Help in understanding transits

piccolo

Member
Hi everyone,

I've always been interested in astrology, but in the last year, I've started to do research, and I still feel as though I'm still only skimming the surface!

I was wondering if anyone can help me to understand my transits, both recent and upcoming. Please accept my apologies for any errors I am about to make in explaining what my current understanding is!

I know that, since February 2008, I have been going through a Pluto transit (12th house) which has been squaring my natal Sun (8th house) and that this is on-going until late 2010. Also, I am aware that another major transit is Uranus (2nd house) squaring my natal Mercury (8th house), also in effect until late 2010. It seems my eighth house is seeing alot of activity these days! Whilst I have been researching these transits, I feel I only have a cursory understanding of them, and am still not versed in how these different energies are working together, or the complexities involved. I am also aware that I have Saturn transits coming up (conjunct natal Sun and Mercury, both in my 8th house), and I am concerned about these.

It feels as though everything in my life is falling apart. I lost my job in February, left a postgraduate course in May (realised it wasn't right for me), and it looks as though my relationship is coming to an end, so it feels like everything is in pieces. I am feeling very anxious, and as though I have no control over what is happening in my life. Apologies--don't intend to get anyone down! I just thought I'd give some background.

I've attached my transit chart, and would really appreciate any feedback whatsoever. If anyone's had experience of any of these transits, I would be so so grateful if you could share your experiences of them. Thanks alot guys!
 

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freedomlover

Well-known member
I can see where you're getting hammered, but I would have thought it would have really kicked into high gear this past summer, as your chart was heavily hit by the recent eclipses.

The July 7th eclipse at 15' Cancer/Cap was smack on your Asc/Dsc.
The July 21st eclipse at 29' Cancer exactly squared your Venus at 29' Libra in the 9th.
The August 6th eclipse at 13' Leo/Aquarius was smack on your Saturn in Leo in the 7th.

AND you still have Mars in Cancer, and then Leo crossing these eclipse points in the last couple months or so of this year to look forward to! But don't worry, if you're willing to change, eclipses are great for this. There will probably be some opportunities to go in another direction when Mars crosses the eclipse points.

Mars crosses the eclipse point of the July 21st eclipse around October 14, 2009 - just as this Mercury Rx cycle is coming out of its shadow.
I'm estimating that Mars will cross the point of the July 7th eclipse towards the end of September - and Mars in Leo will cross the degree of the August 6th eclipse sometime the first part of December. Actually Mars in Leo will hit the eclipse point ( and your Saturn!) 3 times, as Mars will be retrograding back and forth over that point beginning around December 19, 2009.

You have a lot of Saturn action going on now and in the future. Besides Saturn in Leo getting hit full force with the eclipse....you have....

the upcoming in a few days Sun/Saturn conjunction in Virgo right on your Mercury Rx in Virgo in the 8th - things may come up relating to a need to take better care of your health, specifically maybe sexual health, and issues of purification. Issues of criticism and demanding, critical fathers/men may come up for healing, as well. In the house of other people's money, it could be job-related.

THEN you have Saturn entering Libra on October 29th. Saturn will be making passes back and forth over your Sun for quite an extended period of time. Saturn in Libra stations retrograde at 4' Libra on Jan 13 2009, then will go back over your Sun - back into Virgo ( you'll have a breather) - then come back for one more pass after it goes direct, sometime probably in the summer of 2010 ( guessing). More 8th house issues, except this time relating to Libra issues, instead of Virgo. So Libra issues of all kinds will be raising their heads for re-evaluation- relatinships, marriage, esp. those that are dependent on other's support, people pleasing, beauty, the arts, etc.

If you can really work WITH Saturn during this period, you will be in much better shape when Saturn hits the rest of your Libra stellium later in its transits. With your Sun being involved, Saturn will be wanting to you to deal with issues of ego/pride among other things - also developing your authentic sense of Self.

And then of course, you have Pluto in Cap going through your 12th house. Pluto going through your 12th is a fantastic time to start working with pulling limiting beliefs out of your subconscious. The transit being in Cap, may point to working on limiting beliefs regarding authority figures, materialism, money, success, father figures, career, as well as respect for the Body and Earth as the Divine Feminine.

Hope this helps a little - hang in there!

freedomlover
 

waybread

Well-known member
piccolo, I do think that Pluto square sun is one of the toughest transits going. It has been described as being "stripped of your skin." Accurately so, I think. (I had this transit some years ago.)

Pluto deals with deep, transformative, and often ruthless change. The sun indicates your sense of identity. With a challenging aspect of the square, your sense of self will undergo deep transformation. And I don't think this is one of the "wake me up when it's over" transits that one can meet with resistence until it passes. You really have to change here. You may also feel yourself "going underground" in some way: perhaps being more reclusive than usual.

What you can do, I think, is to introduce some positive transformative experiences into your life. If there are things you've wanted to change about your life, this will be a time to do them. This is also a good time to clear away anything that is metaphorically dead or dying in your life. Even something as mundane as cleaning out your closet or renovating your basement if you have one. Pluto is the underworld god who deals with cyclical time. Behind each ending is an opportunity for rebirth, but the old has to go out before the new can find space for itself.

The experiences you describe seem very consistent with this Pluto transit. Clearing away a relationship or career orientation that is truly "not you" opens up opportunities for what more truly does align with you as this transit eases off.
 

piccolo

Member
Thank you both for your responses. It's really comforting to have feedback from seasoned astrologers who can see how these energies work in symphony.

Waybread--Thanks for sharing your experiences of the Pluto square Sun transit. I think one of the major ways this transit has played out for me (so far!) is that my ego got broken down completely through finally deciding to leave my PhD. Since choosing to leave, I feel as though I'm starting from ground zero in terms of my identity and sense of self. I started to realise, in this past eighteen months or so, that the direction I have been going in all these years was taking me further and further away from my true self, and that I was pursuing that course for reasons of ego and how others would perceive me. Though I'd felt that it wasn't right for me in the past, I'd ignored these feelings and pushed on. Something finally clicked and I could no longer carry on with the charade. It actually felt as though the universe had intervened, and was not allowing me to go any further. That's when I quit the PhD. I feel as though I'm having to build all over again, and at the moment, I still don't know where to begin. I definitely feel I'm in a transitory state when it comes to understanding who I really am. I have indeed been very reclusive for a while now, and have wanted to just be alone to work through my thoughts/feelings.

Freedomlover--It's really helpful to know how my chart is being activated by the eclipses. Yes indeed, this summer has been very heavy-going. Eighth house issues are pretty dominant in my life right now: since leaving my course, my partner was supporting me financially until I found a job, and this has caused major tension in our relationship, and brought up very uncomfortable feelings for me about dependency and feeling as though I don't have control of my life because of it. I feel that my partner has been using money as a means to gain control over me, and this has woken me up to the fact that I must work on these issues and not put myself in a position of vulnerability.

Thanks again you two for sharing your insights!
 

waybread

Well-known member
Many thanks for the feedback, piccolo! With so many planets in your 9th house and your close Jupiter-sun trine, I can see why higher education seemed like a natural to you. It still might be, but perhaps in a more academic support capacity. Universities employ many people who are not faculty members. Other 9th house professions include the law, publishing, travel, international relations, and the clergy.

I think you have very strong analytical skills (Mercury in Virgo) and I should also think that the field you studied so long may have other applications for your abilities.
 

piccolo

Member
Waybread, it's interesting that you should mention my 9th house stellium in Libra, because I've been looking into the 9th house in-depth and I would say I'm an exemplification of a 9th house person--I have moved alot, live in a different country, have spent my life in study, either personal or academic, and of course have been studying for so many years now! My keenest interest is in life is philosophy, and in fact, my PhD was deeply philosophical, which felt very first nature to me. I think you're absolutely right that I shouldn't look to my quitting the PhD as a closed door. Since leaving, I've continued to do research for myself (which I'm finding infinitely more fulfilling than being under the demands of academic rigour!), and have started pulling together ideas for a novel. I think publishing would be the ideal for me, as there is an independence and freedom inherent in it that I missed when I was having to adhere to the deadlines and fierce levels of expectation I encountered in academia. Thanks for suggesting this to me. I tell you, what you said makes so much sense!
 

R4VEN

Well-known member
piccolo, you have received some excellent insights from some very skilled astrologers. waybread and freedomlover are two of our best, and they tell it like it is, and do not mince words!

You seem to be particularly tuned in to your own inner self - given you were able to quit your PhD, something into which you obviously invested a lot of yourself.
Your Pluto transit squaring your Sun has been life-changing. In years to come you may be able to view it as a friend, rather than like an aggressive and noisy neighbour who moved in next door. Sometimes you need to be thrown out of bed in order to wake up. That is what Pluto square natal Sun will do.

I am interested in your up & coming tr Saturn conjuncting your natal Mercury then Sun in the 8th house. I have only relatively recently experienced firstly Saturn conj my natal Sun-Pluto conj in the 7th, then it transited my 8th house. Given that Saturn rules your Asc, then Saturn transits are significant and potentially transformative. freedomlover suggests that you work with Saturn, and I also agree with that. Saturn can create restriction in the area of transit, but it also calls for you to pull back a bit and look at the reality of situations. Saturn transits always demand you do some reality checks. I feel that your natal trine between Saturn and Neptune will come in useful during the next few months. It provides a beautiful balance between the visionary and the ability to provide practical solutions to problems which arise. Also you have a quintile aspect between your Libra Moon and Leo Saturn, and this gives you the ability to experience solitude and not be disturbed by it, but to be able to make creative use of it. The coming Saturn conjunct natal Sun may require some solitude, but you will be learning about limitation only where it applies to physical/material realities. I feel that you can make use of this time to expand in other areas.

At the same time, you have Pluto transiting your 12th house (of the unconscious) between late 2005 - early 2016. During this time you will be shown parts of your unconscious programming which you have not until now been aware of. Mostly this will happen when in interaction with others. The purpose of this whole complicated mix is for self-knowledge, self-awareness, and hopefully to increase your ability to make choices which fit you - the person you are, rather than the person you'd always thought yourself to be.

What I'm saying is that it is all good.
When Saturn begins to transit your 9th house - Oct 2010 - you will be better equipped to take advantage of the insights and doorways to which Saturn will be leading you. By then you will have a clearer idea of who you are, and where you can now direct your life.

And I suspect - with Uranus close to your Moon's North Node in Scorpio in the 9th house - that you will eventually be drawn to some ideas and philosphies outside the mainstream. This may be why traditional educational pursuits no longer feel right for you.
 

piccolo

Member
R4ven,

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts with me, and for your encouraging words which I find really uplifting, and a reminder of how we can turn these difficult transits into reclamations, rather than viewing them as inhibitors.

Out of curiosity R4ven, do you think that my Pluto square Sun transit would have played a major role in my decision to leave the PhD? The reason I am wondering this is that so much of who I thought I was was tied up in it, and I actually came to find that this wasn't the case, that it was somehow inhibiting me. With Pluto transiting the 12th (dissolutions) and squaring my Sun (Self), the identity I had built all those years is being torn down. I have to admit, for a while I was terrified, and am only now coming to view it positively and understand how this needed to happen in order to make way for my genuine self. What is most interesting about this departure from academia: Through study and always engaging my mind, I had turned my back on my emotions, and I did this I think to protect myself, because I know how deeply I feel things. Well, since leaving the PhD, I have cried like I have not cried in years! I seem to be reconnecting with my watery self, and feeling things again, instead of approaching everything intellectually. I can't express how powerful this has been. I would actually be interested to know what transits were taking place in the build up to the day I left, May 5.

You're absolutely right about my 'ability to experience solitude and not be disturbed by it'--I have always preferred to be alone, feeling most at peace when I'm by myself. I've been like this since I was a young child. So it sounds like I'm well equipped for these Saturn transits! :)

Again R4ven, you're 'spot on' (as we say in the UK) about my interests in philosophies outside the mainstream. In fact, I spent most of my time clashing with my university professors because my ideas were too 'out there' for academia!

Thanks alot R4ven! I feel really encouraged to know that these transits are not going to annihilate me (as I irrationally feared before I looked into it properly) but will instead help me to face realities that perhaps I have chosen to avoid until now.
 

R4VEN

Well-known member
Out of curiosity R4ven, do you think that my Pluto square Sun transit would have played a major role in my decision to leave the PhD?
I'd say it was fundamental.
I feel really encouraged to know that these transits are not going to annihilate me (as I irrationally feared before I looked into it properly)
I have highlighted the word `annihilate' because it is such a Plutonic word. I also have experienced tr Pluto squaring my Sun, and I felt like there was an attempt by `someone/something' to annihilate me. That is what the death of the false self feels like.

The reason I am wondering this is that so much of who I thought I was was tied up in it, and I actually came to find that this wasn't the case, that it was somehow inhibiting me. With Pluto transiting the 12th (dissolutions) and squaring my Sun (Self), the identity I had built all those years is being torn down. I have to admit, for a while I was terrified, and am only now coming to view it positively and understand how this needed to happen in order to make way for my genuine self.
I am really hoping that some others who may be struggling with this difficult transit can come by here some time, and read what you have written, because you have described how it feels and what is on the `other side' of this transit so articulately.

I would actually be interested to know what transits were taking place in the build up to the day I left, May 5.
Since turning 32, you have had the triple conjunction between Neptune and Chiron - and then joined by Jupiter from around the first few days in May this year - right on your progressed ascendant at 25 and a half degrees in Aquarius. (This progressed ascendant would account for your intellectual and `neck-up', non-emotional view of your life since around the age of 14.) The transiting triple conjunction is providing opportunities for immense levels of healing for us all, and the most noticeable effect of this long transit - so far - has been a lifting in consciousness in some, as well as a rise in compassion for all living things, and a gradual letting down of those masks which we wear when we face the world outside our front door. For you, this seems to have had the effect of `dissolving' your public face, the persona you had manufactured in order to be the person you believed you had to be in order to be able to do what you believed you had to do!!

This breaking down and dissolving of structures which are rigid or no longer useful has been further activated by Saturn's passage through your 8th house. Academia is quite Saturnian - despite university education traditionally being ruled by Sagittarius. Structures (ruled by Saturn) which support the way things are and have always been in universities are very hard to shift, and you would have found this unbearable over time.
Again R4ven, you're 'spot on' (as we say in the UK) about my interests in philosophies outside the mainstream. In fact, I spent most of my time clashing with my university professors because my ideas were too 'out there' for academia!
You have Uranus conjunct your Moon's North Node in the 9th house, so your unusual ideas would not fit in to a formal structure. You will have opportunities to pursue your own ideas and beliefs, so do not despair. Your university experience will also not have been in vain. I like to believe that nothing we ever do is for no reason, and that our soul's know what we need to experience for our karma to be handled.

Thank you for your feedback, piccolo. When feedback is given, such as you have done, then this helps those of us who are doing the interpretations to figure out if we are on the right track.
 
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piccolo

Member
R4ven, I've just ordered Healing Pluto Problems, a book which has been recommended to me several times. I'm really looking forward to reading it, because not only will it be a guide through this transit, but for my life in general as a Plutonian. I really cherish the writings of Carmen Turner Schott on the 8th house. When I came across an article of hers about the eighth, I felt a whole new world was opening up to me, because everything she said resonated so deeply with me, about what it's like to be an 8th house person, the subtleties and nuances of your perceptions, and feeling that you are alone because your intuitive hunches are so difficult to articulate. I wonder if, as a Plutonian, people can see Pluto in you when they meet you? I've sometimes had odd reactions from people who have later told me that I have very intense eyes. In fact, the word 'intense' comes up alot.

Thanks so much for your analysis of what was happening around the time I quit. What an eye-opener, really.

So how did Pluto squaring your Sun manifest in your life? I'd be so interested to hear it.

Again, a thousand thanks R4ven!
 

R4VEN

Well-known member
Yes, piccolo, intense is the Pluto/Scorpio description alright. I have Pluto and Sun conjunct in the 7th house, and I get so bored with my relationships unless they are intense, which puts quite a bit of pressure on others! Reading about Pluto is a really good idea. Jeffrey Green's books on Pluto are also very good. It is inevitable that we are all touched in some way by Pluto at some time in our lives, so a bit of forewarning is necessary I think. It's quite difficult to work with Pluto - since its intention is often quite unpredictable, and almost always unknown to us at the time it `hits'. Unlike Saturn, which usually pushes us to do that which we know we have to do (or not do) but have been avoiding!

The more information you have, then the more you are able to achieve with it. You are also not far from entering your Pluto square natal Pluto, so it would be a good idea to drum up on that one also. Interesting to note is that due to Pluto's uneven revolution in relation to earth's revolution around the sun,your grandparents' generation experienced their Pluto square after they turned 50 (my father was 60 - and by then really set in his ways - when he experienced his Pluto square); your parents' generation had their Pluto squares in their early-mid 40's, while your generation is experiencing this same passage of deep maturation in your 30's.

My own Pluto square Sun was a wake-up call for me. It occurred either side of turning 40, and until then I'd been very intellectually arrogant, and quite manipulative (that'd be the Sun conjunct Pluto part of it!), and Pluto's square to my Sun (then Pluto, closely followed by Saturn - but the square to the Sun was the most devastating and life-changing) found me borderline suicidal, as I found my ego disintegrating before my eyes. I had believed that my ego was me - the ego I had created was one which was quite abrasive and it (quite successfully) kept others at a safe distance. I'd been about as sensitive as an invasion of Afghanistan, and the person who took a number of years to emerge from this I can now safely say is actually me.

I took much longer than you have taken - and will continue to take - as I resisted the energy, and I am also a generation older than you. We Baby Boomers thought we knew it all when we were 25, and it has taken many of us a while to learn that we didn't!!!

I have a son who is 12 days younger than you, and he had an epiphany at 13, when he knew that it was in his best interests to be himself, rather than try to fit in. He had tr Pluto going through his 12th house at that time, also. He was bullied relentlessly through high school, and this was because he refused to conform by taking part in fights, or playing football! He dropped out of university after 2 years for similar reasons. He was doing a module within his Philosphy course, and he presented a paper which took the subject `elsewhere'. His tutor failed him, because he did not conform. He dropped out soon afterwards. As a former educator myself, I cannot understand that approach, but I always taught on the fringes of the subjects I took, as the mainstream was so dull, and predictable!

piccolo, I applaud what you are doing, and the way in which you are doing it. I wish you well in your journey, and hope to see you often on the forum.
 
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piccolo

Member
Wow, thanks for sharing your stories, about yourself and your son. He sounds like such a sagacious soul--to have such realizations at 13, and (here's the gem) to act on them, shows real courage and that he knows who he is. Sometimes when we have these epiphanies, we still remain mired in the situation, often for fear, as I did. I clung onto academia, even though I was having one omen after another thrown at me, telling me that it wasn't the right path. Contrary to what I did, your son is actually discarding things that aren't serving him. Hats off to him!

So you too have Sun conjunct Pluto natally. I could really relate to what you were saying, about intellectual arrogance and manipulation. I too was wearing this armour. I was using academia as a way to create a distance between myself and others (as you also mention!), and it worked, until now. I have also started to think about the conflicts I invariably have in jobs. Work has always been fraught with trouble, and what has always happened is that I end up locking horns with managers and a power struggle ensues between myself and my bosses. (I have both Sun and Mars conjunct Pluto!) This has got me thinking about my trouble with authority figures (bosses, professors, policemen, etc), and how my real beef is probably with my father, who was never there for me from the day I was born. Perhaps my battles with these figures is my confronting my dad, and each uncomfortable scenario is playing out this unresolved issue. I become defiant when I feel that someone is trying to exercise control over me, and rebel every time. But interestingly, the bosses I have had have been tyrannical and generally unpleasant, so maybe they have come into my life so that I can work this issue out. They are somehow helping me on my journey? Does that make sense?

Thanks again R4ven for all your guidance and sage advice.
 

R4VEN

Well-known member
I have also started to think about the conflicts I invariably have in jobs. Work has always been fraught with trouble, and what has always happened is that I end up locking horns with managers and a power struggle ensues between myself and my bosses. (I have both Sun and Mars conjunct Pluto!) This has got me thinking about my trouble with authority figures (bosses, professors, policemen, etc), and how my real beef is probably with my father, who was never there for me from the day I was born. Perhaps my battles with these figures is my confronting my dad, and each uncomfortable scenario is playing out this unresolved issue. I become defiant when I feel that someone is trying to exercise control over me, and rebel every time. But interestingly, the bosses I have had have been tyrannical and generally unpleasant, so maybe they have come into my life so that I can work this issue out. They are somehow helping me on my journey? Does that make sense?
Very astute of you, piccolo. I'd say you were spot on!! The people who challenge us the most are the ones who are potentially teaching us something, or at the very least they are substituting for a person - in your case, your father - with whom we have unfinished business.

This scenario is typically Plutonic I have found. I tend to `attract' contempories - male - whom I perceive as being bullies, and I get so incensed by their behaviour. But one of my brothers was a really aggressive bully towards me when I was small, and I no longer see him. These people who step into that role in my life are actually standing in his stead. Whilst it often doesn't feel like it, they are performing an act of love...... at the level of Spirit.

Amazing, isn't it??

The Pluto lessons are the hardest, but they are also the most amazing when you eventually attain the kind of perspective where you can unravel what is going on, and why.
 

piccolo

Member
Yes it is amazing indeed. I used to look at things in such a maximalistic way: if I was having a problem with a nasty boss, he was just horrible and that was the end of the story! It was when I hit my 30s that I started to really appreciate the role that unpleasant experiences have in changing our patterns and adjusting our thinking.

You're absolutely right when you say that we 'attract' these energies. I recently pulled up the charts of my past boyfriends, and found that my last 3 partners have all been Plutonians too! My current partner is Sun square Pluto, and has alot of Pluto in his natal chart. Interesting, isn't it, how Plutonians are subconsciously drawn to each other. What you say is so so true--that we attract Plutonic people, but then become enraged by those self same Plutonic traits which drew us in!
 

waybread

Well-known member
Thanks, you two, for the positive feedback!

My favourite book on Pluto is Steven Forrest, The Book of Pluto. Hopefully available inexpensively through an Internet used book seller.
 
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