At the moment you are born, as seen from the place you are born, all of the planets are in a certain position in the sky. This translates into a particular zodiacal sign and astrological house. So you may have your Sun in Libra in the 5th house and your Moon in Scorpio in the 6th house, for example. This means something about your nature and the kinds of experiences you have in life. But while the birth chart is fixed, life is ever-changing. The planets, signs and houses are symbolic of an entire spectrum of different possibilities. Your Sun will always be in Libra, but how this is expressed will be different over time.
A natal chart reading is excellent for gaining a deeper understanding of the self and is vitally important in astrological work. But this is only half of the picture, as the planets keep moving after you are born. The position of the planets right now and how they connect with your specific energetic configuration (your birth chart) describe what is going on for you now and what areas of life and themes inherent in your being are being activated. These planetary movements are known as transits.
Personally, I do not see astrology as event prediction or fortune-telling. It is not about me telling somebody what is going to happen in their lives, but rather a way of highlighting themes that will have to be dealt with at particular times and empowering them to make their own decisions. Together we discuss specifically what a transit means for the person and my role is to help bring clarity and perspective to what somebody is experiencing. Events are not fated to happen based on our charts, but as an astrologer I am able to see important times in a person’s life and can describe the issues behind current life events.
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st year I noticed that May was going to be a very important time for myself personally. I saw some big transits of the planet Uranus to my birth chart. The energy of Uranus is all about change. It is known as the awakener, the liberator. Uranus always shakes up a person’s life in some way and brings about change – usually in quite a sudden and unexpected way. And everybody reacts differently to this influx of energy – people who like their life to remain the same and do not like surprises and change have a harder time with Uranus transits than those who enjoy excitement and are okay with disruption to their routine. When Uranus hits, life is prodding us – sometimes quite hard – to make changes. If we try to resist and try to keep our lives as they were, then that’s when problems arise. If we are very stubborn then life can get quite challenging. If we go with it, things may be up in the air for a while, but the outcome will always be beneficial, usually in some unexpected way when Uranus is involved.
For me, one of the most important current transits is Uranus to my natal Mercury, especially important since this is the ruler of my entire chart. So even last year I knew that the effects would impact my entire life and relationship with the world. I saw it coming but had to wait to know what specifically this would involve. Uranus is about our urge for freedom and our need to express our own uniqueness and individuality. As its effects hit my natal chart I suddenly realized that where I was living was hampering my self-expression. I needed my own space. I needed more freedom. I had to find my own place to live.
This immediately brought up concern over finances and whether I could afford it (Uranus is in my natal 2nd house, which relates to money) but the influence of this planet made the need for change and freedom pressing. The astrology showed me that this was the right time for a big change and so I trusted that the outcome would be beneficial. As is usually the case with Uranus, this all happened very suddenly, quite out of the blue, but the Uranus energy within me made the move most urgent. Uranus speeds up our experience of life and things move quickly when it is involved.
I soon found a place to live and planned to move on 1st May. As things turned out, the practicalities of the situation meant that my moving date was settled at 9th May. When I checked back with the astrology, I discovered that Uranus exactly aspects my Mercury on 9th May! While most planetary transits are not exact to the day like this, Uranus transits often are.
Right now I am experiencing the disruption that this planet can bring, but at the same time know that this transit will allow a greater sense of freedom and ability to be more myself. Indeed, I am already feeling it and it is quite liberating. Had I let my concerns over the practical considerations (in this case, money) override what I knew I needed to do, then life would almost certainly have become challenging and/or unpleasant. Change was going to happen one way or another at this time, and so knowing the astrology of the time gave me the confidence to make a very big life decision. There is more Uranus activity to come over the next few months and I am looking forward to whatever further changes are coming my way. Uranus transits may bring unpredictability, but it can be a very exciting time if you drop the need to control life (impossible anyway!) and follow your intuition.
I will most likely continue the theme of different planets transits in upcoming newsletters. If there is anything in particular you’d like me to write about please do send me an email.
