Transit meanings
Aspects that planets in the sky make to your natal planets: what does transiting Saturn square natal Sun mean?
Transits are the current positions of the planets measured against your birth chart. Your natal chart stays fixed for life, but the sky keeps moving, and whenever a moving planet reaches a sensitive point in your chart, the themes of both are activated. Transits are the main tool astrologers use for timing: they show when, not only what.
- Transit Saturn conjunct natal SunBeginnings, intensification.
- Transit Saturn sextile natal SunOpportunity, small steps.
- Transit Saturn square natal SunFriction, forced movement.
- Transit Saturn trine natal SunFlow, ease.
- Transit Saturn opposite natal SunConfrontation, search for balance.
- Transit Saturn conjunct natal MoonBeginnings, intensification.
- Transit Saturn sextile natal MoonOpportunity, small steps.
- Transit Saturn square natal MoonFriction, forced movement.
- Transit Saturn trine natal MoonFlow, ease.
- Transit Saturn opposite natal MoonConfrontation, search for balance.
- Transit Saturn conjunct natal MercuryBeginnings, intensification.
- Transit Saturn sextile natal MercuryOpportunity, small steps.
- Transit Saturn square natal MercuryFriction, forced movement.
- Transit Saturn trine natal MercuryFlow, ease.
- Transit Saturn opposite natal MercuryConfrontation, search for balance.
- Transit Saturn conjunct natal VenusBeginnings, intensification.
- Transit Saturn sextile natal VenusOpportunity, small steps.
- Transit Saturn square natal VenusFriction, forced movement.
- Transit Saturn trine natal VenusFlow, ease.
- Transit Saturn opposite natal VenusConfrontation, search for balance.
- Transit Saturn conjunct natal MarsBeginnings, intensification.
- Transit Saturn sextile natal MarsOpportunity, small steps.
- Transit Saturn square natal MarsFriction, forced movement.
- Transit Saturn trine natal MarsFlow, ease.
- Transit Saturn opposite natal MarsConfrontation, search for balance.
- Transit Saturn conjunct natal JupiterBeginnings, intensification.
- Transit Saturn sextile natal JupiterOpportunity, small steps.
- Transit Saturn square natal JupiterFriction, forced movement.
- Transit Saturn trine natal JupiterFlow, ease.
- Transit Saturn opposite natal JupiterConfrontation, search for balance.
- Transit Saturn conjunct natal SaturnBeginnings, intensification.
- Transit Saturn sextile natal SaturnOpportunity, small steps.
- Transit Saturn square natal SaturnFriction, forced movement.
- Transit Saturn trine natal SaturnFlow, ease.
- Transit Saturn opposite natal SaturnConfrontation, search for balance.
- Transit Saturn conjunct natal UranusBeginnings, intensification.
- Transit Saturn sextile natal UranusOpportunity, small steps.
- Transit Saturn square natal UranusFriction, forced movement.
- Transit Saturn trine natal UranusFlow, ease.
- Transit Saturn opposite natal UranusConfrontation, search for balance.
- Transit Saturn conjunct natal NeptuneBeginnings, intensification.
- Transit Saturn sextile natal NeptuneOpportunity, small steps.
- Transit Saturn square natal NeptuneFriction, forced movement.
- Transit Saturn trine natal NeptuneFlow, ease.
- Transit Saturn opposite natal NeptuneConfrontation, search for balance.
- Transit Saturn conjunct natal PlutoBeginnings, intensification.
- Transit Saturn sextile natal PlutoOpportunity, small steps.
- Transit Saturn square natal PlutoFriction, forced movement.
- Transit Saturn trine natal PlutoFlow, ease.
- Transit Saturn opposite natal PlutoConfrontation, search for balance.
- Transit Saturn conjunct natal AscendantBeginnings, intensification.
- Transit Saturn sextile natal AscendantOpportunity, small steps.
- Transit Saturn square natal AscendantFriction, forced movement.
- Transit Saturn trine natal AscendantFlow, ease.
- Transit Saturn opposite natal AscendantConfrontation, search for balance.
- Transit Saturn conjunct natal MidheavenBeginnings, intensification.
- Transit Saturn sextile natal MidheavenOpportunity, small steps.
- Transit Saturn square natal MidheavenFriction, forced movement.
- Transit Saturn trine natal MidheavenFlow, ease.
- Transit Saturn opposite natal MidheavenConfrontation, search for balance.
Fast and slow transits
The speed of the transiting planet decides how much weight a transit carries. The Moon crosses your whole chart in about four weeks, so its transits colour a mood for a few hours. The Sun, Mercury, Venus and Mars move fast enough to mark days or weeks. Jupiter and Saturn stay with one point for months, and Uranus, Neptune and Pluto can work on the same degree for a year or more. Because of retrograde motion, slow planets often touch the same point three times: once direct, once retrograde, and once direct again. The first contact raises the topic, the second revisits it, the third settles it.
Two kinds of transit meanings
- Transits to natal planets and angles. A transiting Saturn square your Sun tests your direction and asks for more effort and realism. A transiting Pluto conjunct your Ascendant is a slow, deep change in how you show up and how others see you.
- Transits through houses. As a planet moves through one of your houses, it focuses attention on that area of life. Jupiter transiting your 10th house is a classic window for career growth and visibility.
House rulers are activated by transits too: when a slow planet aspects the ruler of a house, that house becomes the subject of the period, as the house rulers guide explains.
Reading a transit well
A transit never creates something that is not already in the chart; it activates what is there. Start with the natal meaning of the planet being touched, then add the transiting planet’s theme and the aspect type, using the same logic as the aspect notes in all meanings. Hard aspects push for change, soft aspects open doors that still need to be walked through. Look at several transits together, since the overall weather matters more than any single hit.
Cycles and calendars
Some transits form life-long cycles: the Saturn return around 29 and 58, and the Jupiter return about every 12 years. To see your own transits ordered by date, use the personal transit calendar; for today’s planetary positions, see the sky today. The planets guide explains each planet’s speed and character, and the blog has a practical guide to tracking transits.