In an earlier post (Part 1), I started telling the story of a woman who consulted with me in 2004, wanting to know what was in store for her in 2005 as seen through her horoscope. When you assess future possibilities, you need to start with potential: nothing comes to pass that is not promised in the natal chart. So in the first part of this story, I established in the natal horoscope some key needs that made this woman who she was by looking at the all-important trifecta of the Sun, Moon, and ascendant. Now we can move forward and see how these needs may be met by the astrological winds blowing in 2005, in the context of the life she has built for herself thus far.
Transits of Outer Planets to Angles
We want to start with the most impactful transits of all, those of the outer planets Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, to the angles of the chart. These transits can bring about major life changes all by themselves. Moreover, we are not only going to look at conjunctions, squares, and oppositions (the so-called Ptolemaic hard aspects) of the transits to the angles, but also at the 45-degree aspect, called the semi-square.
The semi-square aspect is a particularly meaningful consideration for outer planets because of the rarity with which they make aspects given their very slow rate of progress around the zodiac. For instance, since it takes Uranus 84 long years to make a full circuit of the zodiac, it will take 42 years between oppositions to any point under consideration, 21 years between squares, and over 10 years between semi-squares. Ten years is a good long time for developmental forces to gather steam, so the semi-square becomes an important marker of change. Neptune and Pluto are of course even more infrequent in their visits.
We will include the semi-square of the outer planets in the set of hard aspects. (Going forward, I will just say semisquare, without the hyphen.)
Back to the annual forecast. Since the question is to look at the trends for the entire year of 2005, we will position the transits for the middle of the year, July 1. This will serve as the focal point from which we can scan backward to January and forward to December.
So let’s start by looking at the transiting outer planets in the following transit chart of July 1, 2005:
Transiting Uranus is at 10 Pis 39. (Note that it is going retrograde, indicated by the red color of the planet’s glyph). It does not make any apparent hard aspect either the ascendant or the MC. The conjunction, opposition, and square are easy to eyeball, and we see none of these. The semisquare is a little harder to see. Advancing from 10 Pis 39 by 45 degrees would give 25 Ari 39, well short of the ascendant. (To compute this, start with 10 Pisces, add 20 to advance to Aries, then another 25 in Aries, and finally add in the 39 minutes.) Retreating from 10 Pis 39 by 45 degrees would give 25 Cap 39, again well short of the MC. (Go back 10 degrees in Pisces to get to Aquarius, then 30 degrees to get to Capricorn, then 5 degrees to get to get to 25 Cap, and finally add in the 39 minutes.)
Transiting Neptune is at degree 17 Aqu 09 going retrograde. It is not making a conjunction, square, or opposition to the angles. Clearly, it is not 45 degrees from the MC, and is well over 45 degrees from the ascendant. So no hard aspect of Neptune to the angles.
Transiting Pluto is at 22 Sag 44, also going retrograde. It is not making a hard aspect to the ascendant-descendant axis. Also, it is not conjunct, opposite, or square the MC. Let’s check for the semisquare. Advancing Pluto by 45 degrees would put it at 7 Aqu 44. This gets it to less than 2 degrees shy of the MC, 1 degree and 31 minutes to be exact. If we use a 1 degree separation as an active orb of impact, then Pluto is within a half degree of being activated. In other words, if Pluto were at 23 Sag 15, it would be within 1 degree of an exact semisquare to the MC. We get the feeling a thrust for power and prominence (Pluto) in career and status (MC) is going to show up in 2005.
Transits of Saturn and Jupiter to Angles
Now that we focused on the MC, let’s see if either Saturn or Jupiter will activate the MC during 2005. We look for this because although outer planets can bring changes all by themselves, support from Jupiter will magnify the change even more, and support from Saturn will provide the energy to strategize so you can make the most of the change. Unlike with the outer planets, though, we will only look for the Ptolemaic hard aspects of conjunction, opposition, and square. We see that transiting Jupiter is not aspecting any of the angles in this way. But transiting Saturn at 28 Can 05 is approaching the IC at 9 Leo 15. This is on July 1, 2005. Question is, will it conjunct the IC before the year is done? We can find out by looking at the monthly ephemeris for 2005 (which lists the positions of the planets Mars through Pluto for the 1st of every month in a given year):
Looking down the Saturn column, we see an exact conjunction of Saturn to the IC happening in October 2005. Also, going back to the Pluto-MC semisquare, we saw that it would be within 1 degree (the activation zone) of an exact aspect when Pluto is at 23 Sag 15 – this will have happen in February, June, and December of 2005.
What we have gathered so far is that 2005 is going to be a highly impactful year for career (MC) and home (IC) issues. Astrologers treat the MC-IC as one axis because what the home and career are two sides of the same coin: a conjunction to the IC is an opposition to the MC. Think work/life balance!
Where do we go from here? From part 1, we are informed that this woman discovered an interest in alternative healing which soon became a passionate hobby. She educated herself in this new field, and obtained professional certifications to practice and teach. She was now trying to build a career as a practitioner and teacher in this field. The Pluto and Saturn transit markers are foreshadowing a breakthrough. What she needs is to make contacts in the field that can help her launch a professional practice. Is there promise shown in this area in 2005? We’ll see what we can find, in the next post.