As the planets slowly move through the zodiac each day, they transit the different houses of your natal horoscope and make different aspects with the positions of your natal planets. These  transiting planets excite the latent potentials promised by your natal horoscope, and spark the behavior and events which then become a part of your day by day experience.

The effect of a transiting planet depends upon where it is, with respect to the planets and houses of your natal horoscope. The day-to-day changes in your spirit depend on the transits of the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars. their transits throughout the aspects are quantified in days and weeks. The outer planets–Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto–are important for the long term results in your life, measured in years and decades. The duration of a transit effect also hinges upon whether the transiting planet is in retrograde motion on your date of interest.

Retrograde planets may rest in retrograde from twenty-one days to five months (for Mercury and  Pluto respectively). The effect of a planet’s transit throughout a natal house are felt over the length of its stay in that house. However the duration of the effect of a transiting aspect may be somewhat shorter that the duration of the planet’s stay in each sky placement (1/3 sign). For example, the effect of a transiting sun is most powerfully felt and experienced over a three-day period within its ten-day stay in one sky positioning. The effect will be felt to a lesser extent on the other days of that sky position. It all depends upon how closely the aspect falls within its orb during the time it is in each sky placement.

Retrograde Motion
If you were sitting in a train beside another train in a train station, you may see the  other train begin to move backward. However, you won’t know if that train is moving backward or yours is forward-moving, specially if your train moves off smoothly and slowly. In the aforementioned way,  the apparent movement between the earth and its sister planets makes it seem that the other planets  are moving backward around the zodiac. Actually the planets all move around the zodiac in the same direction at all times. This apparent backward motion of the planets is called “retrograde” motion. It occurs in several stages. First the planet seems to stalemate, then it backs up through the signs, stands still again, and then resumes its procession. The Sun and Moon are never in retrogressive motion. The amount of time that a planet spends in retrograde motion hinges on the planet’s orbit, varying from about twenty-two days for nearby Mercury to about 160 days for distant Pluto.  A common misconception is that a retrograde planet  means something unpleasant . It’s easy to see why. A retrograde planet protracts the influence of that planet in its sign and house of a horoscope. If that influence happens to be an unpleasant one, the prolonged unpleasantness will be blamed on that retrograde condition. In all fairness, if a retrograde planet is producing pleasing circumstances, that too will be prolonged by the retrograde planet

Transits of the Sun:
The Sun is the source of all energies. These energies provoke the activities of the houses occupied by the transiting Sun and reinforce or weaken the planetary results, depending on the Sun’s aspect to the natal planet. When the Sun transits an inner planet, it may trigger a dormant aspect between that inner planet and a slower moving outer planet. If a planet is being transited by another planet when it’s being transited by the Sun, the effect of the transit is beefed up.

Transits of the Moon:
The Moon spends only about two and a half days in a natal house. This means that its effects take place so quickly that you feel them more as involuntary urges and impulses than conscious reactions  to situations. The effects of the transiting Moon, as it makes aspects with your natal planet positions, are  often felt for only a matter of hours. Irrespective of whether you are consciously aware of them, you’ll feel the effects of the Moon.

Transits of the Planet Mercury:
Mercury spends about a week in each natal house. During that time it affects your mental outlook, communications with others, and urges to take trips. When Mercury is in retrograde motion during its transit it may preface delays in the affairs under its influence.

Transits of the Planet Venus:
Venus spends about three weeks in each natal house. Venus is the planet of love and tangible pleasures, so its transits bring different degrees of enjoyment. The effects are felt as subjective experiences rather than as impulses to action. Transiting Venus is retrograde for about one and a half months annually. During that time the affairs affected by Venus may be slowed down or postponed.

Transits of the Planet Mars:
Mars spends about two months in each natal house. Mars provides you with the energies needed to assert yourself in the pursuit of your needs and desires. Transiting Mars is retrograde for about three months every year. During that time you may undergo reversals or delays in the affairs affected by Mars at that time.

For more detail, obtain a Personal Natal Report

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