I have been studying astrology for 35 years, and I'm here to tell you not only that lunar returns (LRs) do work, but that they are one of my key predictive tools. Pay close attention to aspects to the angles, and aspects between the lights, and compare the LRs to the current Solar Return (SR) , transits, and progressions. If you have a full moon in the current SR, any LR with a new or full moon will bring significant developments. But the best way to learn how LRs work is to watch them in action in your own chart and those of your loved ones, friends, and clients. Examine the last twenty years worth of LRs in your own life, and carefully examine the LRs in effect at key moments in your life, and soon you will see them talking to you in their own language.
If a set of LRs are consistently inaccurate, that is a huge red flag telling you to re-examine the accuracy of the birth time you are working with.
The first LRs of a person's life are hugely important. The first LR rules the person's life from age 27 - age 54. The second LR rules the person's life from age 54 - 82, and the third LR rules the life from age 82 - 110. If any of these LRs contain an afflicted full moon, quarter moon, or new moon, or if the chart contains multiple severe afflictions to the Sun, Moon, and/or Ascendant, the chart likely indicates mortality in that period.