Work out your Solar Return online — a forecast for the year ahead
A Solar Return reading cast from your birth date. Themes in career, relationships and health, the months worth watching — read against your own natal chart, not a Sun sign.
For entertainment and self-reflection only. Not medical, legal, financial or psychological advice. Consult a qualified professional for important decisions.
What a Solar Return is, and how to work one out online
A Solar Return is an astrological chart cast for the exact moment the Sun comes back to the position it held at your birth. In practice it works as a horoscope for the year — each cycle opens a fresh chapter. Your birth date and time zone decide when the transiting Sun reaches that point again. Where the chart's houses fall then shows which areas of life are likely to keep you busy.
What a Solar Return calculation tells you
The calculation reads the character of the year, not a verdict on it. The Sun and the Moon set the emotional tone. Mars marks where effort goes and where the urge to change things builds. Aspects between the Solar Return planets and your natal chart are what matter most when weighing the year up. The lunar nodes point to its recurring lesson.
Where the planets sit by sign — from Aquarius to Capricorn — adds the texture: the smaller turns a year can tend to take. Every marker can touch on your plans, from work to family life to the slower business of understanding yourself.
How to use the Solar Return calculator
To run your Solar Return, enter the day, month and year of your birth. The engine pins the moment of the Sun's return to the minute and accounts for the time zone and the quirks of different house systems — the things a generic horoscope simply skips.
What you get back is a reading cast for that exact moment. It is a useful lens for reflecting on the year ahead — a possible change of job, a shift in a relationship — rather than a script to follow. Couples often run it for both partners and compare where their years seem to line up.
7 sections of the forecast
Each section covers one part of your life, read off your own Solar Return chart
The main theme of the year
The central thread of the cycle — the question your year keeps returning to
Career and finances
Where there may be room to grow, themes around a change of field, possible fresh sources of income
Relationships and family
New people, partings, bonds that may deepen, family themes worth reflecting on
Health and energy
The months to watch, the stretches that restore you, sensible advice
Key periods
The months that may feel busier, periods of pressure and decisions worth weighing
Practical advice
What is worth doing, and what is better left, in each area of life
Birthday ritual
A considered way to mark your solar return — should you care to
How it works
Enter your details
Birth date, time and place — about 2 minutes to fill in
Free calculation
The main theme of the year and the key markers — shown straight away
Full forecast
7 areas of life, each with a proper reading and clear advice
Pricing
The free version gives you the main theme of the year. The full forecast covers all 7 areas.
Free
£0
- The main theme of the year
- The Sun in the Solar Return house
- The key markers
- Solar Return chart (SVG)
Basic
£14.99£19.99
- Everything in the free version
- 7 sections, each with a full reading
- Career, relationships, health
- The key periods of the year
- Advice written for your chart
- Birthday ritual
Extended
£19.99£29.99
- Everything in the Basic plan
- A month-by-month calendar of events
- Rituals and practices for each month
- Read against your natal chart
- Relocation advice
- PDF report by email
Worth a read
A little more on forecasts and transits
Horoscope for 2026
A forecast for each zodiac sign — Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto as they transit the houses of your natal chart
Read onMercury Retrograde 2026
The retrograde dates, what they tend to touch in work and relationships, advice for each sign
Read onThe Sun in the houses of the natal chart
How the Sun's house placement shapes the central themes of your life and how you express them
Read onFrequently asked questions
What is a Solar Return?
How is a Solar Return different from an ordinary horoscope?
Do I need to know my exact birth time?
How long does the forecast last?
What is Solar Return relocation?
Which house system does the calculator use?
When is it best to calculate a Solar Return — before or after my birthday?
Can I calculate a Solar Return for someone else?
What do the planets in a Solar Return show?
How is a Solar Return different from a natal chart?
The Sun in the Solar Return houses — a short guide
The house the Sun lands in highlights the main theme of the year. A brief note on each of the 12 houses follows. The full calculation shows you which house holds your Sun this cycle and the themes that tend to come with it across each area of life.
1st house: A year of reshaping your identity, your outward image and fresh starts
2nd house: Attention on income, resources and steady material footing
3rd house: Learning, short trips, conversation and new contacts
4th house: Family, home, moving house, the quieter inner shifts
5th house: Creative work, romance, children, self-expression
6th house: Health, work routines and the habits of daily life
7th house: Partnership, marriage and the agreements that matter
8th house: Deep change, shared resources, pressure and growth
9th house: Travel, further study, a wider view of things
10th house: Career progress, public standing, professional standing
11th house: Friends, communities, plans for the future, group projects
12th house: Solitude, reflection, the closing of old cycles
Other calculations
Set your Solar Return alongside the rest of our astrological tools
Curious how the year ahead reads?
A Solar Return forecast lays out the main themes and periods worth watching in your year — about 2 minutes' work.
Work it out for freeWant the whole picture of your year?
The Solar Return is one of 5 methods. Add directions, progressions, eclipses and transits for a sharper reading.
Annual Forecast across 5 methods