During hard times we often become anxious or insecure about our place in the world. We search for insight regarding what is happening and what we can expect the outcome to be. Transits are a timing technique in astrology (essentially the bread and butter of all predictive work) that help show us the ebb and flow of marked periods in one’s life. They indicate when specific developments will occur like marriage, health issues, career promotion, pregnancy, and much more. Simply defined, transits are the current positions of the planets and how they interact the planetary placements of your natal chart.
When we are born, we are imprinted with the placement of the celestial bodies at that time. As our lives progress, these placements remain constant while the planets continue their journey through the cosmos. Any time a planet touches or forms an aspect with one of our natal placements, it resonates within us like a bell, forcing us to respond in a somewhat predictable manner. You can view the natal chart like a circuit board with certain areas lighting up at different times dependent upon the various stimuli placed upon it.
By analyzing the aspects made to your natal chart by the transiting planets, we can determine the beginnings of new chapters and the timing of events in your life. This is an invaluable tool when attempting to work with the ebb and flow of existence. One of the basic tenets of the Hermetic teachings is as above, so below. What we see happening in the macrocosm reflects downwards into the micro. This is why we can translate the motion of the planets into the everyday situations that occur in our lives. They are simply a mirror on a grand scale and vice versa. Dane Rudhyar stated that overtime we can use timing techniques in astrology to create a schedule for the unfolding of a person’s true potential. Our birth chart is not only a blueprint to our personalities but also a cosmic map of our potentiality. It can forecast opportunities for personal growth as well as the nature of the obstacles to be overcome in the process of self realization.
It’s important to note that although we can generally discern what sort of situation is going to manifest including the areas life it is likely to impact, we can only speculate as to the specifics of the event. The experience itself may be fairly straight forward when looking at it retrospectively but how it actually plays out in the world can sometimes be rather convoluted. As astrologers, we paint a broad picture as to what one can expect but the individual fills in the details themselves determining how they will respond to it emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. This is the nature of fate versus free will. Life is always a combination of both. We can see and describe the wave coming but you decide how to ride it.
We must always remember that to everything there is a season. All of life has its own timing. You can attempt to do anything in any given period but things develop more harmoniously if they are done in tandem with the energies aligning at that moment. You don’t plant your crops in the winter. The same is true when working with your astrological transits, progressions, and other timing dynamics. Life is a journey and sometimes it’s smooth sailing while others it’s chaotic and fraught with obstacles. If you know ahead of time where the turbulent moments lie, you can prepare to weather them better. There are points in our lives where the universe wants us to push through obstacles and other times where a safe and patient retreat is warranted. Understanding this using the predictive tools found in astrology allows us to connect to the rhythm of our lives imparting greater agency over our fate. As the stoics would say “praemonitus praemunitus” or forewarned is forearmed.
The only constant in life is change. Change allows us to grow into greater versions of ourselves. To cease changing is to stagnate and die. Transits are one representation of the ongoing transformation that we experience daily in our lives. This constant celestial dance is designed to assist in the continuous growth and development of the individual. These divine vibrations are echoes of our fate. Aligning with them facilitates a deeper communion with the universe and a more profound understanding of our place within it.
Astrology is ultimately a cheat-sheet to personal and spiritual development. It gives us a golden key to knowing our true potential, how we might transcend our limitations, and evolve into the greatest version of ourselves possible. It offers us guidance through the critical shifts of our lives. These celestial patterns are the universal symphonies of our existence to which we dance. They are a cosmic orchestration meant to be a compass guiding us on our paths. The universe only wants one thing and that is growth through expansion. The procession of the celestial bodies acts as an indicator of impending transformations and shifts which we can then align ourselves with to better serve that opportunity for growth.
“What you seek is seeking you.”
– Rumi
