Answers from Neith: Transits Mirroring Natal Aspects

I received a great question about transits from a reader that dovetails nicely with a discussion in the comment section on my post on Saturn+Neptune = Productive Creativity.

Julie asks: “I have a question regarding transits. What is the learning/purpose of
a transit mirroring a natal aspect? The aspects are: 1) Natal Neptune square Mars…current transit is Neptune opposing natal Mars, 2) natal Uranus conjunct Sun…current transit is Uranus opposing natal Sun and 3) Natal Saturn opposing Venus/Mercury…upcoming transit is Saturn conjunct Venus/Mercury.”

For starters, I very much like your approach to difficult transits, seeing them as learning opportunities with a purpose. Those of us who live with the outer planets (Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto) aspecting our personal planets natally often have an advantage when those same outer planets show up to bedevil us by transit because we are already familiar with their tactics.

The key to understanding the focus of a particular transit is to check to see if a natal chart pattern will be triggered. Your natal chart features a strong Jones Bucket Pattern with Saturn in Aries as the handle. Furthermore, your Saturn is the apex of a Yod with Neptune in Scorpio sextile your Virgo stellium as the base AND opposes Mercury-Venus! Thankfully, your Mars is trine Saturn and because Mars rules Aries, this trine gets bonus points.

Saturn is in its fall in pioneering Aries because Saturn’s need to proceed with caution is very foreign to this adventurous, action oriented sign. For Aries, thought is action. It is the self-starter of the zodiac and shines at getting projects up and running. For those with Saturn in Aries, one of the first steps is learning to trust initial impulses, be self-assertive and go for it.

The signs on the base of this Yod, Scorpio and Virgo, excel in working quietly and effectively in the background and they are often uncomfortable with the Aries “me first” attitude. Scorpio and Virgo are like the kids who choose to sit toward the back of class room and Aries is the one up front bouncing up and down, hand in the air saying call on me. Because Saturn subdues the natural bounciness of Aries, on the surface it would appear to work better with the base signs. However, the lesson of Saturn in Aries is to learn to dare to be as Aries as possible!

The transit pattern you are currently under is going to challenge you to be true to yourself in a deeper, more intense way than ever before. You are in the final stages of a major life cycle transit of Uranus opposing your natal Uranus and since you have a natal Sun-Uranus conjunction, you may feel more driven than ever to express your unique gifts. Don’t be surprised if you make choices that may seem out of character but are in line with your true inner being.

At this point in time, Neptune is moving towards an exact opposition to your natal Mars and triggering your natal Mars-Neptune square (this transit ends mid-March 2011). Many times Neptune can act as an energy drain one way or another, making it difficult to move forward or even able to discern your direction. With an opposition, there is a good chance it is the demands of others holding you back.

From now until mid-March when Uranus moves back into Aries, you may be caught between Neptune’s illusions and Uranus’s demands for complete autonomy. Saturn in Libra is still about a year out from conjoining your natal Venus and Mercury – one less thing to worry about.

It is the part of your life represented by your Saturn in Aries on your Imum Coli I nominate as most challenging. Please remember it is OK to assert yourself and carve out time to nurture yourself thus enabling you to have more to give back.

Going back to your question of transits mirroring natal aspects . . . as someone who has lived through those phases, the main point is paying close attention because these are times when we are given opportunities to learn who we truly are. Many of us can lose ourselves in the demands of daily life over the years and these transits are often a sharp refresher course. The greatest knowledge will come, Julie, when you look back over this period . . . right now you are probably too busy just surviving them! *grin*

**These posts are meant to give a quick and dirty response, unlike a paid report which would cover the material in much greater depth. For more information, please go to my Personal Reports