by Robert Wilkinson
Each year the Sun returns to the exact degree, minute, and second as when we were born. It can happen the day before our birthday, the day after, or on our birthday. A chart done for that moment, set for wherever location we are at, gives us a snapshot of factors at play in our year to come.
Why Use the Return of the Sun?
Since the Sun is the ultimate point of reference in a Solar Return chart, everything indicated by the Solar Return must in some way serve to bring forth that Light of the True Self, the Light of the Heart. That’s why the house position of the Sun, and how it aspects the Ascendant, are very important in a Solar Return chart.
When the transiting Sun exactly conjuncts our natal Sun, we naturally attune to our Solar Self, the Limitless Light which illuminates us. As we are illuminated, so we illuminate others. It’s why the natal Sun is the most important indicator of our true Self.
The Sun shows us our Light/Life that continually integrates and re-integrates us with the source of all vitality. It is our self-renewing quality to shine forth like the superstar our eternal Self is. The return of the Light with our Light offers us a chance to re-identify our lives with its incredible power and radiance. You can see how this is an important recurring moment once a year throughout our lives in renewing our evolution toward "Sun-ship."
As most of you know, my birthday is April 1. However, as I shared in the first Solar Return article, I always meditate in the immediate time before, during, and after the exact moment of the Solar Return, unless it’s the middle of the night. Even then (one year it happened at 4:20 am PDT), I somehow woke up at 4:15, programmed my mind with a few key receptive concepts for the next year, and took those back into subconsciousness. Not my usual meditation, but at that time of night it was about all I could do. When younger I would have leaped out of bed at 4 am and done a “correct mediation,” but these days I rarely get up at that time for anything. This year it’s around 9:55 pm PDT, a bit late but a much more civil time to do a meditation!
Usually I feel my consciousness “quickening” the moment the Sun returns to 12 Aries, so I begin to enter into the Solar Return Zone about 5 hours before the exact moment. I begin to cultivate an inner space to make my consciousness receptive to understanding the most productive ways to express the potential in the year to come. I help to prepare by looking at my last year’s Solar Return to see how those configurations manifested over the past year. Please remember that reading a Solar Return is very different than how we read a birth chart. While some factors are the same, the Solar Return requires a different technique.
Following the Breadcrumbs through the Forest of Time
Whenever there’s a strong conjunction by Mercury, Venus, Mars or an outer planet have been in early Aries I also felt the quickening through those planetary functions. In March 2011 Jupiter conjuncted my Sun, and so that Solar Return chart had Jupiter at 16 Aries. My Solar Return chart for 2011 was a “before the beginning of the adventure,” and by two weeks later on April 15 I knew we were going to move to a distant land, and were already in motion by the 2012 Solar Return. Yes, sometimes it is THAT dramatic!
Taking a look farther back, the 1997 Solar Return chart featured Venus exactly conjunct Saturn at 11 Aries. That year I ended a marriage that hadn’t worked for many years, my pioneering Mercury retrograde book was published to international rave reviews, I sold my home in Austin and left an old life, met Ammachi, and began a relationship with the love of my life which just gets better with every year that goes by!
My Solar Return chart in 1998 had Mars at 21 Aries and Saturn at 22 Aries, both still reasonably close to my Sun. That year was truly a furious battle with an evil man, and taught me self-discipline. In 1999, my Solar Return chart had Jupiter at 12 Aries, which opened a different, more fulfilling era of my life. The battle still raged, but there was so much divine protection that I marvel how blessed we can be, even in our darkest hours.
The Aspects Show How and When Forces Will Be Released
Nine years ago I got a Cardinal T-square, while eight years ago I got a Grand Fire Trine involving the Sun, Jupiter, and the Ascendant, with Mercury trine Saturn, Moon tredecile Venus, and Venus quintile Neptune! Seven years ago I had a Sun trine Saturn, Jupiter square Saturn and Mercury conjunct Uranus, and a Moon conjunct Pluto trine Jupiter. Talk about a mixed bag!
Three years ago I got Jupiter conjunct Pluto, Mars conjunct Saturn, Mercury conjunct Neptune, and Sun conjunct Chiron, and the entire year was very much a “doubled” planetary experience! The Jupiter conjunct Pluto was sextile my natal Jupiter and trine my natal Saturn while square my natal Mars. So there were favorable building energies of Jupiter and Pluto with my Jupiter and Saturn, releasing through the square to Mars.
Speaking of Jupiter and Pluto square my Mars, April through September of 2020 put me in an extraordinarily ugly conflict which went to an extreme I haven’t had to deal with in 20 years! On the other hand, Mars conjunct Saturn was quintile my natal Sun from the Grand Mutation degree at 1 Aquarius, portending events which developed beginning in December.
That’s what I mean when I say none of these aspects between planets exist in a vacuum. Besides the aspects they make between each other, they also make aspects to our natal planets indicating how the yearly ruler of those natal and SR houses relates to the natal ruler of the natal and solar return houses.
The aspects in a Solar Return show the structural relationship of the “frozen moment” indicating primary lessons we will deal with for that year only. Most of the time, we experience transits as they are moving in real time; in the Solar Return, the configurations in that moment are part of the evolution of our Light/Life for the following year. Of course, how we have mastered our planetary responses and dualities determines how the planets will play out in the Solar Return.
Past Solar Returns in my Life
Sometimes dramatic things are indicated in a Solar Return. Two years ago I knew I’d have a very strong Venus year, since it was exactly conjunct my Sun at the Solar Return! Given that I published my book The Magic of Venus: Friendships, Soul Mates, and Twin Flames, I’d say that Solar Return indicator fulfilled itself in a huge way! This year Venus is also strong as it conjuncts Uranus, quintiles Saturn, tredeciles Pluto and releases the energy through the square to the Moon. I believe this could be excellent, given it’s my Venus return and conjunct the planet ruling Astrology!
Speaking of my books, the 2016 chart with Sun trine Saturn and Saturn conjunct the Part of Fortune in the 9th indicated the publishing of my book Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend. It wasn’t like I “manufactured” that expression, since the book was already years in the making and that Autumn just happened to be the time it was finally finished. That year, the harmony between my Light (the Sun) and my Wisdom born of life experience (Saturn) manifested as the Sag quality of publishing a book exploring both the worldly and spiritual dimensions of the power we have to take command of our lives, living our eternal freedom to explore ever-greater vistas of Truth.
For the 2019 chart I chose to stay home as it gave me 30 Scorpio on the Ascendant. That helped me regenerate and clear out old stuff I no longer needed to hold on to. As it fell in my natal 4th, my home was the focus from April 2019-April 2020. My plants were ecstatic that I was able to transfer them out of the pots they lived in for years and into the soil of the Earth! It’s also interesting that I spent the last month of the year sequestered in my home thanks to the pandemic.
The 2020 Ascendant was 27 Aquarius, within one degree of the 2019 Moon at 26 and the same degree Mercury went SRX in late January 2021. Due to the tight conjunction of the 2019 Moon and the 2020 Ascendant, those two years were very closely linked. It indicated that my 2019 Lunar function became part of my self-image in 2020. The position of Jupiter in the 2021 chart at 24 Aquarius expanded that part of my evolving life. Moon to Ascendant to Jupiter in Aquarius sounds like a good progression to me, with last year bringing many things into focus since the 2021 chart had Mars at 20 Aquarius, Saturn at 23 Aquarius, and Venus at 26 Aquarius, with Saturn going stationary retrograde last Summer at 26!
It was also interesting to note that as my 2020 Solar Return year began, the ruler of the SR Asc (Saturn) and the worldly ruler of the Sun (Mars) were both in the 12th and I spent that year in serious seclusion. The 2021 SR also had the ruler of the Sun in the 12th, and the ruler of the Gemini SR Ascendant was in the 10th in Pisces conjunct Neptune. So I maintained quarantine, got vaccinated and boosted during the year, while still being in the public eye.
Last year I had 8 Virgo rising with the Bundle of planets all between the 5th and 9th houses. The Sun was in the 8th with Moon at 8 Aries, Mercury at 10 Aries, and Chiron at 13 Aries. The 8th is where we let go of the old to create the space for the new. It is also the house of inheritance and legacies, and the past year has brought themes of what to eliminate to regenerate and how to secure my legacy for the world.
The Moon was in the Balsamic phase, and it truly was a year closing the old offering visions of the future. It is the phase which “pays it forward,” and with the Moon is at 8 Aries, the Ageless Wisdom was front and center in my life all year! The worldly ruler of Aries is Mars which is at 20 Aquarius, a degree of getting rewards from Spirit.
Virgo rising brought me numerous health issues to deal with, as well as a ton of work! As it was on a degree of training and self-induced movement. Other indicators helped me be a “joyous worker,” training in ways which externalize as “hearing the call to a life renewal.” This will be grounded in the inner changes going on at 8 Sagittarius, and flower into the world as a “protest against privilege.”
This year, I have 21 Scorpio rising, with a Hemispheric Bowl, where everything is between Pluto at 1 Aquarius and the Moon at 16 Leo in the 9th. Most of the planets are concentrated in the 4th, 5th, and 6th houses, and Mars, ruler of the Ascendant, is at 4 Cancer in the 8th. It seems there’s going to be more 8th house activity this year!
This year the ruler of my natal Ascendant is in the 5th, so it looks like kids and creativity are front and center, especially with the Sun, Chiron, and Jupiter all conjunct within 8 degrees. Of course the strong trines from the elevated Moon in Leo in the 9th promises stable inspiration and hopefully, a sunny disposition! Now Scorpio rising isn’t known for that, and with the ruler Mars in Cancer it could get a bit prickly, but the Moon rules Mars and trines its ruler the Sun.
The Part of Fortune exactly conjunct Neptune in the 5th also brings an element of deep enjoyment to the 5th house emphasis. And because we have planets in Pisces and Aries in the 5th, and planets in Aries and Taurus in the 6th, these two highly active areas will involve two different energies in each one, united by Aries.
The outstanding quality is that the Bowl has something to offer, and the leading planet is Pluto in Aquarius in the 3rd. Perhaps I will get visions of the future based in what’s already in motion these past 2 years. It should be a creative-expressive year given the strong 5th house emphasis coupled with the Moon in a First Quarter relationship to the Sun.
There are no oppositions in this chart, and the only energy releases come through the Moon square Venus/Uranus. This requires me to be strong, letting go when needed, seeing the bigger picture, listening to the inner voice, managing what needs managing, and guarding what’s threatening the future of the work.
As the primary focus is in the 4th, 5th, and 6th, and as these clusters fall in my 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th houses natally, this year will help me complete some understanding about the hemisphere of the “not self.” With the rulers of my 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th, and 11th all in the 5th and 6th, clearly it’s a year to play at my work and work at my play as a whole new “under the surface” part of my life is ramped up, along with legacies and group work.
There are obviously many other factors in play in the SR chart, but going into an extensive analysis would probably be boring to most of you. I’m looking forward to the various trigger points to be activated throughout the year, since it teaches me a lot about how astrology works. I suspect a lot of what this year is about will be evident as the Sun and Mercury transit over the Venus and Uranus in this chart. And given Venus makes three transits over the Moon beginning in June, there may be some very Leo spiritual breakthroughs and journeys this year!
A Recap - Here, There, or Somewhere Else?
Revisiting briefly what we discussed in the earlier article, I always calculate the chart for the location where a person is, since that's where we experience the commencement of our next Solar year. My reasoning is that we cannot be anywhere other than where we are. That’s why we do the chart for wherever our body is at the time of the return of the Sun to its exact longitude at birth.
Some offer that it should be done for the birth place, but if we are not where we were born, then why do a chart for there? Others feel that it should be done for your home location, and not a place you might be visiting for a few hours or days at the time of the Solar Return. However, here the same logic holds. If you are not physically at your home location at the moment of the SR, then you're not there.
The argument “but we’ll spend more time at X than where we did the SR” is irrelevant, since we understand that we can be transformed completely for the rest of our lives in a single instant in a place we may never be again. The physical place an event happens matters, since that determines natal charts, horary charts, electional charts, meteorological charts, mundane charts, and more.
We can only be one place in space during any specific time. If you're breathing the air at that location, if you’re part of the magnetism of that place on Earth, that's where the chart is done for. If you had a flash of realization, you wouldn’t do the chart for your birth place if you were in Tucson. If you had an event which changed your life forever in Santa Monica, you wouldn’t do the chart for your home in Chicago.
As I offered, because we can experience our Solar Return anywhere we choose, we have some influence in shaping how we will experience the year to come, since where we choose to be at that moment influences the signs and degrees on the angles and the houses the SR planets occupy, and how it fits into our chart, and our chart fits into it.
We cannot influence the planetary aspects, since they are set by time itself rather than space. In the Solar Return, a square is a square and a trine is a trine regardless of what sign is on what house. Still, we have the ability to determine what houses the planets fall in based in where we do the Return.
We cannot change the basic spread of the planets, but we can change what quadrants are emphasized, and which planets rule which houses. Then the various aspects work out based in which house rulers are interacting with other house rulers.
Sometimes I Travel, Sometimes I Stay Put
Some years I literally traveled across the continent to achieve a certain set of positions. Other years I stayed home since it yielded a great chart, or because of time, space, financial, or some other "real world" limitation.
Some years I've been able to go a short distance to affect the degrees on the angles, placing the planets in seemingly more favorable positions. Even a shift of one degree may matter in this regard, since that may affect the Part of Fortune and occasionally even what sign or decan is on what house cusp.
Some years that shift in one degree matters more than others. In 2013, the chart done for where I lived was so profound, I stayed home and did my meditation there rather than go anywhere else. FYI, it had the star Sirius on the Ascendant. Sirius is the “Sun of our Sun,” said to be the source of the Ageless Wisdom on our planet.
Eight years ago I chose to stay home, since the Ascendant at 11 Sagittarius created a Grand Fire Trine with Jupiter and the Sun! I could have altered the Part of Fortune a degree if I wanted to drive about 20 miles east of Tucson, but since it fell at 11:20 pm, I thought I’d pass. I have found that some years we pretty much are “told” where to be, regardless of what our desire mind believes.
In 2017, 2018, and 2019 I chose to stay home, since I would have had to go a long way to make any substantial difference. If it won’t yield any discernable benefit for the expense of time, energy, and money, why bother?
As I told you in past Solar Return articles, I've had some very strange Solar Returns. One involved getting up at 4:20 am in New York City and trying to meditate, which of course is not the best time to do it unless you've trained your body to get up that early. That’s why I chose not to do that in 2020 which fell at the same time. That NYC “half asleep” meditation was likely as effective as my 2020 “mostly asleep” meditation. At least I programmed my mind to be receptive to the greatest illumination I can experience!
In that NYC meditation, I had just flown in to do some charts and talks out in the Hamptons, and saw that the Solar Return chart was better for staying in the city that night rather than driving out to the East End and doing the meditation in Bridgehampton. The meditation was short, since my body was still on Pacific time, so it felt like 1:20 am (not the best time to meditate!) Still, that chart yielded the results I hoped for, though mostly they demonstrated at the end of that Solar year rather than throughout the entire 12 month period.
Another weird Solar Return involved driving a half hour to meditate in a park in a strange small town in Northern California at 12:55 am, which became somewhat surreal since the police kept cruising by checking my car out. I'm sure they were wondering why a strange car was next to a park in the middle of the night! As you can imagine, that also was a relatively short meditation. However, the Solar Return yielded the results I hoped for, given the limitations of the aspects and just how far I could tweak the chart.
I've had some really great meditations in other years at more reasonable hours, which is a very good way to launch a new Solar year. By all means try to achieve whatever focus you can for as long as you can, since everything really is connected on many levels simultaneously.
Marking Your Development Across Time
Even if your Solar Return has already passed, much can be discerned by studying the chart set for wherever you were at that time. You may see how some things have transpired already, or are challenging you to move your view in a certain direction.
You may get clear about why you're feeling differently, or why you have had a new set of interests since your last Solar Return. Even if you were not in meditation at your last SR, you can still meditate on what the chart is showing you about how you're viewing and experiencing this particular year of your life. Seen from an angle of Solar integration of your Light/Life, you may get clues of how this time is helping you align your consciousness with your Solar Self.
As I mentioned, sometimes the effects of doing the Solar Return in another place have seemed to be "postponed" until near the end of that particular Solar year, while other years the effects have been evident and sometimes even dramatic from the outset. Regardless of where we choose to do the Solar Return, it's always good to be in meditation at that moment of perfect Solar alignment with our natal Sun. We can set many intentions at that time, though I must add that we seldom achieve anything lasting not already indicated in the natal and progressed charts.
That's because the Sun symbolizes our integrity, power, light, and centeredness within our "Solar system" of life and affairs. If what we want, intend, or attempt isn't in line with our integrity or Path to Illumination, then even if we muscle it into existence, it will usually dis-integrate fairly quickly, being a set of aggregates with no substantial reality.
Nothing is forever except our Light, Love, and Power to "restore the Plan on Earth." And one Solar Return gives one set of lessons and harvests, while previous and future ones hold different lessons and realizations.
Mahalo, L'chaiim, Prosit, A Salut, Namaskar, A votre sante', Aum and Blessings!
From the April Fool, enjoy this day (and week!)
© Copyright 2023 Robert Wilkinson
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