Understanding astrology transits 101. 

Birth charts (or natal charts) are the map or blueprint of you. The snapshot of the cosmos at the exact moment and location of your birth - the energy and vibration the universe made at that very moment.

The transits are how the cosmos are eternally moving in the sky and continue to move after your moment of birth.

Using the Whole Sign house system, here’s an easy and very basic way to follow along with the transits and how they can apply to you personally. You’ll just need to know your rising sign. If you don't know your rising sign or ascendant, then find yours here. 

The Houses

The first house is your rising sign. From there, you count around the zodiacal wheel counterclockwise until you get to the twelfth and final house.

You count in order of the zodiac signs: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces

For example, if your rising sign is Taurus, then Taurus is in the first house, Gemini is in the second house, Cancer is in the third house, ... Aries is in the twelfth house.

As all of the planets move into different zodiac signs, they'll move into different houses on your birth chart.

The signs are archetypal energies (the “how” in astrology), and the houses represent different areas of life (the “where”).

Match the sign to which house it's in on your chart and use the meaning of the houses as an easy way to give you more color to how each transit may be impacting you personally.

Of course, the actual degrees will determine specific aspects and your specific planet placements along with other factors give more specific detail but this step is an easy baseline.

Where to focus?

• Transits to the angular houses (houses 1, 4, 7, & 10) and, more specifically, to the actual angles themselves (the AC, DC, IC, & MC).

• Transits to your chart ruler planet.

• Outer planet transits making strong (very close by degree) aspects to your personal planets (so transits to your natal chart from Uranus, Neptune, & Pluto).

• The eclipses and transiting lunar nodes.

The Planets as They Transit

Looking at transits, collectively or individually, should not be about obsessing over astrology or your chart. Astrology is not helpful if it’s preventing you from living freely....

The universe will serve lessons and challenges to you whether you stay home during a retrograde or postpone your wedding because of the transits or not. I wholeheartedly reject that type of astrology. The lessons and cycles will come whether you like it or not, maybe in different ways or on different days, but they’ll always come. It’s how you respond to the lessons and how you respond to life that will alter your destiny.

So this should instead help you to understand your own patterns, the collective energy, and what you can mindfully navigate through. Find more grace for yourself during challenges and get more clarity on the opportunities. And feel connected to the cycles larger than your own thoughts.

-Susan Reis / The Cyclical Seed