How to interpret a Sidereal Lunar Return

[Jim Eshelman]

Recommended protocol for analyzing a
Sidereal Lunar Return (SLR)

1. Make a quick, basic assessment of whether this will likely be experienced as a good month or a bad month.
   
   1. Good month: Predominance of natal and/or SLR foreground Venus, Jupiter, and Uranus.
   2. Bad month: Predominance of natal and/or SLR foreground Mars, Saturn, and Neptune.
2. Note which planets (both natal and SLR) are foreground in the SLR. Frame the core of your delineation around these factors alone, trying to come to some kind of integrated assessment of the map's general tone.
   
   1. If the same planet is foreground in both the natal (inner) and SLR (outer) wheels, it takes on special significance as a theme planet.
   2. The planets closest to the angles have the most to say. This consideration often will help prioritize and weight planetary involvement.
   3. SLR planets are interpreted as describing circumstances the world brings to the individual. Natal planets represent the individual's reactions to these circumstances or, sometimes, the actions which invoke them.
3. Observe which SLR planets are background and how they color the picture so far obtained.
   
   • USEFUL TIP: Think of planets in terms of natural opposites , and whether one, the other, neither, or both are foreground. For example, note the difference of:
     
     • Venus foreground, Mars background
     • Venus background, Mars foreground
     • Venus and Mars both foreground
     • Venus and Mars both background
     • Don't dwell too much on this point; but it may be helpful in sorting through complex charts in particular.
4. Note conjunctions, oppositions, and squares between/among foreground planets (usually 5° orb; conjunctions and oppositions sometimes 7°)
   
   1. Aspects to foreground SLR planets help refine judgment on what to expect from the outside world.
   2. Interpret foreground natal planets in terms of what they represent in the nativity (shown by their natal aspects and, to some extent, sign placements).
   3. Note foreground SLR (transiting) planets aspecting foreground natal planets.
5. Stop at this point to make sure the delineation is consistent and makes sense.
6. Interpret aspects of SLR Sun to both SLR and natal planets if the Sun is foreground or middleground.
7. Consider any remaining hard aspects within about 1°. These represent supplementary, background considerations (and often will identify ongoing outer planet transits important in the life at the same time).

In brief...

1. Make a quick assessment: Will it likely be experienced as a good month or a bad month.
2. Note which planets (both natal and SLR) are foreground in the SLR. Frame the core of your basic delineation around these factors alone.
3. Observe which SLR planets are background and how they color the picture so far obtained.
4. Note aspects between/among foreground planets (SLR to SLR, natal to natal, SLR to natal)
5. Interpret aspects of foreground or middleground SLR Sun to both SLR and natal planets.
6. Consider any remaining partile hard aspects.

[AvshalomBinyamin]

How do you generate a Sidereal Lunar Return? Can it be done using a free chart generator?

[Jim Eshelman]

How do you generate a Sidereal Lunar Return? Can it be done using a free chart generator?

I don't know, since I don't use that software. Anyone else?

The key is: A chart for the exact minute that transiting Moon conjoins natal Moon.

[AvshalomBinyamin]

So you generate a chart for the location of the person for the exact moment that the moon is in the same point in the sign that it was at birth?

So, for example if in my birth chart, Moon was 17Virgo38, then I find that in Portland, Oregon, the Moon was last at 17Virgo38, and I read the chart for that moment and place and then follow the interpretation instructions above?

[Jim Eshelman]

So you generate a chart for the location of the person for the exact moment that the moon is in the same point in the sign that it was at birth?

Yes.

So, for example if in my birth chart, Moon was 17Virgo38, then I find that in Portland, Oregon, the Moon was last at 17Virgo38, and I read the chart for that moment and place and then follow the interpretation instructions above?

Yes.

[AvshalomBinyamin]

Awesome, thank you!

[gary903]

How do you generate a Sidereal Lunar Return? Can it be done using a free chart generator?

The Swiss website Astrodienst (German for "Astro Service") located at http://www.astro.com is a great free chart calculation service. If you click the "Extended Chart Selection" link and choose the Fagan/Bradley ayanamsa option, you can generate natal charts, Lunar/Demi-Lunar Returns, and Solar Returns. Also, by creating a registered profile, you can store up to 100 personal charts in the "My Astro" area.

[AvshalomBinyamin]

Thanks

[Zenith]

Hello,
Is there available anywhere a guide to what the various planets mean where they're in the foreground of a SLR chart? There is nicely detailed information here (and in Jim's book on Solar Returns) regarding what they mean in a SSR chart. Do the delineations change appreciably when interpreting a SLR? How about the meaning of the sun and moon in a SLR as compared to a SSR? I'm asking because I just had a SLR with my natal sun directly on the ascendant.

Many thanks!

[Jim Eshelman]

Is there available anywhere a guide to what the various planets mean where they're in the foreground of a SLR chart? There is nicely detailed information here (and in Jim's book on Solar Returns) regarding what they mean in a SSR chart. Do the delineations change appreciably when interpreting a SLR? How about the meaning of the sun and moon in a SLR as compared to a SSR? I'm asking because I just had a SLR with my natal sun directly on the ascendant.

This is a start: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=721

I know it's not detailed in the sense you asked about. I intended to do that in a follow-up book Interpreting Lunar Returns, but I never got around to writing it. The interpretations would have been tighter, punchier - about half the length of the ones in the SSR book. They also would have had one difference, and I'm not sure whether I ever spelled out this detail about the interpretations in ISR:

I wrote the SSR interpretations in part by interpreting each planet as if it were conjunct the Sun. Similarly, I would have written the SLR interpretations by starting with the short summaries in the link I just gave you, and then combine them with interpretations of the planet being conjunct the Moon.

PS - Bradley's Solar & Lunar Returns has great, solid interpretations of foreground planets.

[SteveS]

Jim wrote:

Bradley's Solar & Lunar Returns has great, solid interpretations of foreground planets.

Indeed! Some of the best I have ever encountered in my 35 years of study.

[Zenith]

Thanks you two! That information, especially the part about the foreground SLR planets acting as if they were conjunctions with the Moon, is very helpful.

Zenith

[SteveS]

Jim with a recent post stated:

The Demi SLR seems every bit as strong as the conjunction lunar'. The general view among Siderealists, historically, is that the relative strength of SLR-Quarti-Demi-Quarti is 4-1-2-1. (The full lunar twice as strong as the demi, and that twice as strong as the quarties.) That makes a point that's easy for people to grasp, but I think it's more like 4.0 - 0.5 - 3.75 - 0.5.

I think this is an important observation by Jim and belongs in this topic.