Solar Return House Cusps API

Solar Return House Cusps

Returns the complete house cusp framework for a Western Solar Return chart for a given year — the dedicated house structure layer of the Solar Return endpoint suite. While the Solar Return Planets endpoint returns planetary positions with house placements and the Solar Return Details endpoint provides a full consolidated overview, this endpoint focuses exclusively on the Solar Return chart's house cusps, angles, and house-related structural data, making it the appropriate choice when the house framework itself is the primary subject of analysis or when house cusp data needs to be retrieved independently of planetary positions.

What This API Does

This endpoint accepts an individual's birth details, their current geographic location for the target year, and the desired solar return year (solarYear), then computes the precise moment of the Sun's return to its natal tropical degree and calculates the complete house cusp framework for the Solar Return chart at that exact moment. The Solar Return chart is cast for the individual's current location (cLat, cLon, cTzone) rather than their birth location, following standard Western Solar Return practice. The endpoint returns the tropical degree of all twelve house cusps, the four chart angles, the sign on each house cusp, the house ruler for each house, and any intercepted signs — all calculated according to the house system specified via the X-House-Type header.

Data Returned

The response provides a complete Solar Return house cusp and angle dataset:

• Solar Return house cusps — the tropical zodiac degree and minute of arc for all twelve house cusps in the Solar Return chart, calculated according to the specified house system

• Solar Return Ascendant — the precise tropical degree of the Solar Return Ascendant (first house cusp), the most significant angle of the annual chart and the primary indicator of the year's overall tone and the individual's dominant focus for the twelve-month period

• Solar Return Midheaven (MC) — the tropical degree of the Solar Return Midheaven, indicating the career, public life, and achievement themes emphasized during the solar year

• Solar Return Descendant and IC — the tropical degrees of the Descendant (seventh house cusp) and Imum Coeli (fourth house cusp), completing the four-angle framework of the Solar Return chart

• Sign on each house cusp — the tropical zodiac sign occupying each of the twelve Solar Return house cusps, identifying the sign-based themes and qualities associated with each life domain in the annual chart

• House rulers — the planetary ruler of each Solar Return house based on the sign on its cusp, identifying which Solar Return planets govern each life domain and enabling house ruler placement analysis

• Intercepted signs — any zodiac signs that are fully contained within a Solar Return house without appearing on a house cusp, along with their corresponding duplicate signs, which is a significant structural feature in certain house systems

• Solar Return moment — the precise date, time, and timezone of the Sun's exact return to its natal tropical degree, confirming the moment for which the house cusps are calculated

• House system used — confirmation of the house division method applied to the Solar Return chart calculation

Main Use Cases

• Solar Return house framework analysis — accessing the complete Solar Return house cusp structure as the primary subject of analysis, particularly for practitioners who focus on the Solar Return Ascendant sign, the house placement of the Solar Return Sun, and the sign-on-cusp themes for each life domain

• Solar Return Ascendant analysis — retrieving the Solar Return Ascendant degree and sign as the single most important indicator of the year's overall tone, without the overhead of the full planetary position or consolidated details response

• Solar Return relocation analysis — leveraging the separate current location inputs to compute Solar Return house cusps for different geographic locations, enabling practitioners to compare how the Solar Return Ascendant and all twelve house cusps shift when the individual is in different locations for their birthday — the core use case for Solar Return relocation work

• House ruler placement analysis — using the house ruler data to identify which Solar Return planets govern each life domain, then cross-referencing with the planetary positions to determine where each house ruler falls in the Solar Return chart

• Intercepted sign analysis — identifying intercepted signs in the Solar Return chart, which indicate life domains where the associated themes may be more internalized or require additional effort to access during the solar year

• Solar Return chart rendering — providing the house cusp data needed to accurately draw the house wheel and angle lines in a Solar Return chart visualization, as a focused alternative to extracting house data from the full consolidated details response

• Multi-year Solar Return house comparison — running the endpoint for consecutive solarYear values to compare how the Solar Return Ascendant and house cusps shift across multiple years, identifying years where particularly significant signs rise on key house cusps

• House system sensitivity analysis — running the endpoint multiple times with different X-House-Type values to compare how the Solar Return house framework changes under different house division methods, which is especially relevant for Solar Return work since the Ascendant and house placements are highly sensitive to the chosen system

Key Functionality

• Computes the precise Solar Return moment — the exact date and time when the Sun returns to its natal tropical degree for the target year — ensuring all house cusps are calculated for the astronomically correct solar return instant

• Accepts separate current location inputs (cLat, cLon, cTzone) distinct from the birth location, correctly implementing the standard Western Solar Return practice of casting the chart for the individual's location at the time of the solar return, which directly determines the Solar Return Ascendant and house cusp degrees

• Accepts a solarYear parameter to compute Solar Return house cusps for any past, present, or future year, enabling historical review, current year analysis, and multi-year forward planning

• Returns a focused house cusp dataset — all twelve cusps, four angles, sign-on-cusp, house rulers, and intercepted signs — without planetary positions or aspect data, making it the efficient and purpose-built choice when the house framework is the primary subject of analysis

• Supports a configurable house system via the X-House-Type header, enabling Solar Return house cusp calculations under any of the major Western house division methods (Placidus, Whole Sign, Equal, Koch, Campanus, Regiomontanus, etc.), since the Solar Return Ascendant and house placements vary significantly across house systems

• Supports configurable lunar node type via the X-Node-Type header (mean or true nodes) for consistency with other Solar Return and Western natal endpoints

• Returns all four chart angles (Ascendant, Midheaven, Descendant, IC) with precise tropical degrees, providing the complete angular framework of the Solar Return chart

• Returns house ruler data alongside the cusps, enabling immediate house ruler placement analysis without requiring a separate lookup of which planet rules each sign

• Returns intercepted sign data where applicable, identifying the structural feature of signs fully enclosed within a house that is present in quadrant-based house systems at higher latitudes

• Computes all positions in the tropical zodiac, consistent with the Western Solar Return astrology framework

• Designed for localization — the Accept-Language header controls the language of zodiac sign names, house labels, angle names, and all descriptive content in the response

• Serves as the dedicated house structure layer of the Western Solar Return endpoint suite, complementing the Solar Return Planets and Solar Return Details endpoints by providing a focused, house-cusp-only response optimized for relocation analysis, house framework study, and chart rendering use cases