Copyright
2005. All Rights Reserved
For the
uninitiated, transits are typically considered the cornerstone of
predictive, modern astrology. Transits occur when planets make specific
angular relationships to the positions of the planets in one’s
birth chart. Transits are not isolated incidents but are happening
all the time and correlate with the minor to life-changing incidents,
maturation periods, psychological shifts, and transformations in
our lives. When planets transit important factors in your birth chart,
they “light up,” ignite, catalyze or emphasize the energy
and psychological factors associated with the factor being transited.
Too often,
transits are approached from a perspective of correlating with either
a concrete determinism (that is, transits are the signal that a specific,
easily predictable event is about to unfold) or a lack of accountability
(the universe is a system of causes upon which we can attribute our
various successes and failures). However, at a deeper level, transits
represent an invitation to communion with something greater than
the limitations of the separate self. Arguably what distinguishes
New Age spirituality from the Judeo-Christian tradition are techniques
and ideas that allow direct spiritual access into something transcendent
or divine without the mediation of dogma or a spiritual leader. From
this spiritual perspective, transits can allow one to relate to something
beyond the individual self.
Before
describing astrological transits from a technical point of view,
that is, before defining them in precise terms, it is arguably best
to utilize some analogies when discussing the underlying principles
of transits and how they work. I will borrow two examples from my
childhood. On a particular trip to Disney World, I fell in love with
the amusement ride known as “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.” Sitting
in a small vehicle, the ride’s participants are whisked and
jerked around into different rooms, with each room having a particular
atmosphere—each room was in marked contrast relative to the
room that preceded it. Exhilarating as it was stupefying, Mr. Toad’s
Wild Ride quickly became a favorite ride of mine, one that I would
want to ride over and over again to the chagrin of my parents. We
will return to how this describes transits, but for the moment let
us enter into a second childhood reminiscence.
The second
childhood memory that can help elucidate what transits involve concerns
a particular children’s book. The book featured the travels
of a penguin as he circumnavigated the globe, and, like a lot of
children’s books, this particular book was interactive. The
gimmick and selling point of the book—the wow factor—was
that a cardboard cutout of a penguin could be manipulated by a magnet.
That is, a magnet would guide along the penguin as he went along
on his journeys across the world. The illusion to a small child was
that the penguin was moving by some unknown force, as the magnet
was hidden beneath the page.
Each in
their own way, these memories can serve to illustrate the core concepts
and guiding principles concerning astrological transits. The example
of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride speaks to the experiential quality
of life as it evolves. If we are conscious and aware of the rhythms
and patterns of our life, then we might notice that many episodes
of our life are radically divergent relative to the episodes that
came before. Standing where we are right now in our lives reflect
back 3 years, 5 years, or even 10 years. Are not the current experiences,
motivations, and environments different—perhaps radically so—from
time periods that came before? From the perspective of the soul,
the answer is unequivocally yes.
If indeed
life has its own distinct episodes and chapters, then who or what
is doing the changing? Is the ego making conscious decisions to write
different chapters in our life or is something else? The childhood
example involving the book with the magnetic penguin speaks to this
dilemma—the sense that some force or forces are guiding our
life’s journey in various directions.
Mr. Toad’s
Wild Ride alludes to the soul’s truth that life is constantly
changing. Like being on an amusement ride where we are whipped around
to different rooms, the experiential quality of life’s constant
change is reflected by astrological transits. The example of the
penguin’s children’s book refers to the deep mystery
of life’s ever changing flux. Are we in charge of these changes—a
comfortable illusion we often cling to—or like the magnets
that shape and contour the penguin’s travels, are there deep
and powerful forces that guide our life’s evolution?
Keeping
these core principles in mind—that transits concern our rapidly
changing evolution and the deeper mystery of life—we can now
speak of transits in more precise and technical terms. Transits occur
as planets move about in space making significant angular relationships
to the positions of the planets at the moment of birth. We may think
of the positions of the heavens at our birth as a snapshot of our
soul’s potentials. As planets move about in space relative
to the snapshot of the heavens at our birth, we experience different
possibilities and potentials. Just as in Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride,
we change rooms and experience different possibilities and potentials
in our lives when planets make major angular relationships to our
birth chart.
Transits
are not only one of the most powerful techniques of astrology but
they are powerful. Period. Not only do they unlock a hidden dimension
of the universe and our life’s meaning in the cosmos, but they
illuminate something like a global mind or universal intelligence
that is informing, permeating, and infusing everything we experience,
from the most mundane periods of life to the most powerful and transformative
experiences in our individual and collective lives. Transits may
be utilized by different people for different reasons, but if one
believes that our experience on earth is to understand, to know,
and to discover, then transits are one of the deepest, amazing, and
illuminating methods to true knowledge that we have yet to unearth.
The more one applies the truth of transits to one’s life, the
more the divine mystery opens up, the more one’s perceptions
change, and the more one’s orientation changes. Through transits,
one learns that the earth and one’s life are not meaningless
and arbitrary, but one opens up to a new world of meaning and significance.
Breaking through
the
Newtonian-Cartesian Paradigm
From the
vantage point of scientific materialism, the possibility for the
legitimacy of astrological transits is both absurd and untenable.
There is a fundamental incongruence between the world view of science
and the world view of astrology. From the world view we have inherited
from Western science, the universe is machine-like and devoid of
any intelligence, accept the intelligence arbitrarily produced through
the blind machinations of Darwinian evolution. Astrology, however,
has held and still holds that the universe is patterned through and
through with a deep intelligence, an anima mundi, or world soul.
The cosmology
of some ancient cultures viewed the night sky as a dome, where stars
were not unlike holes in the dome which allowed light to shine through.
Not unlike a giant, upside-down strainer or colander, the night sky
filtered light into the universe. Analogously, as the stars were
seen as portals to a light beyond the dome, transiting planets can
be seen as gateways or portals to archetypes, or universal dimensions
of human experience. This vantage point is simply not defensible
nor plausible under the implicit assumptions of scientific materialism.
In no
small way, astrological transits can break down the hold of the Newtonian-Cartesian
paradigm, the prevailing mindset of the Western World since approximately
1650. Although a break down of this world view occurred with the
results from quantum physics and Einstein’s theory of relativity,
the basis of these theories are so far removed from everyday experience
that one can comfortably lead one’s daily way of life as if
nothing really ever changed or was revolutionized. This is simply
not the case with transits. If one experiences the maturing or constrictive
energy of transiting Saturn, the stimulating wildness of transiting
Uranus, or the dissolving, unifying quality of transiting Neptune,
then one has a direct experience of something that is in radical
contrast to the mindset and world view of the Newtonian Cartesian
paradigm. In a similar way in which ancient cultures saw the stars
as illuminating something beyond the dome of the heavens, astrology
affords an illumination into something beyond the material world,
where the planets serve as symbols into something beyond three-dimensional
reality.
Increasing Empathy
with Others
Empathy
is one of the characteristics of emotional maturity, and is considered
a defining characteristic of emotional intelligence. Carl Rogers,
the humanistic psychologist, defined empathy as follows: “The
state of empathy, or being empathic, is to perceive the internal
frame of reference of another with accuracy and with the emotional
components and meanings which pertain thereto as if one were the
person.” (1) Although empathy is found in animals, it cannot
reach the level of sophistication and complexity as seen in human
beings.
Astrological
transits can be a method of deepening empathy with others. When one
goes through a significant transit, in a sense, one is participating
with an energy that is larger than one’s self, and one is able
to connect with universal themes. Transits allow one to feel into—empathize—with
individuals that may possess a similar configuration not by transit
but in their birth charts. When one endures a Saturn transit to one’s
natal Sun, for example, one can develop greater empathy with the
individual that is born with the combination. Through transits, one
is able to understand to a much greater degree than the psychology
of others, because one is able to directly experience archetypal
themes that contour and design another’s psyche. It some sense,
transits can eliminate the guess work when trying to “step
into the shoes” of another individual; they grant tremendous
insight into another individual’s psychology.
Often
individuals use astrology as tool for control over life’s circumstances.
Still others still use astrology as an instrument for self exploration
and personal growth. However, one of astrology’s great untapped
potentials is to transcend the narrow confines of self-interest and
to understand the psychology of others. When one endures a difficult
rite of passage in life as characterized by a challenging transit,
it may be seen as an invitation to cultivate compassion with those
that are challenged by a particular energy not just for a short period,
but in a lifetime. In this instance, one may use one’s transits
not solely for self gain or self interest, but to broaden and deepen
one’s empathic connection with others.
Connection with
Transcendence
Almost
all attempts to define the relatively nebulous domain of spirituality
include transcendence as an integral expression of this domain. Transcendence
may be defined as the experience and appreciation of a dimension
beyond self, or a path beyond ego. Astrological transits may be used
as a timing device to demonstrate when a heightened sense of the
transcendent may be available to one’s experience.
To some
degree, all astrological transits may be assumed to be spiritual
or transcendent in capacity, because all archetypal energies connect
us with a sense of something larger and greater than our selves.
However, certainly the outer planets of Neptune and Pluto carry expressions
of self that are beyond typical, mundane experience and can be considered
the planetary symbols most associated with the transpersonal or transcendent.
Transits from Pluto and Neptune can demonstrate times in our lives
when incorporating spiritual or transcendent dimensions into our
lives takes precedence over and above our normal biographical concerns.
Neptune
is certainly the planetary symbol that is most often associated with
spirituality and transcendence. Greg Bogart, a therapist who has
discussed the transpersonal implications of transits from Neptune
and Pluto, suggests that “[there exists] the human yearning
for transcendence, for the peace that only comes from experiences
best described as timeless, ecstatic, sacred, or mystical…Neptune
symbolizes the expansion of our consciousness into dimensions beyond
the mundane, material world…It represents our longing for spiritual
unfoldment toward the state of enlightenment of Self Realization.” (2)
Significant transits from Neptune can align our consciousness with
a heightened recognition of the importance of spirituality. During
Neptune transits, we may connect with a mystical subpersonality,
commune with nature, integrate meditation in our daily lives, or
incorporate numinous dimensions of reality in some capacity.
Neptune
transits may be seen as overtly spiritual because they have a quality
that most would identify as heartfelt, unitive, and peaceful. Pluto
transits have a uniquely opposite flavoring, pitting us in the darker
terrain of our life. Once again, Greg Bogart suggests, “Neptune
is the transpersonal ideal, the vision of unity, enlightenment, and
universal compassion. Pluto is the ordeal that tests us in preparation
for the transpersonal life, purifying us of self-centered intentions
and motivations.” (3) Pluto transits, often painfully and forcibly,
rip us from our attachments, our ideals, and our illusions. So, although
transiting Neptune and Pluto have radically different qualities associated
with them, they may be seen as two sides of the same coin. While
Neptune may gently ease us into a state of grace and transcendence,
Pluto may rather tear us apart from our attachments and what needs
to be outgrown.
Recognition of
the Tao
Transits
may also be an extremely important way of articulating something
which has always eluded concrete definition: the Tao. The Tao is “the
intelligent ordering principle behind the unceasing flow of change
in the natural world.”(4) Like a river of eternally changing
phenomena, the stream of individual and collective consciousness,
according to the Tao, is eternally present yet never static. Although
the heart of an Eastern philosophical tradition, the Tao has several
analogues in many of the world’s wisdom teachings: Chi (Chinese
philosophy); prana (Vedic though); Ki (Japanese thought); libido
(psychodynamic theory); vital energy (homeopathy); luminiferous aether
(science); or élan vital (Henri Bergson). Although there are
important distinctions between these terms, all terms point to the
intuition that all phenomena move through some sort of medium or
substance that is impossible to concretize but can only be known
through reflection upon one’s experience.
Transits
are a way to uncover the logic of the Tao, this medium that appears
to carry life ever onward. Although as the Eastern mystics suggest, “the
Tao that can be named is not the Tao,” transits do allow one
to understand the dynamic unfoldment or logical progression of the
Tao in one’s life. The Tao is also a useful tool for understanding
transits because the metaphor of the river of life that is essential
to the Tao often provides an antidote to our Western way of viewing
life with discrete divisions and distinct endings and beginnings.
The more flowing, fluid way of entering into the dynamics of transits
that the Tao affords allows a more accurate understanding of the
presence of transits in our lives.
Seeing through
the Visible World
With the
advent of quantum physics in science and the rise of depth psychology,
the twentieth century was referred to by author Richard Panek as
the “Invisible Century.” In psychology and science, a
seeing through occurred into dimensions of experience that suggested
that the visible world of three-dimensional reality is shaped by
forces that are not readily seen. Thus, the pioneers of psychology
and quantum physics plumbed the depths of their respective areas
of study with empirical tools to unearth the rather amazing finding
that there are things which guide and contour life of which we were
not fully conscious.
In order
to fully appreciate the nature of transits, it demands a perceptual
shift of great magnitude. The invisible world is never on the periphery
of one’s sensing organs, but can only be seen through with
intuition and faculties such as imagination. Often the enigmatic “eye
of the soul” is the name given to the sensing tool that can
discriminate and perceive things in the invisible world; however
allusions to the eye of the soul can often be off-putting to those
who prefer to see the world in a more literal, less symbolic fashion.
The Jungian
analyst June Singer wrote of the strange relationship between the
visible and invisible worlds: “The proper relationship of the
one to the other is in a commitment to the process of bringing about
an understanding between the two worlds.” (5) The commitment
to studying transits is an excellent way to bridge the seeming incommensurability
of the invisible and visible world. As transits defer to both the
empirical and the symbolic, the literal and the archetypal, the in-depth
study of transits can illuminate the rich interplay between these
two worlds.
Conclusion
Astrology
is a tool, and like any other tool or medium, such as the latest
advances in technology, there is no intrinsic value within the tool
itself. As such, the study of astrological transits has no inherent
spiritual or ethical value, but, used properly, it can propel one
into a much deeper relationship to one’s self and the world
in which one inhabits. Although there may be no inherent value in
the tool of astrological transits, there does seem to be an inherent
egalitarianism to its study. For those weary of spiritual matters
and who do not believe in anything besides the material world, astrological
transits can be an excellent gateway into spirituality because there
is a bridge to the empirical, sensory world. For those already on
a spiritual path, astrology almost invariably deepens one’s
notion of what spirituality is because of its complexity and potential
for depth.
(1) Rogers,
C. R (1959). A theory of therapy, personality and interpersonal relationships
as developed in the client-centered framework. In S. Kock (Ed.), Psychology:
A study of science: Vol. 3. Formulations of the persona and the social
context. New York: McGraw-Hill.
(2) Bogart.
G (1996). Therapeutic Astrology: Using the Birth Chart in Psychotherapy
and Spiritual Counseling. Berkeley: Dawn Mountain Press, p.184.
(3) Ibid.
p. 191
(4) Definition
from Wikipedia.org
(5) Singer,
J (1990). Seeing through the Visible World. San Francisco:
Harper, p. 220.
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