Solunars by Aldebaran Sidereal Academy

Natal Sun Foreground

Astrologically, the Sun represents a quest for accomplishment as a natural development of an unfolding identity. The glyph that we use for the Sun can be looked at in many ways, but I like to think of it as a target or bull's eye. Within a horoscope, the Sun also symbolizes a target, a sense of aim, direction and motivation.

When natal Sun occupies the foreground of the current Solar Return, an individual is most conscious of this propelling drive toward an objective. The Sun is more of a catalytic spur to action than even Mars, but with one special difference: Sun-sponsored activity is guided and has a sense of purpose about it. At its best, it manifests an awakening of selfhood, the acquisition of a greater sense of meaning in life and creative individual expression.

Desire for recognition, if not some form of immortality, is a key motivator with natal Sun prominent. Typically, natal Sun indicates personal pride. This usually implies that the person is or does something (s)he can be proud of. Ideally, we find satisfaction in personal accomplishment. Unless inhibited by restrictive aspects, a prominent natal Sun brings organizational skills, willingness to make definitive decisions and other traits which come under the general heading of "leadership ability." Most people with this placement relate smoothly to power, theirs as well as others', and acquire a greater comfort with their own assertiveness and sense of command. If mishandled, this can lead to alienating arrogance and generally obnoxious behavior. Handled well, the same traits can have the exactly opposite effect, making the individual a magnetic, charismatic lure that others naturally respect and heed.

During this time, an individual is definitely putting his or her identity on the line. To the extent that such people are self-aware, their sense of identity is set out for all to observe. If this identity-concept is strong, it will endure and grow. If it is weak, there is also a good chance that the foreground Sun will provide the chance for it to strengthen and develop. Still, a terribly insecure individual whose Solar Return sports a prominent Sun will provide the chance of seeing a weak self-concept crumble. The foreground Sun will, in this case as in others, show the need for self-expression, self-identification and self-assertion; but the weakness of personal will can make the task abominable against the heavy blockades such a person attracts and encounters.

Only a very few are apt to fail such a test. Those who do fail have entered the fray with a poor product and now have the opportunity to reconstruct a new identity-concept and find new goals under the impetus of the repetitively foreground Sun.


Natal Sun Background

Years when natal Sun is shy of the Solar Return angles are more assimilative and preparatory than expressive. You may withdraw from much active participation in long-term objectives, being drawn hither and yon, instead, by more transient preoccupations. There is less propelling you toward any creative unfolding of your life-pattern, so the likelihood of special attention or recognition is greatly diminished. Vitality is lowered as well: a background Sun involved in health-depleting aspects is a key indicator of sickness and waning strength, as a result of diminished spirits.

Natal Moon Foreground

Receptive, impressionable and vulnerable, the individual with natal Moon in the solar foreground responds to most things and most people in his or her environment with a keen, and sometimes pungent, sensitivity. This potentially indiscriminate reaction to whim and vagary leaves such a person shifting, changeable, perhaps moody and readily adaptive to circumstances.

Simply stated, these people are strongly affected by all that happens around them. Emotional "antennae" are extended to probe and explore the surroundings. The feeling nature is apt to be intense, so the individual will probably relate to life much more through the emotions than normally. Sentiments may dominate the decision-making processes. Any transiting planets aspecting a foreground natal Moon are likely to incite a strong emotional response to whatever circumstances the transiting planet signifies.

Notice which particular angle the Moon conjoins. This will reflect in what part of the individual's life the heightened responsiveness will be most apparent. A person will get drawn into, or wrapped up in, circumstances suggested by the particular angle. For instance, any foreground natal Moon implies a pronounced need to take part in nurturing experiences and share an emotional contact with another. However, natal Moon in the setting foreground (conjunct the Descendant) further emphasizes the "merger" needs of a person, while making close, reciprocal, emotional interaction with someone else very attractive.

Other typical lunar manifestations can be expected. The individual will probably exhibit "nesting behavior" or increased domesticity. Sensuous desires will be strong as the individual seeks fulfillment of appetites on all levels. Active, carefree, at times juvenile, such people may dramatize everyday situations as a tactic for attracting attention to themselves. Emotional creativity can be based on strong powers of imagery.

Natal Mercury Foreground

This is a time to learn. Natal Mercury symbolizes one's own curiosities and desires for information, as well as the anatomical sensory mechanisms which make data accessible. Perception keynotes a year under such a Solar Return. By studying, discussing, listening, exploring, a person broadens his or her intellectual picture of the world. No single astrological factor is better for learning than this one.

These people are primarily oriented to an exchange of data in a variety of forms. Their curiosities are heightened. They carefully assess information they obtain, typically subjecting it to their whetted critical and analytical abilities. Communication becomes very important, especially the acquisition of new knowledge.

Commerce is another familiar mercurial expression. During this time, one is apt to focus on business matters, with plenty of opportunities for developing one's practical talents. In fact, since most types of learning are prone to go smoothly, this period is excellent for picking up new skills or honing old ones to a keener edge.

Mercurial years are notably laden with busy hours and abundant activity. Unlike lunar periods, when distractions seem indiscriminately to pull one in many directions at once, times when Mercury is strong will more often indicate constant preoccupation with one or more projects which keep an individual constantly on the go.

Natal Venus Foreground

Venus relates to very deep feelings. Expect a clear, vital emotional expression to emerge (or be heightened) when this planet is downstage in a current Solar Return. You have a full reservoir of love to tap and are inclined to share it generously. Compassion and sentimentality prevail. Highly affectionate, social and honestly caring, you want very much to be with others and share some genuine touching, whether of flesh or of souls.

There is a need to be part of a pair. Love unions are commonly formed and bonds of friendship tightened while natal Venus is emphasized. Extending yourself to a special other, you are reminded in a moment of contact that life does not require us to proceed alone.

During such a Solar Return period, you want life to be pleasant. Harmony and beauty are coveted luxuries. Congenial, friendly and compliant, you seek to establish easy living conditions for yourself and others, fulfilling a primary need to make life as nonthreatening, unharried and comfortable as you possibly can. Physical beauty has the power to raise your spirits. Your appreciation of the lovely and graceful is heightened. Other chart factors being in easy agreement, this can also coincide with a streak of exaggerated vanity, or at least close attention to personal appearance.

Natal Mars Foreground

Natal Mars occupying the immediate foreground of a Solar Return marks an extremely competitive time in a person's life. Among the very young, sibling rivalry is intensified; among older (and hopefully wiser) people, other relationships may be exposed to the same kinds of stress and tension. Unless the individual involved is, by nature, very caring and egalitarian, odds are that (s)he won't share the spotlight with anyone if it can be helped.

This planet signifies one's own need to be aggressive, to approach life dynamically and to physically expend energy outward into the world. Willfulness is a companion of Mars. Mixed with the keynoted competitive streak, this can lead to argumentativeness, to obstinacy and, in peripheral cases, to violence. Such people are not inclined to back down from anything. Instead, they constantly seek to prove themselves in battle, whatever the front. If the war zone is one's domestic scene, for example (as when Mars sets or anticulminates), this can mean self-initiated disruption of one's personal life. One should be careful not to annoy or aggravate others during this year, since it seems most natural to tease and grate on anyone who happens to be in the vicinity.

A natural inclination to take charge makes this a prime time for promotion, particularly if Jupiter is strong. Ambition flares. Major accomplishments are possible. During the several years this planet may be foreground, an individual's accelerated need for unencumbered expression can push limits and barriers farther and farther away. Unfortunately, important people in one's life may also be pushed farther and farther away if restless self-involvement is not countered by reasonable consideration of others. Energy is abundantly available, but nearly always squandered. Beware of burn-out or overstrain!

With natal Mars highlighted, the competitive theme may indicate fierce sexual jealousies. Sexual desires are among the specific passions Mars ignites. The red planet enhances virility, i.e., the masterful, ardent, robust, potent component of maleness present in men and women alike. However, I have found transiting Mars foreground much more often than natal Mars for such occasions as one's first sexual experiences and the most sexually bountiful periods of life.

Natal Jupiter Foreground

Probably the most notable characteristic of a year such as this is that people feel well and good. Security in their competence breeds self-esteem, confidence and an overall impression that luck is on their side for awhile. Of course, over-confidence can lead to serious problems, but the individual with Jupiter to the fore probably won't notice (let alone worry about) such things until the year is over. Helpful hint: If you aren't covering your own blind spots, be sure that someone else is!

Jupiter signifies the need for advancement. Self-improvement is a major aim in this period of life. Astrological tradition avers Jupiter to be planet of unbounded quantity; but this is Jupiter operating at a rather immature level. More rightly, Jupiter clamors for quality. Healthy Jupiterian growth takes the form of refinement and polish, not mindless accretion. When natal Jupiter occupies the Solar Return foreground, an individual moves unerringly into enhancing, expansive acts such as buying a new house, enlarging the scope of a business or taking steps which make some part of life run a little smoother. Irresponsible Jupiter manifestations lean toward compulsively "keeping up with the Joneses," pretentiousness and ostentation, heedlessness and negligence.

Equally characteristic of Jupiter periods is an insistent need to be liked, accepted and included. The Jupiterian soul needs to be important to someone else. (One of the pieces of astrological suicide patterns is a heavy involvement of Jupiter. Crisis counsellors have long been aware that a suicide crisis involves two people: the suicidal individual and someone important in his or her life from whom the person feels isolated.) Amiable, tolerant and generous to the point of extravagance, these people respond to a social impulse that outdistances any Venus aspect and a drive for recognition more insistent than that of the Sun. Jupiter's call to the world is, "Please support me in completely believing I'm special and important."

Usually this call is answered before it becomes very loud. As a rule, little will interfere with the self-assurance, optimism and good humor of the individual who has natal Jupiter well-aspected in the foreground of a current Solar Return.

Natal Saturn Foreground

Just as transiting Saturn represents the demands and expectations an individual experiences coming from the outer world, natal Saturn personifies one's own demands and expectations.

Saturn, at root, is the tenacious, possessive, economical, serious facet of people which learns from experience and is vital to the perpetuation of existence. Saturn's prominence highlights basic self-preservation needs. An individual's focus on material security insists that essential food and shelter requirements be met first, and then, in our complex culture, turns to whatever other demands the individual associates with autonomous survival.

Put more simply, the selfish side of a person comes to the foreground alongside natal Saturn--and selfishness is not a bad characteristic, provided it isn't carried to an extreme. A Saturn personality only runs into problems when the need for self-reliance and a basic distrust of others leads to emotional alienation from the herd. Skill at manipulating the physical environment is an asset in any growth process as long as it doesn't include enforcing control over others in a way that robs them of their own free will.

Probably the worst side of this ringed planet appears when unrealistic expectations are set for oneself. Self-driven by a compulsion to meet improbable standards, an individual nourishes not himself, but feelings of inadequacy instead. Insecurities and self-doubts can grow in such an environment, but not the individual who is fostering them. Faith in oneself gives way to exaggerated self-criticism if this process goes too far. A store of favorite bad feelings can rise to the surface.

A common defense reaction for these people is to stick only with factors they can "put their fingers on," and take few risks, thus gravitating to the stable, proven, sure and self-limiting. Many different specific manifestations are possible, including retreating from the world into personal isolation (thus feeling all the more alone against the world) and health problems (for a variety of reason obvious to the psychologically aware). Encroachments on one's personal territory or available time can bring a hostile reaction. Caution and skepticism increase.

The above refers, as was stated, to a misdirected Saturn turned upon oneself rather than rightfully applied to the environment. But self-care is not only allowable, it is requisite to personal existence, despite the early training to the contrary most of us receive. By guiltlessly directing one's own Saturn toward this purpose, it can be a sustaining and strengthening force rather than demoralizing and melancholy.

Natal Uranus Foreground

Freedom is the Uranian's most valued treasure. When this natal planet lands in the Solar Return foreground, personal liberty is sought in increasingly diversified areas and ways.

What people normally experience, as their tolerance for limitation drops, is a stifled feeling, a sensation of living in a narrowing world with far too few options. In this sense, natal Uranus shares something with transiting Saturn. However, under Saturn's external pressures an individual may sit back and accept restraint. Not so when natal Uranus shines! Independence is claimed, roughly if necessary. Routine is set aside as these people rebel against what they now view as outmoded ways of being. Typically, one's outlook on the world is clarified and sharpened; though in an initial emancipatory thrust, such an individual can act in a very one-sided manner, carelessly disregarding others' rights or boundaries while delighting in his or her own newfound release.

Life can become quite exciting. Finding themselves on the brink of adventure, these people are inclined to abandon security chains and boldly hurl themselves into risk. Challenges to old beliefs are met head on, come what may. Mentally stimulating subject matter fascinates the mind. Desire flares for a change of pace, novelty or discovery. Enthusiasm for the fresh and brisk carries this intellectual daredevil toward exhilarating insights and adventures which are quite unlikely to allow as prosaic a view of life afterwards as was present before.

Natal Neptune Foreground

As with a foreground transiting Neptune, feeling reactions are exaggerated and sensory experiences intensified while natal Neptune predominates in a Solar Return. Sensitivity to physical and emotional impressions is magnified. Individuals may become immersed in drama or music, enraptured by mysticism or fantasy, or totally absorbed in some other interest that has the same type of personalized fascination for them.

Natal Neptune's essential nature seems centered around this need to be absorbed in or by something. Attention becomes focalized, but not in the Saturnian or Mercurial sense of meticulous concentration. Instead, the individual displays a very selective perception style, only paying attention to what is interesting and nonthreatening to his or her picture of the world. (Paranoia, to cite an extreme manifestation of Neptune, is characterized by remarkably acute perception, mobilized for the sole purpose of verifying one's preconceptions.) Susceptibility to deception comes from this same need to be absorbed into the whole, manifesting in the specific form of "being taken in."

The Neptunian is highly responsive to experiences--sometimes too much so for personal comfort--thus vulnerable to fierce embarrassment or anxiety. Disorientation and confusion result when the person is overloaded with input and can't seem to coherently organize thoughts. Yet, imagination can be used creatively, not just for blowing situations out of proportion. Idealism running rampant is apt to end in frustration and futility but, matched by practical application, can make dreams very real.

The most serious problems faced by people currently experiencing a very active natal Neptune are their tendencies toward self-doubt and liability to solve problems by avoidance or procrastination. Insecurity in their own competence makes them sensitive to rejection (if not betrayal), especially by those with whom they choose to pair. It is imperative that self-confidence be sustained and enhanced. If this is done, many gains can be made. Otherwise, the year is apt to be one in which a person does very little except fret about his or her "inability" to get anything done.

Natal Pluto Foreground

People withdraw from the world when natal Pluto conjoins a Solar Return angle. This isn’t to say they vanish altogether; only that they are typically in a stage of pulling back from others around them, or retreating from pressing circumstances, and finding (at least, seeking) a place where external demands are few.

Pluto is inherently separative. At root, the Pluto side of each of us knows we are distinct, different creatures with very personal identities and ways of being. Pluto within us refuses to conform to the expectations others have of how we should act, what we should like or dislike, where we should go with our lives, etc. In fact, the word “should” is antithetical to everything Pluto represents. Seeing no need to conform to life styles not your own, Pluto people write their own behavior code and want to be left alone to live their lives without interference.

All of these feelings are dominant when natal Pluto occupies the solar foreground. You are apt to appear aloof, unresponsive and antisocial, avoid human contact as much as possible, and essentially play a lone wolf’s part. You want to pull away from control and expectations of others, and may even personally take the reins of power to accomplish this. You simply want to be left alone.

Depending on other chart factors, this is possibly a time of confrontive introspection, when meaning is sought through in-turned consideration of the "whys" of the Cosmos. More generally, circumstances seem to require that critical decisions be made with little hesitation. A time of reevaluating many personal issues, this year is most likely to see the culmination and transformation of conditions which have been present or building for some time.