Article by Ciro Discepolo, Italy

What is the place for where the Solar Return is cast? The place of birth or the place where the native actually is on the very moment of the Solar Return?

I find that this question is strongly idle and rhetorical; but since somebody raised the issue, I’ll try to give a well-structured answer, supported by astrological evidences. Since Astrology exists, it has always put in connection a time and a place in which something was born. There’s a very old saying: every rising thing may be born under a good or a bad star. The horoscope, i.e. the map of the natal sky, is the snapshot of the sky as it is on the moment of the birth—a photo taken in the place where the happy event is taking place.

Somebody might object that the snapshot should be taken in the place of conception;
but it would be mistaken, because the astrology that all of us practice is the astrology built up on the relationship birth/sky. Still, anybody could start learning today a new astrology, an astrology that grasps the terrestrial and celestial links of the moment of conception, supposing that the moment of conception can be determined precisely.

So let us stick to the ultra-millenary astrology that we have been using for all our life. This astrology theorizes that the celestial imprinting that we receive on the moment of our birth fixes our person like a picture on a photograph plate, whose crystals of silver would be “responsible of”, or the would be “in connection with”, all our life.

Those who do not believe in this, do not believe in astrology. Now, we know that there are many cycles working in astrology. Great masters have used and are still using them; such as André Barbault (who applies them especially in World Astrology), Reinhold Ebertin, John Addey and many others. Your birthday is the start of a new cycle of life that is going to last for one year. There is no reason why this cycle – an extremely important cycle for your life – should be domificated for the place where you used to be thirty years ago, but where today you aren’t any longer. Some wonder: why should the Sun pass exactly over the Sun of birth? Well, the Sun of birth was in the sky, not on the Earth! And if you wish to recreate the same terrestrial-celestial situation of the birth, you should domificate exactly like at your birth-time, and all the Solar Returns would be the same!

That’s why, dear Reader, I tell you that you domificate for the place where you are spending your birthday, and not for your birthplace. In order to induce you to a meditated reflection that confirms this matter of fact, firs of all I have told you my personal opinion; secondarily I’ll let you know what great astrologers think about that; and thirdly, I’ll show you some practical cases, quite striking ones. Eventually, those who still doubt are invited to read the example of Mata Hari, that I’ve written in the book I transiti, published by Armenia Editore. It is an exceptionally clear example that cannot leave the least doubt in the Readers’ mind. I accept any challenge. If anybody shows me the contrary of what I write there, I’ll change my mind on the Solar Returns.

Nonetheless in this case somebody else should be able to explain to me how come all the Aimed Solar Returns that I have studied and practiced over thousands of people have always worked.
What the great astrologers think on this subject:

Tommaso Palamidessi, in his book Astrologia Mondiale does not express clearly, but when he puts two Solar Returns as an example, he uses that of Benito Mussolini and that of Aldo Moro – both domificated for the place where they spent their respective birthday.

H. J. Gouchon, a great astrologer of the last century, in his Dictionnaire Astrologique, ed. Dervy-Livres, at page 535 writes so: “… It mums be noticed yet (for the beginners) that the position of the planets always remains the same in any part of the world where the native may be; only domification may change. Often certain people move on the day of their birthday in order to attain a better position of the Houses.”

André Barbault, in his Practical treatise of astrology, ed. Morin, 1967, gives his opinion: “What is a Solar Return? It is simply the classical astral chart, cast for a certain year and for the place in which the native is on the day of his/her astronomical birthday, that is today, on the moment of the return of the Sun on its natal position.”.

Still Barbault in his book L’astrologia e la previsione dell’avvenire, Armenia editore: Tradition is not formal concerning the place for where the chart itself must be cast: the place of birth or the place of the anniversary. Modern astrologers have unanimously adopted the latter version.”

And above all Alexandre Volguine, the “father” of the Solar Returns, in his book La Technique des Révolutions Solaires, Dervy-Livres, new edition of June 1972, page 22: “Before starting the exposition of the technique of interpretation of Solar Returns, the subject of the following chapter, we must call the astrologers’ attention to the necessity of casting the yearly charts not for the place of birth, but for the place in which the subject is at the moment of his/her anniversary.

Let us examine now some practical cases that prove – to those who don’t stick to their mala fide – that the SR must be cast for the place of the birthday and not for the place of the birth.

Case # 1. The case of Greta Garbo. The great Swedish actress spent the last times of her life retired in a flat in New York, where she died on the 15th of April 1990. You can see her birth chart further on.
You can also see the two Solar Returns: one cast for her place of birth, the other one cast for the place where Greta Garbo spent her last birthday (1989, New York).

As you can see, the SR of Stockholm, taken for the year in which the over-eighty years old diva died, has got a nasty conjunction in the first House of the Return, but it also shows an Ascendant lying in the 5th House radix – nothing to do with a death! I would like to remind my Readers what they can find in several other parts of this book: the position of the Ascendant of SR compared with the natal Houses is by far the most important piece of information that you can receive; you might as well stop here, and use it to write the nine-column head on the first page of the “newspaper” of that year of the native.

On the contrary, the SR of Greta Garbo for the year 1989, cast for New York, shows an Ascendant in the 12th House, which points to another important way of my reading the Solar returns: the Ascendant of SR lying in the twelfth house of the natal chart is the worst thing that may happen to a native.

Natal chart

SR 1989, in Stockholm

SR 1989, in New York

Case # 2. Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, was born in Hodgenville (longitude 5.43W, latitude 37.33N). He was killed on the 14th of April, 1865. We can take it almost for granted that he had spent the day of his birthday on the White House, in Washington, considering that by those times people travelled very little, and for little distances. You can see his birth map and the two returns of 1865 further on (he was born on the 12th of February 1809 at 6:54 am). The SR cast for his birthplace gives an Ascendant in the 7th House, while the SR cast for Washington gives an Ascendant of SR in the natal 8th House (with a Venus conjunct to the Descendant there cannot be any 7th House of “mortal act of terrorism”). I believe that any other comment is useless.

Natal Chart

SR 1865, Hodgenville

SR 1865, Washington

About Author: Ciro Discepolo was born in Naples in 1948, where he works as a journalist and writer. He worked for twenty years with the most popular daily of his town, Il Mattino. He worked for five years at the CNR (National Research Council). He has been dealing with astrology since 1970. He has published over 50 books, most of them bestsellers in Italy as well as abroad. In 1990 he founded the quarterly Ricerca ‘90, which has been publishing since then. He has been doing statistical researches from the very beginning of his interest in astrology. At the beginning of the 90s, he obtained very brilliant results with researches on astral heredity on a sample of over 75,000 subjects. He has held seminars, courses and lectures in different universities in Italy and abroad, and in several culture clubs. He is deeply interested in informatics. Astrologically speaking, he followed the school of André Barbault. He founded the school of Active Astrology .