Stations of the Moon. The Moon is never retrograde, but in a different sense her first and second dichotomes
are often loosely termed her first and second stations.
Stellium. v. Satellitium.
Strength of a planet. v. Dignity, accidental or essential.
Succedent Houses. Those which follow the angular houses: 2, 5, 8 and 11. v. Houses.
Sunspot Cycle. The phenomenon of Sunspot cycles is one which has increasingly engaged the atteention of
astrophysicists for more than two centuries. Useful records of the sunspot cycle are available from 1610 to the
present day. For a long time the cycle was said to be of a duration of 11.3 years, but more recently it has been
noted that successive eleven-year cycles produce similar but opposite phenomena, and that a complete cycle is
of a duration of 22.6 years. It has also been noted that while the Sun's surface is hotter at times of sunspot
maxima, the Earth's land surface is cooler, apparently due to the increased cloudiness that attends the
phenomena. It is also found that magnetic disturbances in the Sun - are reflected on the Earth with increased
display of the aurora borealis and magnetic disturbances that interrupt telegraphic service. Economic cycles
are also found to correspond with the Sunspot Cycle. Trees grow more during the years of Sunspot maxima,
when ultra-violet radiation increases by as much as 30 Per cent. Some plant life grows better with an excess of
ultra-violet light, while other species thrive better on an excess of infra-red rays. Ellsworth Huntingdon, of Yale
University, says solar radiation affects the health and behavior of man. Harlan E. Stetson, of Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, finds business activity, output of automobiles and new building construction follow
the Sunspot cycle. For lack of reliable data on weather conditions, Dr. William Herschel used the price of
wheat as an index on which to base his observations of this and similar cosmic cycles. Thus sciences establish
the fact that man is influenced by cosmic phenomena, and the step to recognition of the validity of astrological
influences has only the hurdle of prejudice to overcome before it is accorded scientific recognition.
Supercycle. A term applied by Richard and Jaggar to a cycle of 132 years, or approximately 6 sun-spot cycles.
Superior Planets. Those which lie outside of the Earth's orbit. v. Planets.
Synodical Lunation. v. Lunation.
Synthesis. The art of blending together separate influences in a nativity, and deducing a summary thereof. The
ability to synthesize a nativity is the mark of an experienced astrologer.
Syzygy. Literally a yoking together. often loosely applied to any conjunction or opposition; particularly of a
planet with the Sun, and close to the ecliptic whereby the Earth and the two bodies are in a straight line. In its
use in connection with the calculation of Tide Tables it applies to the conjunctions and oppositions of Sun and
Moon near the Node.