Solunars by Aldebaran Sidereal Academy

In the February 1970 issue of American Astrology, in the "Many Things" column, a woman wrote a letter concerning her son, born December 12, 1952, 9:05 AM PST, 45N31, 122W41. (Those are the coordinates of Portland, OR.) Here is the natal chart.



Any beginner could tell at a moment that this is a difficult chart, with the triple conjunction of Moon, Saturn, and Neptune squeezed into less than 3° (though, with Venus on the EP, I bet he was a charmer).

The boy was born with an unspecified "condition caused by a congenital disease." He underwent surgery to correct this on June 26, 1969, at 8:00 AM PDT at the birthplace (i.e., Portland). Most unfortunately, "The surgery developed severe complications and as a result [he] will probably be a quadriplegic for the rest of his life." As a general comment on the chart and the life, she added, "In looking back over the last four months, it seems that he was almost doomed, as nothing has gone right for him."

Such is the outcome of an openly severe chart. The nativity screams of lunar issues which, at the very least, would be cause for deep and gloomy moods, and perhaps of dependency and convalescence.

Though it isn't the main part of the story, a few remarks on the astrology of his surgery will be of interest. He was scheduled for the surgery as Saturn was transiting his IC on a day when Mars was octile his natal Uranus. (Accidents were, indeed, waiting to happen.) It was the day of his Sidereal Lunar Return, and that chart had Saturn setting (octile natal Sun 0°28') and his natal Moon-Saturn-Neptune not far from Ascendant. HIs SSR had only Neptune angular, partile square Ascendant. His SQ had a progressed Moon-Pluto conjunction 0°08' square Mercury (I assume there was nerve damage),but a puzzling presence of transiting Jupiter on the SQ Ascendant.

American Astrology's response to the parent has the obvious mark of Donald Bradley's composition, so he presumably wrote it. In the answer he introduced a way of using solunar returns that I have never seen him or anyone else mention anywhere ever. It makes logical sense, though, as he indicated, it should be taken as speculative.

AA wrote:What makes you letter of outstanding interest to us, however, is the information about your son. We are presenting his birthchart here because we consider it a noteworthy contribution to our knowledge of how the natal chart may tie in with the native's prenatal experience. He was born under a precarious triple conjunction...

He gave the chart and the positions Tropically, but I give them here Sidereally as above:
Neptune 29°17' Virgo
Saturn 0°44' Libra
Moon 1°54' Libra

AA wrote:We have run across other evidence that a chart struck for the moment the Sun had the same sidereal longitude one year prior to birth as it had at birth can be considered an authentic "prenatal horoscope." In effect, this would be a solar return in reverse. Your son's case certainly seems to confirm this concept.

In other words, the SSR one year before birth is the Solar Return for the prior 12 months. Calculate the boy's SSR for a year before he was born and the Ascendant is 29°56' Virgo! Consider his birth chart as transits to this SSR!

AA wrote:In other words, your son was born just when the transiting Moon, Saturn, and Neptune were converging on his "prenatal Ascendant." Incidentally, it may or may not be relevant that applying the tertiary progression rate in reverse to this same epoch puts [29°24' Virgo] on the Midheaven. [FWIW, tert Saturn was 29°30' Virgo, too. - JAE]

Should extended research reveal that the "prenatal solar return" is in truth a valid horoscope of some kind, albeit limited in practical usefulness, the finding would certainly have important philosophical implications. For one thing, it would prove that no matter what the subsequent circumstances of birth might be, whether natural, chemically induced, caesarean, or whatever, everybody is born at just the right moment and location he is supposed to be - and that these other agents or catalysts are really not "artificial" interferences in the divine plan that guides all existence. Everything cooperates with the heavens, knowingly or not, including obstetricians and hospital staffs.

I just remembered that Arnold Schwarzenegger was born with a congenital heart deformity. The Prenatal SSR for tis isn't too strong, but at least it's interesting and has a few points worth mentioning. I don't know if they mean anything, but here they are.

At the time he was born, t Uranus conjoined the Prenatal SSR IC (13'). Transiting Mars conjoined its Uranus (15'), square SSR Ascendant. Prenatal SSR Mars (29°22' Leo) was on birth IC (1°00'). There are lesser transits, but those are the main ones.