Transits of the Year

To every thing there is a season

To every thing there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant,
and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones,
and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace,
and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate;
a time of war, and a time of peace.
Ecclesiastes 3, 1 - 8

I. INTRODUCTION

⌃

II. THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES OF THE YEAR

In this chapter you will find interpretations of the most important transits to your natal chart. They are long ranging, basic issues which will often be relevant to you for several months and sometimes even years.

Saturn Opposition Venus

End of April 2023 until mid-February 2024: This transit often signifies a crisis in your personal relationships. Love seems harder to come by, and you may cool off toward those who used to be dear to you. Or they may cool off. This is a period of testing old relationships to find out whether they can survive and make a contribution to your life. It is rather difficult to establish new relationships, for this is a time for culminating the old, not beginning anew.

The opposition transit indicates that your need for relationships is in strong conflict with your need to feel like a distinct, separate and definite individual. Either you are such an individualist in your relationships that others find it difficult to relate to you, or the relationships smother your sense of individuality. You may feel very lonely even in the presence of your loved ones, because a wall has been built up between you and them.

It is absolutely essential to reexamine your relationships at this time to determine exactly your rights, duties and obligations and those of your partner. Probably you have been trespassing upon each other's prerogatives, and the tension that this causes has led to your current difficulties.

One common manifestation of this transit is becoming involved in a relationship that makes very heavy demands on you. Although you would rather not be involved in it, you find it difficult to break out of. These relationships can be called "karmic" in that they balance out your past actions and are the direct or indirect consequence of those actions. All you can do in this case is to persist and do whatever you have to do. At a certain point you will realize that the karma has been completed; that is, the relationship has fulfilled its purpose. If you simply abandon it, you will almost immediately encounter another relationship like it, and another and another until you live one of them through. Saturn has this relentless quality.

Venus also rules artistic creativity, but this may not be an especially creative period for you. This is because you are redefining what you are trying to do with your creativity. Like all oppositions, this one signifies a reorientation of consciousness. Don't worry that you have lost a gift - it will return in new forms.

This may also be a time of material and financial adversity. Here again you will have to examine your past attitudes toward material resources and perhaps change your whole orientation toward them. Try getting along with less; you may find that you need less than you had thought.

Jupiter Square Sun

Beginning of June 2023 until mid-February 2024: This can be an excellent transit, but you must watch out for some pitfalls that could undo all the benefits. Basically this transit is a test of your discipline and self-restraint. If you are not a restrained person, you will react to this influence by going overboard in some way, overextending yourself or living in a fool's paradise where you think nothing can go wrong. Or you might squander a valuable resource, only to find on another day that you do not have enough of what you need. Sometimes there is a feeling that luck will provide everything that you need without any effort on your part, but this, too, is a false notion.

But this transit can also provide a chance for real growth and expanded opportunities. It is a matter of how much control you have over yourself. You have to know precisely where you are and what your real needs are in order to take the most advantage of this transit. You also have to know when you can't handle anything more. Knowing when to stop is the real trick.

Sometimes this transit encourages ego inflation and excessive pride. There is an arrogant streak to the negative expression of Jupiter. Be careful not to act in an overbearing manner, for you will set people in motion who will try to knock you down a peg or two. Here too, you must know where to stop.

This transit gives you feelings of great confidence, which allows you either to go ahead, knowing precisely what you are doing and what your limitations are, or to act arrogantly and overstep your bounds. At any rate, this transit tests your self-knowledge, and the more accurately you know yourself the better it will work out for you.

Under certain conditions this transit can trigger conflict with the law or with someone else in a court of law. You may or may not lose, but don't act the role of outraged honor and dignity. Try to find out exactly what the problem is and arrive at a solution that is satisfactory to all.

⌃

III. FURTHER TRANSITS OF THE SLOW MOVING PLANETS

Saturn Trine Jupiter

A transit approaching its end, from mid-March 2022, remaining until mid-January 2023: This is a time of balance and order in your life. You may have to work hard for financial gain, but at least your affairs are in order. Your business or professional life is well organized, and you should be making steady progress toward your goals. The gains you make at this time are not strokes of luck, they are the solid results of good organization.

Your greatest asset at this time is that you can see clearly how various parts of your life are working out. You understand the rules, and you are willing to play by them. Your attitude toward life is pragmatic and practical. You are more than usually willing to accept a situation as it is while working patiently to improve it. You are now in a position to make important choices that will greatly affect your future.

Your employers, bosses and other authority figures can help you out now. At other times these people may have seemed to be obstacles to your advancement, but now they are extremely willing to help. This is in part because you make it clear that they will gain by helping you. You are much more capable now of real give-and-take than you have been at other times. When others see this, they are more willing to work on your team.

Older persons may provide opportunities for real insight into your life. From the perspective of their age, you can see how to improve your own life and help it grow.

This is a time to consolidate and buttress various aspects of your life. Put aside money for the future, invest or buy life insurance. Make peace with the difficult aspects of your life or with those people who are potential sources of trouble. In the not-too-distant future, when Saturn squares or opposes your natal Jupiter, it will be difficult to deal with the loose ends you leave now. You have enough foresight now to see this and make the necessary adjustments.

Uranus Trine Pluto

A transit approaching its end, from beginning of November 2021, remaining until end of January 2023: This is a time of positive evolution in your life that can lead you to a new and greater understanding of your inner being and how you relate to other people. Under the influence of this transit you will be able to see what is wrong with your life and to make corrective changes without great upset and pain. Your insight is enormously heightened, aided by your willingness to learn. If you have ever felt that psychotherapy would be helpful, this is the time to consider it, for you will benefit from it now. You might also consider other techniques of consciousness expansion, such as are found in occult studies, astrology, yoga and the various human potential movements.

You will be involved with what one theologian called matters of "ultimate concern," that is, your life, its total meaning and how you fit into the universe as a whole. Therefore you will also be attracted to systems of thought that deal with these concerns - religious and spiritual movements or more unusual kinds of activity such as ceremonial magic. But in any case you will not be satisfied to live at the superficial level that most people live at.

This transit will deepen your philosophical concerns, enrich your understanding of life and give you the chance to make constructive changes that will make your life worthwhile later on. Take advantage of this opportunity.

Jupiter Trine Sun

Beginning of June 2022 until mid-February 2023: This is a very pleasant Sun-Jupiter contact. In fact it is so pleasant that you may be inclined to sit back, enjoy it and do nothing. However, this is really a very important time in your life because you can reach out into new areas of life and have new and rewarding experiences. Your creative potential is enormous at this time, and you can very easily accomplish a great deal that would be difficult at other times. Your inner energies are strong, and you are full of self-confidence and the feeling that you can do anything.

This transit usually indicates good health and a feeling of well-being, although you may be inclined to put on weight if you are not careful. You may not feel inclined toward physical activity, but it would be a good idea to get some exercise. Make a particular effort to be outdoors. Hiking is a very beneficial activity at this time.

If you are inclined to physical activity, especially athletics, don't take foolish risks through overconfidence. This is not an accident prone transit, in fact it is rather "lucky" for most people. But it does tend to make you overestimate your energies, and if another influence is operating that makes you accident-prone, this transit could have a bad effect.

This is an excellent time for all financial matters. You will feel like making your surroundings appear more elegant, and you may spend quite a lot of money doing so. This is perfectly fine, and you should think positively in all ways, but don't let this concern with material acquisition blind you to some very real possibilities for inner growth.

Travel, either physically or mentally, often accompanies this transit. Take this time to broaden your understanding of the world around you. You have a strong interest in ideas that are different from what you normally know and encounter, and you are much more tolerant of different ways of living. Even people's usually irritating traits do not bother you at this time. Also your sense of humor is much greater than usual, and you can appreciate the dance of life in all its glory.

Uranus Sextile Midheaven

Mid-May 2022 until beginning of April 2023: Under this transit you will make creative changes in your life direction. For example, you may change jobs if this will improve your chances of getting where you want to go. You will not change simply for the sake of change. You may get a sudden promotion, but only if you show that you can take a completely different approach to the demands of the new job.

It is possible that you will change your life direction altogether at this point toward something that gives you more freedom to reach your desired goals.

But the changes during this transit are not limited to the professional sphere. At this time you will also make changes in your personal life so that your domestic situation, your family and other intimate relationships do not prevent you from accomplishing your life's task. In both professional and domestic spheres you will take risks and try things that you would never try at other times. You want to experience all that life has to offer and not be limited solely by the inadequacies of past experience.

In any kind of creative work this transit signifies that you will work with great innovativeness and originality. You may create an invention or make a new discovery, but remember that it is just as likely to be a discovery about yourself as about the world.

One of the greatest benefits of this transit is that you can be in control if you want to be. You can neglect this opportunity for creative change in your life, but if you do, life may seem so stultifying that you feel you have to change everything, violently and compulsively and without forethought. Changes made under those conditions are not likely to be as creative and positive as the ones made now. Now you can exercise caution, restraint and care and still make many positive changes to release mounting tensions.

Uranus Opposition Neptune

Mid-May 2022 until beginning of May 2023: How you will react to this transit will depend upon how well you have learned certain of life's lessons. If you are extremely materialistic and so caught up in the mundane concerns of daily life that you cannot see or conceive of anything higher - whether it be a religion, a system of ideals or whatever - you will experience this transit as extremely confusing. Events will occur that simply do not fit into your scheme, and you will become confused and perhaps act in ways that you consider very unwise. You may suddenly start chasing after wild and impractical dreams, become involved with persons who are very out of touch with reality and generally get your goals thoroughly scrambled.

All of this arises because this transit exposes you to higher dimensions of existence, to a world that doesn't work like the one you have been taught to see. Nevertheless this higher world is real and important, in that it gives life meaning even though seemingly far removed from it. If you have always frowned on idealistic notions of higher metaphysical dimensions, this transit will confuse and upset you, because it reveals these dimensions to you. But if you have learned that the universe does not stop with what you can see and feel with your senses, this transit will allow you to experience profound revelations and understanding. Your degree of enlightenment or confusion depends entirely upon how well prepared you are.

Uranus Trine Moon

End of August 2022 until beginning of April 2024: This transit represents an excellent opportunity for you to make changes in your emotional life and personal surroundings, such as your home. And you can make these changes without causing great problems and upsets, as might be the case at other times. For example, you could remodel your home or change your personal habits. Either of these changes would be appropriate to the energy of this transit.

Events may present you with opportunities to experience your emotions in a new way. You may begin a new relationship that will bring feelings you have never had before. A love relationship that begins under this transit will have a wonderful excitement that may be missing at other times. Existing relationships may also change so that they, too, allow you new emotional experiences.

A situation may occur that brings up an event from the past so that you can examine it in a new light and change your attitudes toward it. By understanding the past differently, you will be able to change its effect upon you. For example, this may be an encounter with your mother or other female relative that clarifies and allows you to change your attitude toward something that happened in your childhood.

You may have got into certain routines with friends and other people whom you see every day, with the result that you have not been experiencing them as they really are. Unconsciously adopted attitudes may have got in the way of seeing them clearly. This transit gives you the chance to recognize these attitudes and to change them. Consequently you may experience your friends as new individuals.

Take advantage of this opportunity to make graceful changes in your personal life. Now it will be easy to get rid of unconscious attitudes, habits and routines that will be much harder to get rid of later on. If you can do this now, in several years, when Uranus comes to the next square or opposition to your natal Moon, you will be able to use that transit for more creative change and growth. If you do not change the things that you could easily clear away now, during the later transit they will be cleared away anyhow, but with upsets and difficulties.

Saturn in the Fifth House

March 2022 until 2025: During this time you will learn more about yourself and how to express yourself in the best possible way. But you will have to work for this result; it will not happen by itself. You should proceed in a careful, organized manner. Although the fifth is usually considered the house of recreation and amusement, Saturn's transit through it is not likely to be very amusing. It is as if everything in your life has to have some teaching or learning purpose. During Saturn's transit through the earlier houses, you redefined and structured your inner self. Now you will begin to give that self new form through interaction with others.

Areas traditionally associated with the fifth house may become a burden at this time. You will have to attend to these matters, for they will not take care of themselves. For example, children may become a heavy responsibility for some reason. Love affairs may become quite difficult, especially if they do not permit your newly restructured self to be expressed. A love affair may involve an older person who acts almost as a parent to you. Or you may play that role for someone younger. You may first become aware of certain aspects of yourself through an intense emotional encounter with another person. Even if it is an unpleasant encounter, it can be a positive growth experience.

During this transit you may also simply withdraw from encounters with others. This is understandable because every encounter poses challenges, but you should not avoid them anyway. In so doing you are avoiding the experience of what you have become, which is so necessary for your proper development at this time. If you feel that you want a relationship, but your opportunities seem to be frustrated, examine your real feelings. Usually you will find that you are subconsciously avoiding the people who would be right for you in order to avoid the confrontation you fear.

The fifth house is also the house of gambling, speculation and other such risks. Needless to say, these activities are not at all in accord with the methodical and work-demanding nature of Saturn. Do not take such risks at this time, for they are not likely to work out.

Anything you produce during this time will be the result of hard work. You will have a much more disciplined approach to creative activity than you have had in the past. This is as it should be, because again the aim is to understand yourself through careful, disciplined action. In this case the activity means giving form to something through your own efforts. This principle applies whether or not you are artistic. All of us are creative in some way.

Jupiter Conjunct Descendant

From 17 February 2023 until 10 March 2023: During this period you seek to grow in various ways through your closest contacts with other people. You try to create relationships that will further your life, not in a spirit of selfishness, but in a desire for mutual growth. Often at this time a person will come into your life who offers to help you out in some way, usually through a partnership.

In business, for example, this is an extremely good time to enter into a partnership or a contract with someone. In your personal life, you will work more closely than usual with someone, which will work out very well for you both. If other indications are compatible, you may meet someone who will be important to you romantically, but that is not the usual result of this transit.

This is also an excellent time to seek out someone for counseling, especially a lawyer, but also any other kind of counselor. Related to this, incidentally, is that if you have a case in court at this time, it will work out as you want it to.

If you are married, your marriage should work better than usual now. You and your partner will be anxious to help each other grow and to further each other's interests in all possible ways. You do not want to restrict your spouse or be restricted by him in any possible way. Because you understand the need for freedom of individual self-expression within your relationship, you will try to find ways to bring that about. If your marriage is not working out very well in general, this transit can have either of two effects. It can either bring a time of healing in the relationship so that it ceases to be such a problem, or it can make your desire for freedom so strong that you break off the relationship altogether. At any rate, the problems themselves will cease. And a marriage that does break up under this transit (this only applies to one that is on the rocks) will do so relatively amicably.

Saturn Opposition Mercury

Mid-February 2023 until beginning of November 2023: At this time your ideas and plans may be defeated, or they may have their greatest concrete realization. In either case, you will run into considerable resistance from others to what you say. This may result in severing relationships with those who disagree with you because there is no longer any communication between you. Or it may result simply in the breakdown of communication that was once quite good.

Other people's resistance to your thinking is not intended solely to defeat you, although you may think so. You may be tempted to give up if you are not secure in your thinking and plans. But the resistance of others also forces you to give your plans clearer form and to take definite steps to implement them. This takes hard work and much heavy thinking, but the results can be quite good.

If your ideas cannot withstand the challenge or you do not have enough confidence to defend them, this is likely to be a time of self-doubt and questioning. You will seek to find out what is wrong with your ideas, and if you can be sufficiently detached, you may indeed find out what is wrong. But if you just wallow in guilt, doubt and "being wrong," you will accomplish little except to become depressed.

Although this is not an especially easy time, you shouldn't take a negative or pessimistic view of matters. There are concrete challenges to be met, and you should use your energy to recognize and meet them. Negative thinking is a form of self- indulgence that you cannot afford at this time.

One factor in this transit may be causing you problems. If you have already allowed your thinking to become too rigid and fixed, you will find it difficult to make occasional necessary compromises when you are challenged. Even with the best ideas, a certain amount of mental flexibility is necessary. Rigidity is almost certain to spell defeat, because the forces that oppose you will become equally unbending and rigid.

Jupiter in the Seventh House

March 2023 until February 2024: During this period your intimate one-to-one encounters with other people can show you aspects of yourself and of the world around you. By and large this transit favors the formation and maintenance of all kinds of partnerships, including marriage. Although this transit by itself does not especially indicate marriage, it does make a marriage work very well at this time.

During this transit you will encounter people who can help you out in various ways. You approach all relationships with the idea that you and the other person should help each other. You are not inclined to go it alone now, and you would be well advised not to. You very much need another person's assistance, not because you are a weak individual, but because the other person fulfills your individuality.

This is also a good time to call in a professional for any kind of assistance, especially a lawyer, but also a doctor or other consultant, as well as personal counselors. If you have to go to court at this time, especially in a civil suit, the outcome should be favorable, although it is important to make sure that you have every angle covered. Don't take this transit for granted, for you might overlook some detail that could trip you up. Also don't try to get more than your due, nor overestimate what you are to get. That could get you into trouble. As with every other Jupiter transit, this one requires a certain amount of moderation in order to get the most out of it.

Since Jupiter refers to foreign places and persons, this transit could indicate a partnership or close relationship with a foreigner. Or it could indicate a relationship with someone whose background is sufficiently different from yours that you have to expand your views and your understanding of the world simply to deal with him. Any intimate relationship at this time will certainly have a consciousness-expanding effect upon you. In other words, the relationship won't permit you to continue in a narrow frame of reference.

If you marry under this influence, your partner is likely to be a slightly older person who has established himself in the world. Your respect for this person is one of the main factors that attracts you. This is a sign of a person more experienced than yourself.

Jupiter Square Midheaven

From 7 March 2023 until 26 March 2023: During this period you will try to achieve something of significance in your work or career. You will not find it sufficient to continue as you have, and your ambition will become more powerful than usual. This can be either good or bad in the long run, depending upon how you go about getting ahead. On the positive side, this transit helps you overcome your previous limitations, which were caused largely by fear and lack of confidence. Now you feel capable of greater achievements and willing to work for them. This transit usually creates great optimism and self-confidence, but you must be careful that it does not become overconfidence. Your life will not take care of itself if you neglect the important details of daily existence. Do not let your seemingly more important present concerns cause you to neglect these other aspects of your life.

But this transit can also signify an inflated ego, a state of mind in which you attribute to yourself powers and talents far beyond your actual abilities. In rare and extreme cases, a person may think of himself as godlike. But for most people this is expressed simply as overestimation of one's talents. Be careful not to take on more than you can handle. There is so much positive energy in this transit that it would be unfortunate to waste it with pride, foolish arrogance and overestimation of your capabilities.

You want to be important now, and it is quite possible to attain that goal, but only if you know yourself adequately. Dare to do more than you have ever done before, but balance your daring with reason and care.

Jupiter Opposition Mars

From 13 March 2023 until 1 April 2023: This is an extremely exuberant transit, which inclines you to do everything in a big way. Your energy level is high, and you are ambitious in everything that you do. You have a great need to expend physical energy, but be careful not to act recklessly. Discipline and restraint are necessary, no matter what you do.

Do not overestimate your abilities, either to yourself or to others. You are capable of doing quite a bit under this transit, so you don't have to exaggerate. It is especially important not to kid yourself about your abilities, however, because you will genuinely try to do the impossible and quite possibly exhaust yourself in the process. For the same reason, don't take unnecessary chances. The feeling of omnipotence that this transit confers is not real, at least not to the extent that you feel it.

Sometimes this transit can signify a conflict with another in which you try to break away from the other's restrictions. It is difficult to say in general whether your estimate of the facts is accurate, that is, whether the other person is really demanding too much or restricting you too much. Therefore you must examine the issue very carefully before you act. You have a great need to be self-assertive at this time, but be sure to reserve it for a situation in which it can be constructive. Avoid acting upon impulse. It could get you into needless trouble.

On the other hand, this transit also confers real courage. The difference between courage and foolhardiness is simple self-knowledge, which you must have in order to make this transit work out positively. If you are cool and collected in what you do, this can be a time of considerable triumph as you overcome obstacles and accomplish deeds that you usually would feel incapable of. If you have to stand up for yourself, you can, and in a way that makes further dealings with your opponents constructive rather than destructive. But this will happen only if you keep your head.

Jupiter Trine Mercury

From 3 May 2023 until 23 May 2023: This is not a time when you should wait for things to come to you. But you can do quite well with it if you communicate with people, look for opportunities, especially in business, and look for good items to buy or sell. This transit confers the ability to see events clearly and to make plans intelligently, which will serve you well in any of these matters.

You are able to put yourself across with confidence and warmth, which will make other people believe you. They will also respect your sincerity and the clarity with which you communicate your ideas. Even if you tell someone something he or she doesn't want to hear, you can do it so that the other person will feel good about you for saying it.

This is an excellent time to take up the study of a new subject, and the more abstract the better. But you also have the ability now to translate abstract ideas into practical reality, which can be very useful in organizing and planning your activities in any sphere of life.

On the psychological level you can expect a period of optimism and positive thinking, fortunately based on reality. You have big ideas, but you have the basic sense to understand what can and cannot be done. This contributes greatly to your effectiveness at this time.

Jupiter Trine Venus

Beginning of June 2023 until mid-February 2024: This is one of the most pleasant transits of all, in a light and passing way. You feel very light-hearted and sociable now and want to spend as much time as possible with others. This is a good transit for taking a vacation, attending social gatherings, or participating in other forms of amusement and fun. It is not conducive to any kind of serious effort, because you are inclined to feel pleasantly lazy and unenterprising. There is also a very strong self-indulgent streak to this transit. Be very careful not to eat or drink too much. Even with the pleasantness of this transit, you may feel bad afterward.

Fortunately you have the ability to make others feel good if they are unhappy or depressed, and as a result, people enjoy being around you at this time. You may have the chance to do favors for others that will eventually be returned. And since you feel generous and giving, you will not mind doing them.

Sometimes this transit can signify the beginning of a new love interest, but it is much more likely to mean a passing, flirtatious encounter. A relationship that does begin under this transit will probably be quite good for you.

In some instances this transit has a way of drawing money or other material resources to you. But don't sit around planning how to spend a sudden windfall from heaven, as many people do with this transit. It is a possibility, but only one among many and not the most likely.

Actually it is more likely that you will spend money on objects that you consider beautiful. Others may not appreciate your taste at this time, however, because it tends toward the flashy or gaudy. Be careful that you don't get stuck with something that will offend your own taste in a soberer moment.

You have a great desire for beauty, however, and if your taste is sound you will surround yourself with objects that you can enjoy for years and that will also gain in value.

Jupiter in the Eighth House

June 2023 until July 2024: With Jupiter in this house, you are likely to benefit from other people's resources. Consequently this is a good time to enter a relationship in which you and another person have to pool your resources, such as a business partnership. This is also a good time to request a loan from a bank, unless there is another transit at the same time that negates this reading. In general, other people are more than usually willing to help you out in some way.

On another level, there will be many powerful but fortunate changes in your life at this time. It may not always be obvious, but any sweeping change that happens now will be for the best and will make your life richer and more rewarding in the long run. It will also give you a much greater understanding of the psychological patterns that operate in your life. If you have recently been through a time of psychological stress or are encountering one now, this transit will help the healing process within you.

Sometimes this transit can indicate a time of religious and spiritual regeneration, what used to be called a "conversion experience." Certainly you would derive great benefit from studying occult and mystical literature at this time in your life.

Jupiter Trine Uranus

Beginning of July 2023 until mid-March 2024: This transit gives you a strong need to express yourself by doing something that is different from your normal routine. You need to experience a new kind of freedom in your life and to discover dimensions of living that you have not known before. This may take the form of a search for inner truth on the metaphysical or philosophical level, or it may take the more external form of a new activity in your life.

You are much more receptive to new ideas with this transit, and you should be a bit careful about getting into something solely because it is a novelty. However, for the most part this desire for the new is constructive and will probably be quite good for you. This is one of the transits that prevent you in a positive way from getting into a rut.

Sometimes this transit can denote a sudden opportunity or a piece of good luck that seems to come completely out of the blue and take you by surprise. Often it is a sudden change or an event that gives you a new chance in some way. It could be a sudden windfall or promotion or even a sudden chance encounter that works out to your benefit. If such an event occurs, take advantage of it. This is one of the few times when you shouldn't stop to ponder carefully before acting. Such a decision often requires split-second action.

This is also one of the few transits that can be very lucky in gambling. But remember that this transit will have this effect only if you are reasonably fortunate in such matters anyway. If you are usually unlucky at gambling, this transit will probably not affect you positively.

This transit also enables you to grasp new ideas quickly. You can learn subjects faster under this influence than at other times, and you see very quickly the patterns in anything. On occasion this transit can signify a fortunate discovery or invention.

Jupiter Trine Pluto

Mid-July 2023 until end of March 2024: Under this influence you will move to make positive changes in your personal and your social world. But the most important question you can ask is, "In whose name do I want to change things?" You should realize that under this transit it is quite easy to exert power and make changes. The energies seem to flow in the direction you want, presenting you with opportunities for taking control in some way. However, you should be motivated by something more than your own personal ambition, even though that will be favored along with any ambition in your life now. But if this power is selfish and personally oriented, you will have trouble later on, and the results will not be lasting. You have to strike a balance and adopt a philosophy of "enlightened self- interest." You must recognize that you benefit most when you can couple your own interests with those of the people you live and work with. In some way you must embody collective interests truly, not merely in your rationalizations.

You have a strong desire to reform and remake at this time, and you should be striving to improve conditions all around you, to renew and to serve as a vehicle for regeneration in your world. If you attain personal power in any way at all, use it to clear up and clean out. You may have the chance to lead or influence others, so use that influence to help everyone concerned to grow with you.

On the mundane level, this transit can coincide with professional success, political power or tremendous gains in personal wealth or resources. On a more humble level, this transit can give you the chance to straighten out situations in your life that have been sources of trouble for you.

Jupiter Opposition Neptune

An approaching transit, from beginning of September 2023 until beginning of April 2024: During this transit it is often difficult to keep the real and the ideal sorted out. It is an extremely spiritual transit, which may make the real world seem inadequate to you, causing you to seek an escape into a more ideal and perfect "reality." Normally this escape is not through drugs or alcohol, but if you have a predisposition toward them, it could work out that way. Usually, this transit indicates a mental state in which you become wrapped up in all manner of abstract speculations or high ideals that are difficult to actualize.

On another level, this transit may tempt you to become involved in unrealistic schemes that you could only believe if blinded by extreme optimism. You may want to gamble and take risks with your resources, and if you are not careful, wild speculations and gambling could leave you bankrupt. Oddly enough, some people are so geared that they can handle the gambling aspect of this transit very well and make seemingly wild investments pan out. Usually these people have a talent for calculating the risks, however. Remember that there is a difference between amateur and professional gamblers. The main point here is that if you are tempted to get into some investment scheme, make sure that it is within your area of personal expertise.

Under certain circumstances this transit can signify the beginning of a very idealistic kind of relationship, one in which you look to your partner as a kind of god or spiritual guide. This may or may not be an accurate picture. You must be careful here also, because you could idealize a person beyond all reason, even when he does not want you to do so.

And of course, you too could be the victim of an outright deception. Be careful to deal with people as they really are, by accepting them as they are and not demanding that they conform to an ideal in your mind.

Neptune in the Sixth House

October 2021 until 2031: This transit will affect two areas of your life - your health and your work - very strongly. Be especially careful of your health now, for you may be more subject to illnesses and passing infections than at other times. This is not to say that you will be constantly sick, but you should be careful. Usually you will not have health problems unless there are difficult transits to planets in your natal chart at the same time. Be especially careful of diseases caused by poisons and toxins in the body from drugs or alcohol.

People often get rather strange ideas about nutrition and hygiene while Neptune is transiting this house. Because of Neptune's nature, this usually takes the form of a dietary regimen in which you abstain totally from a particular kind of food. Vegetarian, fruit and low mucus diets all fit this description. These diets are not bad in themselves, but you should observe their effects upon your body carefully and not follow them blindly. Also you may be inclined for religious or spiritual reasons to follow a diet that has nothing to do with your bodily needs.

In the area of work, this transit is best handled by working in a field of social service, perhaps with sick people in hospitals or asylums or with the poor. This is not an especially good time for advancing your career for purely egotistical reasons. The ego-denying effect of Neptune often means that the harder you work for your own benefit, the less you get out of it. You can make great achievements while Neptune is in this house, but only if you are working in a spirit of service to others.

With this transit you may encounter serious misunderstanding with employers or employees and general difficulties in dealing with them. Your path to advancement may be mysteriously blocked by someone who will not confront you directly or state the reasons for opposing you. You may not even be aware that this person is acting against you. It is possible at this time to become involved in work that is actually dishonest or subversive, although you may not be aware of it at the time. But these effects are minimized if you regard your work as a service to others without worrying about what you will get out of it personally. If you enjoy your work and do it creatively, this transit will not interfere, because that is ultimately the best way to make your work a service to others.

⌃

IV. SELECT TRANSITS OF THE SWIFT MOVING PLANETS

Mercury in the Fourth House

Mid-December 2022 until end of February 2023: This is a time of intellectual withdrawal, but not in a negative way. You aren't withdrawing to avoid a confrontation with reality but to reflect and think about all the ideas you have encountered recently. It is a good time to examine our personal and domestic life and to make plans or evaluate whether it is meeting your needs. This is an excellent transit for discussions with your immediate family about matters that are important to all of you. You are able to voice your innermost thoughts at this time, and you should if you feel that something must be said. Do not allow pressures to build up within you that you do not express toward the people around you.

Your thoughts may drift continually back to events that occurred in the past, and you may wonder why you cannot focus on the concerns of the present. This is an indication that some aspect of those past events is affecting the present and that your subconscious mind is drawing attention to it so that you can handle it in some way. In other words, look for a link between the events of the past that are on your mind and the matters that concern you today. Finding that link could enable you to solve a current problem.

You may have to communicate with one of your parents in order to find out more about the past event that is bothering you. And in any case, having a discussion with them or communicating via letters may prove extremely helpful to you in some way.

Mars in the Ninth House

December 2022 until April 2023: This transit can be a time when you do more creative intellectual work than usual and attempt to convey your experience and view of the world to others. The beliefs and ideas that you consider true and important you will assert and defend wherever necessary. Obviously this is valuable if you have to influence other people and make an impression on them, but it can also be a danger if you try to beat people over the head with your opinions and ideas. The problem is to avoid identifying your ego with what you believe. When you identify your ego with your ideas, you really believe you are that idea, and you will defend it as if it were literally your own body. Even the physiological reactions are the same.

What you can do now is put all of your energy into expanding your mind. Look for experiences that will open up new dimensions of reality instead of wasting your energy on defending your ideas.

Sun in the Fifth House

Beginning of February 2023 until mid-March 2023: During this time, you feel most free to express yourself and to be yourself. Your primary drive is to do what you want and as much as possible to set your own priorities. You are not especially interested in dominating others, although you may be capable of it at this time, but you will vigorously oppose anyone who tries to prevent you from doing what you want to do.

You have a strong drive to get out and have a good time, and there is no reason why you shouldn't, as long as you make some effort to meet your daily obligations and restrictions. But the free-spirited drive of the fifth-house Sun may not want to do this, which can be a problem. At any rate you will feel lighter than usual throughout this period.

Your attitude toward your relationships is much lighter at this time, almost as if you saw your relationships as a stage upon which you can perform. At any rate, you favor more than usual the relationships that are fun.

But don't get so wrapped up in yourself and your enjoyments that you forget to examine yourself. This is the time to be yourself, but it also is the time to become conscious of who you are. It is one thing to be yourself; it is another to know yourself. You can use this time for both.

Mercury in the Eighth House

Beginning of April 2023 until mid-June 2023: At this time it is good to look inward and reflect upon deep psychological truths within yourself. In many ways your rational intellect is closer now to the areas of your being that are usually hidden even from yourself. You can use this time to get more in touch with these hidden aspects.

This transit often signifies conversations and intellectual encounters that have a profound effect upon your mind, causing you to go deep within yourself and make changes in your point of view or ways of thinking.

This transit is conducive to very deep thinking, sometimes including thoughts about your own and your loved ones' mortality. Reflecting upon these matters from time to time in moderation can help to keep your life in perspective, but don't get too carried away by thoughts of death, because this can draw you away from the here and now.

Sun Square Venus

On 28 May 2023: The positive side of this transit is that you will feel quite loving and affectionate to almost everyone around you. There may even be a new love relationship. Or you may feel like doing creative work, perhaps arts or crafts.

The negative side of this transit is that you may be inclined to seek self-gratification in excess, that is, in a total undisciplined manner, or you may seek it at the expense of a loved one. This is not one of the more serious or difficult transits, but it can reveal hidden strains within your relationships and show you where you need to make some changes. The problem is that you probably won't feel like doing anything that requires much effort today, so perhaps you should wait until you are in a more active mood. Avoid spending money to gratify foolish whims or monetary desires. You may have regrets in more sober moments.

Be careful also of a tendency toward passivity, sitting around and waiting for something to happen or for someone else to take the first step. With the attractive power of Venus stimulated by the transiting Sun, you hope that things will come to you without any effort. This may happen, but what comes may not be worth much. However, unless terribly severe demands are being made on you, today will be very enjoyable, easy, relaxed and pleasant. This is a good day for enjoying yourself.

Mercury Trine Moon

On 4 June 2023: Today, you are more in touch with your feelings than usual, and you show greater emotional sensitivity in your interactions with others. It may be good to talk about your feelings with some today.

This feeling quality makes you a good listener today. You are eager for input, and you would much rather listen to others than have to take the initiative yourself to start a conversation or make the connection that brings you together. When others talk to you, they will perceive your interest, sympathy and concern. They will realize that you aren't playing ego games with them.

The Moon signifies relations with women, and this transit helps to improve communications with them, especially if you are a man who usually has trouble with women. However, this effect also applies to women, since communication between two women (or between two men) often needs help.

Mercury Square Venus

On 15 June 2023: This transit does not make you mentally aggressive, but you will probably feel quite good. The only area of tension will be your personal relationships. Use this energy to have a discussion with a loved one about the state of your relationship. You may discover that the two of you do not agree in as many ways as you thought. But if you speak in a spirit of compromise, you should have little difficulty in reaching a working agreement. If you proceed from a position of inflexible righteousness, there will be disagreement and discord in your relationship that could sever communications for some time. Your attitude is very important.

Elsewhere in your life this transit will signify a time of good feelings and perhaps some self-indulgence. This is not likely to do much harm, but stay away from stores selling expensive goodies that you would like to have but don't really need and cannot afford. You would be inclined to buy, and you might regret these transactions later, when you feel more disciplined.

If you attend a social gathering, have a good time, but exercise restraint. Take note of how much you have indulged yourself and call a halt at a reasonable time.

Venus in the Eleventh House

July 2023 until October 2023: This is one of the best of all transits for group activities or activities with friends. You will feel friendly toward almost everyone, and they will be friendly in return, of course assuming that there is no contradicting major transit. It is a good time to have friends in for a party or to go out with a group of friends for a good time. You will enjoy each other's company immensely and be much more loving and affectionate with each other.

This benefit is not limited to activities with friends. Any situation in which you deal with many people in a group setting, for example a business conference or organizational meeting, is favored by this transit. Your ego energies are low enough so that you can deal agreeably with others, making whatever compromises are necessary without feeling that you are losing something personal that you should defend. You feel secure in yourself and willing to help the group achieve its objective. You may even identify your own objectives with that of the group.

Mars Conjunct Venus

On 22 July 2023: This transit is most likely to arouse your interest in men, because it represents the union of the two planets that most strongly affect the sex drive. Sexual energy is strong and you will have a strong desire for physical love- making. These energies are high and demand some kind of gratification, and with Mars involved, there is considerable ego-drive here. You may want to make love with someone even though you do not care for him emotionally. And if there is no outlet for this energy, it may cause arguments and discord between you and your lover.

The effects of this transit are not limited to physical love, however. In a larger sense it arouses all creative energies. This is a good time to be involved in any creative work that requires you to be physically active. Abstract or intellectual creation, such as writing poetry or music, especially some of the current popular forms, would be excellent, as would vigorous work in sculpture or another art form that demands physical energy, such as dance.

Sun Conjunct Sun

On 31 July 2023: Happy birthday! Today the Sun returns to the position it was in when you were born.

As would seem appropriate with this transit, today is a day of new beginnings. A new year in your own personal calendar has begun, and the influences you feel today will affect the entire year to come. However, this does not mean that the whole year will be disappointing if today doesn't work out exactly as planned.

You are receiving a new impulse from the energy center within you, as symbolized by the Sun. Therefore any new venture that you start at this time will ride the crest of this new energy and will very likely come to an acceptable conclusion. Whatever you do or begin today will bear the stamp of your individuality more than anything else. This is the day to assert yourself anew.

Mars Conjunct Pluto

On 3 August 2023: With this transit you will be tempted to take over and run whatever is happening around you. This transit is a strong stimulus to any kind of ambition, but the danger is that its energy can be rather violent and disruptive. It represents a ruthless burst of ego energy that does not take kindly to limitation. And it is not only that you will try to have power over others, but that you may also be the victim of someone else's power play. In cases of violent assault, this or a similar transit usually occurs in both the victim's and the assailant's chart. But that is not a typical occurrence with this transit. One indication is not enough to account for an incident of violence, and you needn't anticipate it. However, it gives you some idea of the strength of these energies. You should be warned, though, to avoid dangerous neighborhoods during the few days that this transit is in effect.

Positively speaking, this transit is excellent for doing any kind of heavy work, particularly if it involves making major changes of any kind whatever. Even if you think you are totally uninterested in power, you will get a great deal of satisfaction out of having and using power. There is no reason why you shouldn't be able to use this power creatively. Just don't try to kid yourself that you aren't thinking of your own interests during this transit. You are, and there is nothing wrong in that unless your interests conflict with everyone else's.

There is danger now of severe ego conflicts, of which violent assault is an extreme example. Your strong energies attract people who have similar energies, and before you know it, you may have quite a power struggle on your hands. As forcefully but benignly as possible, you must convince others that your interests and their interests are interdependent.

Whatever task you take on, you will be able to work long and hard to accomplish it. You have the opportunity either to accomplish a great deal or to wreak havoc, if you are not conscious of your own energies under this transit.

Mercury in the Twelfth House

Mid-August 2023 until mid-October 2023: There are two sides of this transit. On the one hand, you may be inclined to keep your opinions to yourself and not communicate them to others, even when you should. But at the same time you may be more in touch with the hidden sides of your own personality, your unconscious drives and compulsions than at most other times. The first of these two effects may be undesirable or inappropriate, but the ability to get at hidden areas of your character can be quite useful.

The problem here is that you may feel that others will hold anything you say against you. And this may be true, especially if your words are motivated by petty ego concerns. But it is even more likely that what you don't say will be held against you, so it is very important at this time to say everything that has to be said. Eliminate all doubt and uncertainty both from other people's minds and from your own. Keeping secrets will only undermine others' confidence in you.

You may feel like going off by yourself to think or study at this time, and that should work out quite well. You may also feel like withdrawing into yourself and meditating. Mercury in this house is often a sign of greater concern with spiritual and religious matters and increased ability to deal with nonrational aspects of reality.

On another level, this is a good time for doing research by yourself. You work and think best alone at this time, and you should not be afraid to do so. If you feel that quiet and peace would be beneficial, by all means seek them out.

⌃

APPENDIX

Legend for the graphical table

In the graphical table on page two, each transit is represented by a horizontal bar. The name of the transit appears underneath each bar, along with the page number where you will find the corresponding text.

Important transits are depicted as heavy bars - whether transits are classified as important depends mainly on the constellations of your personal natal chart. If you look at the calendar scale on the upper or lower edge of the table, it will show you exactly when and for how long a certain transit is in effect; the duration of each transit is also given in words at the beginning of the corresponding paragraph in the text. The small marks on the bars indicate when a transit becomes exact, i.e. the exact time that a transiting planet crosses the relevant point in your natal chart. If you bring a ruler vertically to these marks, you can read the exact date from the calendar scale.

Please bear in mind that the duration of transits can in no way be given exactly. Especially with long-term transits, the importance of a certain issue can become noticeable a long time beforehand. Transits relating to the ascendant, midheaven or houses depend strongly on the exactness of the time of birth. If your time of birth is uncertain by more than fifteen minutes, you ought to skip the corresponding paragraphs.

For the technically minded: In determining the start of a transit, we use the entry of any planet into an orb of 1° to 3°, depending on the planet and aspect in question; the transit ends at the exit from an orb of 1° to 1°30 , again depending on the planet and aspect. Multiple exact transits are considered to be in effect for the whole period between the first entry and last exit. The index on page three refers to all transits only under those months in which they become exact, even if their duration extends over several months. ⌃

The texts and the computer program

The text of "Transits of the Year" was written by Robert Hand, one of the world's most famous and renowned astrological authors. Rob Hand lives on Cape Cod in the USA; he is especially concerned with the philosophical and historical dimensions of astrology. Originally the text was written to be used in a computer report published by Para Research Inc, later renamed to Astral Research Inc. A slightly extended version of the text has been published in the book "Planets in Transit". For use in "Transits of the Year", the original text was slightly shortened and edited. The introductory and intermittent paragraphs in italics originate from the Astrodienst team.

The computer program for "Transits of the Year" was created by Alois Treindl, director of Astrodienst Zürich. It is written in Prolog and C and uses concepts of expert systems and artificial intelligence to choose and evaluate the transits to the individual birth chart.

"Transits of the Year" does not deal with all the transits occurring during a year; rather, the most important ones - depending on the respective natal chart - are chosen and interpreted. Also, interpretation of certain transits may vary according to the age of the person in question and the presence or absence of certain factors in the natal chart; interpretation may also depend on other transits in operation at the time. ⌃

Further reading

The "Personal Horoscope Calendar" offers you interpretations for each day of any given year, again using individual transits and the text material written by Robert Hand. In contrast to the "Transits of the Year", all transits of the swift moving planets and the transits of Chiron are considered. An included complete ephemeris of the respective period may be especially interesting for astrologers. A sample copy for one month is also available. (These new reports may not yet be available at all distributors in countries other than Switzerland).

In order to arrive at your own transit interpretation, you may find the following books helpful:

"Planets in Transit", by Robert Hand. This book provided the text basis for "Transits of the Year" and lends itself especially well to studying on your own.

"Transits, The Time Of Your Life", by Betty Lundsted. This book discusses only the transits of the slow moving planets and of Mars.