Introduction to
Transits
By
Margaret Penner Choinski
“Time has been transformed, and we have changed; it has
advanced and set us in motion, it has unveiled its face, inspiring us with
bewilderment and exhilaration.”
~
Kahil Gibran
“When making a decision of min
or importance, I have always found it advantageous to
consider all the pros and cons. In vital matters, however, such as the choice of
a mate or a profession, the decision should come from the unconscious, from
somewhere within ourselves. In the important decisions of personal life, we
should be governed, I think, by the deep inner needs of our
nature.”
~ Sigmund Freud
“Today
is your day! Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your
way.”
~ Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr.
Seuss)
Most of the work involved
in reading transits to the natal chart is done in the initial analysis of the
birth chart.
As Betty Lundsted says:
“The major problem in reading transits is that of synthesis. Two things are
being combined, for we are going to talk about what the transit is doing to the
natal chart at the same time that we discuss how the transit is setting off the
natal chart.”
[i] It is critical to get
some idea beforehand as to how the chart works. This can result in major life
themes coming out clearly, and when matched to the coming transits they can be
communicated meaningfully. This brings up the question of how, and how much, to
convey to the client about coming astrological events.
On the one hand, there
is the client with their specific concerns. These usually centre on
materialistic, yet important themes: love, money, health, children, and vocation.
On the other hand,
there are the attempts of most astrologers to place significant transits into
some sort of life-affirming context for the client’s long-term benefit. The
question becomes one of, esoteric or exoteric? How far does one go into the
realms of “spirituality?” Given that most of us have our own ideas of how
spirituality works in our lives, who are we as forecasters to say what a
particular transit “means” for another?
Liz Greene has talked about what she calls “the mystery of individual
consciousness”
[ii] where classic transit
aspects do not work out as we have learned they would, or even simply do not
appear to make any effect at all. In this case, have we overlooked something?
Not studied enough yet? Or have we over-reached in our attempts to grasp the Big
Picture, and in so doing diffused our focus to the extent that we can no longer
see the real person living their very real lives?
In my study of astrology
I’ve come across many different opinions on this subject. Eventually I decided
that the way we approach this dilemma is based on our most established beliefs
about Fate versus Free Will. Philosophically we have to stick to what we believe
to be true. We should also make our philosophy clear at the outset to anyone to
whom we give astrologically based advice.
My own approach takes
into account the client’s age, natal chart, and strength of desire to change
their lives. Yes, Jack Nicholson’s famous line, “You can’t handle the truth!”
can be safely (and silently) applied to some readings. It would also be safe to
say that many other factors come into the decision as to what level of
understanding in the client I address. There might even be moments of instinct
and intuition. What the client says and doesn’t say accounts for much of my
direction.
When talking about coming astrological events, I use the
lessons learned from readings I have received:
I heard only
what I wanted to hear.
At a later
date when the forecast difficulties began to materialize, I wanted to know more.
It was at those times that I took great inspiration from the knowledge that
a) those
times would pass,
b) the when of their ending was possible to
calculate
c) in the meantime
there were ways of looking at my difficulties which made them more
comprehensible, more infused with significance, and therefore, easier to bear.
It was with this last act that my mind was expanded: the comforting structure of
an Unknown Fate met a liberating Unknown Free Will.
Copyright: Margaret
Penner Choinski
Earth
Elephant Astrology
FOOTNOTES
[i] Lundsted,
Betty, Transits: The Time of Your Life, Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1980,
p.141
[ii] Greene, Liz,
A Psychological Approach to Transits and Progressions, article on website
of the Centre for Psychological Astrology,
www.astrologer.com July
1997