Dance of the Outer Planets--Transformation, Truth & Empowerment

Since I have experienced Uranus, Neptune and Pluto transits to my Sun, Moon and Rising Sign in recent years, I believe that I have become an expert on these transits.  And what I discovered revolves around the style and themes each outer planet brings through its transits to key points in a Natal Chart.  Starseeds in particular experience multiple outer planet transits to their charts that prepare them for their true life paths.  The trick is to find the silver lining and not play the role of victim.

Let's start with Uranus transits.  When Uranus opposes the Sun, our identity comes under scrutiny.  A person with this transit finds that sudden events bring upon life challenges. Though these "sudden events" came at the end of subtle and not so subtle warnings.  Uranus is a great liberator in that it blows up any weak structure or situation.  Uranus does not bode well with the energies of "should" or "have to" or common logic that brings forth lack and limitations.  In some ways, Uranus, like Pluto forces us to face our greatest fears, but it brings on those situations by increasing tension in the mind and body.  Uranus is a gate-crasher, especially as it transits in the warrior sign Aries.

So let's take a popular scenario that involves a Uranus square to the Natal Sun.  A woman marries into a respectable family, gives up her dreams and ambitions to support her husband and raise children.  She does this for years and then in midlife Uranus squares her Sun.  At first she feels unease and tension that she cannot explain. Then she meets a young man the same age as her college son.  She flirts with this young man and finds that her attraction grows until she reaches the point of leaving her marriage behind and embarking on a European tour with the young man.  People around this woman shake their heads saying that they didn't see that one coming.  Well, Uranus transits are shockers to say the least.

A Uranus opposition to the Rising Sign or First House most often brings on an identity crisis of one kind or another.  The person pits them self against an authority figure of some kind such as a boss, parent or teacher or even spouse they see as an authority in their life.  If 10th House planets are part of the configuration such as a T-Cross, then career and public image is involved.  If the 4th House is involved then the wrecking ball destroys the home life or brings sudden chaos into the domestic scene.  And if the 7th House is involved expect sudden changes with business partnerships or marriage.  The person with the transit could even find out that they prefer the same sex and leave a marriage to pursue an alternative lifestyle. Remember Uranus is ruled by Aquarius.

Uranus transits to the Moon involve emotions and often an explosion of emotions that lead to a new lifestyle or life path.  Again, these situations appear suddenly out of the blue, shocking everyone in the wake.  Bottled up emotions implode or explode like a volcano.  Someone leaves a marriage because his or her needs were never met or he or she felt suffocated in the marriage and sought liberation.  Again, this resembles a midlife crisis.  With Uranus in Aries we're witnessing many "older" women leaving stable marriages for younger men or perhaps they decide to explore their childhood dreams or act childish or immature in the eyes of others.  They decide to come first in their lives since that is an Aries trait to be number one.

Let's look at the Neptune transits now since they are receiving the least amount of attention and yet Neptune is a huge player with the transformation of the planet.  Personally, I have witnessed an increase in recreational drug use which some people wed to their spiritual practice (dubious).  I have witnessed more and not less tobacco smokers and we have witnessed the legalization of marijuana in some US States (Washington and Colorado) with I believe disastrous results. I noticed an increase in alcohol use too while riding the bus and with the growing trend of microbreweries and ale/beer served at every occasion.  Wineries are growing in popularity too.  All of this falls under Neptune in Pisces which is a double Neptune.

We have also seen the growing trend of spiritual movements many of which casts people in the roles of martyr and victim (blame the government or elite families) and people seek gurus to do all the spiritual work for them since Neptune represents escapism.  Channeling and sound healing have blossomed under this influence and we are now listening to ancient musical scales such as Solfeggio and experimenting with energy healing (also falls under Aquarius, Mercury, Uranus) with sound frequencies.

Many of these trends actually began when Neptune transited through Aquarius which focused on the neurological system and brain functions, as well as, brainwaves.  So that's the tangible side of Neptune.  The intangible side of the planet is what causes people to hook into escape into drugs, alcohol or addictions to food, music, spiritual books/teachers etc...Neptune transits frighten us because they reveal to us a new reality such as the quantum reality.  Neptune dissolves what it touches and when the things we take for granted dissolve into nothingness, this frightens us.

After I completed my Uranus and Pluto transits to my Sun and Rising Sign, Neptune hit my Saturn/Moon and has opposed my Natal Uranus.  I noticed that any situation I left was permanent and that it felt like my steps had been erased in sand. Did I dream that I lived in that apartment or that town? I already have a strong Neptune signature in my Natal Chart so I've gone used to now you see it, now you don't themes in my life.  A Neptune transit comes on so subtle that we don't recognize the losses until hindsight.  And Neptune dissolves both tangible and intangible situations.  We require the ability to forgive and feel compassion for others.  We begin to see auras, experience higher frequencies that completely alter our realities without drug use.  And maybe Neptune promotes drug use for some folks because what they really seek is heightened awareness without all the spiritual work.

Perhaps Pluto is the most popular outer planet transit described by astrologers because it is the most noticeable and most accessible transit of the three.  We compare this one to the Dark Night of the Soul or Joseph Campbell's "hero's journey".  Pluto represents the underworld of our subconscious and relates to our shadows and projections.  Pluto represents larger themes such as death, rebirth, sex, psychology, the subconscious mind, soul mates, and soul journeys.  Pluto leaves no prisoners and has a ruthless reputation. Pluto also has a secretive side and rules all those uncivilized urges that no one wants to talk about in polite company. And of the three outer planet transits we suffer most heavily under a Pluto transit to the Sun, Moon or Rising Sign.

Now, many of us have forgotten Pluto's transits through Sagittarius along with Uranus transit in Pisces which affected people with Mutable Suns, Moons or Rising Signs.  People especially born in the 1960s with Uranus and Pluto in Virgo, Saturn in Pisces and Chiron in Pisces felt the brunt of the outer planet transits in Mutable Signs.  Yet, we never experienced a Uranus-Pluto Square during those transits.  Nor did we experience the pushy Cardinal energies which we now experience with Pluto in Capricorn and Uranus in Aries--a huge shift in planetary energies (Earth and Fire).  Neptune forms a sextile with Pluto which we've also witnessed previously with Neptune in Scorpio and Pluto in Virgo in the 1960s.

However, Neptune in Pisces retraces the steps of the previous Uranus in Pisces transit so we now revisit themes that Neptune simply dissolves with or without our permission.  And Neptune in Pisces has different qualities than Neptune in Scorpio (another Water Sign) and Pluto in Capricorn has different qualities than Pluto in Virgo.  Virgo represents service and Capricorn represents in this case building new structure but first dismantling the old structure, mainly the patriarchal systems stamped on the planet for thousands of years!

While none of us can predict the outcome of these long transits, we now approach another exact Uranus-Pluto Square which takes place at the end of November and continues throughout December 2014.  Meanwhile, Neptune forms a wide sextile with Pluto fusing the world's structures with spirituality and also tendencies and trends towards escapism.  The uneasiness Pluto brings into our subconscious forces some of us to grab for a bottle or vaporize ourselves. But this only adds to the tension and self-medication is the worst route to take at this time.  Pluto in Capricorn requires sober minds, not people blissed out on this or that substance.  The world requires us to open our hearts and fuse our minds with love as we invent new solutions to old problems.  So Neptune poses challenges in that respect.

I highly recommend hiring an astrologer to help with the outer planet transits.  Find an astrologer who doesn't promote doom and gloom and offers intuitive coaching based on the Grand Shift happening with the planet.  Stay sober and pro-active.  The last thing we need at the moment is a world run by drug addicts and alcoholics or gurus controlling the minds of the masses.  Stay clear of Neptune's fog and instead use this planet's energy for transformation that leads to Ascension.  None of these energies are easy to work with, but it's what we have at this time.

I am an astrologer and intuitive coach for creatives residing in Bellingham, Washington. Sign up for a reading or intuitive session at Metaphysics for Everyday Living.  I am currently taking 5 full-hour clients per month until I get fully set up.