Website design By BotEap.comEach natal aspect holds a wealth of promise, as even the most difficult combination has gifts to bestow once we learn to use the energies of the two planets well. Throughout our lives, transits to a natal aspect represent windows of time in which we are challenged to make changes in the way we use that aspect. If we are wise, we will gradually learn to let go of self-defeating ways of expressing the energies of those planets and instead capitalize on their strengths.

Website design By BotEap.comNever is this more true than during periods when the transit reflects the natal aspect, that is, when one of the planets involved natally is also the transiting planet. For example, suppose Saturn is square Mars in the natal chart, and now transiting Saturn is opposite natal Mars. The appearance is not the same, but the pair of planets in the image (Mars and Saturn) are. Saturn makes hard aspects (such as squares or oppositions) to its natal position approximately every seven years during its 29.46-year orbit around the Sun; therefore, at seven-year intervals, Saturn will echo all the major difficult aspects it makes in your natal chart. (It also trines its natal position twice during that orbit, providing opportunities when Saturn’s best qualities can be developed with a little less stress.)

Website design By BotEap.comAt those recurring intervals, you will again be challenged to master Saturn’s lessons and make substantial progress through self-discipline, hard work, and a more mature perspective on your former limitations. He may want to consider how he has been using his Saturn energies in the seven years or so since the last such aspect. If he has worked hard in the areas of life represented by that natal aspect, the transit may very well be a time when his efforts pay off, provided, of course, he has been diligent and wise. Sometimes, we work much harder than we need to, when not only our methods, but even our game plans are flawed. If so, it may be time to assess your priorities and redirect your efforts towards more appropriate ends, so you don’t burn yourself out.

Website design By BotEap.comThe so-called Midlife Cycle of the late 1930s to mid-1940s is a crucible for much change and growth, because the midlife astrological picture includes a number of aspects of transiting outer planets to their own natal positions. Transiting Uranus makes an opposition to its natal position in the chart, transiting Neptune squares natal Neptune, and transiting Pluto squares natal Pluto. In the process, the transiting outer planets activate all the aspects that make up the outer planets in the natal chart, giving us the opportunity to learn how to best use those aspects and further develop their innate potential. (The exact ages at which these aspects occur vary from generation to generation, because the orbits of these three planets around the Sun are not as regular as the orbits of the inner planets.)

Website design By BotEap.comThe energies of the outer planets are not as accessible to our consciousness, nor are they easy to express; instead, they require great maturity to handle them well. This kind of wandering through life and having a variety of experiences seems to be a necessary part of growth and evolution, as if life’s journeys were one long pilgrimage through a desert. It’s easy to lose your way with the outer planets; where these planets are located in our charts, we often do repeatedly, learning much from our mistakes as we stumble and fall flat on our faces. Usually in midlife, when all natal aspects of an outer planet are also triggered by transit, we hit rock bottom in the less productive uses of these energies and are propelled, if blessed with sufficient maturity, to work towards more uplifting expressions.

Website design By BotEap.comFor example, suppose you have a Venus-Neptune conjunction in your natal chart. The catchphrase for that combination could be: “Someday my prince will come, but first I have to kiss a lot of frogs.” (Of course, there are many ways to express that particular combination, but this is a fairly common pattern.) During transits prior to that conjunction, over the years, frogs of innumerable varieties have likely appeared, searching the world. like princes. Unfortunately, your sincere efforts to turn the current frog into the prince you know might be doomed after heartbreaking failure. Reluctantly, you are forced to conclude that this particular frog will remain a frog until it croaks. Still, she can persist in the idea that if she could somehow manage to transform into a princess, her prince would surely appear.

Website design By BotEap.comA likely window for changing this persistent pattern is during the mid-life cycle, when transiting Neptune squares natal Neptune, because in the case of this particular conjunction, transiting Neptune will also square natal Venus. One of the many ways this transit can manifest is that the frog of your life arrives, dressed in such elegant and princely attire that you are sure your soul mate has finally arrived. If you are not in fact a prince, the experience of trying one last time to kiss someone to make them princely may represent the bottoming out of an old codependent pattern of relating through rescuing. Under this transit, the romantic haze that has always clouded your ability to see potential mates clearly can lift. Sadder but wiser, he now begins to look more realistically at new prospects. Relationships will never be the same again, and that’s a good thing! Until now, that same romantic haze has kept you from recognizing the occasional true prince who crosses your path (perhaps because you can’t get over his frog spots and gruff voice). Now you can recognize it and learn to relate to it in a healthy way.

Website design By BotEap.comOne way to assess the intervals at which natal aspects recur is to consider the type of angle (eg, square, trine, or quincunx) formed by the natal aspect and compare it to the type of angle in transit. The transit angle does help us to review how we have worked with the planetary energies in the natal angle. Especially when these energies are used consciously through a deep analysis of the meanings of current and natal planetary locations, the transit represents a fruitful time to improve the way we express those energies. For example, suppose someone has natal Pluto square the Sun, involving the career or money houses (2nd, 6th, or 10th), and now transiting Pluto is trine natal Sun. This is an opportunity to address issues that this square may have highlighted for much of the individual’s life.

Website design By BotEap.comPerhaps that individual has always been visited by doubt, or even self-loathing, when faced with people in powerful or wealthy circumstances. This self-esteem issue may have alternated with a sneaking sense of pride in not being as corrupt as “those terrible power brokers with all that dirty money” – a pride that may have created persistently self-sabotaging financial patterns, such as staying underpaid. Under the transiting trine, catalytic events, opportunities, healing work, or new self-awareness can create major change, both in self-confidence and financial dealings. The resulting increased prosperity could lead to a benign spiral over the two years or more of the transit life: as the sense of self-worth grows, the workplace can reflect that growth with additional well-deserved raises, which in turn grant new trust.

Website design By BotEap.comConversely, suppose someone has a natal trine between Pluto and the Sun. Depending on the signs and houses involved, the mantle of authority or power often sits quite naturally on the shoulders of such individuals. This may not be worldly power. If the 12th house is involved, it could be spiritual power where the presence of the person’s mother can heal and comfort those who suffer, helping the oppressed to regain their own power. Likewise, if the 4th house is involved, this person could be the matriarch or patriarch of the family around which the entire family network revolves.

Website design By BotEap.comThe problem with trines is that we don’t always go all out with them, it’s so easy to just slip. However, for such individuals, a transiting square of Pluto to the natal Sun is very energizing. It echoes the natal trine between the two planets, but it represents a golden opportunity to harness much, much more of that trine’s potential. Circumstances change, new demands are experienced, and while the resulting challenges may cause a person to doubt those gifts that are taken for granted, the end result is likely to be a new and more powerful way to express innate abilities. Through the pressure of the hard angle in transit, the natal promise can be fulfilled.

Website design By BotEap.comWhen working with clients, I watch very carefully for transits that echo natal aspects, as they are among the most significant transits of all. In our session, we spend considerable time dealing with that natal aspect and the patterns of life, both self-defeating and self-fulfilling, that it represents. If you are in the process of a resonant transit yourself, take a deep look at that natal aspect to see how you are currently using it, as the transit can be a real gift that allows you to take that natal aspect to a new level. Unlike the often overwhelming transits that represent completely new influences—that is, the combination of planets that don’t aspect each other natally—an echoed transit is like an old favorite song sung in a whole new key. The melody is eerily familiar, but in this new arrangement of the song, you discover exciting possibilities that never existed before.