Transit

Transit (Latin transitus — "passing through") in Western astrology (#1) is the current position of a planet in the sky relative to the natal chart (birth horoscope).

The main predictive tool. "What the sky is doing right now in relation to your chart." It is the basic way of reading the astrological events of time.

Activation of Natal Themes

An exact aspect switches the theme on. When a transiting planet forms an exact aspect (0°, 60°, 90°, 120°, 180°) to a natal position, the theme of that natal point is activated.

Examples of Significant Transits

• Saturn Return (≈29.5 years) — crisis of maturation, restructuring of life
• Pluto transit to the Sun — profound transformation of identity (lasts ≈2 years)
• Jupiter transit — expansion, luck, growth (lasts ≈1 month at exact point)
• Lunar transits — the fastest (≈2.5 days in a sign), affect mood

Orb

The allowable deviation. The orb of a transit is the allowable deviation from an exact aspect: usually ±1° for precise events, ±5° for background tendencies.

Planetary Speed

Slow vs fast. The slow planets (Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto) produce long, deep transits; the fast ones (Moon, Mercury, Venus) — short, light transits. The slower the planet, the deeper its mark on life.