Tag: Transits

Ascendance

~ EmpwrdDstny ~ Leave a comment

“Every time our unconscious is working something out, it calls into our lives the people who have within the pieces of the answer we are seeking”  – Martin Schulman, Karmic Relationships

Over the years I have developed an astrological theory that seems to dovetail nicely with the quote above – I’ve  observed a correlation that when a transiting or progressed planet crosses the natal Ascendant of an individual, a person will then tend to enter that individual’s life who will sync up with that particular planetary archetype.  So for example, if it’s Saturn crossing the Ascendant then a Saturn figure may appear in the individual’s life.  If it’s Mars, we get a Martian figure and so on.

When a planet it crosses the threshold of the Ascendant, that energy is brought to our consciousness in a very front-and-center way.  We’re going to get in touch with what that planet is all about one way or the other, and more often than not I’ve found this can mean an outside agent appears to make us intimately familiar with the energy/archetype for the purposes of bringing it out in our personality. I don’t often see people spontaneously adopting the demeanor of whatever planet is making the visit to their Ascendant on their own; rather someone who embodies that planetary archetype seems to step in to provide feedback, instruction, a model, or whathaveyou to put us in touch with the qualities of that planet we need to embrace more fully in our own persona.

As a reference point, using the above hypothetical planetary scenarios Saturn across one’s Ascendant might bring them a mentor figure; someone who can help them “adult” and be more responsible, professional, advancement-oriented, or perhaps parental.  Mars may bring us someone who will help us to embrace our Inner Warrior; someone who might challenge us, be a sparring partner or competitor, light a fire under our butts and get us to be more physically active, or who will show us by example how to stand up for ourselves/others and be more assertive.  We hold within us the seeds of each planetary archetype and it seems when the Ascendant is crossed by one of these heavenly bodies, that seed germinates.

Now it could certainly be argued that in theory we *ought to be* observing this phenomenon moreso when a transiting planet crosses the Descendant as it is the opposite end of this axis that is said to represent “The Other”.  But my practical experience has been that in general we tend to be LESS conscious of energies crossing the Descendant as we’re not apt to recognize their influence as something within.  When a planet is located near the Descendant its energy more inclined to be disowned or projected; both within our lives and personas.  For example, Saturn near our Descendant might cause us to view a partner as a restrictive influence, as parental, as someone who more or less metaphorically “pees in our Cheerios”, or who tells us to “suck it up”/“grow up”.  But does this necessarily cause us to embody the energy of Saturn on a personal level?  No – we’re far more likely to disown those qualities and resist by acting out the opposite end of the spectrum when Saturn crosses the Descendant and offers his counterweight against the “I” of the Ascendant.  We might find others curbing us under this transit, but it’s hardly self-initiated and is always at the behest of someone else; a scenario of artificial enforcement rather than natural embodiment. Thus, when a planet crosses the Descendant it’s more difficult to harness the astrological energy in question – we tend to experience it as being outside of us rather than within us.  It’s why oppositions in the chart incline toward projection.   In the realm of the Descendant (or even the entire 7th House for that matter), the answer lies less with others and more within how we experience others.

Conversely ,what I’ve seen happen time and time again with a planet’s passage across the Ascendant is someone comes in to help us develop (one way or the other) that neonascent energy which is dormant inside of ourselves.  As the Ascendant represents how others view us, perhaps it’s a quality within us they see or sense; something they recognize and possibly find resonance with (“You’ve got potential, kid!”). Whatever the case, it’s something that through this interaction we’re naturally stimulated to accentuate within ourselves/ our being/our persona.

So the next time you have a planet crossing your Ascendant, do pause and take note – especially if it’s a slower-moving planet like Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, or Pluto – if a corresponding figure appears on scene to teach you how to accentuate those energetic qualities.  Embrace the gods within by being willing to see others as the emissaries for the astrological vibrations we should be cultivating inside ourselves.

03/27/2019

When Transits Go Out With A “Bang”

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Not all transits are created equal.  While this premise doesn’t seem to get quite enough astrological press, it is absolutely true; particularly when we are dealing with any scenario that involves a chart receiving a long series of transits from one of the Transpersonal Planets (that would be Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto BTW). While this can certainly also be the case with other heavenly bodies, the effects of a transit are going to be much more pronounced when they involve the energies of any of these slow-moving astrological Heavy Hitters.  Not every chart is wired in such a way that it will receive a (more or less) continuous chain of transits from a given planet over a long number of years, but when this is indeed the case it’s worth paying special attention to the final contact the transiting planet makes to a nativity because the manifestations are apt to be especially marked.

For example: There’s been a lot of cosmic action around the 8-15 degree mark of the Cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, & Capricorn) as Uranus & Pluto squared off during recent years.  If a chart has a bunch of planets clustered around this degree range in any of these 4 signs, it was blitzed by the influence of both these planets. Ergo, paying close attention to the LAST planet or point (by latest degree) in the natal chart to be touched by these two would be particularly important, because issues related to that planet may arise with a vengeance as the transiting planet(s) exert their final successive influence.  So if one has Moon in Aries at 7 degrees, Mars in Cancer at 10 degrees, the Sun & Mercury at 12 & 14 degrees of Libra, and Saturn at 16 degrees of Capricorn, one would take note of this not so much as individual transits operating in a vacuum but see this as a continuum while paying special note to the last planet being affected.  Now – using this example – assigning yet another layer of additional importance to the event of one’s natal Saturn being contacted by an outer planet (or planets) would also be warranted if the individual in question is also ruled by Saturn; say by virtue of that individual being a Capricorn Rising.  But that is a topic for another day.

Not all transits are created equal; some are more impactful than others and this is why looking at the greater context of a chart is so important.  This is most obvious in cases where a natal chart displays a stellium; a row of planets all smooshed together within a very tight area of the zodiac.  If one has 6 planets piled up  in Pisces, a planet passing over them – like Neptune currently is, for example – is going to create a chain reaction not unlike that of a row of dominoes toppling over.

This is the best way to visualize the concept, actually; seeing the invisible “hand” of a planet creating this energetic ripple effect over a chart.  When you are looking at transits – whether it’s your own chart or someone else’s – try to take a macro, longer-term view of what’s going on and note whether the majority of the chart contains planets or points concentrated within a tight degree range of like Elements (Fire, Air, Earth Water) or Modes (Cardinal, Fixed, Mutable) – if so, any transits to the “caboose” are especially likely to go out with a “bang”.

01/29/2019

An Astrological Date With Destiny

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Every so often there are certain energetic portals that open to us and offer transport to places – or perhaps states of being – beyond our imagining.  Energetically speaking, it’s as if we have a Date with Destiny and it’s possible to predict when such instances may occur by tracking the movement of the Moon’s Nodes.  The Nodes are like invisible astrological vortices that pull us toward the Future (North Node) or Past (South Node), and when they come into contact with an individual’s Sun by transit or progression it’s as if kismet is in play.

While any planet or point in the nativity can certainly be touched by the Nodes, the Sun is a highly personal point that represents the eternal spark of the Divine residing in each and every one of us.  When the Nodes cross the Sun by transit or progression, I liken it to being touched by the hand of God – while we can’t *see* Divinity, our consciousness becomes activated in such a way where we often get the strong sense that fated situations, meetings, and events are in fact occurring in our lives.

The South Node passing over our Sun tends to kick up residue from the Past – regarding our current incarnation and/or perhaps lifetimes prior if our philosophy allows us to be open to such views – for the sake of bringing closure to our Now.  Vaguely familiar old habits, situations, patterns, and people beam into our lives but in a way that might not be the most conducive to our soul’s evolution because we’re less inclined to be put outside of our comfort zones.

By contrast, the North Node crossing our Sun is a transport vehicle toward our Future Self – it often brings challenging but rewarding circumstances that serve as a cosmic invitation to self-actualize. North Node influenced situations or interactions tend to give us the sense of “Well, this is new for me; I’ve never done this before” yet ideally confidence inspires us to make that leap and embrace the soul’s journey into new and unfamiliar territory.

Though there is no hard-and-fast rule regarding a particular age at which we experience the influence of the Nodes crossing over our Sun since this largely depends upon how close our birth was in proximity to an eclipse, by transit the Nodes make one full lap around the zodiac about every 18 years and a half cycle roughly every 9.  So once you determine when the last or next time this happen(ed)(s) for you is, all you have to do is look ahead at 9 or 18 years to see when your next astrological Date with Destiny is.

06/28/2018

Venus In Cancer Is Movin’ Out!

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With Venus in Cancer under big-time fire from Uranus & Pluto this week, I thought it’s as good a time as any to post about the astrology of moving house since Cancer is the consummate homebody & one of my newsletter subscribers recently wrote to me with a question about moving! So let’s talk about transits, shall we? The term “transits” is just another way of saying we’re going to take a look at the current motions of the planets and how these are impacting our individual birth chart, and a change of residence is usually triggered by some kind of transit to one of the “lunar” areas of our chart – i.e. to our Moon, 4th House, or IC (that’s also known as the Imum Coeli or Nadir, in more formal parlance 🙂 ). Typically, it is a transit from …Read More…

Words To Live By….

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…when dealing with a Uranus transit: “I didn’t change; I just woke up.”

When Uranus makes significant contact to an individual’s chart, changes *do* happen and those looking in from the outside may indeed be quick point this out.  People may experience us as being “different” during these phases, but when funneling this energy toward its Highest Good, Uranus symbolizes an evolutionary call that shouldn’t be ignored. Cries from those around us demanding that things be put back “the way they were” into stale, familiar habits that we’ve learned by rote fall mute as we suddenly become aware that a pattern will have to be short-circuited in order for us to progress to the next developmental step. This is a valuable safeguard in situations and relationships that have hindered advancement on a soul-level, where we’ve felt “stuck” in a circumstance that has perhaps become customary but just isn’t working for us any longer. Uranus encourages us to step outside the mold and break with the Established Order, because “if what you’re doin’ ain’t workin’, try somethin’ else!”

Copyright EmpoweredDestiny.com 2014
Copyright EmpoweredDestiny.com 2014

Uranus is The Awakener; its key word is liberation. We can’t experience this if we are constantly kowtowing to confines of the traditional and the typical. There is a fine line when  working with the energies of this planet, however, as sometimes these changes can be applied in a non-constructive “disruptive” fashion. Indeed the purpose of any Uranus transit is to interrupt the “normal” flow of activities and relationships so that we find inventive solutions to issues that keep us from moving forward. However, the urge to bust loose, pull the ripcord, and get ourselves free can also have us upsetting the applecart in a way that has the potential to be quite destructive to ourselves and others if we aren’t careful. Uranus transits can denote a level of detachment that is sometimes just plain frightening because it seems so abrupt; appearing to come from out of left field without any rhyme or reason.  Ergo, when there is no thought or care to how this impulse to emancipate oneself is applied, it can entail scenarios where one allows “one bad apple” to “spoil the whole bunch” or throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. The earlier instances demonstrate positive change; the latter, reckless abandon. The trick to expressing the energy of this planet in Hi-Fi is for one to commit to adopting a level of personal responsibility during this planetary “wake up call”. It’s a small distinction, but a critically important one if the changes made at this time are to truly be a constructive reform rather than just a “get out of jail free card” cop-out.

04/05/2014