Solar and Lunar Returns

Every planet eventually circles back to the position it held in your birth chart. Astrology calls that a return, and treats it as the start of a new cycle.

The Solar Return

Once a year the Sun comes back to exactly where it stood when you were born, which falls right around your birthday. The chart cast for that moment is your solar return. You can read it as the atmosphere and theme of the year that is starting. The Ascendant of that chart, the house the Sun sits in, and how its planets aspect your natal chart all hint at where your attention may go this year.

Your location on your birthday matters, because the Ascendant and houses change with place. Try calculating it for the city where you actually are on that day.

The Lunar Return

The Moon completes its circuit in a little over 27 days, so a lunar return happens every month. It gives a short snapshot of your mood and concerns for that month, which suits near-term planning and reflection.

In the app

Pick a year and a place, either your birthplace or the city where you spend your birthday. The app finds the exact moment of the solar return and shows its wheel and tables, with a short reading of its Ascendant and the house of the Sun. You can show your natal planets in an outer ring to compare the two. Below, the app lists the lunar returns that follow through the year, and each one opens its own wheel and positions. If your birth time is unknown, the Ascendant and houses are not shown, and the return times can be off by up to about half a day.

How to use it

Treat the solar return as a set of questions to ask yourself on your birthday: what would I like to bring forward this year? It is a symbolic way of setting intention, not a promise of what will happen.