Conscious Transits: living with purpose

As an astrologer, I find the study of this subject comes into its own when experienced in real life rather than just absorbed from a text book.

One of the things I dislike about astrology is actually down to what I call the ‘negativity’ of many practitioners who warn their clients of tough times to come. YES, life has tough times, no doubt. There can’t be a person walking this Earth who hasn’t had several times in their life which weren’t testing in some way. I also believe that we create our own reality, so if we ‘expect’ shit to come flying our way then that is what we’ll see. If, however, like looking at the weather forecast, we can understand the cycles of our lives we then have a better way of moving through life.

Let’s look at it this way: My county of Cumbria has recently experienced a huge amount of flooding. When the police say “don’t travel unless it’s an emergency” there’s a good reason for it. Flood water is dirty, you can’t always judge how deep it is and what may be in it, and you are risking your life by driving or walking through it. Common sense would say to stay out of those waters, but you know, there are always people who think they can take their car through rising waters and not be affected.

If the forecast was for a 32 degree Celsius day, there’s only one place you’d find me: soaking up every drop of sunshine in my garden. It wouldn’t make sense to go out sunbathing today: there’s no sunshine and it’s about two degrees outside. Now, I could go outside and get fresh air, and take a long walk through the woods, but I certainly wouldn’t be going out in a bikini. More likely it’d be thermal underwear and gloves and thick woolly socks.

Astrology helps us to understand the weather of our lives, and what our soul is calling us to explore.

Many astrologers get twitchy when they see aspects in a chart or by transit of squares and oppositions, but for me they mean ‘action’. Time to move, time to do something, or a time to evaluate priorities and seek balance. Trines and sextiles are lovely, but they don’t give us the gumption to make effective change (unless we are conscious). It is when we resist change, growth and transformation that our deepest pain is tampered with, and we find ourselves recoiling. There is so much freedom which comes from owning our wounds and learning from them. I look back at different times of my life and think “If only I had chosen to react differently” or “what was I thinking?”. Time (Saturn) is an amazing teacher, if we let it be.

As astrologers, do we do our clients any good by prophesising misery? I don’t believe so. Now, I’m the first person who would let a client know if there was a ‘heavy’ transit coming up, but I always do so with the suggestion of how to best move through it, and how to do so consciously. And therein lies the secret to using astrology practically in your life.

Riding the storm

For example, I’m currently experiencing what most astrologers would call one of the most profound transits (Saturn just crossed over my ascendant) …a time of heavy responsibility, loneliness, and well, frankly, most of the stuff you’d read about this transit is pretty much doom and gloom.

Knowing this transit was coming up made me really look inside. My goal is always to grow consciously, and question myself, my life, my beliefs and so on. I also love the energy of the planet Saturn (it rules my zodiac sign of Capricorn), so I wasn’t going to be intimidated by other people’s experiences of this transit.

I trusted that, as Saturn brings us rewards for how we’ve worked in the past (some call it karma), all would be well in my world. Saturn, as an archetype, is also about time, aging, the wise crone, later life, construction, rewards, discipline, boundaries and so on. I had already amped up my exercise routine with 8am one-hour swim sessions plus aquafit classes, a dynamic control & stretch class, and gym. To be clear, I am NOT someone who is into exercise and am definitely not a gym bunny! My dedication to this exercise routine is an example of Saturnian discipline. We live in a culture which teaches us discipline is external (coming via parents, teachers, government or church guidance/control). True discipline is always internal.

The ascendant marks the doorway (threshold) to the first house of the natal chart which governs, amongst other things, our identity, the face we show to the world, our sense of self, the physical body. So, I knew: Saturn would be having a conversation with me about ‘who I was’. The day before Saturn fully conjuncted my ascendant (also affirming that my birth time is, indeed, correct), I received amazing, life-changing news that does indeed change how I now see myself (and how others will see me). (watch this space for more info)

Saturn will retrograde and come back to this place in my chart in late Summer/early Autumn, a time when my younger daughter leaves home for university. Again, Saturn will be asking who I am now that my daughters are adults weaving their way in the world.

Interestingly, as Saturn walks through the threshold (doorway) of my chart, I am completing my novel, Behind Closed Doors, for publication. (My ascendant is Sagittarius, a sign associated with publishing.)

Of course, there are always several transits going on at any one time. Understanding their themes, their archetypes, their voices, their language, and how they can inspire us to live more fully, to be alive, to be conscious, and to let go of all the crap in our lives, is liberating in many ways.

I believe, as humans, we are adaptable and able to create soul-satisfying lives…but this only happens when we step out of victim mode and become conscious creators. Understanding our transits and making the best use of them is a great way to get into the habit of living from the heart.

If you’d like to book a one-hour astrology reading with me (available in person in Cumbria or by Skype worldwide), you can book here: https://veronikarobinson.com/astrologer/

I also offer a ten-week astro-mentoring programme which is particularly helpful for spending more time looking at your transits. It consists of 10 week of half-hour sessions.