Astrological transits : the beginner's guide to using planetary cycles to plan and predict your day, week, year (or destiny) PDF
Preview Astrological transits : the beginner's guide to using planetary cycles to plan and predict your day, week, year (or destiny)
astrological TRANSITS THE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO USING PLANETARY CYCLES TO PLAN AND PREDICT YOUR DAY, WEEK, YEAR (OR DESTINY) APRIL ELLIOTT KENT CONTENTS part I: TRANSITS AND HOW TO USE THEM CHAPTER 1: An Overview of Transits CHAPTER 2: Understanding Planetary Cycles part II: PLANETARY TRANSITS TO OTHER PLANETS CHAPTER 3: Transits of JUPITER: The Leap of Faith CHAPTER 4: Transits of SATURN: The Ability to Respond CHAPTER 5: Transits of URANUS: The Shooting Star CHAPTER 6: Transits of NEPTUNE: The Tide CHAPTER 7: Transits of PLUTO: The Undertow CHAPTER 8: Transits of MERCURY, VENUS, and MARS: Planetary Triggers CHAPTER 9: Transits of the SUN and MOON: The Dance of Light part III: TRANSITS IN HOUSES CHAPTER 10: Houses 1 and 7: Self and Important Others CHAPTER 11: Houses 2 and 8: Personal and Shared Resources CHAPTER 12: Houses 3 and 9: Learning and Understanding CHAPTER 13: Houses 4 and 10: Origin and Destination CHAPTER 14: Houses 5 and 11: Creations and Legends CHAPTER 15: Houses 6 and 12: This World and the Next CHAPTER 16: Transits in Action Appendices Resources Acknowledgments About the Author Index part I: TRANSITS AND HOW TO USE THEM chapter 1 AN OVERVIEW OF TRANSITS n 1993, Jo was experiencing one of the most challenging periods of her life. She had lost her mother, given birth to her first child, and left her abusive I husband; she was struggling with depression, raising her child as a single mother on state assistance. Somehow, she found the strength and determination to complete the manuscript for a book she had started writing a few years earlier. “Had I really succeeded at anything else,” she later wrote, “I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one area where I truly belonged.… Rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.” Within five years, Jo—writing as J. K. Rowling—was a multimillionaire. Her Harry Potter stories became the best-selling book series in history and spawned one of the highest-grossing film series of all time. Destiny is what happens when circumstances meet character. Writing was part of Rowling’s character; she began writing when she was six years old. But her spectacular journey from poverty to phenomenal success all took place during an important transit of Saturn to her birth chart. Saturn transits push us to the limits of our endurance and force us to cultivate inner strength and resourcefulness. Another person might simply have given up, and few of us would have blamed her if she had. But J. K. Rowling’s experience is an inspiring example of meeting a challenging transit head-on and doing everything possible to turn failure into success. TRANSITS: WHEN THE UNCHANGING SELF ENCOUNTERS THE WORLD There is a part of you that doesn’t change much, really, from the time you’re born until the day you leave the planet. In astrology, we look to your birth chart to find insights into this true, unchanging self. Take a snapshot of the sky at the moment of your birth, from the place where you were born. It’s as though a nuclear blast happened at that moment and imprinted the heavens on you. That is your indelible, astrological schema. That’s the person you are inside. But then you learn to walk, you go to school, you fall in love and get your heart broken, you have a child or lose a parent, and each of those experiences heart broken, you have a child or lose a parent, and each of those experiences leaves a mark. So you’re not precisely the same person you were on the day you were born. Astrology acknowledges both realities: that there is an unchanging core deep within each one of us, and that a shy, vulnerable infant can grow into a poised, strong adult. The birth chart is what we set out with, the knapsack full of traits and native weaponry that we carry into the world for sustenance and protection. But along the way, we encounter the world, it encounters us, and things change. Astrologers call these encounters transits. WHAT ARE TRANSITS? In astrology, the term transits refers to the ongoing movement of the planets, in contrast to their positions at your birth or when some other notable event occurred. Because they are connected to current reality, transits reflect our collective reality, the world we’re all living in together. Transits are like cards that the world deals us, and what we do with them—how we play the hand—is what changes us and determines the course of our destiny. Your birth chart is a snapshot of the sky at the moment you were born. But what happened in the next moment? The planets continued to move, that’s what happened. Some of them move quickly, and others at the pace of drying paint. Take a snapshot of that same sky from the same place just twenty-four hours later, and you’d see some changes, but not many. Some slightly different stars would be rising on the horizon and culminating overhead. Most noticeably, the Moon would be in another part of the sky. The Moon is our fastest-moving celestial companion: In just twenty-eight days, it makes a complete lap of the ecliptic, covering 360 degrees and every zodiac sign. But everything else on that next day will most likely be just about where you left it. You’d have to come back in a month to see much movement from Mercury, the Sun, Venus, or Mars. Jupiter occupies the same, narrow 30-degree span of sky for an entire year, and Saturn for about two and a half years. As for Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto… well, you wouldn’t see them at all, but rest assured, they’ll have hardly budged. We live in an orderly universe, and nowhere is this more evident than in our solar system. The planets move in predictable cycles, revisiting the same points in the zodiac at regular intervals. For instance, each year, within a day on either side of your birthday, the Sun returns to the same point in the sky that it occupied at your birth. “Many happy returns” indeed! occupied at your birth. “Many happy returns” indeed! INNER AND OUTER PLANETS Mercury, Venus, and Mars, our transiting neighbors closest to the Sun, are often referred to as the inner planets; in astrology, we include the Sun and Moon in this group. An aspect—or geometric angle—to your birth chart from the fast- moving planets—the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, or Mars—happens so quickly and so often that these transits tend to have few long-term consequences. They may, however, act as triggers for slower-moving transits happening at the same time. PLANET CYCLE THROUGH THE AREAS OF LIFE AFFECTED ZODIAC Sun 365 days vitality, creativity, confidence Moon 28 days emotion, daily routine, maintenance of one’s body and home Mercury 88 days learning, communication Venus a little under 1 year relationship, finances Mars 2.5 years work, conflict, sexuality The transits of the outer planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, on the other hand, are rare and take a long time to complete their work. They symbolize processes in your life that unfold slowly and usually have far- reaching consequences. Some of them leave you profoundly changed. PLANET CYCLE THROUGH THE AREAS OF LIFE AFFECTED ZODIAC Jupiter 12 years education, travel, adventure Saturn 29.5 years career, responsibility, maturity Uranus 84 years change, disruption, rebellion Neptune 165 years spirituality, illusion, disillusion Pluto 250 years transformation, inner strength TRANSITING PLANETS IN THE SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC When a transiting planet changes signs, it adopts the costume of that sign. As I write this, Mercury is in Aries; the tone of this moment in time is to “perform” Mercury (communication, commuting, reading, thinking) in the style of Aries— which is to say, fast, direct, and to the point. The expression “too long, didn’t read” (TL;DR) was probably coined by someone with Mercury in Aries! In a few days, though, Mercury will enter Taurus, which is a very different costume indeed. The tone for communication will shift to this sign’s more deliberate, slow, and considered style. This doesn’t mean that the whole world as one will be hypnotized to speak, think, and drive slowly. By nature, people who were born with Mercury in Aries, for example, always process the world at lightning speed, and Mercury moving into Taurus won’t change that. What it will do is present situations that encourage these people to slow down and practice a little more patience. Chances of the Mercury in Aries person enjoying this are slim. But that’s okay. As my teacher was fond of saying, “It’s a transit—it will pass.” PLANETS TRANSITING THE HOUSES OF YOUR BIRTH CHART Planets transiting the houses of your chart bring action and awareness to particular areas of your life. In the first house, it’s brought to your front door. In the sixth house, it’s taking place where you work or in something related to your health regimen. In your tenth house, your career, reputation, or calling provide the avenue for responding to the transit. (Part III of this book explores transits in each house of the birth chart.) Depending on where you were born, some houses of your chart may be larger than others. Because transits will always spend more time moving through these houses, they take on a particular importance in your life. And because some transiting planets move much more slowly than others, it’s like the difference between having the postman drop by (Mercury) and having an invalid relative move in to be cared for the rest of his days (Neptune). TRANSITING PLANETS IN ASPECT An aspect refers to a particular geometric relationship between two planets. If you don’t know how to find and read aspects, you will likely feel it is a bit of a struggle to work with transits. You can get a list of current transiting aspects to your chart at Astrodienst, a free online resource (www.astro.com), but it’s much easier to work with transits when you are able to compare them to the planets in your chart and find the aspects yourself. Astrologers use a variety of aspects to examine transiting connections to the birth chart. Most commonly, we use these: ASPECT DEGREES KEYWORD DIFFICULTY Conjunction 0 degrees intensity; subjectivity neutral; may be Conjunction 0 degrees intensity; subjectivity neutral; may be harmonious or challenging, depending on the planets involved Sextile 60 degrees opportunity harmonious Square 90 degrees conflict challenging Trine 120 degrees ease harmonious Quincunx 150–180 degrees adjustment challenging Opposition 180 degrees balance challenging If you find it difficult to identify aspects, you’re not alone. It gets easier with practice, though. Begin by understanding that, generally, particular aspects can be found between planets that are in specific signs. Here is a quick guide to help get you in the neighborhood. (Note: A conjunction is usually found between planets in the same sign.) PLANET IN LOOK FOR LOOK FOR LOOK FOR LOOK FOR LOOK FOR THIS SIGN SEXTILES IN… SQUARES IN… TRINES IN… QUINCUNXES IN… OPPOSITIONS IN… Aries Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Sagittarius Virgo, Scorpio Libra Aquarius Capricorn Taurus Cancer, Pisces Leo, Aquarius Virgo, Libra, Sagittarius Scorpio Capricorn Gemini Leo, Aries Virgo, Pisces Libra, Aquarius Scorpio, Capricorn Sagittarius Cancer Virgo, Taurus Aries, Libra Scorpio, Pisces Sagittarius, Aquarius Capricorn Leo Gemini, Libra Taurus, Scorpio Aries, Capricorn, Pisces Aquarius Sagittarius Virgo Cancer, Scorpio Gemini, Taurus, Aries, Aquarius Pisces Sagittarius Capricorn Libra Leo, Sagittarius Cancer, Gemini, Taurus, Pisces Aries Capricorn Aquarius Scorpio Virgo, Leo, Aquarius Cancer, Pisces Aries, Gemini Taurus Capricorn Sagittarius Libra, Aquarius Virgo, Pisces Aries, Leo Taurus, Cancer Gemini Capricorn Scorpio, Pisces Aries, Libra Taurus, Virgo Gemini, Leo Cancer Aquarius Aries, Taurus, Scorpio Gemini, Libra Cancer, Virgo Leo Sagittarius Pisces Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Scorpio Leo, Libra Virgo Capricorn Sagittarius If transiting Mars, for instance, is currently at 8 degrees of Sagittarius, then it is sextile any planets at 8 degrees of Libra or Aquarius, square planets at 8 is sextile any planets at 8 degrees of Libra or Aquarius, square planets at 8 degrees of Virgo and Pisces, trine planets at 8 degrees of Aries or Leo, quincunx planets at 8 degrees Taurus or Cancer, and opposed planets at 8 degrees of Gemini. However, this is not a hard-and-fast rule. Occasionally, a planet in one sign can make aspects to planets in signs other than the ones listed here due to aspect orbs. ORBS Two planets can be considered in aspect to one another even if the aspect is not exact. An exact square aspect, for instance, refers to two planets separated by exactly 90 degrees. But most astrologers observe that the influence of an aspect is experienced for a certain number of degrees, or orb, on either side of that exact angle. What astrologers don’t necessarily agree about is how many degrees of orb should be allowed! For transits, I tend to allow larger orbs (more degrees on either side of exact) for slower-moving planets and smaller orbs (fewer degrees on either side of exact) for faster planets, and I give more weight to aspects that are approaching (or opening) the exact angle than those that have already completed that angle (separating, or closing). My orbs for transiting planets: Moon: 1 degree on either side of exact Sun, Mercury, Venus: 3 degrees on either side of exact Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn: 5 degrees on either side of exact Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto: 7 degrees on either side of exact For example, if transiting Pluto, planet of power and transformation, is at 13.33 degrees of Capricorn, and your natal Midheaven (tenth house cusp) is at 15.45 degrees, then Pluto is about 2 degrees away from making a trine (120 degrees) aspect to the Midheaven (representing career matters). That’s definitely close enough that you should be experiencing some intense developments related to your career. Since it’s a harmonious aspect, you might safely assume that the possibility exists for career empowerment at this time. Here’s where it gets tricky. Let’s say transiting Jupiter is at 1 degree of Virgo, and you have natal Mars at 28 degrees of Aries. Virtually any astrologer would call this a trine aspect. “But how?” you might cry, glancing at that handy table and finding that Virgo’s trines most often occur in Taurus and Capricorn. It’s because 28 degrees of Aries is only 2 degrees from flipping into Taurus, and therefore only 3 degrees from transiting Jupiter. So keep an eye out for what astrologers call “out-of-sign” aspects.
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