Transits & Orbs

How current planetary movements interact with your birth chart

While your birth chart is a snapshot of the sky at the moment you were born, the planets continue to move in their orbits. Transits refer to the current positions of planets as they move through the sky and interact with your natal chart. These movements can trigger events and changes in your life.

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Understanding Transits

Transits act like cosmic weather, activating different parts of your birth chart as they move. When a transiting planet forms an aspect to a planet in your natal chart, it can trigger experiences related to both planets and the houses they occupy.

How Transits Work:

  • Activation: A transiting planet "activates" the energy of the natal planet it aspects.
  • Duration: The length of a transit's influence depends on the speed of the transiting planet. Mercury and Venus create brief transits, while the outer planets can influence you for months or years.
  • Interpretation: The nature of the transit depends on the planets involved, the aspect formed, and the houses affected.

Significant Transit Examples

Saturn Transits

When Saturn transits a point in your chart, it brings tests, limitations, and the need for structure. Saturn transits often coincide with periods of hard work, responsibility, and important life lessons.

Example: Saturn transiting your natal Sun may bring challenges to your identity and purpose, often requiring you to become more disciplined and focused.

Jupiter Transits

Jupiter transits bring expansion, growth, and opportunity. These transits often coincide with periods of good fortune, increased confidence, and new possibilities.

Example: Jupiter transiting your natal Venus may bring enhanced social connections, romantic opportunities, and financial benefits.

Uranus Transits

Uranus transits bring sudden changes, breakthroughs, and liberation. These transits often coincide with unexpected events that shake up the status quo and lead to new perspectives.

Example: Uranus transiting your natal Moon may bring emotional upheaval and changes to your home life, but also liberation from emotional patterns that no longer serve you.

Understanding Orbs

Orbs refer to the degree of allowance given to aspects. For example, a conjunction is exact at 0°, but planets within an orb of 8-10° may still be considered in conjunction, though with diminishing influence as the orb widens.

Orbs in Natal Charts

In birth charts, astrologers typically allow wider orbs because these aspects are permanent features of your personality.

  • Conjunctions & Oppositions: 8-10°
  • Trines & Squares: 6-8°
  • Sextiles: 4-6°
  • Minor Aspects: 1-3°

Orbs in Transits

For transits, tighter orbs are typically used because these are temporary influences.

  • Major Aspects: 1-2°
  • Minor Aspects: 0.5-1°
  • Applying vs. Separating: Aspects are stronger when applying (getting closer to exact) than when separating (moving away from exact).

Transit Timing and Prediction

Transits can help you understand the timing of events and experiences in your life. By tracking the movements of the planets in relation to your birth chart, you can anticipate periods of challenge, growth, and opportunity.

Remember that transits don't determine your fate—they represent energies and potentials. How you respond to these cosmic influences is always up to you. Awareness of transits can help you make the most of favorable periods and navigate challenging ones with greater wisdom.

Understanding transits and orbs adds a dynamic dimension to astrology, showing how the ongoing movements of the planets interact with your unique birth chart to create the ever-changing cosmic weather of your life.