Solar Return

A Solar Return chart is cast for the exact moment each year when the transiting Sun returns to the same zodiac degree it occupied at your birth. This annual chart gives you a way into the themes of the twelve months that follow, from one birthday to the next.

What is a Solar Return

The Solar Return is one of the most widely used techniques for reading a single year. Your natal chart shows the placements you were born with; the Solar Return chart shows which themes tend to come forward in a given year.

By examining planetary placements and house emphasis in the return chart, you can see which areas of life, such as work, relationships, or health, may draw the most attention. A new chart is made every year, so it is easy to compare one year with the next.

How to access

You open a Solar Return chart from Applied charts in the sidebar.

1. Choose a person under Birth Details in the sidebar
2. Select “Solar Return” under Applied charts

You can also press the chart title on any chart screen and switch to it from there. The chart is calculated and displayed immediately.

Location input

The place is where you are at the moment the Sun returns around your birthday (for a trip, that place; some astrologers use the place where you live). The place determines the house cusps, which changes how the chart reads.

Choose the location with the place button at the top of the screen. If none is set, the birth location from your birth details is used by default. Clearing the place you chose brings the birth location back.

Year selector

Enter a year from 1800 to 2400 in the Year field at the top of the screen to view the Solar Return chart for that year. Choose a past year for retrospective analysis, or a future year to look ahead. The current year is selected by default.

Reading the chart

A Solar Return chart is built like a natal chart. These points help you see the year’s themes.

• Ascendant sign: the overall tone of the year and how you present yourself
• Sun’s house: the area of life where your energy tends to gather
• Moon’s sign and house: emotional themes, and where you tend to feel fulfilled
• Stelliums or house clusters: areas that tend to be busy

For a detailed breakdown of chart components, see Single Wheel. To adjust which bodies and aspects are shown, use the gear in the top right of the chart screen (Display settings); see Points & Aspects Settings.

Table views and tooltips

Solar Return charts have the same data panel and table view as the Single Wheel, including the planet table and the house cusp table. Hover over (or tap) any planet glyph to see a tooltip with detailed information.

Tooltip content can be customized in Tooltip Settings.