The Sabian Symbol at Sunrise


This article explains how to use the Sabian symbols for daily guidance using the Sabian symbol for the degree of the sun at sunrise. A 2024 PDF chart for the Sabian symbol for each day of the year in Washington, DC is included.

Daily Guidance by Sun Degree

The degree of the sun at sunrise represents the passing frame for self-realization and self-assertion. This translates to the "flavor of the day" in terms of maximizing your potential and gaining self-understanding. The sunrise symbol reflects the objective side of things — outer events, interactions with others, etc.

You may frequently find the day's events reflected in a Sabian symbol or you may find that you can understand the significance of some event or situation in terms of the symbolic meaning of the Sabian symbol for the day.

How To Determine the Sabian Symbol for the Day

Determine the astrological sign and degree for sunrise at your geographical latitude and longitude and use the Sabian symbol for that degree, according to the method described below of rounding up or down — or using that exact degree if the one minute mark hasn't been reached (i.e., 26 Leo 00)

Which Sabian Symbol Should You Use?

1. If the position of the planet is at an even degree (i.e., 26 Leo 00), read the Sabian symbol for that degree (i.e., 26 Leo).

2. If the position of the planet is at least one minute over an even degree (i.e., 26 Leo 01 or 26 Leo 02) read the Sabian symbol for the next higher degree (i.e., 27 Leo).

3. If the position of the planet is over 29 degrees and 01 minute, it is read as 30 (i.e., 29 Leo 01 is read as 30 Leo).

4. There is no 0 degree of anything in the Sabian symbols. The symbols are written for the degrees 1-30 of each of the 12 signs.

5. If the planet is at zero degrees of a sign then round down to 30 of the previous sign if it hasn't yet reached the one minute mark (i.e., 00 Leo 00 would be rounded down to 30 Cancer). Round up to the first degree of the sign (1) if the planet is at zero degrees and at least one minute (i.e., 00 Leo 01 would be read as 1 Leo).

Holdover and Skipped Symbols

Because there are 365 days in a year but only 360 symbols there will naturally be some days in which the same symbol will rule for two consecutive days. In calculating the symbols I have discovered that there will be days in which the sun is just leaving a degree at dawn on one day and by dawn the next day it has traveled completely through the next degree and entered the following degree. Thus one of the degrees is skipped.

The Sabian symbols that hold over for two consecutive days and those that are skipped are not always the same each year. Further, although most of the Sabian symbols appear on the same day each year, there is some variation from year to year. For this reason, it is necessary to calculate the symbols for your specific location for each day every year.

I have calculated the Sabian symbols for each day of the year at Washington, DC to make it easy for you to determine the correct symbol for each day. The Sabian symbols effective for Washington, DC are also symbolic at the national level in the United States. The Sabian symbols for the day may occasionally vary in the southern latitudes such as Florida and Texas on days in which the same Sabian symbol holds over for two days or is skipped.

If you would like to know what the daily Sabian symbols are for the year and record them in your datebook or print them out, please choose one of the hyperlinks below:


Download Download Chart of Daily Sabian Symbols - PDF

Download Download Chart of Daily Sabian Symbols - Astro Glyphs - PDF


Sabian.org