And Now for My Solar Return

As I mentioned before, my solar return last year was pretty accurate. I read that planets on the ascendant will present especially powerful transits over the course of the year, and I had Saturn retrograde sitting right on the cusp... Yikes! I had a slew of Saturn transits this year. And I worked my ass off. And got some amazing results. The sign of the ascendant (Leo) was interpreted as a portent of creativity and time with children, both of which proved true. The sun, ruler of the ascendant, was in the 8th, conjoined with Uranus and squared to Mars and the moon. There were some tough lessons to be learned there, and I really dragged my self-delusional piscean feet. In fact, I didn't take action to change my self-destructive patterns until late November, about when my current (2/20/2007) solar return probably started to send out vibrations.

So I'm excited about this year's solar return. Libra ascendant, Venus in the 6th, sextiled to Mars but squared to Pluto. Grand trines between Saturn, Jupiter and moon, as well as Saturn, Pluto and moon, capped off with a sextile to Neptune. Mars and moon are squared (these two have been arch enemies ever since my natal chart) and Mercury retrograde will conjoin the sun. So I don't expect a walk in the park, but I do think it wil be a good year. I expect developments with my current boyfriend (Taurus, Scorpio rising, Pisces moon...), whom I've been seeing for a couple years now. The difficult lessons I learned last year resulted in some very positive changes that have made that relationship even more important to me.

The 2007 solar return has some striking similarities to my 1997 solar return. Grand trine with Saturn, moon and Pluto in the fire signs, topped by a sextile to a cluster of planets in Aquarius. In '97 the moon, on the cusp of the solar return 4th, opposed solar return Venus, Mercury, Jupiter and Uranus at midheaven. Saturn also opposed Mars, while Mars trined Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. It was a huge year for me, felt most intensely in terms of home and family. A couple of months before my fifteenth birthday, I came out to my parents. The following year, with many other memorable experiences, was one of the most important in my development to date. With the moon on the cusp of the 7th in the 2007 solar return, I think the relationship with my boyfriend will be a directive force, at least in emotional landscape.

For now I'm not getting too much into the placement of the solar return in the natal chart. I'm not that good. I also get in over my head when I play around a lot with house rulership. There are flashes of brilliance, but things get muddy too quickly. I definitely want to get better at rulership questions, and I have a few burning questions that I'll probably post about soon.