Transiting planets on the natal chart

12andus
By 12andus

transit.jpg In addition to providing a tool to understand yourself and others on a deeper level, astrology can also reveal clues about upcoming changes and opportunities in your life.

In order to understand how the movements of the planets impact your life, we look to the planetary transits.

A transit is a term used to describe the process of a planet passing through a point in the astrological chart as it travels in its orbit. Just as the word ‘transit’ reminds us of traveling in a car, you can think of the planet on its commute, driving into and out of signs and even reaching key ‘intersections’ that correspond to specific energies in your natal chart.

Each time a planet transits a sign, potentials are triggered based on corresponding meanings of the planet and the sign.

For example if Mars is transiting the sign of Gemini in present time, the energies associated with Mars are intersecting with the energy of Gemini. As the embodiment of the Warrior Archetype, Mars transiting Gemini, the Messenger, can compel you to speak in more direct, assertive terms.

You may feel passionate about your message and get into arguments on social media. You may also speak impulsively and hurt someone’s feelings, or you may decide to take action and finish a writing project or take a class.

To add further depth of understanding to transiting planets, we can also consider how the transit effects your natal chart and the planets and houses it ‘touches’ through correspondence. For example, look at your Forecast report on 12andus.com.

With Mars transiting the sign of Gemini, you may consider where Gemini and Mars are in your natal chart. Let’s say you discover that Gemini is in your seventh house, which rules partnerships and relationships.

This indicates that Mars, the Warrior and planet of action, passion and decision, is going to affect your partnerships and relationships in some way during this transit. Not only is Mars likely to heat up the passion in your relationships but you will also know to be on alert when it comes to communication, since Mars is entering the sign of Gemini, the Messenger. You will want to be careful not to speak without thinking during this time.

Having established that, you can further understand the impact of this transit by looking for Mars in your natal chart. Let’s say your Natal Mars is close to your Ascendant. This would mean that Mars is coming into opposition with your Natal Mars as it transits your seventh house. This adds to the cautionary message of not undermining your own best interests by speaking impulsively.

Thus transits describe the relationship between current planetary positions and their relationship not only to the signs but to the key planets and signs in your natal chart. Using the previous example, if your natal Saturn is in your seventh house, this means that transiting Mars is about to make contact with your natal Saturn. This will further trigger important potentials.

Something about this transit could make or break your commitment in a partnership or challenges which surface during this transit can bring up Karmic patterns between yourself and your partner because Saturn is associated with hardships, restrictions and Karma. You may also feel more frustrated than usual and feel like you are fighting against the clock to get a message through to important people in your life.

In the old days, astrologers used careful calculations to determine how transits would impact one’s natal chart. Fortunately, you don’t need to analyze these planetary transits by going through all the steps listed above.  Our Forecast report will consider everything related to the transits in connection to your natal chart, but it may be interesting and fun to have a deeper look at the transit chart and your natal chart.

Slower moving planets usually have a more profound and lasting impact because it takes them longer to transit through the chart. Think of it  as the difference between a friend you see frequently but for a shorter visit (fast moving planet such as the Moon or Mercury) as opposed to a friend you only see once every few years but who stays with you for a longer time, months or even years (slower moving planet such as Jupiter or Neptune or Pluto).

Slower moving planets command more attention because they spend more time in a given sign as they make their orbit. An example of this is the recent Uranus transit in Taurus. This is a transit that is likely to impact society and have more of an impact even for an individual because Uranus is a more distant planet and transits occur less frequently.

When Uranus, the archetypal revolutionary who shakes things up and causes disruption, transits through the sign of Taurus, a sign associated with stability, finances and comfort, we can expect to be made uncomfortable especially in the areas of money. Economies may crash, be revisioned or innovated.

If your natal Taurus is in the tenth house you may be in for a rocky road as this house rules your career and public image. You may have a sudden loss (Uranus) or change of career brought about by greater societal changes which then forces you to find security and roots in a new way. You may be forced to become innovative in your public image and career.

If your natal Jupiter also happens to fall in your tenth house, then this planet’s benevolent energy can intervene and you may find that you’ve been thrust into a career change that benefits you in the long run.

Transiting Uranus will have a triggering effect on your natal Jupiter as it approaches and also as the transit is completed and the effects of this transit would be amplified for you but also protective energies would be part of this transition.

On the other hand, if your natal Sun is in your fourth house, then as transiting Uranus approaches your tenth house it will trigger the tension and frustrations associated with this aspect known as an opposition. You will have some call to action which forces you to re-evaluate how you view yourself (Sun) in relation to changes (Uranus) in your career (tenth house).

Following the transits can help us remain aware of opportunities and challenges but remember that these energies represent potentials. Choice and free will can help us make the most of any transit.

You can read the interpretations of the transiting planets on your natal chart in the Forecast section of the Astro Reports page.