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Lunar Return Calculator
About every 27 days the Moon comes back to the exact degree it held when you were born. Enter your birth details to find your next thirteen lunar returns, each with its rising sign, and the full chart for the coming one.
What a Lunar Return Is
Your natal Moon describes how you feel, what comforts you and what you need in order to feel safe. Every 27 days or so the transiting Moon comes back to that exact degree, and a chart cast for the moment is your lunar return. Where the solar return speaks about a year, the lunar return speaks about a month: its moods, its needs and the part of life your feelings keep returning to. You can watch the Moon's daily movement on the Moon today page.
How to Read a Lunar Return
- The rising sign sets the tone of the month: how it feels to move through it and how you tend to meet it.
- The Moon's house shows where your feelings tend to gather: home, work, a relationship, your own inner life.
- Planets on the angles, in the 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th houses, tend to be the month's strongest notes.
- Your birth chart stays the foundation. Each return chart also lists the natal house every planet falls in.
A lunar return is a short chapter. It invites you to notice what you need this month and how you respond to it, and it is followed by another a few weeks later.
Example: Lunar Returns in 2027
Someone born on November 8, 1990 at 2:30 PM in New York has their natal Moon at 6°57' Leo. In 2027 the Moon returns to that degree 13 times. Notice how the rising sign changes from month to month, and how each return falls about three days earlier in the calendar month than the one before.
| Lunar Return | Rising Sign | Moon's House |
|---|---|---|
| Fri, Jan 22, 2027, 2:45 PM EST | 5°36' Cancer | 2nd |
| Fri, Feb 19, 2027, 1:44 AM EST | 7°52' Sagittarius | 8th |
| Thu, Mar 18, 2027, 11:16 AM EDT | 23°28' Gemini | 3rd |
| Wed, Apr 14, 2027, 5:20 PM EDT | 29°07' Virgo | 11th |
| Tue, May 11, 2027, 10:44 PM EDT | 25°24' Sagittarius | 8th |
| Tue, Jun 8, 2027, 5:36 AM EDT | 19°03' Gemini | 3rd |
| Mon, Jul 5, 2027, 2:45 PM EDT | 2°13' Scorpio | 9th |
| Mon, Aug 2, 2027, 1:24 AM EDT | 9°40' Gemini | 3rd |
| Sun, Aug 29, 2027, 11:54 AM EDT | 11°12' Scorpio | 9th |
| Sat, Sep 25, 2027, 8:35 PM EDT | 17°01' Taurus | 4th |
| Sat, Oct 23, 2027, 2:54 AM EDT | 7°04' Virgo | 11th |
| Fri, Nov 19, 2027, 7:14 AM EST | 1°26' Sagittarius | 8th |
| Thu, Dec 16, 2027, 2:06 PM EST | 14°56' Taurus | 4th |
Times in New York. Placidus houses.
How Accurate Is It?
Positions come from the same ephemeris behind Selfgazer's planets today pages and birth charts, tested against the Swiss Ephemeris to within half an arcminute. Each return is solved to the second and checked against the Swiss Ephemeris; for years ahead the clock time can differ by several seconds between ephemerides because Earth's future rotation can only be estimated. Your birth time is read with the historical time zone and daylight saving rules of your birthplace.
Lunar Return Questions
What Is a Lunar Return?
A lunar return is the moment the Moon comes back to the exact degree it held when you were born. A chart cast for that moment is read as the emotional tone of the month that follows, until the next return.
How Often Does a Lunar Return Happen?
About every 27 days and 8 hours, the time the Moon takes to travel once around the zodiac. That makes thirteen lunar returns in most years, so they drift earlier through the calendar month by month.
Do I Need My Birth Time?
Yes. The Moon moves about thirteen degrees a day, so an hour's error in your birth time shifts each return by about an hour and can change its rising sign. Use the time on your birth certificate if you can.
Which Location Should I Use?
The place where you will be at the moment of the return. The time of the return is the same everywhere, but its rising sign and houses depend on location. If you move about often, cast each month's chart for where you expect to be.
How Is a Lunar Return Different From a Solar Return?
A solar return comes once a year and describes the emphasis of a whole year. A lunar return comes every month and describes something shorter and more personal: moods, needs and where your feelings tend to gather for those four weeks.
What Should I Look at First in a Lunar Return Chart?
The rising sign, which colors how the month feels, and the house the Moon falls in, which shows where your feelings tend to gather. Then look for planets near the angles, and compare the chart with your birth chart.