Morphemeris DocsPlanetary Returns
What planetary returns are and how they're used in astrological timing.
Planetary Returns
A planetary return is the moment a transiting planet returns to the exact ecliptic longitude it occupied at birth. The chart cast for that moment — at the person's current location — is called a return chart and is used as a forecast for the period until the next return.
Solar returns
The solar return is the most widely used return chart. It occurs once a year, near the birthday (the exact time shifts by about 6 hours each year, jumping back a day on leap years). The solar return chart is read as a forecast for the year ahead.
Key interpretive factors:
- Return Ascendant — Sets the tone and focus of the year
- Return Moon — Emotional themes and where energy flows
- Planets near angles (ASC/MC/DSC/IC) — Dominant influences for the year
- Aspects to natal positions — How the year's themes connect to the natal chart
Because the Sun is always at the same degree in every solar return, the other factors — especially the Ascendant, Moon, and house placements — differentiate one year from the next.
Lunar returns
The Moon returns to its natal position roughly every 27.3 days (the sidereal month). Lunar return charts provide a monthly forecast, analogous to the solar return's yearly one. They are especially useful for tracking emotional rhythms and short-term developments.
Other planetary returns
Any body can have a return chart. The most significant:
| Return | Cycle | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Saturn return | ~29.5 years | Major life milestone — the first (age ~29) marks the transition to full adulthood |
| Jupiter return | ~12 years | Expansion, opportunity, growth cycles |
| Mars return | ~2 years | Energy, drive, and assertion cycles |
| Venus return | ~1 year (224 days) | Relationships and values |
| Mercury return | ~1 year (88 days) | Communication and thinking patterns |
For outer planets (Jupiter through Pluto), retrograde motion means the transiting body may cross the natal longitude multiple times during a single return cycle. Each crossing produces a separate return chart.
Location matters
Unlike the natal chart — which is always for the birth location — a return chart is typically cast for the person's current location. This is what makes each solar return unique even though the Sun returns to the same degree. The house placements, Ascendant, and Midheaven all depend on where you are when the return occurs.
Some astrologers practice "relocating" the solar return — traveling to a specific location to get more favorable angles in the return chart.
API endpoint: /v1/returns (2 credits)