Astrology Articles

Transits must always be understood with reference to the birth chart they are transiting. In order to understand your Neptune transits therefore, you first need to consider your natal Neptune.

Reflect on your natal Neptune.

What sign and house is it in?What aspects does it make?What house does it co-rule?How do you feel about dreaming, escapism and mysticism?How good are you at letting go, relinquishing control and making necessary sacrifices?

If the answer to the last question is not very good at all, then Neptune transits may be a challenge for you. They can be particularly difficult to those with strong Saturn/Capricorn or Pluto/Scorpio emphases, as people with these planets and signs strong in their charts have a reputation for wishing to tightly control their lives.

Neptune though has its own wisdom and purpose. It is the planet that helps us to appreciate the fantastic side of life. It is associated with the 'unreal' relative to everyday affairs. It symbolises a reality that is beyond this world.

Having a Neptune transit may feel as though a fog has descended on certain areas of your life. Things seem to slip in and out of a mist and you are unable to grasp firmly where things are going or what you should do next. Neptunian transits are famed for their confusing quality. Everyday reality blurs under Neptune's deceptive haze and we are lost in the mist. When the fog clears, we realise that we have undergone an experience of sacrifice, and that certain elements of our lives or attitudes must now be fully released.

Neptune is also the planet of dreams, of glamour. A Neptune transit may therefore be a very exciting, romantic time, as we are overtaken by the rose-coloured glasses we may wear during this period. Neptune is also very inspirational, and creative work or bringing the divine into the area of life that is implicated, can be a very positive way of responding to a Neptune transit.

To some extent Neptune is always about surrender. During a major Neptune transit, the cosmos says let go, release your control here and let what needs to go, go.

Neptune to the Sun can feel as though one's life has capsized. We are all at sea, with no sense of direction. All seems confused and mysterious. Now might be the time to simply drift along for a while and see where life takes you. It would however also be a good time to uncover the spiritual side of your life purpose, to bring more inspiration into your vocation.

To the Moon a Neptune transit encourages greater sensitivity and emotionalism. We may be particularly touched by beautiful music or poetry during this time. It can also however be a period when family or domestic situations dissolve in some sense. A client of mine recently experience transiting Neptune squaring her Moon which is placed in the natal 7th house. During this period her ex-husband became very ill and passed away.

When Neptune transited the Descendant of a client of mine by transit, she realised that her marriage was not the ideal relationship she believed it to be. It had been a union of spiritual companionship but the physical, passionate side had been neglected. The Neptune transit by conjunction covered the period when the marriage was dissolved through divorce. Happily in this case, the spiritual friendship was able to survive the divorce.

Although it is not a personal factor as such, Neptune to Saturn can be quite a destabilising transit. When these two planets meet, the unreal meets the real. Everyday structures and realities may seem to warp and shift when these two collide, especially by opposition or conjunction. When I experienced transiting Neptune opposing my natal Saturn the certainties in my life started to waver. I had to let go of control and a sense that I understood my reality. For a while, I was asked to live in an almost dreamlike world, where strange and weird occurrences were my reality!

Sometimes Neptune transits seem to slip past without our really noticing them. It is almost impossible to ignore a major transit of Saturn or Uranus - not so with Neptune. This is a slippery, subtle planet; he/she may show himself or may not. Beware its subtle deceptions but be open to inspiration and messages from the divine.

Laura Andrikopoulos is a professional astrologer from England. Visit her website http://www.starpoetry.co.uk/ for personalised reports and consultations.

This article is based on an extract from her book 'Short Guides to Serious Astrology: Transits', available from Amazon. Visit http://www.amazon.com/author/astrologer to view all Laura's books.

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Solar Return charts are fascinating. They should be read simply, but equally, they need to be constantly referenced back to the natal chart. Here I suggest the most important factors, which apply to reading any Solar Return chart.

1. Start with the Ascendant

The Ascendant shows our overall approach to the year. It is interesting to note what natal house it falls in, for this theme will be interwoven into the year in a major way. The aspects to the Ascendant are also important, particularly those that are tight. Any angular planet on the Ascendant has exceptional importance, and I will say more about this below.

2. The Chart Ruler

The Chart Ruler's sign, house and aspects are also very important, again indicative of a major theme in the year. Try to interweave this with the natal placement that this planet would fall in.

3. Other angles & angular planets

Angular planets are exceptionally important in Solar Returns. They are planets that are showing themselves as very powerful for that year. Look at what angle they are on, their sign and what houses they are ruling in the chart. This will help you assess where their main action is going to be. You should also consider the other angles and how these relate to the natal chart. A year in which the natal angles repeat is one of exceptional significance, suggesting a year that has a particularly important, perhaps destined, feel. Remember also to consider the rulers of the angles, and what they are doing in the chart.

4. Focus on the Sun

As the Solar Return chart is based around the Sun, and the Sun is in any case the centre and leader of a chart, we must pay particular attention to what it is doing in the Solar Return. Its house position is very important, as are its aspects, particularly those that are tight (within a few degrees). Its sign will of course be the same as the natal one and the aspects represent transits to the Sun on that day.

5. Look for any particularly tight aspects

List all the aspects in the Solar Return chart which are less than one degree; these are particularly important. Consider the planets involved by their Solar Return sign and house, but also where they would fall in the natal chart and indeed their original location in the natal chart.

6. Consider major Solar-Lunar phases & the Solar Return Moon generally

If there is a major phase between Sun and Moon such as a New Moon, a Full Moon or a square between them, this is also very important. It shows a critical year for relationships and for the integration of purpose with your innate way of being.

The sign, house and aspects of the Moon generally are also worth considering.

7. Look for the repetition of natal patterns

I have already suggested that the repetition of the natal angles indicates a year of major importance. This is however also the case for the repetition of key natal patterns.

8. Examine tight aspects to the natal chart

Look at tight aspects to the natal chart, within about one degree. This analysis will not just pick up transits that are currently in operation, but will pick up new factors that would not come up - for example the Solar Return angles, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars.

9. Other significant features

As always with astrology there needs to be some room for the judgment of the experienced astrologer. What else stands out from the Solar Return chart? Here you might consider particularly emphasised signs, houses or degrees or a very different mode or element balance from the natal chart, which could suggest a year when the individual will have to deal with very different energies from the ones they are used to.

Laura Andrikopoulos is a professional astrologer from England. Visit her website http://www.starpoetry.co.uk/ for personalised reports and consultations.

This article is based on an extract from her book 'Short Guides to Serious Astrology: Forecasting Your Year', available from Amazon. Visit http://www.amazon.com/author/astrologer to view all Laura's books.

View the original article here