Midlife Transits

A lot of people have asked me lately: which is more important for your horoscope, the house a transiting planet like Saturn in Libra falls in your solar chart (the one based on your sun sign) or in your natal chart (based on your rising sign).

My answer is that the energy of the planet will usually be felt in both houses. I well remember my first Saturn return in which outer planets were clustered like bees around a hive in my natal 10th house, which happened to be my solar 12th house.

All kinds of weird things were happening with my career, but I was just as caught up in diving into the depths of my subconscious at that time–and the two areas of life were linked. Now, depending on your circumstances one area may be more important than another, but things will generally make the most sense if you look at both.

Let’s use Pluto in Capricorn as an example:

Pluto’s in the 1st house for Capricorns and it will enter the first house for those with Capricorn rising. Pluto in the 1st house signals a profound personal transformation, often occasioned by some sort of scary event or events that clear out of prior attitudes. It can lead to a very visible change in how you present yourself. It does not change your basic personality, but it does strip away a lot of old ways of functioning that were interfering with a meaningful life. For Capricorns this transformation will often take place when Pluto passes over the sun. For those with Capricorn rising, it is usually triggered by Pluto passing over the Ascendant.

Pluto’s in the 2nd house for Sagittarians. It will also enter the second house for most people with Sagittarius rising, although this varies based on the natal chart itself. Sagittarians have already been through the personal transformation stemming from Pluto in their sign. Now they are transforming values, possessions, and sources of income. Sometimes large purchases are made, like a first house. Careers may be changed or the amount of money made from the existing career may change drastically. This will often occur in connection with other transits, but sometimes it occurs gradually over a number of years.

Pluto’s in the 3rd house for Scorpios and will enter the third house at some point for those with Scorpio rising (usually, check your own chart). This transit can produce all sorts of different effects, from a change in how you communicate (e.g., you take up or drop writing, public speaking, or media work), your educational status, your ideas, your environment, or your relationships with neighbors and relatives like siblings and cousins. This could happen during a transit of a natal planet like Mercury, gradually, or in response to some inner urging that plays out during the time Pluto is in this sign.

Pluto’s in the 4th house for Libras and those with Libra rising (depending on your personal chart). This can change family relationships, where you live, your sense of your own history, and even your career (if Pluto opposes your Midheaven). Some people do extensive home remodeling, downsize as children leave the home, or even lose a home and the associated memorabilia due to a disaster. Other people think seriously about end-of-life issues, as the 4th house rules this area of life also. For other people, the effects are quite subtle, resulting in a gradual change of perspective on family or even the unearthing of buried family secrets or an intense interest in genealogy.

Pluto’s in the 5th house for Virgos and those with Virgo rising (check your own chart for when it enters). The effects of Pluto in the 5th vary widely. Some people enter into a powerful love affair that does not result in marriage. Other people find their relationships with their children transformed. Some will have their first children now or will have another child after having thought they wouldn’t. Others enter into a prolonged period of creative power. Others take up intense forms of recreation, such as sky-diving or very active sports. Others engage in gambling or speculation in the stock market. The exact nature of the changes depend on the circumstances of your own life.

Pluto’s in the 6th house for Leos and at some point for most people with Leo rising. The two main areas of the 6th house are work and health. But the 6th house can also relate to daily routines. Compulsive exercise is not uncommon. A drastic change in employment resulting in an entirely different daily routine (e.g., from truck driver to lawyer or vice versa) could happen. Some people get almost obsessively organized. Others volunteer (6th house also relates to volunteering) to help with extreme circumstances, such as disaster relief or for people in hospice care. The entire attitude toward work and/or health may change.

Pluto’s in the 7th house for Cancer people and Cancer rising (check your own chart for when Pluto enters your 7th house). Intense committed relationships can occur. Divorce and marriage are not uncommon. Power struggles with business partners or outright rivals can occur. When Pluto passes over the Descendant, some people become much more public and less private. Others become involved in lawsuits. It may be difficult to let go of a relationship or there may be a total break with someone who was once important to you. The transit in general represents transformation in relationship.

Pluto’s in the 8th house for Gemini and Gemini rising. Pluto in the 8th is good for things like psychotherapy, as the 8th house deals with the past and with healing. It can change your entire attitude toward sexuality. For some it means things like a life-changing inheritance or other significant financial change. For others, it represents divorce, or profound changes in the marital finances, joint ventures or similar matters. Many will contemplate the meaning and/or reality of death when Pluto transits this house. Others will shed themselves of things they don’t need, even body weight. I’ve seen some undergo weight loss surgery while Pluto was in this house. Others rid themselves entirely of debt. As the 8th house of regeneration, Pluto can work rather deep changes here, in his natural home. Some will feel a distinct before and after feeling as a result of Pluto’s transit through this house.

Pluto’s in the 9th house for Taurus and Taurus rising. In this house, one can find a philosophy of life, religion, or other system that allows one to find meaning in life. Pluto can gradually shove old beliefs to the side and bring in new ones that work better in the long run. Attitudes toward travel or higher education may change substantially and some will get advanced degrees during this transit. One’s definition of adventure may change. Others will move to foreign countries during this transit, permanently or temporarily.

Pluto’s in the 10th for Aries and Aries rising (at some point, check your own chart). This is the most visible spot for Pluto and it seems to correlate most strongly with changes in reputation (good or bad, scandals fall in this house) and with a transformation of career. There is often some sort of a sensation of reaching a peak during this transit, a peak in one’s ambitions, fame, striving in the material world. For others, there are power struggles that come with this transit, or clashes with authority figures. Others become an authority themselves. Some people become quite powerful under this transit. A fair number of people start their own businesses during transits to this house.

Pluto’s in the 11th house for Pisces and Pisces rising. This house deals with friendships and groups, so your involvement with both of these may undergo substantial changes during the transit. This house also deals with the feeling of belonging. It is possible during this transit to find a sense of belonging one never had before. Others become more involved in social issues, humanitarian causes, mass media, or  idealistic endeavors. This is also the house of step-children and income from business, so some will see changes in this area. Finally, one’s goals and hopes for the future may get a lot of focus and undergo a transformation.

Pluto’s in the 12th house for Aquarius and Aquarius rising. Pluto here can plumb the depths of your psychological functioning, attempting to scrub away things that hold you back. Attitudes toward isolation, withdrawal, and retreat may change. Hospitals and prisons fall under this house, so some have literal involvement with these kinds of institutions. All kinds of therapy can lead to transformations while Pluto is in this house.

With floods and earthquakes and tsunamis, there’s a lot more to worry about in the world lately than the lives of talk show hosts and movie directors. But just the same, these lives do get media coverage and people do get interested in them. These lives also give us a chance to take a look at how transits can affect people, sometimes in dramatic fashion.

David Letterman’s transit of note is Pluto square Mars. Hopefully, you will not be blackmailed if you go through this transit (not everyone does), but it’s usually quite the challenge, to put it mildly. The astrological symbolism of Letterman’s situation is fairly straightforward. (Click here to see Letterman’s chart on astro.com. )

Letterman has his Mars in Aries in the 12th house. Mars is a symbol of, among other things, a person’s sex drive or sex life. The 12th house is a symbol of secrets or things you keep private and hidden from view. It is also an area vulnerable to hidden enemies. Pluto in Capricorn is greatly concerned with reputation. Pluto tends to destroy (or at least try to) when squaring by transit. Pluto can also be a symbol for crime and criminals.

Hence, a fairly easy astrological equation: A hidden enemy uses criminal means to try to destroy Letterman’s reputation by revealing the secrets of his sex life.

This Pluto square Mars transit attacked publicly starting right before Pluto went direct and it is near its end. Seems unlikely but it’s possible this matter will largely fade away within a few weeks or so.

Polanski’s situation is more ambiguous. (Click here to see Polanski’s chart.) He’s got Neptune in opposition to his sun these days, which is ambiguous enough to begin with. This is not a happy transit, but it doesn’t usually put you in jail. Meanwhile, Neptune is also trine his Mars in Libra, which is a happy transit.

Uranus in Pisces is making a yod (sometimes called the eye of God) with those same sun and Mars placements, which only makes things more complicated. Even more ominously, Polanski is undergoing a transit in which Uranus in Pisces opposes his natal Jupiter and Venus. Uranus, the planet of surprise, apparently pounced in an attack on his freedom (Jupiter). Given that the crime was more than 30 years ago, you’d think at least one planet could have pounced earlier than this, but apparently not.

Meanwhile, Saturn had moved into his 12th house at the time of the arrest and was squashing his Venus. Saturn in the 12th house doesn’t throw most people into jail, but then most people haven’t plead guilty to unlawful intercourse with a minor and then fled the country. If you have plead guilty to a crime, Saturn in the 12th house of confinement will do its best to put you away.

On the other hand, Uranus is also going to be making a trine with his moon and his Pluto in Cancer. (They’re conjunct by the way, one astrological indication of the death of his wife at the hands of the Manson family.) Uranus will be stationing in December, so perhaps more surprises are afoot. The whole thing is rather messy from astrological standpoint, but it’s probably not going to get any less public, given that his Pluto and moon are so elevated in his chart.

Of course, the irony is that he landed in Zurich to receive a lifetime achievement award. I suppose no one thought that his ‘achievements’ included the sex charge.

Saturn will move into Libra at the very tail end of October and will start kicking up trouble with Pluto almost immediately. Not everyone will feel the effects immediately, though. Cardinal signs or people with planets in early degrees of cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn) should feel the effects the soonest.

Here’s a preview of Saturn in Libra for the various sun signs. We are going to be using the keyword relationships to represent the influence of Libra. For Saturn we will be using the concept that the planet points out areas where things are not as you would wish them to be, so that you can take actions and make corrections. Note that both Saturn and Libra relate to a lot more than this, so this is only one slice of the many potential possibilities. We’ll address others as we move through Saturn’s transit of this sign starting later this year.You can also visit Practical Astrology for more keywords (scroll down) and articles on the planets, signs, and houses to get an alternative view.

Libra: Saturn will be moving out of your solar 12th house and into your own sign. Typically, this can affect how you present yourself to others. People often become aware of how they are defining themselves during a Saturn transit to their sign and they start feeling that they want to make a step up in how they advertise themselves to others. Sometimes it is said that Saturn in your own sign is a ‘bad’ transit, but in my experience with people it is not overall worse than having Saturn in another spot. In fact, you can make substantial changes in your life during a Saturn transit. Making the changes may be stressful, but the changes themselves are not. It is true, though, that almost all of your relationships can be affected by this transit to your sign, and not just one or two–because it is you yourself that is changing.

Scorpio:  Saturn will be moving out of your solar 11th house of friendships and into your solar 12th house. Typically, a Saturn transit here changes your relationship with yourself more than with anyone else. A common response to Saturn in the 12th house is to become more socially isolated. Sometimes this is on purpose, sometimes due to circumstances, and sometimes both. Saturn in the 12th house is maybe not the ultimate ‘get to know yourself on a deeper level’ transit, but it does come close. Like any Saturn transit, it can point out to you areas where your relationship with yourself is really not what you’d like. Then you have a chance to correct problems.

Sagittarius: Saturn will be moving off an angle (your 10th house of career) and into your solar 11th house. On a straightforward level, Saturn here can affect your relationships with your friends. You may feel cooler toward them or vice versa. You may identify problems that need to be corrected. The same thing applies to groups you belong to. You may feel a need to straighten out problems there. On a larger level, Saturn in the 11th can affect how you relate to society in general. Your networking via social media sites can change, but also some of your deeper convictions and sense of contentment with how your life as a member of society is going. Social issues may affect you more profoundly. This can be good, in the sense of greater engagement with the world at large, and not so good, as you realize that society’s ills affect you personally.

Capricorn: Saturn enters your solar 10th house of career. This is like a triple whammy for you and it is not just the routine transit. That’s because Saturn is your ruler and the 10th house is ‘your’ house–the one associated with your sign. You’ve also got Pluto in your sign, putting more attention on you. To add to all that, Uranus will be moving into Aries and another angle of your chart (4th house–family). Saturn in the 10th is said to have 2 different kinds of effects. One would be typified by something like a promotion, wherein you gain more responsibilities and have to adjust. The other would be frustration with your career, often occasioned by relationships with other people. The typical tactful Capricorn strategy for climbing the ladder may suddenly appear to be fraught with problems and costs you didn’t previously find important. Career problem-solving becomes a top priority.

Aquarius: Saturn moves out of your solar 8th house of debt, joint and marital finances  and various financial troubles and into your solar 9th house. The 9th house relates to a lot of things, some of them rather abstract. It is considered a much easier place to have Saturn in your transit chart than the 8th house. Part of this is because Saturn will be moving into a sign that is compatible with your sun. The 9th house relates to the search for reasons and purpose and meaning. A typical response to Saturn in Libra would be to look for the reasons behind other people’s behavior, to become more other-focused again after the stresses of the 8th house. The 9th house also relates to a lot of other things like publishing, higher education, and travel. So some will see long-term projects in those areas. But mostly it allows you to look at problems with others from a more detached, less gloomy or worried perspective than Saturn in Virgo.

Pisces: Saturn moves off an angle (7th house of relationships) and into your solar 8th house. The 8th house has to do with marital finances, debt, and quite often general financial problems. A fairly typical example of Saturn in the 8th would be a spouse with severe financial problems, perhaps due to a job layoff or other difficulty. This is the most financially hazardous house in which to find Saturn and a great deal of attention must be paid (in many cases) to financial problem-solving. Not the best transit under which to co-sign a loan with anyone. On a deeper level, Saturn spotlights who you choose to merge with, as virtually anyone you are financially entangled with could present problems. So the transit becomes an opportunity to become more conscious of the choices you make in relationships.

Saturn will move into Libra at the very tail end of October and will start kicking up trouble with Pluto almost immediately. Not everyone will feel the effects immediately, though. Cardinal signs or people with planets in early degrees of cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn) should feel the effects the soonest.

Here’s a preview of Saturn in Libra for the various sun signs. We are going to be using the keyword relationships to represent the influence of Libra. For Saturn we will be using the concept that the planet points out areas where things are not as you would wish them to be, so that you can take actions and make corrections. Note that both Saturn and Libra relate to a lot more than this, so this is only one slice of the many potential possibilities. We’ll address others as we move through Saturn’s transit of this sign starting later this year.You can also visit Practical Astrology for more keywords (scroll down) and articles on the planets, signs, and houses to get an alternative view.

Aries: Saturn is moving out of your solar 6th house of work and health and into the sign opposite yours. This puts him in your solar 7th house of relationships. The most straightforward interpretation of this is that Saturn will point out to you which relationships in your life are not all that they could be or that your approach to relationships is not what you want it to be. Some of you will be literally battling it out with boyfriends, girlfriends, spouses, exes, or even enemies and rivals. Stuff comes out into the open during a Saturn transit. You are likely to have a new appreciation for the virtues of peace by the time Saturn leaves and thus a better handle on ways to avoid unnecessary conflict.

Taurus: Saturn is moving from your solar 5th house of love affairs and children to your solar 6th house. Saturn here tends to be stressful and to focus on either health or work issues. More specifically, Saturn here can point out when relationships stress you and cut down your health and vitality. Proactive stress management becomes important. Relationships at work could also tax your patience. Saturn in an air sign teaches detachment as a road to stress relief and counteracts the natural tendency of an earth sign to react subjectively and emotionally in relationships. This is a natural reaction, but Saturn teaches you that sometimes it not all about you, it’s about the other person and what they’re going through.

Gemini: Saturn is moving off an angle (your solar 4th house) and into your solar 5th house of love affairs and children. This is a better spot for Saturn to be in for your sign. Your energy level and vitality may well pick up as Saturn moves away from a stressful angle with your sun. You may also find new abilities to be creative and disciplined at the same time. On the other hand, Saturn can point out where your relationships with girlfriends and boyfriends, etc. is not exactly what you want. The same idea applies to your relationships with your children. Saturn will ask you to solve problems in these areas.

Cancer: Saturn is moving away from your solar 3rd house onto an angle, your solar 4th house. The 4th house relates to family and virtually everything that is an offshoot of family–your home, your parents, your roots, your genetic, racial or national heritage, and the effects of those things on your life. Saturn here also opposes your solar midheaven (Midheaven or MC generally refers to your career or public life). Attention to family members can take time away from focusing on your career, sometimes quite literally in the case of people who quit jobs to care for elderly parents. In general, though, Saturn shows you where your relationships with your family (especially parents or the older generation) are not all that you would like. You’ll be challenged to work through issues and problems and perhaps establish a bit more of your own identity.

Leo: Saturn moves away from your solar second house of finances to your solar third house. This can be a real relief, especially if your energy has been flagging. The third house is primarily a mental house (i.e., relates to the mind), so Saturn here can show you where your mental activities are not what you want them to be, and it can start encouraging you to proactively exercise your brain. The third house also relates to siblings, cousins, and other relationships that occur in everyday life (e.g., those with neighbors). Actively engaging in daily social relationships is good for your brain, too! If you have problems with your siblings, Saturn may well point this out to you. Problems here can be productively addressed.

Virgo: Saturn moves out of your sign and into your solar second house. The second house relates to finances and to what you own. A typical example of Saturn here (not the only one) is to point out how acquiring possessions to keep up the with Joneses or to impress other people can be self-defeating and burdensome. Saturn here can depress income (lower it), but it can also leave your income alone and encourage you to stop spending so much. Issues of joint finances and how you and your spouse relate on money can come up as well, especially since Uranus will be moving into your 8th house of marital finances next year. Becoming more conscious of how you spend money is almost a necessity during this transit.

In response to a reader query, I’m tackling the issue of Saturn in Libra. The short answer to the question above is that on a world scale, no one knows for sure what Saturn in Libra will bring. The planets are extremely resourceful in bringing issues to our attention that we didn’t know we had. Saturn is especially good at this.

So there’s a better than even chance that during the next 3 years or so of Saturn in Libra’s influence all kinds of things will come up for examination that we’re not paying the least bit of attention to right now. If I had to guess, and apparently I do (can’t help myself), I would guess that issues of international relations will eat up more and more news bandwidth. North Korea has already been testing the waters as to how far it can annoy the international community with more aggressive provocations than normal. For whatever weird intuitional reason, I just feel that Asia will be the center of international tensions.

Now, we already know that East Asia is a mighty big trouble spot (Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan) and that China and India are becoming economic powerhouses. So it’s not exactly rocket science to think Asia could be a part of international tensions. After all, a huge chunk of the world’s population lives there. I just happen to feel that tensions will arise in that part of the world that we’re not currently paying attention to.

As to why Saturn in Libra would bring problems with international relations-well, Libra is the sign of relations and relationships. Saturn is the planet of pointing out that things are not what people would like them to be. Ergo, Saturn exposes rifts in international relationships.

He’ll probably also expose rifts in domestic relationships. Take gay marriage. This is not particularly a US issue. It’s a worldwide issue and a number of countries have addressed it.

Well,  marriage is associated with the sign of Libra. Saturn represents general discontent and unhappiness. So, theoretically, people around the world would trot out their discontents with the presence or lack of gay marriage in their communities. This is not new.

The twist is that Saturn tries his earnest if plodding and maddening best to actually try to get some sort of resolution of the issues he tackles. So if we’re lucky, we’ll finally (toward the end of the Saturn cycle probably) see some real diplomatic breakthroughs as nations are forced by Saturn to work through their issues and stop pretending that a) they like each other or b) that provoking each other and getting on each other’s nerves without diplomatic engagement is really going to work.

Saturn says ‘pony up and deal’ or ‘suffer if you won’t pony up and deal.’ So, in that sense, individuals and countries that take an isolationist view or that hate diplomacy (I could be thinking Dick Cheney here) will eventually get their groins kicked by Saturn and be coercively persuaded to hit the bargaining table. Saturn loves a good bargain!

It’s not going to be fun, though. I got an interesting and long-winded piece of spammy email this morning informing me that we are all doomed. Looking at the astrology, it’s kinda easy to see why ‘we are all doomed’ spam might be making its way through the system.

Just for starters: Saturn in Libra’s  going to square Pluto just as fast as his geezery Father Time legs will let him. Specifically for most of November. That means the period right before then will see the advance vibes jostling and hurling insults at each other.

The trash-talking won’t end in 2009 though. In January 2010, Saturn will slow down and station at 4 degrees Libra specifically so he can let Pluto catch up and they can continue their argument for another 3 weeks or so. Saturn will then be forced to say ‘whatever dude’ to Pluto and retreat back to Virgo for awhile to lick his wounds. Saturn and Pluto will then have another brief skirmish in August 2010. That’s 3 if you’re counting.

Just before round 3 with Pluto in August, Saturn will also try to pick a fight with Uranus, which will be in Aries by then. So we’ll see the same old Saturn/Uranus grudge match carried into a new pair of signs. It will be more of a brawl than usual in August 2010, because onlookers Jupiter and Mars will finally be drawn in. Jupiter will be in Aries and Mars will be in Libra. That would typically equate to a whole lot of shouting with some random and frantic efforts at peacemaking thrown in.

So, for about the first year or so of Saturn’s transit through Libra, there will be plenty of planetary challenges.

Next, what will it mean to individual personal horoscopes?

Sometimes our current president seems immune to transits. Pluto’s been punching his Venus, and yeah, his poll numbers went down, but to nothing like what our former president had to endure. He’s seemingly sailed through a number of transits since he came onto the national public scene.

He’s not immune to Neptune though. He’s a very Neptunian person, or at least he has a very Neptunian persona, full of glamor and a certain sort of charisma. Right now, Neptune is opposing his natal Uranus, and it’s showing. His attempts to explain his health care proposals have been very vague, and he cannot seem to communicate them to the American public, no matter how he tries.

That’s partly because they are vague. At least at this point in time. He left the heavy lifting to Congress and Congress can’t make up its mind. Meanwhile, Obama can’t seem to get his story straight on things like behind the scenes deals with Big Pharma. There is “ambiguity” as one news article put it. Ambiguity is Neptune’s specialty.

Deception is another Neptune specialty and it seems to be rampant these days.  That’s not too surprising. The thing about Neptune, though, is that it’s hard to tell who’s doing the lying. Is Obama lying about the effects of his proposals or are his opponents lying when they claim that all sorts of dire consequences will ensue or that strange ‘death panel’ provisions are to be written into legislation. It’s all gotten pretty bizarre–another Neptune specialty.

Maybe they’re all lying or out of their deluded minds. It wouldn’t surprise me if the entire political class–activists, Congresspeople and Administration folks had all collectively gotten on the loony tunes bus and were busy riding it furiously to nowhere.

It’s been a very Neptunian year, but things will get less Neptunian as the process wears on. Won’t they?