Transits: how the sky now meets your chart

Your chart is fixed, the sky keeps moving

Your birth chart is a snapshot. But the planets carry on moving, and as they pass over important points in your chart, astrologers say they “trigger” them. These moving planets are called transits.

Fast and slow transits

• The Moon changes sign every couple of days and colours your mood for a day or two.
• The Sun, Mercury, Venus and Mars bring themes that last days or weeks, such as the Sun returning to its birth place on your birthday.
• Jupiter and Saturn bring chapters of a year or two, like the famous Saturn return around age 29.
• Uranus, Neptune and Pluto bring the great, slow changes of a lifetime.

Reading a transit

Use the same recipe as for a birth chart: the transiting planet (what), the aspect it makes (how) and the house or planet it touches (where). For example, Jupiter crossing your tenth house can mean a year of opportunity in your career.

A note of caution

Transits describe weather, not destiny. Starlight’s Sky Now page, coming soon, will show where the planets are today, so you can see the weather for yourself and decide what it means for you.