Solar return (SR) must be interpreted in the same manner as the natal chart. Arranged according to their importance the interpretative elements are: (1) Ascendant (2) MC (3) Sun (4) Planets (5) Several rules. I shall examine here the fist two factors, retaining the rest for a later article.
1. Ascendant of Solar Return
1. The priority given to the SR Asc is due to the importance of the radical house which rises along with it. This house reveals the issues that will engage the interest of the individual during the year. If the rising radical house was of little importance in the natal (because of debility of its ruler, lack of aspects therein etc), we must ignore its significance, especially if the first house of the SR is also empty and weak. In this case, we must give preference to another radical house, containing one or more strong planets in aspect with the SR Asc. This house would certainly reveal something particular about the year in question.
The rising houses are delimited as follows: Suppose that SR Asc is at 9° Pisces and this sign contains the cusps of two radical houses, for example, VI cusp at 2° Pisces and VII cusp at 26° Pisces. I consider as rising house that which has its cusp nearest to the SR Asc, in the example, the VI. If the SR Asc is exactly in the middle of two radical cusps, I consider as rising that which the Asc is approaching. If the first house of the SR contains two radical houses, I take that both are rising. In this case, those two houses will have an accumulative effect during the year.
Here I cite some interpretations of eventual natal houses risings: 
- a. If the SR Asc rises along with the VI or VII, it is an indication of domestic troubles, of acute illnesses, of accidents, operations etc.
- b. If it makes the XII rising, it would be a year of obstacles,, of manifestations or aggravations of chronic ailments.
- c. If it rises along with the VIII, it is not an indication of a fatal event or an ailment. For a serious illness to manifest there should be malefic convergence of I, VI, XII and VIII - radical and natal. Solely the SR Asc rising in the VIII would produce a state of weakness, apathy, lassitude and danger from medical treatment. But if the VIII is advantageously configured in the radical, if it indicates for example, a heritage or any unexpected gain, the SR might very well presage a happy event of this kind during the year.
2. Subsequently, the SR Asc could be progressed according to the rule 1 day = 1 degree, in order to activate annual events which are waiting its passage to manifest.
2. Midheaven of Solar Return
Amongst the houses which rise along with the SR Asc the X house (or MC) is evidently the most important. Two distinct cases worth our attention:
a. The SR Asc rises along with the radical MC, b. the SR MC falls into the radical Asc.
These two cases announce changes of situation, of fortune, realizations, success of enterprises, publicity, according to the circumstances: whether Asc et MC conjointly are favorably aspected in the annual or in the radical horoscopes. The difference is that, in the first case, the native must contribute his/her own resources, find the means, make things happen, whereas in the second the luck will help him and things will pass more naturally. For this success to come about, the rulers of the respective houses must necessarily be well placed, well aspected and the benefics must intervene, both in the annual and the radical horoscopes.
Except for these two cases, we should additionally examine the radical house in which the annual MC is found, when it does not coincide with the Asc: if it falls in the XII and a malefic planet or an unfavorable aspect appears, this could be a year of upheaval, of defamation, of difficulties in finding or retaining a job, of ailments etc. If there are no malefics, the circumstances are less serious. If the annual MC, well disposed, falls into the VII radical, equally well disposed, this could announce a change of situation due to a marriage or a business contract. If the radical MC and VII are unfavorably configured, the change of status will take place as a result of a divorce or a legal procedure.
Analogous reasoning applies to the rest of the houses.
Yet, I will not extend further this analysis because we will end up rather with incertitude than with clarity, due to the multiplicity of interpretative elements. Additionally, the factors in such a way superimposed would be contradictory to the influences of the current year and this fact could annihilate their signification, because the judgment of the SR must give priority to the planets in action, in other words to the proper planets of the Solar Return.