natal placements vs transits II

so to continue this reverie about transits and how they differ from natal placements,I've turned to the slower moving planets, and want to focus on the "social" planets, jupiter and saturn. jupiter and saturn have medium length cycles, but certainly short enough for visits to each of the 12 signs more than once in a normal lifespan. jupiter will spend about a year in each sign, and you can expect a "jupiter return" every 12 years (again, a return is when a transiting planet returns to a native's birth placement). saturn, with a 29 1/2 year cycle, spends about two and a half years in a sign.

the jupiter and saturn cycles are about the growth and consolidation of one's participation in society at large. through jupiter, we experience the expansion of our knowledge of the world, our understanding of our own belief systems and cultural ways, and hopefully, those of others. (Americans are less likely to experience other cultures than Europeans or Asians). natally, where jupiter is placed shows where you can most easily absorb new ideas and experience, where your personality can be most expansive, and even where good fortune can happen. transits are opportunities to expand in a particular area of your life, to find new meanings and new understandings, e.g. about yourself (1st house), family (4th) or new associations (11th).

as we cannot know everything, or believe just anything, it is through saturn that we consolidate those experiences into social norms and forms--into a way of life in our particular society. saturn is about limitations and boundaries; natal placements of saturn can indicate an area where you feel naturally constrained or even frustrated; however, there can be great strength and fortitude as well. natal placements indicate the potential for great authority and leadership. folks often dread saturn transits as times of loss, loneliness and depression, but the primary purpose of a saturn transit is to align oneself with natural law. for example, saturn transiting your 6th house may indicate a need to address health or the proper level of dedication in your life. if you make any needed adjustments, you can gain greater strength and a firmer foundation for your life. if you fail to make the necessary adjustments, saturn can prove a harsh teacher, which is where he gets his dour reputation.

many people have heard of the first saturn return, around the age of 30, a time when one is considered to be a full adult and picks up the mantle of responsibility and authority. this is a good segue to the next part of this musing: the outer planet transits as milestones. come back for part III.

natal placements vs transits I

I am trying to develop a working theory about the differences between a natal placement of a planet in a sign(say, Venus in Aries) and the effects of a transiting Venus in Aries. it's not that the energies or the potentials for expression of the energies are dissimilar. if they were, astrology would be both unreliable and inconsistent. there are, however, significant variations between these two "conditions" in how they manifest in one's life and that is what I'm attempting to understand. additional complexity arises when you add aspects (contacts between other planets, either natally, or transiting) or the houses in which the planets lay.

the first issue, of course, is duration: a natal planet is in that sign and house in perpetuity (we're going to ignore progressions for now) while a transiting planet is moving through an aspect/sign/house for a knowable length of time.

this time element serves to identify one aspect of the differences: natal planets suggest long term areas of evolutionary potential that a native is working on in this life. the issues/conflicts/growth spurts/crises will predominate in the areas of life indicated by house, the energy and motivation the native brings to these events are colored by the planet, and the sign provides the characteristics of the native's mode of expression: e.g., Venus in Aries in the 6th house could describe a native who is an advocate for women in the workplace, a health worker who does couples counseling, etc. issues of relationships, work, justice and dedication are hallmarks of this natal placement, along with money, conflict and perfectionism.

meanwhile transiting planets create "windows of opportunity" that bring the energy and the motivation of a specific planet along with a particular mode of expression, but are not limited to a particular area of one's life. thus, that Venus in Aries energy - fighting for what you value, the attraction-repulsion in relationships, may end up in the 10th (career) or 4th (family) or 12th (what you need to let go of).

part of what this brings is that even though you were born with Venus in Aries (or whatever), Venus will go through all the signs repeatedly during a normal lifespan, and thus you will have many opportunities to express your venusian energies and motivations in all the different modes (signs) in many areas of your life. this is one of the 'evolutionary' aspects of astrology; there are opportunities for growth and development beyond what is expressed in your birth chart.

Part II: inner planet vs. outer planet transits.

greed, greed and more greed

I've been incredibly frustrated by the corporate world's response to the current economic crises (this includes most Republicans in my view). Their inability, unwillingness and self-interested obstinacy in the face of much-needed changes in their expectations and behavior has both appalled me and confounded me. what's up with these supposedly smart folks that they can't see the results, both material and psychological of their refusal to change?

well, it's Pluto in Cap, remember?! this is about power! who's the biggest, baddest, most controlling guy on the block? why, Hades, of course and the rest of you can just drop dead for all he cares.

once this concept got through my own thick skull (Pluto in Cap can be most incredibly dense and stubborn, btw ;-) it made sense. They feel they have the power, because they have had the power all these years. what's ironic is that it's that type of thinking that will bring the entire system down (which if GM goes, the rest will drop like a well-laid-out domino pattern). If the corporate world could just make a few, fundamental changes, they could pull out. meanwhile, life goes on and people and institutions that can make those changes are going to flourish. (think dinosaurs versus mammals after the great asteroid strike).

1.5.2009

Happy New Year to you. I have changed the look of this page as part of my resolution to blog more often, with less trepidation and more confidence, and on a wider range of astrological topics.

as my little grandson is about to celebrate his first year birthday, I've been thinking about solar return charts. this is a simple technique of forecasting for the coming year; you cast a chart for the exact degree of the native's sun at birth, then interpret the chart as you would a natal chart. you do not need to look at contacts or aspects with the natal chart.

I have found that the sun and moon seem to be the most relevant contacts, but close aspects between either of these and other planets or angles can also be indicative of strong energies for the coming year.

having done this for my grand-baby, his coming year is all about expanding his relationships and lots of dealing with the larger society (6 planets in Aquarius!). while this seems pretty silly and obvious for a 1 yr old, try it for yourself and see if it gives you some new information about the energies occurring around you. (this is for the year beginning on your birthday - for those of you celebrating this spring on summer, you'll probably need to wait awhile)