheat with relocations ahead of the fact. Good try thought, Istanbul Turkey is a wonderful vacation, even for one's birthday to set off the year traveling.

You were born with your Moon conj. Mirach and Jupiter conj. POf in the 9th the house of long distance traveling as you know, so you gain much value from globe trotting. I know I love it when I can do it and every time gain a lot from the experiences (my husband's stellium in the 9th) not mine

As for your 11th house Virgo planets such as Mars and Saturn -a great place the 11th for acting and acceptance from others, as it's the house of the Collective. However, you cannot escape the fact that Saturn is here,
and it is conjunct Regulus & Mercury .

Huge scaling up the higher mountain, with a rapid descent in the natal promise that comes with Regulus.

as for Al Nablusi - I'd love to know what happened to you. Hope your ankle is all better.

You have Sun conj. Regulus too.

...well, the ankle got so better that I took up running and now I am training for the half marathon. These are the main events happened in 2007/2008:

- homeopathic treatment
- root canal surgery
- acquired a very good job reputation
- lost further weight and got back in shape
- early graying of hair began
- reduced my smoking from a pack to 4 or 5 cigarettes a day, and my drinking too
- found a better job (temporary contract), in another country then called my employer and quit
- rented a wonderful house
- turned down a job offer and found another job
- moved back to my hometown after a few years spent elsewhere

al Nablusi wrote:...well, the ankle got so better that I took up running and now I am training for the half marathon. These are the main events happened in 2007/2008:

- homeopathic treatment
- root canal surgery
- acquired a very good job reputation
- lost further weight and got back in shape
- early graying of hair began
- reduced my smoking from a pack to 4 or 5 cigarettes a day, and my drinking too
- found a better job (temporary contract), in another country then called my employer and quit
- rented a wonderful house
- turned down a job offer and found another job
- moved back to my hometown after a few years spent elsewhere

How nice to hear all of this positive end result from a Solar Year chart.
Who would have thought? Mars in the 12th opposing your Jupiter in the 6th Hs.of Health ends up with you taking an active role in pursuing a healthier lifestyle.

Uranus near the MC - turns down one job, takes another.

Wonderful year all in all I'd say ....

This is new to me, the precessed solar return. I will read the links and try to figure out the rationale, since it results in completely different solar return charts. In your 2 charts for istanbul, you should have almost opposite financial experiences. The non-precessed puts saturn in your 2nd house (ouch)and uranus in your 8th....NOT want you want for financial boon. Also, sun in the 12th. In short, I would travel to AVOID this chart. The precessed puts jupiter in your 2nd and saturn 2 degrees away from the 9th, which could mean joint income is negatively affected in the first 2 months but should be okay by now. Pluto on the ascendent is a little daunting, and with sun in 8th you will be attracted to intense experiences.

So I hope the precessed chart "wins." Regarding the relocating issue, I don't think of it as trying to escape fate. As was mentioned, you can't change the aspects. But you CAN change the houses. It's deciding where you want the emphasis. I have relocated twice to test it out, once to get saturn out of my 4th, the other time to put jupiter in the 2nd. I was very impressed with the results. But I was very surprised to hear Goldfinger's experience with San Diego. He had every reason to expect a different financial outcome....

P.S. I just realized what precessed charts are...duh. I think I forgot because in the SR references I use they are dismissed so quickly I never paid any attention. Precessing is a sidereal technique and as I learned, not to be used on tropical charts--mixing apples and oranges.

But I hope you report back on how your year is going!

Hi Everyone,
Thanks for your input so far! I really appreciate your time and insights and my apologies for the late response.

Since I came back from Istanbul, I had a 12hr photo shoot, a few friends of mine from NY came to visit me here in Tokyo, and tomorrow and Thursday I'll have auditions for "Aida" and "Don Carlo", which are both on tour here in Tokyo and produced by Teatro alla Scala, a famous opera house in Milan. If I should pass these auditions, then I would look very carefully at my precessed solar return chart for Istanbul, which has Neptune in the 2nd trining Venus in the 6th, which trines my Midheaven ruled by Libra. I'll let you all know the results of my auditions Thursday evening or Friday morning

Considering the results after my birthday in San Diego last year, I thought I would be stupid not to travel this year, even if to take a vacation and relax for a while. I agree that you can't change the aspects of the planets, but I do disagree with not being able to change your fate. If you take a look at the following link, Ciro Discepolo, makes a valid point on this argument. He gives an example of a person seeing a vase on a balcony which is about to fall on them while walking down the street. So he asks, do you accept your "fate" by choosing serious injury or do you move out of the way to avoid harm? He doesn't talk about precessed charts vs. non-precessed ones like Bob Marks, but the 106 page summary about solar returns (or "Aimed Returns") is an interesting read.

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/2254157/A-F ... -Birthdays

Also, Ray Merriman states at the link below that -
"One of the most exciting facts about solar returns is that you may actually choose your own horoscope wheel for the year! Your choice is limited, as might be expected, by both certain mundane as well as astrological factors. From an astrological point, your choice is limited to the angles and house placement of planets as well as rulerships, which covers quite a bit of territory. Your choice does not consist of what relationship (aspects) the planets will have to each other or to your other natal planets -- only their relationship to your solar return angles and houses. From a mundane point of view, your choice is limited to your means and willingness to be mobile at the time of your solar return. The angles and houses are directly related to your location at the moment of your solar return; hence, your freedom and willingness to travel to specific location will influence just how much choice you have in creating your own chosen horoscope for the year. And another limitation, of course, is your knowledge and ability to work with solar returns, for without this knowledge you have absolutely no choice in the matter whatsoever." - http://www.claytentylor.com/astronotes11.html

Again, considering the results after my birthday last year in San Diego, I felt the results were more indicative of my precessed return instead of the non-precessed return which had many good aspects. Also, after reading Bob Marks's article and book, I was convinced and willing to experiment this year by taking a "precession-corrected" solar return birthday trip to Istanbul. I'm honestly not sure about the issue of "mixing apples and oranges" in terms of using sidreal techniques on tropical charts, but all I can say was the past year wasn't a good one for me and I was willing to try something new You can take a look at Bob Marks's analysis at these links and judge for yourself -

http://www.bobmarksastrologer.com/19.1Birthdays.htm

http://www.amazon.com/More-Money-Succes ... 23&sr=8-3

In the non-precessed chart, Pluto in the 2nd with Saturn in the 10th wasn't the best combination either........ Also, looking at my precessed chart for Tokyo (where I currently live) I had every reason to travel since there was no action in the 2nd house of money ;-(


2009 Tokyo Non-Precessed Chart 2009 Tokyo Precessed Chart

Thanks for the report. Quick question--did you buy the Janus software? If so, would you mind plugging in the data for my last year's solar return so I can compare?

JulieYvonne wrote:
P.S. I just realized what precessed charts are...duh. I think I forgot because in the SR references I use they are dismissed so quickly I never paid any attention. Precessing is a sidereal technique and as I learned, not to be used on tropical charts--mixing apples and oranges.

Hi Julie, I too was once confused over the precessed Solar Return and the non-precessed Solar Return. Later I discovered that in order to get the correct time (timing is everything) for an accurate Solar Return one must account for precession. The following may help explain this issue about the correct time for a Solar Return.

?If an astrologer prefers to use the Tropical Zodiac, a regular correction for Precession must be applied to Return Charts. A second method of overcoming the effects of precession is to use a precession-free reference system, that is, a zodiac which by its very nature is unaffected by precession in the first place. Such an alternative framework exists. It is called the Sidereal Zodiac. Like the Tropical Zodiac, it is based on twelve equal divisions of the ecliptic circle. Unlike the Tropical Zodiac, it is not beholden to the equinoxes and is therefore totally undistorted by precession. The issue here is not so much one of zodiacs, as of something far more fundamental to the essence of things astrological. Therefore, one can achieve the desired effects with Return Charts by either (1) using the Tropical Zodiac and correcting for precession or (2) using the precession-free Sidereal Zodiac.
If neither of these two methods are used, a Solar Return will be six hours in error by age 18, twelve hours by age 36, and an entire day off by the time a person attains the age of 72?.

So, we see and can understand this is very important for Return Charts, because it means a huge difference in the correct position of the 4 angles, other house cusps, and the all important position of the Return Moon. Hope this helps.

Regards, Steve

. . . I discovered that in order to get the correct time (timing is everything) for an accurate Solar Return one must account for precession.

I don't see how it can be said with certainty that one ?must? account for precession. Can we be so sure that the chart doesn't exist within its own time frame and parameters (I'm not sure that's the word I want, but I'll go with it)? Using the non-precessed return chart fits with my preference of using the birth location: The Sun or Moon returns to its zodiacal placement (thus demonstrating the passage of time) at the birth location and thereby starts a new cycle involving time and space as determined by the radix chart. As I see it, not fiddling around with precession values the autonomy of the radix chart and the territory it has claimed.

We could go round with this. Rather than trying to portray myself as correct I wanted to voice my annoyance with ? for an accurate Solar Return one must account for precession?. It's that 'must', you know.

Kirk wrote:
I don't see how it can be said with certainty that one ?must? account for precession.

Hi Kirk. If you use Solarfire I can demonstrate to you the vast importance of accounting for precession in Return Charts for the accurate positions of the angles and Moon.

Regards, Steve