Using Astrology to Navigate Uncertainty in Life

...which is really about learning to remain present

On a Monday morning last month I got sudden news that my uncle had very aggressive, late stage cancer. By Thursday afternoon of that same week, I was saying final goodbyes as he passed away. His illness and subsequent passing came out of nowhere, and I was thrown off guard by how intense the emotions I experienced were. Even though I know astrology and can see how these bigger chapters in the future might unfold, this major event took me by surprise and has since shifted the way I view my life. It showed me that I actually don’t have a lot of control over what will happen tomorrow, much less six months or a year from now. You can have a plan and think you know what might occur, but you will never know exactly what it will look like until that time is here.

It’s so easy to get caught up in waiting for better astrology to happen, and it can also be tempting to try to forecast what might happen over the next few years based on where the planets are positioned. Thinking too much about the past or future isn’t super helpful though, and maybe a better approach if you find yourself feeling anxious could be to step back and consider what the current moment is asking of you. How can you lean into the energy that a specific planet or house is presenting to you at this moment in time in your chart? By shifting your attention back to the now, you may start to feel more grounded.

In this newsletter, I wanted to go over some key words associated with each planet and then some themes associated with each house, so you can see how to work with those energies in a more productive way. You can take the energy presented by these planets and apply them to whatever house in your chart they might be transiting, or even to another planet they may be aspecting through transit.

To pull up a transit chart, I love using this website.

And I’ve linked more articles below on learning transits that you might enjoy in case you missed! I also have a full course on the foundations of transits which can be found here.

Tips for Interpreting Transits

Transits for When You Might Feel Lost, in a Rut, or Stuck in Comparison Mode

Timing Transits

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Planets

Sun: coming more into yourself and your own identity, building self confidence, realizing personal goals, tapping into new interests, overall important self discovery

Moon: better understanding your emotions, making sense of the past and recognizing its influence on you today, making mental health a bigger priority, taking on responsibilities at home or experiencing greater activity at home or with family, considering where you want to live or what you want your family relationships to look like, finding new ways to nurture both yourself and others

Mercury: finding new areas to direct your mental energy, uncovering different topics that you’re interested in learning about, improving upon both your written and spoken communication skills, multitasking or challenging yourself with new skills or subjects

Mars: considering what motivates you, learning to speak up and be more assertive, working on approaching conflict in a healthier way, finding ways to let off energy or be more active

Venus: reflecting on how you can achieve more balance in your life, focusing on your personal creativity or hobbies that are of interest, improving upon your relationship skills, thinking carefully about what you value spending money on, not being afraid to treat yourself and indulge a little

Jupiter: looking at where you are moving past limiting beliefs, thinking about what you want to learn about in depth, or focusing on developing a more spiritual outlook on life, considering where you can continue to educate yourself or gain other experiences through travel, teaching, or writing. How can you keep growing and not keep yourself small in an area?

Saturn: reflecting on where you might set up better structures or not be so scared to take on additional responsibilities or commitments, facing the reality of an area of your life and putting in hard work in the moment that will pay off in the long term, gaining a mastery over practical tasks in an area

Uranus: embracing change and the unexpected, experiencing a series of fast paced shifts in an area of your life, breaking out of the traditional way of doing things and being more independent and true to your unique self, also finding greater flexibility or freedom

Neptune: using your sensitivities to your advantage, leaning into spirituality or developing your intuition more, dissolving structures or mindsets that don’t work anymore, opening yourself up to having greater compassion for others

Pluto: undergoing transformation and shedding, feeling like you’re letting go of an old version of yourself in an area as you step into newfound personal power, wanting to understand the underlying motivations behind your own behaviors or wanting to do deep research into a particular subject

Let’s now see how you can apply these planetary energies to houses that they might be activating in your chart. I’ve categorized houses by shared themes to make it a bit more cohesive.

Houses

Relationship houses: Times when relationships of all types will be a greater focus are when transits occur to the 3rd, 7th or 11th houses. You are being asked to establish a greater sense of community for yourself, form new friendships, or strengthen existing ones. You could also add in transits to the 1st house for focusing on one-on-one relationships, since the 1st falls opposite to the 7th. These are times to say yes to social opportunities, dating, or just putting yourself out there a bit more with other people.

Career and work oriented houses: Work becomes a bigger focus with transits to the 2nd, 6th, and 10th houses. There are often bigger opportunities that pop up in your career, or you may feel busier in your role at work. You may also want to change up your approach to your job and your long term goals, or you’re getting clear on what type of work holds a deeper meaning to you, as well as how you might make more money for yourself. It may be a tough transition as you try to figure these things out. You can add in the 8th house too for times when finances will be a bigger theme.

Health and routine related houses: Transits to the 6th and 12th houses are very tied in with both mental and physical health. They have you reassessing your relationship to work, and you may need to slow down and reflect on how you can best manage your time. Transits to either of these houses ask you to find a better balance in how you’re going about your day. You may need to take better care of both your mind and body during these times, so cutting out unhealthy habits, going to therapy/alternative healing, or changing up how you eat or exercise may be necessary.

Creativity focused houses: The 1st and the 5th house share similar themes of creativity and experimenting with different ways of expressing yourself. Transits to these houses are times when you may feel more free to be you, and you could not care as much about what other people think. You might be developing new interests and hobbies of your own, simply because these things bring you joy. And any learning that goes on under these transits is helping you to step into a new sense of self.

Mental health and spirituality houses: Three houses stand out as being times of feeling more introverted, where most of the work is going on behind the scenes, internally. These are the 4th, 8th, and 12th houses. Transits to these houses have a lot to do with being of service to others and opening yourself up to having greater compassion for people. Doing important inner work and healing often pops up during these periods, and you’re usually wanting to improve upon certain reactions or behaviors, or you may be taking a closer look at the past to understand where you are now. I would also add in the 9th specifically for spirituality, such as wanting to deepen your spiritual studies or find a greater purpose for yourself.

Learning and communication oriented houses: Transits to the 3rd and 9th emphasize learning, whether that’s super formal education like enrolling in school, or if its simply reading and research you’re doing on your own time. You’re also wanting to improve upon how you communicate to people and translate your ideas and knowledge in a way that makes sense. You may be asked to figure out new ways of sharing your thoughts through writing, teaching, or speaking work.

Home and family parts of the chart: While transits to 4th house are the primary ones that have to do with moving or seeing other significant developments happen with home and family, the 3rd, 5th and 10th can be relevant too. The 10th house can be about taking on greater responsibilities at home and stepping into more of a leadership role in the family, like becoming a parent for instance. Meanwhile, transits to the 3rd house may make the relationship you have with your siblings (if you have) more important for a period of time. And then when the 5th house is activated, it can point to pregnancy or seeing shifts in the relationship you have with your own children.

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Embracing the qualities of certain planets and houses is easier said than done, and there will be moments when transits to your chart are hard. For instance, maybe you’re a Capricorn rising, and you currently have Saturn in Aries entering your 4th house. You may experience family related tension and stress, or the process of moving or home renovation may be taking forever and require a lot more time and effort than you had anticipated. A way to work with this may be to lean into the productive qualities of both Saturn and the 4th house - how are you laying down new foundations for your home life that will serve you in years to come? How might family, whether that’s given or chosen family, be teaching you important lessons about yourself? Also how might you take on a leadership role at home and be more in charge there? I have found in recent years that with difficult family relationships, sometimes you have to initiate the change you wish to see and others will follow your lead.

To contrast, maybe you’re a Leo rising, and Pluto transiting Aquarius is shifting into your 7th house. You might be worried about what will happen in your relationships over the coming years. Looking at Pluto and both the 7th house through a different lens could help you to see how some of your relationships may need to be reevaluated, or maybe there’s a way you’ve been approaching relationships that isn’t working for you anymore, and you’re being asked to transform those mindsets or behaviors. Letting go of controlling or obsessive tendencies and learning how to be more open and trusting with people may be a theme, or you might be recognizing that you have the power to choose the people with whom you associate.

There are always two sides to every transit, and it’s up to you in how you want it to go. You can either remain present with that energy and work on incorporating it into your life, or you can avoid it and get frustrated. It’s also important to remember that every phase in life is temporary so lean into it for now, knowing that the moment will not last forever. You are always growing into the potential that your birth chart represents.

Going back to the family event that I mentioned at the start, this death was very symbolic of Jupiter in my 12th house, which is a transit that can amplify emotions and often brings about loss or an ending. And though this difficult event happened, it also had a positive effect of opening me up to having greater empathy for people, and it made family and close relationships feel much more important. Before this transit happened, I had been thinking about how my life would get much better in a year or two from now, when the North Node finally moved out of the heavy 8th house into the more social 7th, and Jupiter at last shifted from the mental health focused 12th to the more public facing 1st. The emotional intensity of the combined 12th and 8th house transits was not something I had been looking forward to, but now I see the beauty in developing a more compassionate way of living.

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Book Recs

For anyone going through something difficult or unexpected at the moment, or if you’re just wanting to feel more present in your everyday life, below are some books that have helped me in recent years. Reading and learning is always what I return to when life feels challenging.

Journey of Souls by Michael Newton: One of my favorite books - I read this for the first time in 2018, and just reread it the other week. The author does past life regressions with his clients, but then also takes them past their death in their last lives to when they reenter the spirit world and what that looks like. Fascinating and comforting at the same time.

Life After Life by Raymond Moody: I guess it’s my Moon and Venus in the 8th house, but I feel a lot calmer when I’m reading books about death. This book recounts near death experiences, and I think the author was a pioneer in this field. This was published in 1975, before near death experiences were accepted more widely.

Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change by Pema Chödrön: I love this author, who is also a renowned Buddhist teacher. This book is all about how we’re unhappy because we’re too focused on ourselves, and that we need to reconnect with everyone else and recognize how similar we all are. It also helps you to be present with your emotions. I’ve read several of the author’s books, so three other ones I recommend checking out would be When Things Fall Apart, The Places That Scare You, and How We Live is How We Die.

The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer: This is a book that’s great to read one chapter of in the morning each day. It helps you notice where you’re limiting yourself and helps you to achieve greater inner peace and detach from the constant running commentary happening in your mind. I read this a couple of years ago, but think it’s time for a reread already.

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle: Sounds cliche to add this to the list since it is so popular, but it’s for a good reason! Really served as a reminder to always connect to the now and separate your higher self from your mind. Another book where you may only be able to read a chapter a day.

And not pictured above, but I love this book too:

Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach: This book is another comforting one, because it helps you realize that there’s actually nothing wrong with you. It’s about not being so judgmental or critical towards both yourself and other people, and it also includes great meditation practices at the end of each chapter.

Let me know if you have any other book recs in the comments below!