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What Are Transits In Astrology? – Lesson 18


(Go here instead to see transits interpretations.)
To understand what transits are in astrology, you must first understand
what aspects are. You should already know that aspects are relationships, measured
in degrees of arc, between two planets in your birth chart. (An aspect can also
take place between a planet and a special angle or point in your birth chart, i.e.
Ascendant, M.C., I.C., Descendant, Lunar Nodes, and some other points.)
Transits are, in effect, aspects between a planet’s current position up above and
its position in your birth chart.
The positions of the planets at the moment you were born are captured on your birth
chart. As you took your first breath, the planets continued on their tracks. As the
planets continue moving, every once in a while, they come into aspect with the
planetary positions on your birth chart.
For example, say you were born with the Sun at 16 ° and 28 minutes of Cancer, and
Pluto at 24 ° of Libra. When Pluto moved into 16 degrees of Capricorn, in the year
2016, it made an opposition aspect (180 °) to your natal Sun.
To be clear, that aspect is called a “transit.” We would not call it an aspect
because when we speak of aspects, we are usually speaking of natal aspects based on
the positions of the planets at someone’s birth. An aspect made by a transiting
planet is called a “transit” in astrology.
A moving planet can stay in aspect anywhere from a few hours up to a few years. The
moon, because she moves so fast, makes aspects only for a short hour or two. And
then she’s gone. Neptune and Pluto, because they move so slowly (relative motion),
can stay in aspect for 2 or 3 years. Use an orb of 1 degree to consider transits
(but use a 2 degree orb to plan ahead!) While a moving planet is in aspect to a
natal planetary position, the moving planet is said to be “transiting” the natal
planet.
The transit has an influence over you during the entire time that it’s transiting,
but it also has a point at which it becomes “exact.” This is the day when it
reaches the exact degree, minute, and second of your birth planet. Some transits
can become exact three times because of retrograde motion: the transiting planet
passes over the point once, then the planet goes retrograde and backtracks over the
point, then the planet goes back into direct motion and passes over the point a
third time.
In the example above, Pluto would be transiting your natal Sun throughout most of
2016 because it will be close enough to 16 ° to be considered in aspect. But that
transit becomes “exact” in 2016 when Pluto reaches exactly 10 ° and 28 minutes of
Capricorn.
In summary, transits are simply aspects made by the current moving planets to our
birth-chart planets. Technically, the planets are always in transit, as in “on the
move.” But in astrology, “transit” is a term of art. In the language of astrology,
planets make “transits” or are “transiting” only when they make aspects to our
birth chart.
To find out your own personal transits, try the Transits calculator.

Cite This Page

MLA style

Corinne Lane. "What Are Transits In Astrology? – Lesson 18" Astrology Library.
Astrology Library, 25 Aug. 2009. Web. 9 Aug. 2022.
<https://astrolibrary.org/transits-in-astrology-lesson-18/>

APA style

Corinne Lane. (25 Aug. 2009). What Are Transits In Astrology? – Lesson 18. In Free
Astrology Lessons (18). Retrieved from https://astrolibrary.org/transits-in-
astrology-lesson-18/

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Free Astrology Lessons

1 – Astrology Basics

2 – Astrology Symbols

3 – Birth Chart Layout

4 – 12 Astrological Houses

5 – Planets in Astrology

6 – What is a Rising Sign

7 – Elements Qualities Polarities

8 – Zodiac Signs

9 – Aspects and Orbs in Astrology

10 – How to Read Your Own Birth Chart

11 – Relationship Astrology

12 – Before Compatibility

13 – Compatibility

14 – Synastry

15 – Synastry: Elements and Energy

16 – Synastry: House Overlays

17 – Synastry Aspects

18 – What Are Transits In Astrology?

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