“When will I get married?” Over the years, I have been asked this question numerous times, as in “can you look at my horoscope and tell me when.” To even consider this question seriously, I would need to know that there is a play in progress toward getting married: a marriage on the verge of being arranged (e.g. as soon as a suitor is picked from a short list!), dating someone seriously, or very much ready and committed to marrying even though there isn’t an immediate prospect on the horizon. Then I could analyze the horoscope and see if there is any indication of marriage in the near future.
The forecasting theory is this: marriage is a close partnership, so it is in the domain of the 7th house. In particular, the descendant is implicated since it is the cusp of the 7th house. And the ruler of the descendant comes into the picture as well since it has an undeniable say in the affairs of the 7th house. Add to this planets in the 7th house since they will signify the kind of partnership. And finally, Venus, since it is the planet of relationships.
Important transits mark significant events in our lives. So the transit of any of the planets from Saturn through Pluto–these being the most important–to the descendant, its ruler, or planets in the 7th house, or Venus may be considered to be markers of marriage. This is the set up that promises the event.
To seal the deal, we look for fulfillment of the promise in supporting transits from Jupiter and Mars. Jupiter, because it often features in events that are considered to be auspicious, or expanding the life perspective in some way. Mars because its sharpness focuses the timing of an event to precision. So a transit of Jupiter or Mars to any planet (especially the Sun and Moon) or angle would indicate fulfillment.
Let’s take a look. I am going to present a few examples from my consultation files, so we can see what markers show up in the marriage of regular people. (Birth data has been withheld to preserve anonymity.)
The woman in this first example got married on April 24, 1986. Here is the transit chart for the wedding date:
Promise
To Descendant: Transiting Saturn has passed an exact conjunction to the descendant (which happened in December 1985, just five months prior to the wedding).
To Descendant ruler: Jupiter is the ruler of the Sagittarius descendant, but there are no major aspects to Jupiter from any of Saturn through Pluto.
To planets in the 7th house: Transiting Uranus is within 2 degrees of an exact conjunction to the 7th house Jupiter, but Uranus moves much slower than Saturn, and the exact hit wouldn’t happen in 1986 at all.
To Venus: Transiting Saturn was exactly sextile to Venus in February 1986, and again in May 1986, so these transits bookended the wedding date.
Fulfillment
From Jupiter and Mars: Transiting Jupiter is opposite the Sun (very important, Sun is the life giver), and transiting Mars is conjunct Saturn.
This second example is of a man who got married in January 1996:
Promise
To Descendant/7th house planets: Transiting Saturn is exactly trine the descendant. Since the 7th house also holds Neptune and Mars in close proximity to the descendant, this Saturn transit is vastly more powerful: it trines Neptune at the same time, and is trine Mars (to be exact in March, under two months after the wedding.)
To Descendant ruler: Pluto is the modern ruler of the Scorpio descendant, and transiting Saturn is opposite Pluto to within a degree. Mars, already important by being in the 7th house, close to the descendant, is also the traditional ruler of Scorpio and we have seen it is being trined by Saturn.
To Venus: Transiting Jupiter was exactly trine to Venus just a few days before the wedding.
Fulfillment
From Jupiter and Mars: We just saw the Jupiter to Venus transit. Transiting Mars (once again!) is conjunct the MC (status, social standing).
The third example is of a woman who got married in Feb 2014:
Promise
To Descendant: Transiting Uranus has passed an exact conjunction to the descendant (which happened a year before, in February of 2013). Uranus almost always corresponds to sudden activity, so one explanation here is that the decision to marry was taken a year before, sometime in early-mid 2013, and the wedding date was set for a year later. Another explanation is that the birth time was later than recorded–this happens very often where the attending staff round off the birth time to the nearest hour of half hour. In this woman’s case, the birth time was exactly 18:00 which immediately raises a question of accuracy.
To Descendant ruler: Mars is the ruler Aries descendant, and it is squared almost exactly by the same Uranus.
To planets in the 7th house: The Sun is in the 7th house, but there are no transits to it from any of Saturn through Pluto.
To Venus: There are no transits to Venus from any of Saturn through Pluto.
Fulfillment
From Jupiter and Mars: Transiting Jupiter is conjunct the MC, and sextile Venus. Transiting Mars (the measurement that typically pins down the exact date) is opposite the Sun, making an exact aspect on Feb 5, just 4 days after the wedding.
The next, and last, example is of a woman who got married in July 1988:
Promise
To Descendant: Transiting Uranus and Saturn both make sextiles to the descendant. The exact sextile from Uranus was in December of the previous year, 1987, and the exact sextile from Saturn was exact in January, and would be exact again in September.
To Descendant ruler: Uranus (modern) and Saturn (traditional) are rulers of the Aquarius descendant. And they are both aspected by transiting Neptune through a sextile to Uranus (last exact hit in December 1987) and a trine to Saturn (exact in January, and then again in August-November time frame). Together, the transits to the descendant and its rulers suggests an event between January and September. On the other hand, the descendant might be a little further along, if the time were recorded as earlier than actual by 5-10 minutes. In which case, the event window would even tighter since the transit hits to the descendant would be closer to February-March of 1988.
To planets in the 7th house: There are no planets in the 7th house.
To Venus: Transiting Saturn is trine Venus, was exact in December 1987.
Fulfillment
From Jupiter and Mars: Transiting Jupiter is square the descendant, and was exact at the end of June, just days before the wedding. Transiting Mars is conjunct the Sun (once again, very significant because it is the Sun), would be exact on August 2, a couple of weeks after the wedding.
In all these examples, a promise is made through a strong transit (Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto) to the descendant. Astrologers generally only consider the “hard” aspects (conjunction, square, opposition) to be strong indicators of activity, but some of the examples show that trines and sextiles are equally significant. (In fact the promise of marriage in the last example is made exclusively through sextiles and trines.)
Secondly, in all but the first example, there is a strong transit to the descendant ruler. As for planets in the 7th house: many charts will have an empty 7th house, so you can only use transits to them when possible. This means transits to the descendant or its ruler becomes more important if the 7th house is empty. Finally, in all but the third example, there is a strong transit to Venus.
The third example is especially educative because there are no planets in the 7th house and there is no transit to Venus. So all of the promise is made by a strong transit to the descendant and its ruler. The clincher here is that the same planet, Uranus, makes contact with both the descendant and its ruler, and Uranus is especially inclined to trigger life-changing events.
The first example is even more informative because the descendant ruler is not in the picture at all, and neither are there planets in the 7th house. So the promise is made by the descendant with the sole company of Venus. And like in the third example, both of these are transited by the same planet, Saturn. In both these examples, It is almost as if the mission of the transiting planet (Uranus/Saturn) is to close the deal by influencing as many of the promise markers as possible.
For fulfillment, we see that transiting Jupiter influences either an angle, or Venus (a promise marker), or a luminary (Sun). Likewise, Mars transits an angle or a luminary except in the first example where it conjuncts Saturn right around the wedding date. If all other indicators are “on”, then the Mars transit to Saturn will trigger manifestation.
Not all marriages are shown so strongly via transits. In a future post, I will take up some examples where we will bring solar arc hits into the picture when the transits don’t quite cut it. In other words, in practice, you always want to look at strong transits to the descendant, descendant ruler, planets in the 7th house, and Venus, and bring in solar arcs only if the transits don’t paint a convincing picture.