Mike 2022 SSR recap and review

[Mike V]

Last year, I traveled to Vail, CO to set up a strongly Jovian Solar Return:

T. Jupiter Nadir +0*05’
R. Sun Asc +0*16’
r. Mercury EP-a 0*16’
T. Mercury EP-a 0*36’
R. Uranus Asc -4*42’
R. Jupiter Dsc -5*35’
T. Eris IC -6*40’
R. Neptune Asc -8*39’

T. Moon cnj r. Mars 1*53’ (although Moon is moderately background, and Mars acutely background)
T. Mercury cnj r. Mercury 0*22’

We can compare this to the base SSR that would’ve set up if I were at home in Glendale, CA (where I was living for most of the year):

T. Neptune Nadir -0*08’
R. Moon MC -0*33’
R. Jupiter WP-a 1*24’
R. Sun Asc -6*10’

T. Moon cnj r. Mars 1*53’ (middleground)
T. Mercury cnj r. Mercury 0*22’
T. Moon sqr t. Neptune 0*39’ M

The Jupiter transit to Sun on angles, plus double Mercury, was not as wildly successful in the business world as I would’ve hoped. However, layoffs swept the software engineering world this past year, and hit my coworkers very hard; I was spared from this, and even got a small cost of living raise when review time came around (though my remaining coworkers did too). I would describe my career as going well at present; I’m as stable as one can be in the current landscape. I have several friends in the industry who are having a really hard time getting a new gig right now, so I am relieved to have had this protective influence all year. I was never deeply worried about my own financial safety.
I can see the impact of natal Sun being so angular, too. I have made significant progress in understanding and unfolding the primary motivation of my life this year, and have generally been very focused on my goals, both short- and long-term.
Double Mercury is also reasonable to recognize in hindsight. I moved during the year, which was logistically quite involved (though not quite as intense as moving across the country the prior year). I have also been learning new technologies pretty continuously the entire year, and that has been fruitful.

Looking at the Neptune-centric SSR for California… I do think it had a say in the themes of the year, even a relatively noticeable say, but it was not the primary chart. I had a large, dramatic friendship breakup that went in slow motion beginning right at the beginning of the year and only ending around October, but I don’t believe that it was the primary theme of the year itself - and I also was not at the center of it. (It was a multi-part schism in the friend group, and I was at ground zero trying to reconcile it, but I was not either of the primary parties at war.) So, I can't say that the chart was inactive. The Colorado chart has Neptune so far away from the angle that I can’t attribute these events to that. Plus, the Colorado chart has natal Neptune angular, and I do think these events were much more characteristic of transiting Neptune than natal Neptune. (I was not the one being dramatic; quite the opposite!)

Just eyeballing it, it would feel right to say that, in this particular instance, the planets in the local chart acted as though their orbs started from around the threshold of 3* rather than 0* - so Neptune competed with the other foreground planets for voice in the chart as though it was 3*XX’ away from a primary angle rather than exactly conjoining it, and natal Moon acted as though it were 3*-4* rather than 33’. Or something like that. Just an attempt at actually quantifying how much weaker it was in experience than the chart would suggest in a vacuum. I’ll examine future relocated SSRs with this in mind and see if adding 3* to (primary angle) orbs is a useful “conversion” equation.

Conclusion: another experience consistent with our current framework, that the SSR that sets up is much louder than any localized version thereof.

[Jim Eshelman]

Vail was even better than you mentioned: You forgot the 0°01' Moon-Jupiter mundane square along with the 0°24' Sun-Jupiter foreground ecliptical square I remember now that the double Mercury along with Sun and double-Jupiter was quite impressive. (Plus your own Jupiter-Uranus foreground and the rest.)

While one can always hope for better and better, I'm glad that at least you were vocationally and economically secure as a relative newcomer to your field during a down time.

The Glendale chart was mostly unpleasant despite the reasonably strong natal Jupiter. I particularly remember thinking you did not need a second partile Moon-Neptune (with both of them foreground), with the rest of the chart tipped negative (by Moon-Mars aspect and two Neptunes closely angular). That could have been a pretty tortuous year to live through.

Looking at the Neptune-centric SSR for California… I do think it had a say in the themes of the year, even a relatively noticeable say, but it was not the primary chart. I had a large, dramatic friendship breakup that went in slow motion beginning right at the beginning of the year and only ending around October, but I don’t believe that it was the primary theme of the year itself - and I also was not at the center of it. (It was a multi-part schism in the friend group, and I was at ground zero trying to reconcile it, but I was not either of the primary parties at war.)

This doesn't sound Neptunian to me (but, then, I wasn't in the middle of it). I do note, though, that (in the "other, non-foreground partile aspects" category) your Vail chart still had transiting Venus conjunct natal Saturn, Mars conjunct your Moon, and tense, isometric-style tensions from Saturn-Uranus to natal Pluto. These were all partile and non-foreground, and seem to me (trying to look at this as an outsider) to exactly match what you described. (Suitably for non-foreground partile aspects: My phrase for these has settled into "what's going on in the background of one's life but not defining the main themes or feel of the time).

Thanks for giving an aftermath summary. These help everybody!

[Jim Eshelman]

And an early happy birthday to you as you set off on your next annual adventure. Enjoy Memphis and let us know how it goes and what you do. The chart (depending on exactly where you are at 2:30 PM on the 20th) is something like this:

r Pluto on Dsc -8°02'
r Mars on Dsc -6°18'
t Jupiter on EP -0°29'
r Venus on MC -0°11'
---------------------------
t Venus on Dsc +0°26'
t Uranus on Asc +2°27'

t Jupiter sq r Venus 0°08'
t Venus-Uranus op 0°41'
t Venus sq r Venus 1°15' M
r Mars-Pluto co 1v44' M
t Uranus op r Pluto 2°25'
t Moon-Pluto sq 2°40'

Other Partile Aspects
t Jupiter-Pluto sq 0°06' M
t Saturn sq r Mars 0°06'
r Moon-Mercury sq 0v18' M
t Mercury-Pluto 0°21' M
t Neptune sq r Saturn 0°33' M

SQ Moon conjunct Jupiter in about 8 months should be a high point of the year. (By PSSR rate, it might hit a month or so earlier.)

[Patrick Machado]

The involvement of Eris, both transiting and natal, is noteworthy. But, wow, an exact Moon-Jupiter mundane square. Would you (either) say that persisted?

[Jim Eshelman]

That's a great question. My current view is that solar returns never relocate - that only the original location matters - so there would be no loss from relocation.

[Venus_Daily]

Thanks for sharing your experience Mike. I must say, I definitely felt the effects of my 2022 relocated SSR with the natal benefics in the foreground. But I wonder if it's kind of like a plasma energy field where some peaks are stronger than others but other stuff is still active.

[Mike V]

The involvement of Eris, both transiting and natal, is noteworthy. But, wow, an exact Moon-Jupiter mundane square. Would you (either) say that persisted?

I do think so, but there's so much Jupiter involvement that it's difficult to say with certainty which events are specifically Jupiter foreground vs Jupiter transit to Sun vs Moon-Jupiter.

But I wonder if it's kind of like a plasma energy field where some peaks are stronger than others but other stuff is still active.

So far, it has been my experience (in the short period that I've been relocating for SSRs) that spending 10+ months in a different location slowly begins to "vitalize" the chart that would've set up there, but I'm not certain about it - and in any case, it is, at most, significantly weaker than the chart that does set up. The difference this year between the two SSRs is pretty stark, so it gives me a great chance to watch for any validity of the one back at home.

[Jim Eshelman]

Are you saying that the "back home" effects seem to come on only at the end of the year? Or did I misunderstand that?

But if so... here's another thing to watch: The last (roughly) 20% of the year (that Matthew Quellas and I called the "mop-up" period) not only accelerates any incomplete stuff from the ongoing SSR, but start to rearrange the life to be ready to move seamlessly into the soon-to-arrive SSR.

Because the SSR MC rotates 92° of RA a year (for a given location), the old SSR and next SSR often will look similar for the same location.

This left the interesting puzzle: Gosh, if my life and the universe are setting me up for an in-coming SSR and then I go somewhere else for the birthday, how does that work? I've had almost nothing I could observe on solars, but I've had several opportunities to watch with approaching lunars. What it has felt like is happening is this: The universe starts organizing the life as if the approaching return is going to setup wherever you are currently located and then - when you head somewhere else instead - either those things fall aside or there is a whiplash at the last minute (or there is simply a psychological setup in one direction that falls away and becomes a different kind of psychological setup).

So... if you actually are saying that the "back home" only starts showing at 10+ months... my question is whether the same observations could, instead, be life start to set you up for the Inglewood SSR you will never end up happening?

(If that's not too confusing.)

[Venus_Daily]

The involvement of Eris, both transiting and natal, is noteworthy. But, wow, an exact Moon-Jupiter mundane square. Would you (either) say that persisted?

I do think so, but there's so much Jupiter involvement that it's difficult to say with certainty which events are specifically Jupiter foreground vs Jupiter transit to Sun vs Moon-Jupiter.

But I wonder if it's kind of like a plasma energy field where some peaks are stronger than others but other stuff is still active.

So far, it has been my experience (in the short period that I've been relocating for SSRs) that spending 10+ months in a different location slowly begins to "vitalize" the chart that would've set up there, but I'm not certain about it - and in any case, it is, at most, significantly weaker than the chart that does set up. The difference this year between the two SSRs is pretty stark, so it gives me a great chance to watch for any validity of the one back at home.

I'm with Jim on this one and propose an even longer term after the new SSR when it's most effective. I noticed that at least my SSRs are also most active 2-3 months after the new one is set up.

[Mike V]

I understand what you're saying, Jim. It's a good question, of which one it is. I think my experience has been less that the "local" SSR activates only late in the year, and more that it slowly gets vitalized by spending a lot of time at that location. My sample size is small, though, and I can buy the idea that I'm getting "mop-up" plus "tentative next SSR" effects as opposed to "local current SSR" effects.

I don't have access to Solar Fire at the moment so I'm just going based off memory, but here's my memory of my last 2 SSR relocation timelines:

Dec 2021 SSR (i.e. for 2022): I set up an SSR in Escondido, CA that was dominated by natal Jupiter, with some Moon-Venus-Pluto-Eris stuff happening. When I returned home to Hackensack, NJ, the "local" SSR was primarily Saturn-Pluto (transiting, IIRC). The year unfolded strongly along the lines of the Escondido SSR, with Saturn-Pluto not really identifiable... until roughly 7-8 months in, when I started feeling like the Saturn-Pluto influence was trickling in: general loneliness, heavier workload, heavier body, just generally things feeling crappier, until I moved to California in early September 2022.
I might be mixing up that NJ SSR with the year prior, but I think I have it correct. I also don't remember what my 2022 SSR for New Jersey would have looked like.

Dec 2022 SSR (i.e. for 2023): as detailed in my initial post. However, the Neptunian themes - which centered around several very close friends being in sustained, cyclic emotional turmoil, poor communication, and misunderstandings, and me being close to the center of that maelstrom - began in January 2023 and only wrapped up in October of 2023 as a big friendship breakup with the parties deemed as being primarily at fault.

That said... that timeline is much earlier and faster than I was considering, now that I look at it. It was so early and sustained, though, that I'm not sure what else to attribute it to.

[SteveS]

I don’t have enough experiences with re-locating a SSR to know anything in what I would term a “knowing way.” I have only relocated a SSR once in my life since I first learned about relocation possibilities for return charts, and that SSR relocation was primarily for recreational purposes for a musical concert. I can say this in a “knowing” manner: I was blown away with the hard-core par-excellent symbolism for what I witness on a deep inner level, but in my mind---what I was experiencing were my couple of new solar return quotidian days!!! As recording in a diary type manner as to what happened for the rest of my solar year back home, I did not experience anymore of the hard core angular symbolism for my couple of days relocated SSR angular symbolism back home---this I know for sure!!! But, it must be understood, I live a non-active pretty much boring retired secluded life. And ones immediate living environment back home may mean all kinds of differences with astrological manifestations with relocational astrology purposes. In other words, it all depends on one's individual purposes for relocating a return chart, and even then, IMHO--nothing can be proven except with one's own indivdual opinions with their own individual life experiences.

But here is something that I do have more than one occasion experiences for relocating a return chart and it has to do with relocating SLRs charts. Here is primarily what I did: I would look for when transiting Venus would partile conjunct or 180 my rising Natal Jupiter. And then: I would with an old slow DOS astrological program (NOVA) start scanning the USA to see if I could locate to put this Venus-Jupiter action within 2 degrees of a local angle which had a Casino for lots of recreational activity, other than just gambling. I am a recreational gambler but love to do other things recreational in the right location. I can state for sure with two instances that I experience incredible recreational luck at gambling, once in one location being dealt 4-7s in a 5 card hand that paid 500$ on a 5$ bet; and in another location being dealt 3 Jacks in a 3 card hand that also paid 500$ on a 5$ bet. In other words: I experience full-blown angular Venus-Jupiter at a gambling location of my choosing for a SLR angular Venus-Jupiter set-up. And never would I wager more than 5$ on a hand of poker at a poker casino table. People would have to realize the incredible odds against you for being dealt these low-risk-high reward poker hands to understand in a “knowing way” that, at least, in my case, having a choice with Sidereal Astrology return charts for choosing where to do some recreational gambling---paid me nice dividends. But it must be clearly understood I was born with Jupiter rising so I knew to wait till I had a transiting Venus on/180 my Jupiter. I got this relocation SLR recreational gambling idea from Donald Bradley when he stated in his Solar & Lunar Return book: Angular Venus-Jupiter is the “hitting the lottery” aspect.

Also, it paid me rich-deep Uranus feelings when I relocated my one SSR for recreational purposes by choosing which musical concert I wanted to attend with my individual choice for other locations. In other words: I chose a daily Solar Quotidian chart to exactly be where I wanted to be on one particular DAY.

For sure, I know with my few re-locational experiences with return charts---Relocational Sidereal Astrology works---at least for my recreational purposes.