The “solar return” occurs when the Sun returns to the exact position it was when you were born. This is on your birthday or sometime the day before or the day after.
A chart is cast for the time of the solar return. It gives information as to what kind of year you’re going to have. It’s used in conjunction with your natal chart.
You can compare this to a doctor looking at a blood test, an MRI as well as the findings of physical exam, to come up with a whole.
Solar returns are interesting in that sometimes a person has a solar return chart that is very different than their natal chart. You can imagine what that means. The person spends the year (birthday to birthday) in circumstances that are unfamiliar.
This would be for good or ill or both. They may like the change or they may not. They may love/hate the change.
If your solar return chart is similar to your natal, this will put you in familiar territory. The devil you know, you might say. Or on the more positive side, you’ll find yourself in your element.
In working with solar return charts for decades, I’ve noticed the strangest thing. A person looks at their solar return chart and invariably they scare themselves! This is almost universal. They see the chart and wind up dreading an entire year of their life! If they’re sufficiently upset, they may consult with me. Invariably I see great potential.
I just finished a consult where I married the solar return chart with the transits to the natal, to lay out the year ahead for the client. This is a solid approach that gives a good result.
You can get a Solar Return Report here. Take care not to read it, seeking gloom and doom. Astrology exists to help us. The help is magnificent, so long as you keep perspective and command of your free will.
What would be some positive or constructive ways to look at a 12th house emphasis on solar return charts?
I see this often in those worrying about the doom and gloom part! Thank you!
I had five planets in my 12th house SR chart, I was told “with a chart like this *someone’s* going in the hospital. Two weeks later my guy was diagnosed with cancer. Don’t mean to scare anyone but it is what it is.
One of the times I had Sun in the 12th house opposing Moon in the 6th, my father was hospitalized. I spent that year helping take care of him. It was something I absorbed and couldn’t tell people I met. I recently had Sun conjunct Moon in the 12th in the SR, and again, service was a theme. Nobody went to the hospital that time. I felt very isolated and it felt very solitary. Anyways, I would say that a positive way to see a 12th house emphasis in the SR would be that it’s a time where you retreat and partake in solitary pursuits. It’s not a time where you will be visible or recognized. You work behind the scenes. You may feel unacknowledged or unappreciated, but that’s not necessarily the case. After each of these SRs, I had Sun in the 10th, and I immediately became more visible publicly. My efforts during the years with 12th house emphasis were not wasted, although I did struggle and feel confused. It’s also a time where faith is important. I had faith, and I lacked faith. I took some leaps of faith around those times because I felt strongly about certain activities, and they paid off. Whatever solitary pursuits I undertook during those years paid off, though I wasn’t sure whether they would.
I’ve likened the experience to writing a book. You write a book in solitary (12th) and hold on to it, then you publish it later. You have to isolate yourself in a quiet space in order to make art, and sometimes, it is a struggle. It is hard to talk about things with others when going through a 12th house experience, but your experience is able to be given words afterwards. Life can feel magical with a 12th house emphasis in the SR too because you may encounter experiences you feel that you were meant to encounter. You might feel there is evidence of a grand design. You might feel saved, and you might save others (without being aware of it). You might also pray and have some of your prayers answered.
There are certain times for certain activities or events, and a 12th house transit or emphasis in the SR will make it evident that timing is divine. It’s a time where you go with the flow. It will be hard to do certain activities but easier to do other activities, and the ones that you are able to do might be what you’re supposed to focus on at that time. We all go through what we go through for a reason, although we might not know the reason until much later.
Good despription of the 12 house, Teresina. I have packed natal 12th house and thats it!
YIPES!KaD. I hope he will be OK.
I had Elsa do my solar return and I wrote a list of those things to watch out for. Its not always a bumpy ride. But its also not always a walk in the park either
Elsa’s Solar return chart really helped me.
I guess its gonna help me with the pitfalls this year
Dear Elsa,
I had sent you a request for a annual solar return chart about a week ago and my pay pal account was charged but never have received it. Usually in the past when I purchased any type of report I received it very quickly. I was wondering if you could look into this for me.
Thank you,
Paul
I always send these right away. Please check your spam. Meanwhile, I’ll look on my end. Sorry for the trouble! 🙂
I did find it and just resent.
I am working on this now. My solar return is intense: Sun, Merc, Venus in the 12th house, Pluto squaring the Moon – Pluto on MC and Moon conjunct Asc. Uranus conjunct the Asc and Moon. Yikes, right?!
But I am going to use Elsa’s advice and stay cool. Looking at the years’ transits and the lunar returns to prepare and mitigate fear. Using Saturn in Cap to plan!