Let's take a look at the Solar Return energies as mirrored by the Planets in the Solar Return Chart. Here is a brief and important key synopsis.
reflects the main area of focus for the year, illumining your desires and the results of your desires.
Example- The focus of the Sun in the 10th house is on career and success, a great placement for those who desire recognition and validation.
reflects the area of Life where things come easier and an area of protection.
Example- My clients say that when they've had Jupiter in the 10th house of career, they made more money that year than with Jupiter in the 2nd house of money.
reflects your area of vulnerability and insecurity. A fluctuation in that area of your Life is in direct proportion to your emotions about it.
Example- The Moon in the 2nd house of money is rough as it brings up one's fears and insecurities about money. Not a time to invest in the stock market or a new business venture because the fear factor can affect one's well being.
reflects the gift you are given for the year; what you so easily attract.
Example- If you are having health problems, placing Venus in the 6th house of health is so supportive. Or wanting to attract a mate, Venus in the 7th house is wonderful.
reflects so much of what your thoughts are focused on. Also, important communications related to that area of the Solar Return Chart.
Example- Mercury in the 7th house of marriage often brings a marriage proposal your way.
brings up the shadow side of the area of life where you need to transform your attitudes. Shadow meaning what you are unaware of that needs to be brought into conscious awareness.
Example- Pluto in the Solar Return 4th house is the most intense place to have it. It is transformation on a gut-wrenching level. This placement is usually too difficult for most people. The feeling is like being under a heavy rock.
reflects were you need to be assertive and take a stand, fight for what you want. Area of annoyance and probable discord.
Example- Mars in the 11th house of friendship denotes anger towards a friend or friends, as well as a greater clarity of what you define as friendship and who truly are your friends. A good placement to let go of "friends" who truly do not have your best interests at heart.
is your karmic area of the Solar Return Birthday Chart. You reap what you have previously sown in this particular arena. It also necessitates taking greater responsibility for that area of your Life and not putting the blame on others.
Example- Saturn in the 2nd house of money is a difficult placement unless you are wealthy; too many trials and tribulations around money. Never start a new business venture with this; it won't succeed.
reflects an area of healing, unfinished business; where you may be deluding yourself; where you need to take off the rose-colored glasses.
Example- Neptune in the 7th house of relationship is not an ideal time to get married. There is a susceptibility to get swept up in a romantic illusion.
assists in breaking up limitations, conditionalities and freeing you. Can bring sudden changes in that area of your Life.
Example- Uranus in the 12th house of the subconscious and hidden workings of the mind can assist in breaking up self-sabotaging patterns. This placement is a great renovator. Uranus in the 6th house of health is dangerous unless well aspected.
Example- One of my clients who designed her own Solar Return Chart herself (without my assistance) didn't realize she'd have a Solar Eclipse in her house of health. She looked at the Chart and saw there were no planets in the house of health. She totally forgot about the Eclipse. She had health problems the entire year.
is the most important factor in the Chart. Depending on its placement in the Chart, it can be dangerous or advantageous. It reflects what is going on under the surface that you are totally unaware of, forces at work that by the time you know about it; can be too late. There is a solution; to put a planet on to protect it, to bring it out into the open. It is the one factor in the Solar Return Chart that no matter where you go in the world for your birthday, it will still stay in the same section of the Chart. However you can alter the Sign it is in and the degree it is, as well as the other planets' relationship to it. I could write a whole book on this one factor alone as there is no written work on this anywhere.
Example- The Solar Return Part of Fortune in the 6th house of health means something is going on in your body that you are unaware of and unless there is a planet to support it and bring it out into the open, by the time you become aware of what's going on in your body it can be too late. Critical to get a thorough medical check up.
QUESTION: How can being in a particular town for a few days on my next Birthday change what is going to happen in my life for the year? It's called a Solar Return. Just what is it?
The Solar Return Chart reveals what a person is going to deal with externally for a year, starting with their Birthday.
The greater significance is that by altering one's Solar Return, a person can alter what is going to happen in their life for the year.
Let's look at the technique of Solar Returns and the implications of such a powerful tool. First of all, each year at the time of your Birthday, the Sun returns to the exact degree of where it was when you were born. This is called a Solar Return (the Sun's return). When the Sun returns to the precise point of your Sun's position at birth, a chart is drawn up for the exact time of the return. This chart reflects what you will experience from one Birthday to the next. It covers one year's time frame.
How does this differ from the Natal Chart? The Natal Chart (the chart at birth) shows your overall destiny, the patterns you've come in to work on, essentially the intentions of your Soul and the external arena in which you will experience them.
The Solar Return Chart reveals the timing when certain events are going to occur. Both charts are equally important, symbolizing the two wheels in a clock whose motion measures time. It is this interplay of these two charts that augment one's purpose and direction in life.
How can you use a Solar Return to alter your coming cycle of events?
Let's look at the technical aspect of a Solar Return. A Solar Return is calculated for the day, month, time and town (latitude and longitude) of the Solar Return. The TOWN of the Solar Return is where you are physically at the exact time of the Solar Return. The Solar Return Chart is drawn up the same way as your Natal (birth chart) is drawn up. Remember, the Natal Chart is calculated for the day, month, time, and town of your birth. The Solar Return truly is a rebirth, a renewing of your energy, purpose and direction.
Now, if you change where you are for a few days, the town (latitude and longitude) at your next Birthday, you actually alter your Solar Return Chart for the year and consequently what is going to occur in your life.
How does this happen? A chart is a circle divided into twelve equal sections called houses. Each section/house represents a different area of life. For example, the 10th house represents career; the 2nd house represents personal finances, and so on. The planets are situated in these different houses in your Solar Return Chart, showing what is going to occur. By traveling to a very specific town for your Birthday, you alter what houses the planets will be situated in, thus changing what areas of your life will be triggered.
Amazing! There is a catch, however. Although you can change what areas of your life will be triggered, you can't change the Planets you have to work with. What this means is that on your Birthday the particular Planetary set up and the planets' relationship to each other, which signs they are in and the aspects they make cannot be altered. In other words, the actual energies you'll be dealing with can't be changed; but where those energies operate can be changed.
It's like having a given set of furniture and having the choice of what room to put it in. Also, if you move one piece all the pieces move. What this means is that shifting one planet, shifts them all because you cannot move a planet independently of the others. Sort of like turning a dial and looking at the different settings. Consequently, because of the planets you have to work with, you cannot just get anything you desire. Some years you can create some incredible changes and have greater options, whereas other Birthdays you are limited in what you can do because of the Planets you have to work with on that particular Birthday.
For example, some people think they can have fame and fortune by altering their Solar Return. This can occur only if the individual has the Planetary set up to do it with and it is part of their Destiny. Ultimately, the changes that occur with shifting one's Solar Return are really part of what the individual was meant to experience all along.
How does one go about changing their Solar Return? First you must reflect on what you would like to augment in your life for the coming year and focus on. Solar Returns can augment career opportunities, facilitate bringing a love relationship into one's life, accelerate personal transformations, etc. Next, a chart is drawn up for the Solar Return on your upcoming Birthday for the town in which you live. (This can be done months in advance of your Birthday.) This shows the Planetary patterns you have to work with. Following that, a different chart is drawn up with these Planetary patterns placing them in the areas that are more in tune with what you choose. Sometimes this works out so you get the areas of your choice, other times you simply go with the best Planetary shift possible, given the Planetary positions you have. Ultimately, a chart is designed for you that reflects the most harmonious way to deal with the Planetary energies for the year. For example, if you have Uranus conjunct the Sun, you are going to have that regardless of what Solar Return Chart is set up for you, but the KEY IS YOU CHOOSE WHERE TO EXPERIENCE THE ENERGY AND HOW IT PLAYS OUT.
Changing a Solar Return does not mean that you won't have any problems and difficulties. It means you are choosing the area of your problems and difficulties as well as the areas of ease and expansion. You are becoming a conscious co-creator instead of a victim of life.
After the new Solar Return Chart is designed for you, then I have to calculate what town you have to go to get the right latitude and longitude to bring the new Solar Return Chart into creation.
For those of you that will actively utilize this technique and go on a Solar Return Birthday Trip, it is necessary to be in the town of your Solar Return at least 24 hours before the time of the exact return. A lot of people have experienced energy changes and unusual experiences before the exact time of the Solar Return. So we are looking at a three-day experience as the prerequisite of your Solar Return Birthday Trip.
At the exact time of the Solar Return it is ideal to meditate and open to the energies you have set into motion. Though it is not necessary to meditate, it is a heightening experience to be in touch with your own renewal process and your place in the universe as reflected by the Sun's return to your portion of God. It is the Sun in your chart that symbolizes the manifestation of your portion of God/Spirit into matter, and its return is a rebirth. Everyone, every year has a Solar Return, and every year everyone has a Solar Return Chart that, if they wish to take a look, will show where your Planetary energies will play out for the year, from one Birthday to the next Birthday. The difference is knowing about Solar Returns. The more conscious you become, the more you take responsibility for being a creator in your life and embracing your own growth patterns.
If this is a tool that you will utilize wisely, then it is vitally important that only a professional astrologer design your coming Solar Return Chart because of the powerful dynamics involved. Designing a Solar Return Chart requires a gifted Astrologer who deeply understands the dynamics of the different Planetary energies and how they manifest. For this reason one should not go to just anyone to get a Solar Return Chart designed.
Those of you who are not yet into altering your Solar Return can benefit a great deal in understanding the energies you have operating in your life for the year. This can be done by getting your current Solar Return Chart analyzed, and thus working more consciously with the energies and consequently taking responsibility for what is going on. The name of the game is called conscious growth.