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 © Stephanie Pui-Mun Law
I totally underestimated how powerful an undertow would be created by Venus in Taurus sextile Neptune in Pisces. Venus was so peppy in Aries, she keep my Libra indolence at bay but when she slipped into sweet, laid back Taurus and joined forces with an oh so dreamy Neptune in Pisces, I got slammed.
Both these transiting planets form less than helpful aspects to my natal first house Venus in Sagittarius – Venus in Taurus is inconjunct and Neptune in Pisces is square. Whilst Neptune will be squaring my Venus for a couple of years, the full brunt of that square will most likely be felt when another planet joins forces with it to put pressure on my Venus . . . as is the case this week. Because the first house is being targeted, it is my body being affected and why all I want to do is vegetate. Hopefully the worst of this will pass fairly quickly! I have too much to do to float around in la la land.
Speaking of Neptune, I loved this post, Neptune Puts A Spell On You by Christina of The Oxford Astrologer. She makes a great point about Neptune’s ability to make us fall wildly in love with unpredictable results. All I know is when I got married I was completely bonkers in love . . . and it was when Neptune was busy squaring my natal Moon-Neptune conjunction. All I can say is I was damn lucky everything worked out as well as it has. Maybe because it is also very, very difficult to completely delude a determined Mercury-Mars conjunction in Scorpio. I can be fooled in the short term but not for long.
Let’s hope this affect starts to wear off soonest! With a Mercury Retch just around the corner I need to have my wits about me!
 © Stephanie Pui-Mun Law
The message Pluto pounded into my head over years of transits was to “mind my own business”. I discovered and rediscovered the futility of attempting to help people see the error of their ways and even though I was often correct in evaluating their situations, it didn’t make one bit of difference.
With a loaded twelfth house and a sympathetic, compassionate natal Moon-Neptune conjunction, I have always been drawn to helping those in need. The catch has to do with whether or not help will be appreciated and accepted. Helping those deep in throes of alcoholism or other addictions is next to impossible until they choose to start digging themselves out. Even then it’s a tough road.
Perhaps because both my Moon-Neptune conjunction and Sun-Chiron conjunction are in Libra, I usually have offered my help through one-on-one relationships instead of through the more classic twelfth house avenue of an institutionalized program. Whatever the case, Pluto made it very clear I needed to learn to step back and disengage after offering my two cents to friends and family. No hounding them or insisting they do it my way or anything else . . . strictly hands off. Manipulating others “for their own good” is and has been disallowed. Now I shudder when I see other people doing just that and I’m STILL not supposed to interfere. Gah.
These is one of the reasons why I only work with clients via written reports and avoid more personal contact like phone chats or using a webcam. That way the impact of my strong Scorpio Rising is subdued . . . in others words, it keeps Pluto out of it! Believe or not, I can be pretty damn convincing in person when I choose to let my Mercury/Mars/ASC run free. As I see it my job is to search out information, process it and offer my thoughts and opinions with no strings attached, thus leaving it completely up to the person receiving the info to do whatever they want with it.
Learning Pluto’s lessons is neither quick nor easy and requires a level of honesty with one’s self most of us have a hard time handling. All I can say is just do your best and don’t beat yourself up if you don’t get it right the first several times. For those with ongoing serious Pluto transits, be brave and persevere because in the end you will like the person he asks to become very much.
 © Stephanie Pui-Mun Law
One of the biggest drawbacks to checking your transits on sites like astro.com is they can only give small pieces of the puzzle. For instance, you head over to read your current transits and see a real sweetheart like Venus conjoining your Moon today. So you walk out the door knowing all will be great . . . and then your whole day goes to hell in a hand-basket. This leaves you wondering if there is anything to this astrology stuff, doesn’t it? Other people get to enjoy a Venus-Moon transit, why can’t you?
It all comes back to the natal aspects to the planet being transited. There is a world of difference between a natal Moon with lots of sextile and trines to her from other planets and a Moon under siege by harsh aspects. Someone with a Mars-Moon square is not going to be nearly as easy going as another person with Moon trine Mars. If your natal Moon is caught up in a larger pattern like a T-Square with Mars and Uranus, your normal emotional state can be described as abrupt and edgy. Yes, Venus conjoining any one of the planets comprising the T-Square will soften the edges and sweeten your temper but not nearly to the degree it would if those three planets formed a Grand Trine.
If you don’t want to get caught off guard, take some time and study your natal chart. Look for squares, oppositions and inconjuncts to the personal planets in particular. That would be the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars. Those folks with major chart patterns like T-Squares, Grand Crosses and Yods need to learn about the planets involved in those patterns to prepare for those days when transiting planets trigger the patterns. Outer planet stations (when turning retrograde or direct) can mean a transiting planet will land on one degree for weeks . . . like Saturn at 29° Libra is now. This is also a great way to learn more about your natal chart and how it works!
And that’s my astrology lesson for today! 
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Whenever one of the outer planets – Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto – transit over the Sun, it is usually a deeply transformative experience going to the very essence of who we are. Most everyone on the planet has had Saturn conjoin their Sun and there is a very good chance Uranus will conjoin your Sun at least once over the course of your life. However, Neptune and Pluto only affect about half of us because they travel so slowly. In the sixty plus years I’ve lived both Neptune and Pluto have moved through roughly six signs – Neptune traveled from Libra to Pisces and Pluto from Leo to Capricorn.
The conjunction brings all the pressure to bear on one small area, making it pretty much impossible to escape dealing with the issues of the sign and planet(s) involved. As our Sun represents the core of our being, transits by conjunction are good for learning more about how we define this identity. If the qualities of the Sun sign are obscured by other natal aspects and house placement, when one of the outer planets comes along and conjoins it, we can get a big boost in understanding who we are and what makes us tick.
Sometime between birth and age thirty, Saturn will conjoin our Sun and start teaching us about being responsible for ourselves and others. I first got this transit about the time I started school as a child . . . and is probably why I had a love-hate relationship with school from first grade through graduating high school. My mom didn’t have time to do more than wake me up and get breakfast; so I dressed myself, got what I needed for school and joined my brother and sisters at the bus stop. By the time I was around ten or so, I was also helping milk cows and do other chores before and after school. No wonder I had an active fantasy life and spent every spare moment drawing images of those fantasies during year or so Neptune in Libra spent conjunct my Sun. Neptune’s transit to my Sun affirmed my identity as an artist both in my eyes and in the eyes of my family and peers.
Uranus conjoined my Sun during my first Saturn Return and set up internal dissonance with a part of me wanting nothing more than to explore my unique individuality whilst Saturn was keeping my nose to the grindstone. Fortunately I lucked on to a temporary job working at an art gallery which I loved. Unfortunately it only lasted a year. After that Pluto started in on my Libra planets, one after another. By the time he moved over my Sun, I was living in another state and spending the better part of my time and energy working out with a personal trainer. Art moved from the center of my life to the periphery and that’s where it has stayed.
I suspect those of us who have lived through transits of all the outer planets conjunct the Sun is less than half the population at any given time. Right now there are probably more people alive who have had Pluto conjoin their Sun since Pluto has been on his fast track since he entered Pluto in Virgo in the 1960’s. He zipped through Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius but will start slowing once more when he reaches Aquarius.
What does this mean for those of us who endured these transits? For one thing we usually develop a strong sense of self as a result and are less likely to be influenced by other people’s expectations of us. Perhaps the best we can do is lead by example and live our lives with integrity. That’s what I’m shooting for anyway.
 © Stephanie Pui-Mun Law
Saturn is very much on my mind these days and I can’t help seeing life through a Saturn filter. I got to pondering transitions and how different each planet’s style of making transitions is. Uranus transitions are abrupt. One day you are living your life in one place and the next you’re packing up to move halfway across town . . . or even further. Jupiter’s transitions are usually upgrades of one kind or another because he does like the best. Pluto’s transitions always, ALWAYS, demand we completely remove something or someone from our lives before we are allowed to bring in the new. Neptune? Who knows where a Neptune transition begins or ends!
Saturn transitions usually have a definite starting point, a long middle and a clear end. We often have specific goals and tasks we need to accomplish too. When Saturn was within ten degrees of my Sun last October, I underwent a series of tests to determine my overall health and one thing I found out was my bones had started to thin. Saturn rules the skeleton and it was apparent I needed to take steps to do what I could to improve mine. However, also true to Saturn’s style, this would take time and tenacity to accomplish. Basically I need to do two things . . . make sure I take enough calcium and do exercises to stress my bones to strengthen them. Starting slowly and gradually increasing repetitions is necessary to avoid putting too much stress on tendons and ligaments. I can hear Saturn’s voice in my head telling me to do each step with care and not skip a one.
I also started very low dose estrogen therapy at the same time and here again, it’s a slow process. My doc told me it would be a year (yes, about the time Saturn enters Scorpio next fall) before I would see consistent improvement. So I will continue to revisit a variety of symptoms like hot flashes and other perimenopausal joys as those gradually taper off over the coming months.
One thing about the lessons we learn from Saturn transits is they are very effective and we often incorporate them into our lives. There are techniques I learned for maintaining health and well being I still use every day that I picked up when Saturn was in Libra and Scorpio in the 1980’s. In other words, we can build on what Saturn teaches us! Saturn is very good that way unlike Uranus and Pluto who want us to let the past go.
There are some advantages to being past my second Saturn Return and having developed a good working relationship with Saturn over the years. I know deep down if I play by his rules and acknowledge the importance of delayed gratification; I will eventually achieve my goals. I also know the importance of focusing on the next step and not looking too far ahead to avoid getting discouraged. It’s tough to do in these days of instant communication and fast forward lives but not impossible. Slow and steady . . . that’s the ticket!
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