Solunars by Aldebaran Sidereal Academy

December 4, 2023: I'm going to start editing this thread, deleting as much as I can, retaining just those new things learned or confirmed this year. Below is the SSR that began the year, with all Class 3 angularities (and their aspects) stripped out (transiting Pluto, natal Neptune, and half a dozen aspects in which they participated).

My SSR this year occurred at Jamul Casino in Jamul, CA. At the time it set up (October 10, 2022, 1:33:01 PM PDT) I was sitting with Marion having lunch at 32N42'11" 116W52'12".
Jupiter = 7, Venus = 6, Uranus = 6
Benefic = 16, Malefic = 1
Dignity = 7, Indignity = 1
Change = 7
Spotlight = 3

t Venus on Z -0°22'
r Jupiter on WP-a 0°00'
r Uranus on WP-a +0°13'
t Moon on IC +3°39'

r Jupiter-Uranus co 0°04' M
t Moon sq r Jupiter 1°03'
t Moon sq r Uranus 1°20'

12/4/23 Note: The main thing learned from this chart was that the strongest foreground aspect had the best articulation of the month. This was Uranus ' transit opposite natal Venus. They were the two most angular planets and had the closest aspect. The month included three trips, two of them enormously enjoyable (east of San Diego for the SSR, then to Memphis with Marion and two friends), and the third (a mad dash across Arizona for fine-tune the Demi-SLR) was OK. - The t Saturn-Uranus was unclear, hard to pin down exactly what it was (probably the loss of a contact lens and stress around replacing it). -- This chart is a good example of the importance of relative angularity since the Class 1 Venus and Urans angularities significantly outweighed the Class 2 Saturn. In the Uranus vs. Saturn struggle, Uranus won!

Oct 7, 2022, 7:56:30 PM PDT, home

t Saturn on Z -1°56'
r Venus on Dsc -1°48'
t Uranus on Asc -1°11'
----------------------------
r Saturn on Dsc +2°31'
r Jupiter on IC +2°47'
r Uranus on IC +3°09'
r Mercury on Dsc +5°31'
t Pluto on MC +6°44'

t Uranus op r Venus 0°37' M
t Saturn-Uranus sq 0°38'
t Pluto sq r Mercury 1°13' M
t Pluto op r Uranus 2°16'
t Pluto op r Jupiter 2°33'

r Jupiter-Saturn sq 0°15' M
r Jupiter-Uranus sq 0°17'
r Saturn-Uranus sq 0°38' M
r Mercury-Uranus sq 2°22' M
r Mercury-Saturn sq 2°24'
r Mercury-Jupiter sq 2°44' M
i.e., r Jupiter-Uranus sq. r Mercury-Saturn

12/4/23 Note: To avoid a sickness-leaning Demi-SLR at home, we drove to Superior, AZ for day, picked up a positive chart, then flew off to Memphis where we met with two friends for an excellent week. The relocation was quite successful, everything was positive (barely even minor irritants), and the Memphis chart added it's own distinctive manifestation. I have tightened everything below to include only Class 2 angularities to sharpen the message.

The Memphis effect was quite interesting: At 12:06 PM Ocdtober 25, I was standing (with Marion and two friends) in Sun Studio on the spot where rock'n'roll was born, the place where Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Ike Turner, and others began their career and did their magic. As I was standing in that spot, behind me somebody I don't know said, "Wait, is that Jim Eshelman?" They surreptitiously Googled, then, in a moment, introduced themselves. A nice, brief visit and some photos followed - the couple was visiting from St. Louis - before we returned our attention to the lesser celebrities (Elvis and the like). - Natal Sun on Ascendant!

Oct 22, 2022, 4:22:14 AM PDT, home

If it set up at home, this would be the chart:

t Jupiter on Dsc -5°57'
t Mars on MC -1°29'
--------------------------
r Moon on Dsc +0°49'
t Neptune on Dsc 1°17'

t Neptune co r Moon 0°28'
t Mars-Neptune sq 2°02'
t Mars sq r Moon 2°19'

On the positive side, the chart has partile Sun conjunct Venus, both square natal Jupiter-Uranus. I would expect these non-foreground aspects to be the backdrop (what's going on despite the primary themes of angular planets).


In Superior, AZ, (slept at 33N17'17", 111W06'04") the chart becomes:
t Jupiter on Asc 0°01'
t Mars on MC +5°14'
r Moon on Asc +6°54'

t Mars sq r Moon 1°41' M


Once we land Sunday night in Memphis, TN, it becomes:
t Pluto on IC -6°17'
r Mars on IC -4°35'
-----------------------------
r Sun on Asc +0°22'
t Mercury on Asc +0°40'

t Mercury co r Sun 0°07'
t Pluto co r Mars 2°08' M

The Demi-SLR relocations couldn't have been more successful or expressive. Having it setup with transiting Jupiter a minute from an angle covered the initial period of our Arizona trip, the pre-flight days, and overshadowed the entire spectacular trip to Memphis. - The Moon-Mars-Neptune couldn't be avoided entirely, but it was shoved to the distant edges of the foreground and expressed only in a minor way (a skin inflammation that was mostly a nuisance). The angle relocations to Memphis identified singular, unusual events that happened specifically because I was there.

What I really wanted to mention, though, is that the full SLR has been a great example of how you just can't ignore the mundane aspects. Including them on an equal basis with ecliptical aspects is easily the biggest breakthrough in return theory and practice in decades. Going just by angularities, the SLR would have been a little pleasant, a little dour; but I read these especially from the aspects. Were the mundane aspects not included, the entire month would have been a Saturn-Uranus square plus Pluto's slow transit to my Jupiter-Uranus.

But including the mundane aspects had the SLR lead with the beautiful, stunning Uranus transit opposite natal Venus only 0°37' wide and closely angular. It's been the hallmark of the whole month, the Demi just fitting within it this time.

Solunars were the most useful tool in our arsenal before this discovery but, in hindsight, we missed a LOT in the process. Every now and then I pull up a lunar and look at it as I would in the '70s or '80s - eyeballing the angularity and taking only ecliptical aspects - just to get a fresh look at how I would have viewed it. Often I shake my head at the mystery of how these wonderful tools held our attention in the first place.

I know part of it was that I was correctly estimating or exactly calculating mundane angularities and thought the angular planets were more important, with the aspects only acting as a kind of "comment" on them. Knowing transiting Uranus and natal Venus were the most angular planets would have given me an idea similar to the closely foreground Uranus-Venus transit. With time, it's become clear that, while the closest angularities give the essential feel, the real activity, the full texture of the time is especially in the aspects. The rest is all in the relative closeness of orbs, whether of aspects or angularities: I sometimes think we should be collating aspects and angular contacts together (as if angularities were merely "aspects" with angles), using this to decide whether angularity or aspects were more important.

Several technical observations arise out of the last couple of lunars. (I can't call them "conclusions," because these are only a couple of observations; but they do tip some of my inquiries in certain directions.

First, considering location and relocation of lunar returns: Going back to the 10/22 Demi-SLR, remember that it had Moon-Mars-Neptune on angles for LA so we drove to Superior, AZ to put transiting Jupiter 0°01' from an angle. This also left the Moon-Mars-Neptune T-square foreground, but 5°-10° from the angles instead of partile.

The two-week was indeed primarily positive with a unusually good vacation and other positives. It was not, however, entirely free of Moon-Mars-Neptune. I didn't feel this in the day or so we were back in LA, but in Memphis I started to develop a skin rash on my lower extremities which gradually spread up my body. I interpret this as arising from the original (Arizona) DSLR which had the Moon-Mars-Neptune distantly foreground. When I returned to LA (where these were angular), it worsened - red, itching, burning, irritable.

Interpretation: The original location of the SLR ruled (overall outstanding fortnight) and likely kept the Mars-Neptune from being something worse (while I was gone, some people at work came down with a new severe virus). The month mostly went as described in the original chart, added the solar events in Memphis that I described above, and developed stronger Moon-Mars-Neptune qualities after I returned home.

This then brings us to the 11/4 SLR.

Proportionate strength of wide foreground vs. partile aspect: This chart was theoretically interesting because it's one foreground aspect was a partile Neptune conjunction with natal Moon, but they were 7°-8° from the angles. This has become one of my least favorite aspects, so I expected excessive sensitivity, a sense of frailty, various other Neptune phenomena, but perhaps not as severe as they might otherwise be.

Outcome: The aspect was fully actualized to the extent that the rash continued and worsened, making me uncomfortable and draining strength. A first attempt at getting medical attention was compromised by miscommunication between the doctor and the pharmacy. A second attempt (with only a little more confusion en route) was successful and I'm using steroids that are knocking it out fast. The course of treatment will expire exactly the day of the upcoming Demi-SLR.

The other (non-foreground) partile aspects in the SLR didn't have any real presence, unless one takes Mercury conjunct natal Saturn as a generic "undesirable circumstances and flummoxed plans" sort of thing. I don't think the chart needs it, and the other aspects weren't really obvious. It was that single Moon-Neptune conjunction, partile and widely angular, that has rather dramatically marked the time.

Prime Vertical Parans (PVPs): I also noted that the current lunar had aspects on the prime vertical. We don't get many examples of this, so I was eager to see how they might turn out. These were transiting Saturn conjunct natal Moon, transiting Pluto conjunct natal Mars, and the two conjunctions more widely conjunct each other - all within 3° of the PV (except Moon which was a little further out).

266°12' - r Moon
267°13' - t Saturn
272°39' - r Mars
272°40' - t Pluto

I said in advance that if these were valid, I'd expect a health crisis. That's exactly what happened, although the Moon-Neptune was probably sufficient to trigger it on its own. Nonetheless, these are encouraging for further watching of PVPs (which have proven themselves quite important in ingresses). The aspects reasonably fit the planet symbolism better than they fit Moon-Neptune (except Moon-Neptune shows sensitivity - clearly the cause of the problem and some of its symptoms). Against these PVPs, I could argue that Moon was a bit far away and the Saturn-Moon was the more descriptive aspect. Nonetheless, if anything this chart suggests I should keep looking at these.

Nov 18, 2022, 12:43:01 PM, work

Impressions: Saturn is most angular, but nothing is very strong. OTOH the one partile transiting aspect seems straightforward and pleasant. (Partile aspect and wider angularity is the pattern of the full SLR.) Probably private and pleasantly concentrated on work.

12/4/23 Note: The original expectations were all on target. "Private and pleasantly concentrated on work" is a good description. Marion and I made good use of Thanksgiving with a fabulous feast at a Tunisian restaurant. Work was quiet for the holidays. Most notably, I finished Handbook of Sidereal Natal Astrology, which (along with the general pleasantness) is a great expression of the Mercury-Venus aspect dominating. Saturn was reasonably hanging around - balancing money issues mostly - but the foreground aspect was indeed the main mark even though one important planet was barely foreground.

t Venus on Z -2°56'
r Moon on Asc -8°22'
r Pluto on Dsc -6°52'
t Mercury on Z -2°00'
---------------------------
t Saturn on Asc +5°42'

t Mercury-Venus sq. 0°56'[/b]
r Moon-Pluto op 1°30'

12/4/23 Note: This went great! Even after leaving Arizona, we had a restful day at home (under the adverse chart), then two days back on the road in wine country (still in the adverse zone), and then back at work where - at most - things got crazy busy a couple of days. Nothing unpleasant. Wonderful example of successful targeting a location.

Jan 12, 2023, 4:06:21 AM PST, home

Impressions: An outstandingly bad return at home: partile Moon-Mars-Neptune in the immediate foreground. Mars-Neptune itself is 0°00' and Mars is stationary! We are headed to Sierra Vista, AZ near Tombstone for this demi-SLR. (Eastern Arizona is becoming the default for these, easier to get to than eastern Utah, and often easy to pick up Jupiter angular). - I trimmed out the Class 3 angularities.

t Moon on MC +0°30'
t Mars on Dsc +1°00' (stationary)
t Neptune on IC +1°01'
r Moon on IC +4°40'

t Mars-Neptune sq 0°00' M
t Moon-Neptune op 0°31' M (Neptune co r Moon 0°38')
t Moon-Mars sq. 0°31' M

For Sierra Vista, AZ (motel location 31N33'19", 110W16'53"): (t Moon is barely foreground, r Moon is not at all, so there was a Moon-Mars square close but barely foreground)

t Jupiter on IC 0°01'

This fortnight was unquestionably Jupiter-dominated, not Moon-Mars-Neptune dominated. The relocation for the chart clearly "won." I took a week off and we used it for two vacations, the first to Arizona for the Demi-SLR setup (saw Tombstone, had a good time on the road, family connection and meal, then drive back - only downside was the strain of the drive). Then home (meant to spend the night, but spent an extra day due to heavy rains and to rest up). Then off to our favorite wine region for a tour de force like we hadn't done in a long time, maybe since pre-Covid. The whole was a leisurely pace for us and we noticeably felt great. - Notice that the wine region was also in the Moon-Mars-Neptune zone like home.

The subsequent week had little Moon-Mars-Neptune. (Minor irritations including a skin irritation slow to clear, but no big deal: Jupiter won.) There was one very interesting thing, though - not what I'd expect from so close and strong a Moon-Mars-Neptune presence, almost too minor to mention yet interesting: The current Secretary of Homeland Security is someone I've known for 15 years. For some reason, I couldn't get him and his department out of my head all week. It was as if I kept ruminating on the concepts of "threat" or "danger" or "challenge to security" and it anchored on him and the federal department. I didn't have fretful dreams, but a couple of days I woke up with him being the first thing on my mind. This seems to be my psyche centering around ideas of threat and challenge to security in utterly benign ways.

Feb 8, 2023, 9:56:08 AM PST, at work (34N03'31", 118W24'59")

Impressions: Transiting Pluto opposes natal Jupiter-Uranus (partile) all exactly square Ascendant. Presuming Pluto to Jupiter-Uranus is positive (as it usually is), this is spectacular (well, not so crazy about natal Neptune). I'm sure it will be a spectacle either way. - The only thing (besides that 0°00' natal Neptune) that concerns me is that this is within about a day of transiting Saturn square my natal local MC.

r Saturn on Dsc -8°41'
r Mercury on Dsc -5°34'
----------------------------- r Neptune on Dsc 0°00'
t Pluto on Z +0°05'
r Jupiter on N +0°09'
r Sun on WP +0°11'
r Uranus on N +0°26'
t Mercury on Z +2°30'

t Mercury sq r Neptune 0°04'
r Jupiter-Uranus co 0°13' M
t Pluto op r Jupiter 0°14'
t Pluto op r Uranus 0°31'
r Uranus-Neptune sq 2°00'
t Mercury op r Uranus 2°04'
r Jupiter-Neptune sq 2°16'
t Mercury op r Jupiter 2°20'
r Mercury-Saturn co 2°24'
t Pluto sq r Neptune 2°31'
t Mercury-Pluto co 2°34'
(i.e., Mercury-Pluto to r Jupiter-Uranus-Neptune)

Other Partile Aspects
0°10' t Saturn sq r Venus
0°23' t Saturn op r Pluto

I came into the office this morning, knowing about that lunar in two days, thinking I had two serious vulnerabilities that could blow up in my face. One was an email from my manager where I couldn't understand the tone and thought it might be a reprimand for not pre-informing him of extra hours I was working. (It turned out to be the opposite.) The other was a double event to set up with the VIP-est of VIPs that had too little information, a lot of unclarity, and six ways it could blow. However, I cleared up the miscommunication in the first half hour and everything went perfectly.

Neither of them was a problem. But they do seem to be pre-warning me to make sure things are really really clear for two weeks and that I actually am looking at what a thing is before I jump to conclusions.

As I said... we'll see. My expectation of natal Neptune angular is that I will want to get absorbed in or enveloped by something, will be super-sensitive, heavily tempted and easily "taken in," and perhaps inflating my responses to everything (embarrassment, anxiety, frustration, doubt, confusion, uncertainty, unclarity). Fagan and Firebrace, in contrast, wrote that if unafflicted one just wants to take a vacation and lose oneself in distractions or favorite temptations.

We'll see.

The 2/8 Demi with natal Neptune 0' from an angle, a 4' Mercury-Neptune aspect, and TONS of other things has had surprises. It's so extreme that the other planets with 5-10' of the angles are hard to see in contrast. I've also had important transits concurrently, especially Saturn's transit to natal Venus-Pluto and my local MC.

Two main results I can detect:

First, I have to stop forgetting to interpret Neptune in terms of health. "Convalescence" is the main word, though "frailty" goes with it. As the return approached, I developed an infection of some sort in my eye lid.(Not the eye. Just the lid.) It swelled up, was nearly purple from red, was pretty ugly. When it does that, my lens gets displaced or flutters on the eye, so unclarity and blurriness are LITERALLY true. Fighting the infection dragged down my energy for a few days, but the main effect was that it was so ugly and scary looking that I took a sick day and a WFH day so it didn't freak out everybody at work. (This was also just as Saturn squared my Venus, which entirely fits.)

Then, back at work, the personal laptop I keep at work suddenly failed: It wouldn't boot. The main effects were anxiety I'd have to replace it (which would have been a deep wound). I did save it with a LOT of work and rebuilt the system. It doesn't QUITE work perfectly yet, but it's 95% there. Thus was Neptune and Mercury-Neptune in several ways. (This part of it occurred just as Saturn was opposing my Pluto.)

As for the other planets, there has been nothing big or extreme. One could say all those nice benefics go with both these problems resolving quickly and being ultimately OK; but, then, things are USUALLY okay.

Before wrapping up this fortnight, I should mention that there were two - not one, but two! - technology meltdowns within a week of each other. I wrote about the laptop at work above. Then, a few days ago, I awoke to discover my phone wouldn't unlock OR restart or shutdown. The screen was responsive (e.g., I could snooze and turn off alarms or answer calls), but it wouldn't unlock, restart, or power off. It seemed to be working fine otherwise in the sense that I could track it with the Find Your Phone option through a web page and could connect it to my computer and access various features (but neither of these options let me restart it).

After trying various things, I called the carrier and had one of the worst support experiences ever, in that (communication difficulties with her aside), she made a suggestion; I asked her explicitly, "Doesn't that wipe the phone completely?" to which she responded, "No, it's just a way to force it to restart, it won't wipe the phone"; I did the process; and then I stared as my phone wiped itself completely.

So I spent an entire day getting it more or less back to full operation, everything installed, the Windows layer put atop it, work resources reconnected, and individually configuring over a hundred apps on it.

Computer AND phone: "Tech meltdown" marks the most obvious features of a demi-lunar with a Mercury-Pluto conjunction on Zenith!

In fact, this would have been easier to read correctly (right general direction) if I'd treated it like a 1940s Fagan and Bradley model more or less - no natal in the middle, old school way of reading foreground that more resembles angular houses. I'd have seen a Mercury-Pluto conjunction in the 10th house with Mercury also in moderate mundane square to Uranus in the 1st house. That would have been the chart, and would have been pretty descriptive!

After that, the old school approach would have observed a middleground, mostly unaspected Sun (nothing much to read there, and its 11th house placement didn't seem to add anything) - unless you want to count the moderate Sun-Uranus square (surprise!). More descriptive was the background Moon (6th house) opposite Neptune (the description in Solar and Lunar Returns catches the tone pretty well). But none of these are big things.

In any case, I'm not suggesting we switch back to a 1940s retro mode on reading these. I just found it interesting that "forget the natals for a moment" gave a sharper look despite the fact that I had FOUR natal planets within 0°26' of an angle. The natal Neptune 0°00' was fitting enough, but nowhere as dead-on as the transiting planets alone - even with wider orbs of aspects and angularities. The overall aspect view was transiting Mercury-Pluto to natal Jupiter-Uranus, but I don't exactly know what the natal Jupiter-Uranus was about. Some individual aspects are meaningful, including for sure the 0°04' Mercury transiting square to natal Neptune and the tech aspect of transiting opposite natal Uranus (2°), but I'm not sure what to make of transiting Pluto to natal Jupiter-Uranus, Mercury opposite natal Jupiter (2°20'), and the rest. All of these were closer than the 2°34' transiting Mercury-Pluto conjunction. (Even adding the eyelid inflammation, none of these seems on target.)

And, of course, the concurrent Saturn transits to natal Venus-Pluto and local MC. These were detailed elsewhere.

Despite the things this chart got right, I'd expect something sharper and clearer from a return that had so many things THIS close.

Feb 21, 2023, 8:53:07 AM PST, home

Impressions: I'm going to be an aff for a month. - The stuff in the SLR that matters most is all natal: It's not a particular wholesome SLR and the negatives are all on me. (High scores for Malefic, Spotlight, and Dignity are an interesting mix that, alone, seem to imply someone notoriously bad.)

r Mercury on Dsc -8°03'
r Neptune on Dsc -2°23'
----------------------------
r Sun on WP-a +0°10'
r Mars on Z +0°42'
t Jupiter on Asc +7°05'

r Mars-Neptune sq. 2°25'

Other partile aspects
t Mercury-Uranus sq 0°21'
t Pluto op r Jupiter 0°37'
t Pluto op r Uranus 0°54'
r Venus-Mars sq 0°54' M
t Moon-Neptune co 0°57' M

Thus far, the SLR has been quite effective in some undesirable ways.

Originally, yes, there were some nasty snarks in my behavior. Even though on a primarily carb-free diet, I started showing behaviors that seemed what I'd expect if blood sugar were on a roller-coaster, primarily cranky moods, being horribly bothered by being interrupted, being blind-sided by how fast hunger came on. After a few days, though, I realized I was sick: Almost this entire fortnight, I've had what began as a sinus infection and spread into a more general virus. I was home from work for about a week. Both Marion and I were sick (she worse than I) and we suspect it was a new round of C19 even though there was never a positive test. It was, at least, a virus that hit us about as hard as full-blown C19 did the first round.

Natal Mars-Neptune - at least as bad as if it had been transiting Mars-Neptune. (The older I get, the less distinction I see between the two, though fine lines can be drawn with only a little concentration.)

I'm still not well, but I'm back at work tomorrow and holding down the office by myself for a week while the team is on other duty (working a junior lawyer retreat).

Among the non-foreground partile aspects, it's been a pretty good time for writing (Mercury-Uranus). The Moon-Neptune conjunction is consistent with the illness, though not necessary given the rest of the chart. The rest are of no particular interest.

Jul 7, 2023, 11:34:38 PM PDT, home

Impressions: It looks like a tough month of much commotion and anxiety. Since it is transiting (not natal) Moon with Neptune, I'm unclear whether this shows me unusually frail in the face of increased burden. (The Saturn is only weakly foreground, but the Neptune does nothing to contradict it.) - Mostly, it looks like I just want to leave!

t Neptune on Asc -2°51'
t Moon on Asc -1°39'
--------------------------
r Moon on Asc +5°01'
r Pluto on Dsc +6°29'
t Saturn on Asc +8°17'

t Moon-Neptune co 1°12' M
r Moon-Pluto op 1°28' M
t Saturn op r Pluto 1°49' M

Other Partile Aspects
t Mercury op r Mars 0°11'
t Jupiter op r Saturn 0°29'
t Uranus op r Venus 0°43' M
t Pluto op r Jupiter 0°46'

This new SLR (not quite a week old) hasn't been so bad. It's been bad in the usual Moon-Neptune way in terms of a bit of frailty, dragginess, feeling not-quite-well without anything specific wrong, etc.; but not bad in terms of practical matters.

In fact (I realize as I write this), that may be one of the hallmarks of the month: "Not too bad" but frustrating some plans. - There is a funeral coming up Saturday, but it's not somebody I knew well. I have a distant connection to the deceased and separately know her son well, which is the main reason we're driving north. I don't expect it to have much of an impact on me (certainly not enough to look funereal).

Nonetheless, all this gives me the chance to write about something that's been on my mind, probably the most important thing learned (more accurately: reinforced, clarified) in the current year of lunars: Even close aspects don't have the impact you might expect when planets are foreground but only widely foreground.

In other words, I think in principle the Bradley-Duncan efforts to have separate quantification methods for angularity and aspects and find a way to COMBINE these to give a composite score is correct, that overall importance of an aspect is a combination of the angularity strength of both planets AND the closeness of their aspect. However, I don't think we've worked out the right way to calculate this. We're much closer by using "rules of thumb" to sort out layered aspect importance.

Examples of what I mean: The primary filtering layer for return charts is that Class 1 aspects where both planets are foreground are valid aspects. Another filter is that partile aspects even if not foreground have a voice, but it's a supplemental, often muted voice. - Notice how both of these are consistent with the idea that aspect strength and angularity strength conspire to produce an overall, layered effect.

One practical thing I have learned this year (and in which I have confidence) is that when a return is a little too complicated (or, probably all the time) I can drop out Class 3 angularities (and the aspects they form) to get a tighter view of the chart. What's important to notice is that this doesn't make the chart wrong. It loses nuance but doesn't stop being correct. I was a little surprised to see this because ingresses work differently: For ingresses, two really widely angular planets (say, 9°-10°) may not be worth anything regarding their angularity but, by golly, their aspects within 3° will be fully operative. - SLRs don't seem to work quite the same way: Even strong aspects have weaker voices if the planets aren't closely angular.

The immediate practical example: Here is the current (July 7) SLR including all foreground planets (Class 3 or closer) and all Class 1 hard aspects where both planets are foreground:

t Neptune on Asc -2°51'
t Moon on Asc -1°39'
--------------------------
r Moon on Asc +5°01'
r Pluto on Dsc +6°29'
t Saturn on Asc +8°17'

t Moon-Neptune co 1°12' M
r Moon-Pluto op 1°28' M
t Saturn op r Pluto 1°49' M

If I drop out Class 3 angularities, though, I lose the transiting Saturn (8°17' from Ascendant). This also means that I lose transiting Saturn's opposition to natal Pluto. This is enough to change the weight of the chart:

t Neptune on Asc -2°51'
t Moon on Asc -1°39'
--------------------------
r Moon on Asc +5°01'
r Pluto on Dsc +6°29'

t Moon-Neptune co 1°12' M
r Moon-Pluto op 1°28' M

See how they look different with that one change? It's not exactly a different chart but it's a clearly different feel on balance.

As a rule, I haven't been seeing that Class 2 angularities can be dismissed so cavalierly. (If I did that on this chart, that would leave only transiting Moon and Neptune and their conjunction, which is fine enough but incomplete.) But Class 3 angularities and their aspects can be dropped I think always - long enough to get the real feel of the chart - and then added back as more nuanced items.

Aug 4, 2023, 7:59:58 AM PDT, my office
Saturn = 6 (Venus = 4)
Indignity = 6, Dignity = 0
Malefic = 6, Benefic = 5, Change = 2, Spotlight = 0
Transit = 11, Natal = 4

Impressions: Primarily Saturn's chart so like bringing some sort of serious cost or loss. The aspects by themselves boil down to transiting Venus-Uranus to natal Venus-Pluto, wich, in a predominantly Saturn period, may mean the loss is in changes or departures of relationships. (Though not angular, the 0°00' Sun transit to natal Saturn likely is important, but I'm not sure what it an do beyond intensify the overall Saturn dominance.)

t Mercury on Asc -4°30'
t Saturn on Dsc -0°40'
-----------------------------
r Venus on IC +5°47'
t Venus on Asc +7°09'
t Uranus on MC +8°51'
r Pluto on Asc +9°48'

r Venus-Pluto sq. 0°13'
t Uranus sq r Pluto 0°57' M
t Venus sq r Venus 1°22' M
t Venus co r Pluto 1°39'
t Venus-Uranus sq. 1°42' M
t Uranus op r Venus 3°05' M

Other Partile Aspects
t Sun sq r Saturn 0°00' M
t Pluto op r Jupiter 0°08'
t Pluto op r Uranus 0°17' M
t Sun sq r Mercury 0°26'
t Pluto op r Neptune 0°57' M

The time since this SLR occurred has been pretty much all good - unusually good (including the new car). This surprised me with the one partile angularity being Saturn.

The SLR in simple terms has two kinds of information at seeming odds with each other. In terms of angular planets, transiting Saturn is the only Class 1 angularity and is partile. In terms of foreground aspects, they boil down to transiting Venus-Uranus to natal Venus-Pluto. The Saturn, seen in isolation, seems negative, but the foreground aspects (given a stable, unthreatened marriage as the context) just seems like a lot of fun!

So far, the aspects are winning over the angularities. I'm used to the foreground aspects describing the real action of a lunar return, but I'm used to the foreground planets setting the fundamental tone. So far, the time has been pretty much pure Venus-Uranus. We can rationalize the Saturn by saying we have had to restructure and be conscientious, and that I just wrote the largest single check I've ever written for anything in my life - but it certainly hasn't felt the least bit bad.

The missed point - or, rather, the point I undervalued - is that despite Saturn being the only Class 1 angularity, the whole of angularity is pretty balanced on malefic-benefic - so much so that I wouldn't weight it pro or con if I only followed my own rating scale. In the rankings immediately below, Malefic has 6 points and Benefic 5 points - not enough of a difference to rate. One should call it mixed. The benefic comes from the two foreground Venuses and one foreground Uranus. Venuses are Class 2 and Uranus is Class 3 but, altogether, they score roughly the same as that one close Saturn.

Jim Eshelman wrote: Thu Aug 03, 2023 8:43 am Saturn = 6 (Venus = 4)
Indignity = 6, Dignity = 0
Malefic = 6, Benefic = 5, Change = 2, Spotlight = 0
Transit = 11, Natal = 4

t Mercury on Asc -4°30'
t Saturn on Dsc -0°40'
-----------------------------
r Venus on IC +5°47'
t Venus on Asc +7°09'
t Uranus on MC +8°51'
r Pluto on Asc +9°48'

r Venus-Pluto sq. 0°13'
t Uranus sq r Pluto 0°57' M
t Venus sq r Venus 1°22' M
t Venus co r Pluto 1°39'
t Venus-Uranus sq. 1°42' M
t Uranus op r Venus 3°05' M[/i

Aug 18, 2023, 1:42:59 PM PDT, at work
Impressions: Probably the whole impact is that Marion will be gone for four days (off to Illinois to work on developing a new play to possibly put on next spring). - The aspects probably tell the main story: Transiting Sun-Uranus, natal Venus-Pluto, and their interactions (with a Saturn-Uranus thrown in for seasoning), especially Sun to natal Venus-Pluto. (Let's see if I can get "What is the zodiac?" written this weekend.)

r Venus on Asc -1°57'
-------------------------
r Pluto on Z +0°26'
t Saturn on IC +2°06'
t Uranus on Dsc +4°47'
t Sun on Z +1°57'

r Venus-Pluto sq. 0°13'
t Uranus sq r Pluto 1°10' M
t Sun sq r Venus 1°18'
t Sun co r Pluto 1°31'
t Saturn-Uranus sq 2°22' M
t Sun-Uranus sq 2°37'

Other Partile Aspects
r Jupiter-Uranus co 0°03' M
t Pluto op r Uranus 0°06'
t Pluto op r Jupiter 0°11'
t Pluto sq r Neptune 0°13' M

The demi has come out almost exactly as expected. Routinely good time, mostly boring at work but with a few issues to rise up and solve (e.g., a planned building power down to manage). Lots of writing done. Marion was gone for four days which was the biggest event. Energy pretty low, dragging, having to work to manage energy a little more. I suppose I was solitary more than not. Definitely more in the spotlight, with positive-negative balance of that tipping positive (e.g., a number of technical issues at work swarmed around me and I solved them). Marion's and my attention is more on planning our upcoming short trip to test travelling capabilities of the new car further (and get me a better SLR). - Not sure what the foreground Uranus transit to natal Pluto is, it seems too strong an aspect to be meaningful in this particular period. (Same for non-foreground Pluto exact transit to natal Uranus, though that's probably more of Pluto to Jupiter-Uranus together.)

Aug 31, 2023, 6:22:31 PM PDT, San Luis Obispo (35N16'49" 120W39'54")

Impressions: We need to be on the road for this one. We'll be in San Luis Obispo (LATER: exact lat/long given above). - No natal planets foreground, it's all run by transits, with the Venus-Pluto opposition still the single foreground aspect (barely foreground) and transiting Jupiter outweighing transiting Saturn.

t Saturn on EP -1°30'
--------------------------
t Jupiter on N +0°01'
t Venus on Dsc +8°16'
t Pluto on Asc +9°35'

t Venus-Pluto op 1°19' M

Other Partile Aspects
t Venus sq r Mercury 0°02'
r Jupiter-Uranus co 0°06'
t Pluto op r Uranus 0°09'
t Pluto op r Jupiter 0°26'
t Mercury co r Pluto 0°26' M
r Venus-Jupiter sq 0°36' M
r Venus-Uranus sq 0°41' M
r Venus-Mars sq 0°45' M


When I return home, the chart will look like this. Standing on its own, it seems "the end" in some important respect, but I expect the SLO version of the chart (above), where it first sets up, to moderate or entirely take over the time. - The two closest non-foreground aspects (or three of them under 5') are pretty interesting, though - perhaps some insightful writing will come out of it.

t Saturn on EP +0°44'
r Pluto on WP-a +0°47'

Other Partile Aspects
t Venus sq r Mercury 0°02'
t Mercury co r Pluto 0°03' M
r Jupiter-Uranus co 0°05' M
t Pluto op r Uranus 0°09'
r Venus-Mars sq 0°18'
t Pluto op r Jupiter 0°26'

Well, this was a dramatic (and not expected) result!

First, the chart began exactly as I'd expected. Remember that this is an overwhelmingly strong Jupiter though with a transiting Saturn still of considerable strength. The day began with a pleasurable vacation in numerous ways along with such things as the surprising appearance (at one of our stops) of someone I only knew online and the three of us spent a couple of hours over wine building a new friendship. The day continued beautifully the next morning.

Then, we hit a snag: This will be pretty bad for a couple of months: In Los Olivos, Marion fell and broke all three bones in her ankle and one bone in her other foot. It's pretty bad at the moment. I called 911 and got her to an emergency room where they started the treatment then admitted her overnight. We've had to coordinate many things like arranging friends from LA to drive here to get us and our vehicle home,

For the day, Kali (our cat) and I are back in Los Olivos continuing to live out of our vehicle. We have food and water, an excellent market/restaurant 100 yards away, a friend's winery across the alley from where we're parked, and plenty for me to do. The big things are covered: Medical costs will be no problem even with the surgery she'll have to have soon after we get home. Her recovery (probably two months) will be a drag (with day to day problems to solve) and then she'll get batter. The early days of her getting around our small apartment (hopefully on a walker because I don't think there is room for a wheelchair) will be a challenge.

I'll write this up separately with regard to her chart which, regrettably, shows it pretty clearly.

With regard to my chart, how does this fit transiting Jupiter 01' from an angle? The honest answer is I don't yet know. This hasn't played out. There is the simple stuff that, in my moment-to-moment experience I know the medical is covered, my job is intact, and I'm sitting here comfortably in air conditioning charging my phone and other devices while working on the computer with something nice to sip and my cat sleeping next to me, I might even turn on some music soon. So in that sense I'm actually having a pleasant time myself.

But that doesn't cover the main event. Having transiting Saturn also strong, and knowing that it is stronger in LA when we get home, makes some sense. There probably are positives we don't know about (Venus was stationary yesterday square my Mercury within minutes, so even transits are saying, "Aren't you having such a lovely time?").

What I think is the big deal backdrop matter is that transiting Neptune is crossing my angles, specifically my Descendant! This is long-term but Neptune square my MC was yesterday or the day before. This is certainly the context of anxiety about spouse including my highly independent wife being necessarily highly dependent for the next two months.

This probably means btw that I won't be travelling for my birthday. I suspect it will force me to have the SSR at home, which is an interesting variation of the terribly interesting and intimidating version I was planning for Solvang. I'll work on that later; but we likely aren't going anywhere for two or three months.

I recalculated the SLR for Los Olivos where the fall happened (and where we're acting out the current drama). It's substantially the same chart, but with small differences. Transiting Jupiter is just over one degree from Nadir instead of being 1' from the angle. Saturn is just within one degree, at 59', so Saturn inches closer to the angles than Jupiter. (That's nice to see, though not a big enough difference to be too practical: We can continue to say that, sure, as you relocate during the month your SLR moves with you and has even small changes that seem meaningful.) The one thing, though, that makes me say the SLR is more applicable where it set up - even with that precisely angular Jupiter - is that for SLO (original location) it has a close transiting Venus-Pluto opposition that is barely foreground. For Los Olivos (accident site) not only are they no longer foreground, the aspect is wider. I think transiting Venus-Pluto foreground is one of the more descriptive things about this SLR.

But the real backdrop seems to be Neptune's long-term transits to my Descendant and Westpoint, with the square to MC being within a day or two of exact.

By old school 1940s Fagan-Bradley interpretation style, the SLR interestingly has Sun in 7th, and would have been read as primary focus of the month is on 7th house matters. However, I haven't found such things to actually work: Luminary house placements in Solunars do not seem to set the primary trend of a month.

Today I edited this thread down, deleting posts that didn't disclose anything new or help confirm or refute anything significant. Here are what I think are the most important points I learned, relearned, or affirmed in my 2022-2023 birthday cycle of lunar and demi-lunar returns.

• This fortnight-by-fortnight journey confirmed once more that SLRs and Demi-SLRs are highly reliable charts - probably the best tool we have other for simple transits themselves.
• The basic way we've been reading is correct (though perhaps subject to fine-tuning). The core idea of reading only foreground planets and their close aspects holds up.
• Traveling to relocate SLRs continues to prove its worth, often in big ways. Repeatedly, I got the main influence of where the chart set up, then slight qualities of the "relocated" version when I got home or went elsewhere.
• The SLR and Demi are so equal that it's hard to tell them apart (although in the new year I have a process to test more deeply whether the Demi should be considered in isolation or in the context of the full SLR).
• We cannot ignore mundane aspects! Including them on an equal basis with ecliptical aspects is easily the biggest breakthrough in return theory and practice in decades.
• Repeatedly, it seemed that details from foreground aspects matter more than details from the angular planets individually. I can't promise this is a solid rule, but it sure seemed to be the clarifying distinction repeatedly. (It may just be that aspects are innately more detailed, of course.)
• I never had a strong sense of "lunars riding on top of the SSR," but suspect that I was just taking my heavily benefic SSR for granted and that it provided context.
• When lunars are more complicated than usual, a trick I've found reliable is to drop Class 3 foreground planets (and their aspects) and re-interpret the SLR without them. This gives a tighter sense of the basic nature of the two weeks without distortion. (It may lose details but does not distort the overall picture.)
• However, dropping Class 2 planets is not recommended - too much is lost. (The tactic may give a simplified "strongest message," but these planets then need to be added back for a complete picture.)
• When Class 1 angularities give one message and Class 2 planets disagree with them, the Class 1 planets win (but both sets will have a voice if not a tug of war).
• Non-foreground partile aspects do have a voice and do add details, although they don't set the tone of the period. When there are LOTS of foreground aspects, the non-foreground ones, no matter how close, just get lost and aren't worth a look.
• After a couple of years of transiting Neptune to natal Moon being periodically foreground, this year I had several examples of Neptune to transiting Moon and NOT to natal Moon (because of differences in latitude, thus different mundane aspects). When ONLY transiting Moon makes the aspect in the foreground (and natal Moon either isn't in orb or isn't foreground), there is a definite "It's not me" difference. The commotion and craziness went on around me and was not my own craziness or inner commotion.
• Maybe I should watch azimuth aspects aligned with the prime vertical (and, more broadly PVP aspects). This remains an open matter.
• If nothing is terribly close by either angularity or aspect orb, the chart or period won't necessarily be a big deal.
• My scoring system to assess the balance of a lunar return has been a real boon, giving a new level of certainty. It's probably part of my permanent working toolkit going forward. Especially it helped give perspective when a first impression seemed mostly positive or mostly negative but the balance was actually closer.

Jim Eshelman wrote: Thu Aug 03, 2023 8:43 am t Mercury on Asc -4°30'
t Saturn on Dsc -0°40'
-----------------------------
r Venus on IC +5°47'
t Venus on Asc +7°09'
t Uranus on MC +8°51'
r Pluto on Asc +9°48'

r Venus-Pluto sq. 0°13'
t Uranus sq r Pluto 0°57' M
t Venus sq r Venus 1°22' M
t Venus co r Pluto 1°39'
t Venus-Uranus sq. 1°42' M
t Uranus op r Venus 3°05' M

Other Partile Aspects
t Sun sq r Saturn 0°00' M
t Pluto op r Jupiter 0°08'
t Pluto op r Uranus 0°17' M
t Sun sq r Mercury 0°26'
t Pluto op r Neptune 0°57' M

Old thread with something new to add. I'm open question were exploring lately is whether PVP aspects are valid in lunar returns. This one chart is an important piece of data. My first impression is that it speaks against the idea, but that may not be the final conclusion.

The SLR covers a month when we bought a new car - it happened easily, we loved it - we took it on a short road trip to a beach seafood place we hadn't been in a while (on the coast) and then up over hills, then a second trip at the end of the month (blurring into the next SLR). I opined that the whole month was good (and that's how I remember it now). I did write the single largest check I'd ever written and we had to restructure finances and spending, which we did after careful thinking. (The loan cost us nothing - is making us money - because I borrowed against my 401(k) and am paying interest to myself and at a higher rate than the fund was making, but at the cost of having every paycheck dramatically reduced for three years.)

Against this good month, the only closely angular planet was Saturn. Yet, foreground planets as a whole were evenly balanced on benefic-malefic, and the aspects are overall positive.

Today I noticed that natal Jupiter had azimuth 87°14'. With TM, we can now check it's ML against planets that were on the horizon (I'm dropping out 90° multiples for display):

28°05' - r Jupiter
29°32' - t Venus
0°09' - t Saturn
0°56' - t Mercury

Well, the closest aspect to nata Jupiter is a square from Venus (1°27'), which fit the month. The next closest is a square from Saturn (2°04'), which feels like more hardship than we took on but could simply mean assuming debt, spending a huge amount of money, etc. (The seeming aspects between transiting planets probably aren't valid).

So I'm inclined to say, yes, these were fitting aspects.

Thanks for the insights Jim.