The sky today against your birth chart
A transit is the position of a planet in the sky now, compared with the positions in your natal chart. The natal chart is a fixed photograph taken at birth. Transits are the moving picture. When a planet passing through the sky forms an angle, an aspect, to a planet or point in your chart, astrologers say it is transiting that point and look for a matching theme in life.
For example, when Saturn crosses over the position of your natal Sun, the theme is often responsibility, effort and a review of how you use your energy. When Jupiter crosses the Moon in your chart, the theme is often warmth, support and emotional growth. These readings describe a tone of the time and not a fixed event.
Fast and slow planets
The speed of a planet decides how long a transit lasts and how deep its effect is felt.
Fast planets are the Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars. A Moon transit lasts a few hours, and a Mercury or Venus transit lasts a few days. These show moods, conversations and small events of the week.
Social planets are Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter takes about a year in each sign and Saturn about two and a half years. Their transits mark chapters of growth and responsibility lasting months.
Outer planets are Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. They take roughly seven, fourteen and twenty years in a sign, so their transits shape long periods of change, and often last two or three years when they pass over a sensitive point and turn around.
As a rule, the slower the planet, the more important the transit.
Major life cycles
Some transits happen at similar ages for everyone, and astrologers use them to describe stages of life.
Jupiter return, about every 12 years. Jupiter comes back to the position it held at birth. It is linked with a time of expansion, new learning and a wider view.
Saturn return, about 29.5 years. Saturn comes back to its natal sign and degree around the ages of 28 to 30, and again near 58 to 60. It is often described as a time of reckoning, when a person faces adult responsibility and decides what to keep or drop.
Nodal return, about 18.6 years. The lunar nodes return to their natal positions around ages 18 to 19, and again around 37 and 56. It is linked with changes of direction.
Uranus opposition, around ages 40 to 42. Uranus is opposite its natal place. It is the astrological midlife period, linked with a wish for freedom and change.
Chiron return, around age 50. Chiron returns to its natal place. It is linked with healing old wounds and teaching others.
Retrogrades
A planet is retrograde when it appears, from Earth, to move backward in the sky. This is an effect of orbits and not a real reversal. Astrologers treat retrograde periods as a time to review, repeat and revise instead of beginning something new. Mercury retrograde, which happens about three times a year for roughly three weeks, is the best known and is linked with delays and misunderstandings. A retrograde planet can cross the same point in your chart three times, once forward, once back and once forward again.
How to read a transit
- Name the transiting planet and the natal planet or point it touches. The transiting planet is the active one and the natal planet is the part of you that responds.
- Name the aspect. A conjunction, square or opposition tends to be felt strongly, and a trine or sextile is easier.
- Look at the house. The house where the transit happens shows which area of life is active. See the 12 houses.
- Note the speed. A fast planet gives a short theme, and a slow planet marks a long period.
- Check the orb. A transit is strongest within one or two degrees of exact and is felt for a few weeks before and after for slow planets.
Using transits well
Transits are best used as a calendar of timing and not as a prediction of events. A tense transit does not mean something bad will happen. It means a theme is active, and the response is up to you. Many people use transits to plan, for example to schedule heavy work during a supportive transit and to rest or review during a tense one.
Because transits depend on the natal chart, the same sky affects people in different ways. A Saturn transit to the seventh house acts differently from one to the second. This is why general horoscopes based on the Sun sign give only a rough sense of timing, and a personal reading is more precise.
Transits, progressions and returns
Transits are one of several timing tools. Secondary progressions move the natal chart forward one day for each year of life. Solar returns draw a new chart each year at the moment the Sun returns to its natal place. Many astrologers combine all three, though beginners can start with transits alone.