When a planet is in forward motion by transit, it steams ahead bright and breezy over the various points on your chart and stuff happens, either internally or externally, usually the latter at first. This weaves a number of elements together: first, the energy of the transit planet itself; then the planet and house on your chart where the action is; then the house that the transit planet occupies on your birth chart.
The aspects, or planetary relationships created by the transit planet are calculated by divisions of the 360 degree circle and each of these has a different quality i.e. dynamic or flowing, some stronger than others. A lot of weaving is going on here – I often tell my students that it’s a bit like God’s knitting.
As our orbit overtakes the orbit of the transit planet this makes it appear to stand still in the sky. From our vantage point as we move forward it seems to move backwards, very slowly, only covering a tiny bit of the sky – for example with Saturn it’s 8 degrees, Pluto it’s only 4 degrees.
This then gives us a second opportunity to address the issues that were highlighted during the forward motion period a few weeks earlier. Sometimes, this can be the time when stuff, or more stuff, happens – giving us plenty time for reflection. Jupiter’s transits last for the 12 months he is in a particular sign, Saturn’s 9 months, Uranus’ 15 months, Pluto’s 2 or 3 years and Neptune’s up to 5 years. The issues with these last three slower, *outer planets go deep and are life changing.
The backwards motion comes to an end when the earth’s angle is far enough away to enable the planet to move forward once more. This gives us an opportunity to revise, rewrite and gain an understanding on our process and life’s journey that the transit planet offers us.
Please note that I don’t say “success” in the above title, as I believe neither success nor ‘failure’ may not be how they seem at all – they may, in fact, be the opposite or even co-exist within us at different levels of our being. When seen in the longer term they can be understood as part of our personal processes.
So far I have concentrated on the slower moving planets from Jupiter out to Pluto – however, it’s important to stress, particularly this year that Mars and Venus also make retrograde periods, and this is more unusual. Mercury does it every 4 months and I have printed his dates below for you to note in your diaries.
Mars is already well into his retrograde period now – I wrote about that extensively a couple of months ago. What makes this more interesting is that the end of this phase coincides with Venus making her retrograde period as well – entering Gemini in April, stationing in mid-May then going backwards and forwards until finally leaving Gemini in August. Both these planets are kicking up the sand in mutable signs, i.e. Gemini and Virgo – so will also impact Sagittarius and Pisces during this time until August.
A few days after Venus makes her station there is an eclipse at the first day of Gemini – and then Venus does something strange and wonderful. For those of us who have telescopes we could be in for a rare sight! On 5th/6th June, we will be able to see Venus cross the Sun, called the Venus Transit. This last happened in 2004 – and won’t happen again for 105 years and 113 years (the two events occur 8 years apart). Some people never get to see this event – so miss it this time folks and it’s gone! It will appear as a tiny ball moving across the face of the Sun. No doubt we’ll all get to see it on telly.
Venus rules women, love, economics, equal parity between both sexes and races – wonder how Mars will mix in with all of that! The last period of Venus’ transit coincided with the beginning of the suffrage movement at the end of the 19th Century in New Zealand, on to the US, then catching fire across Europe. The telephone was also developed during that (Sagittarian) time. These Venus transits only occur in one time Gemini and the next time in Sagittarius – both signs that are about communication, exploration and broadcasting ideas out to the world. It’s interesting to note that Facebook really caught hold of our imagination in 2004 and initially appealed to young students (Gemini).
I will write more on this exciting stuff nearer the time.
This process of backwards and forwards motion continues throughout eternity and it’s up to us how we deal with our tiny slice of it in this lifetime.
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*Outer planets are Uranus, Neptune and Pluto – called ‘outer’ due to the fact that they lie beyond Saturn and can only be seen by telescope. However, I believe that the Egyptians knew about Uranus. I guess they had clearer skies back then.
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Mercury Retrograde Dates
March 12 – April 4th
July 15 – August 8th
November 6 – 26th
February 23 – March 17 2013
When Mercury changes direction for the three weeks that he moves backwards, this is a time when traditionally it has been suggested that we are careful of our words and agreements with others. If they are not backed up in reality then when Mercury changes to go direct at the end of this period, then minds can be changed and the agreements broken or lost.
Also it is advised to take care with purchases – Mercury can play the Trickster of the market place and mess up things for us. We can also be challenged during this time with technology – messages getting lost, misunderstood, etc.
You may be doing things over again once the planet moves forward. This can be a good time for reflecting on your connections with others, researching and ensuring that your information is certain before speaking out.
