In astrology, a Solar return chart is a chart set for the moment your natal sun returns to the exact position it occupied at the moment of your birth. In other words, it’s an annual ‘birthday chart’ that gives the flavour of the coming year for the person concerned; it is read and interpreted the same way as a natal chart.
My birthday is next month, so out of interest, I pulled up a Solar return chart for myself.
Solar Return chart
As you can see, it has Scorpio on the AS, with Moon in the 8th opposing Pluto in the 2nd. So there will be an emphasis on finance and finacial problems. No surprises there, but at least the Moon/Pluto opposition is wide, out-of-sign and separating. So things look like improving slowly and steadily in that department. Additionally, Jupiter is placed in the first house, trine to the Sun and Mercury, so that’s another optomistic sign, although the fact that Jupiter is retrograde indicates that money will be going out as fast as it comes in. (I am expecting the results of my claim for Disability Allowance in a couple of weeks; I fully expect to be told politely to bog off, as happened the first time – as one disability rights campaigner has put it: “You have to be dead and minus your legs before they’ll award you any disability benefits!”. However, I’m now quietly hoping….)
The Sun, along with Uranus and Mercury, is place in the 4th house. So another emphasis during the year will be on home matters. Maybe we’ll get the bathroom finished at last?
Saturn in the 9th house is forming an opposition to Venus and Chron in the 3rd house. The 9th covers foreign lands, travellling abroad, higher education, organised religion. Saturn there shows some kind of formalising, crystallising, building going on in those areas of my life. The third house refers to all forms of communications, local travel and siblings. Hmmmm….. Something to think about there.

An additional way to read in a Solar Return chart is to compare it with your natal chart. In my example, some intersting things are goling on – the SR Moon is exactly conjuct my natal Uranus, while the SR Uranus is trine my natal Moon, as well as being in the Moon’s house. And too, the SR ascendant is conjunct my natal Moon. That sort of cross-aspect is known as a double-whammy; it strongly emphasises something. In this case everything to do with health and home. So it’s looking good there!