Degree symbols are an integral part of astrology in the twenty-first century. They can brightly illuminate virtually any horoscope to the benefit of nearly every chart interpreter. Several well-known sets of symbolic degrees exist today, and in recent years the Sabian symbols may have become pre-eminent. But there is no reason not to continue developing the degree symbols idea. Here we offer several ways to view and to interpret a series of 360 images known as the Hyperion symbols. This presentation takes a questioning approach that is respectful of its antecedents while yet extending a creative astrological usage into areas of consideration that may have been given insufficient attention before, as we explore an energizing area in the ongoing evolution of astrology.

On August 1, 2000, at 6:48:28 AM EST (78W10 39N11), I happened to glance out a window and saw an image accompanied by a novel thought: "That's a degree symbol." The thought was so clear and the image so vivid that I noted the time and wrote a brief description of it. This done, another image came to mind and was recorded on the same sheet of paper. In a few minutes there were twelve images on the page. Soon there were thirty, and I quickly turned the paper over and continued writing. By mid-morning, one-hundred and eighty images covered five sheets of paper front and back.

A pause was needed, so I turned away until after noon, when it seemed to be time to start writing again. Another image came to mind immediately, and then another. By mid-afternoon, image 360 had been written down. The whole series was recorded in two sessions of about three hours each, or about one minute per image. While all this was happening, there was little subjective sense of time passing, but occasionally a few min-utes would seem to be rather blank, and then a whole sequence of images would ideate in rapid succession.

Near the end of the second session, the name of these degree symbols came to mind, recognizing Hyperion (Greek Ὑπερίων, "The High One"). Greek myth tells of the Titan Hyperion, son of Uranus and Gaea, as father of the Sun and Moon. The Greek historian Diodorus Siculus wrote: "Of Hyperion we are told that he was the first to understand, by diligent attention and observation, the movement of both the sun and the moon and the other stars, and the seasons as well, in that they are caused by these bodies, and to make these facts known to others; and that for this reason he was called the father of these bodies, since he had begotten, so to speak, the speculation about them and their nature."