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Essential Interpretation

Having established the essentials of forecasting with planetary transits and the small amount of equipment necessary for their application, it is now time to start thinking about what all this could mean!

As discussed last time, when assessing the importance of planetary transits the greatest emphasis should be placed on the motions of the slower moving outer planets, namely Jupiter through to Pluto inclusive. This is due to the more pronounced effects which their ponderous motions engender and the lower frequency with which these will occur. As an illustration let's consider the opposition end of the spectrum for a moment, by spotlighting a transit of the relatively fast moving Moon.

A good workable orb of influence for most major aspects is in the region of eight degrees ~ eight degrees applying to exactitude and eight degrees separating. This gives an effect over a sixteen degree total span of zodiacal longitude, or about half a sign.

Since the Moon only ever spends just over two days in a sign, it can thus form an aspect to a natal chart feature for about half of this period ~ a day or so at the most. Thus taking a more stressful example, perhaps you have a really bad day. You hate your boss, your partner, your home, the cat ..... You resolve to give up work, get divorced, move and get a goldfish. You 'hit the fridge' and go to bed early ~ but the next day feel rather better.

You didn't really have sufficient time to make any life changing decisions did you? And what's more you probably feel very similar at around the same time every month, as the Moon completes it's orbit and returns to the same zodiacal position. Extend this to an annual scale and you can probably say the same about transits of the Sun, Mercury and Venus. These are always found in close proximity to one another.

Certain times of the year we may feel particularly elated. Certain other times we may feel rather sad. Certain times we may eat too much and spend too much money ~ it's called Christmas! Joking apart, the cycles of the Sun and it's astronomically associated planets are probably responsible. Think of them as cosmic biorhythms.

But what if you're under the influence of a Jupiter transit for six months, or the effects of Saturn for a year? What if you are under the effects of a Neptune transit for seven years?

What if that transit won't occur again for another twelve years, or thirty years, or never? It's obviously of much greater significance to your life and to you as an individual.

It's not necessarily true that the slower a planet moves the greater the effect it has, but there does seem to be a definite shift in the scale of a transit's influence once we reach the outer planets. Mars can be worth a look against their backdrop. The other inner planets and the luminaries should generally only be considered for very short term forecasting or where they reinforce outer planetary phenomena. Chiron's transit interpretation is still in it's infancy, but as a resident of the outer reaches of the solar system it is almost certainly worthy of attention.

THE ASTROLOGICAL HOUSES

Transit interpretation is essentially similar to natal interpretation, the main difference being that we are dealing with transitory influences of a finite duration. The most important interpretative criteria to bear in mind are the associations of the transiting planet concerned and the area of life governed by the natal house through which it is passing. The sign position of a transiting planet is important in terms of global influences which effect everyone at the same time, but to you as an individual the house which is being highlighted is a far more important factor.

This obviously begs the question of which house system to use. There are in the region of some thirty astrological houses systems, of which about a dozen are regularly seen. This unfortunately causes a great deal of consternation amongst those new to astrology and a lot of debate amongst those who aren't! Personally I am an advocate of the Equal House system and have always found this to produce extremely accurate results in all my forecasting work.

Equal House was one of the original systems for dividing the birthchart into houses, it's also the easiest to use, has one of the better theoretical bases and works all over the world. Simply divide your birthchart into twelve equal sections ~ starting with your Ascendant ~ and number them from one to twelve in an anti-clockwise direction.

Transits of each of the houses will affect the following:

First House: Your outer personality and ways of dealing with the world. Your outlook on life and interaction with your environment. Your self-projection and your appearance. Your relationships with others in the broadest sense.

Second House: Material things, money, possessions and earning a living. On a deeper level your values, what you hold to be important and what you need to feel safe and secure.

Third House: Your mind, your thoughts and your communication with others. Learning and education whether formal or informal. Networking, your local community, short distance travel, your neighbours and siblings.

Fourth House: Your private life, your home and family. Your deepest emotional needs, of which your home life is a reflection. Your parents and their influence, particularly the maternal figure or whoever represents that role for you.

Fifth House: Fun, hobbies, sport, creativity in the broadest sense. Romance and being yourself. Children generally. Gambles and risk taking.

Sixth House: Work, duty and responsibility. Your health. Daily routines and obligations to others.

Seventh House: One to one relationships. Marriage and marriage-type scenarios. Business partnerships, competitors and enemies. Legal affairs.

Eighth House: Endings and beginnings, change and transformation. Sex, spirituality, life and death issues, shared resources and others' values. All financial affairs involving other people ~ taxes, investments, inheritances, loans and so forth.

Ninth House: Your beliefs. Further and higher education whether formal or informal. Expanding your horizons. Foreign travel, far away places and people literally 'foreign' to you.

Tenth House: Your career where appropriate, your aims, ambitions and your life direction. Your position within society. The disciplining parent and their influence. Authority figures generally.

Eleventh House: Your aspirations, your hopes and wishes aside from ~ although perhaps related to ~ the more concrete goals of the preceding house. Your friendships and the groups to which you belong.

Twelfth House: Generally in terms of transits shows the end of a cycle, certainly for those planets which will circuit your birthchart in a life span. Conclusion and preparation for new times to begin. Withdrawal and focusing on your inner self. Inward change and spiritual growth.

Remember ~ the transits of each house will affect the area of life concerned, in the manner of the planet which is transiting and for the duration of the planet's stay in that house.

So what are the effects of those big five transiting planets? All will be revealed at our next meeting!

(c) Paul Wade

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