17.11  The symbol should be read from left to right and symbolises the principle of cycles in its various manifestations and with its four sub-principles, which we know as the "seasons" of the year or of the year cycle. Furthest to the left at the top of the symbol we see a black, round figure. It marks the part of the year cycle we know as the "winter solstice". From this figure a partly black and partly white line goes down through a black area at its widest point. This black area symbolises the principle of "winter". And the line marks, therefore, the culmination of this principle or what we call "midwinter". A little to the right at the top we have another round figure, half of which is black and half white. This figure symbolises the place in the year cycle that we call the "vernal equinox". We see that the black area has decreased in size and become narrower here. This symbolises the decline of winter or of the principle of winter. We see likewise that the white area, which symbolises the year cycle's "principle of summer", has increased in size, causing the commencement of "spring". Spring is thus a transition between the culmination of the principle of winter and the culmination of the principle of summer.
      Yet we see that the white area increases and becomes dominant while the black area narrows down to a latent state. The round figure above the peak of the white area symbolises the "summer solstice" or that place in the cycle from where the "principle of summer" or "summer" begins to prevail. So, from the summer solstice and onwards to the next half-white and half-black round figure, which symbolises what we call the "autumnal equinox", we have the area of summer or of the principle of summer. From the equinox's figure and onwards to the entirely black round figure, which represents the "winter solstice", we have the area of "autumn". Then we come once again to a winter solstice and after that to a new spring and so on continuously. Autumn is therefore a transition between the area of the principle of summer and of the principle of winter. We can also see the area of these seasons indicated further down in the symbol in the form of the sections with the diagonal stripes. The section with the grey stripes symbolises the area of winter. The section with the green stripes symbolises the area of spring. The section with the multicoloured stripes symbolises the area of summer, while the section with the red stripes symbolises the area of autumn.