Transit Overview
Transit Overview
Transits show how current planetary positions activate your natal chart. Track outer planet cycles for major life themes.
🧭 Construction & Method
Transits compare the current sky (positions for the moment in question) with the natal chart. The arithmetic is the aspect test applied to transiting longitude vs. natal longitude. Key cycle lengths (sidereal periods): Jupiter 11.86 y, Saturn 29.46 y, Uranus 84.02 y, Neptune 164.8 y, Pluto 247.9 y; lunar nodes 18.6 y; Chiron ≈ 50.6 y. Typical life milestones follow from these: first Saturn return ≈ age 29–30, Uranus opposition ≈ 40–42, Chiron return ≈ 50, second Saturn return ≈ 58–59.
Key factors
- Outer-planet transits (Saturn–Pluto) to luminaries, angles and chart ruler
- Returns (Jupiter, Saturn, nodal) and half-returns (oppositions)
- Stations within 1° of a natal point
- Eclipses within ≈ 3° of natal points or angles
- Lunations (new/full Moons) for short-term timing
📐 Arith(m)etic Worksheet
Following the book’s method — “pull three datasets from the catalog” (body, aspect, body) and combine them with sign and house — record each contact as:
| a (body 1) | 1 (sign of a) | house of a | aspect (operator) | b (body 2) | 2 (sign of b) | house of b | orb | applying/separating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| … | … | … | … | … | … | … | … | … |
Then read: (a + 1)^house(a) × (b + 2)^house(b) = interpretation — i.e., body-in-sign, coloured by house, joined by the aspect’s quality. In Transits work the bodies come from the moving chart (progressed/transiting) and the natal chart.
Approaches
- Technical / Comprehensive
- Emotional
- Spiritual
- Soul-Path
- Step-by-step: Transit Chart Analysis Guidelines
Sources (method)
- NASA NSSDCA Planetary Fact Sheet (D. R. Williams): https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/
- NASA/JPL Small-Body Database (SBDB) API, osculating heliocentric elements and discovery circumstances, queried 2026-11-06: https://ssd-api.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.api
- Chris Brennan, Hellenistic Astrology: The Study of Fate and Fortune (Amor Fati, 2017) — house names, planetary joys, lots, sect
- Mikah Smith, Astrology Arith(m)etic — The Building Blocks of Astrology (Schizo Studios EPUB, 2025-12-31), vault copy: Astrology Arith(m)etic - Book Text