In this blog, I answer a reader’s question. Enjoy!

Hi Jess,
Thank you for everything that you have given to those that are attracted to your work. I have some transits coming up this year which seem daunting to me. Neptune opposition Uranus to name one and the other players are along the same lines. My question is, is there a way to soften my outlook about astrological events /transits and progressions I often have a feeling of overwhelm when it comes to some of the more powerful challenging transits and progressions / squares and oppositions with major -planets outer planets. Would you please suggest a more balanced way of looking at astrology. So that I can use astrology as a helpful tool and not become so entwined in it fearing future events and becoming anxious as they approach. Many thanks.

Hi there, I love how you are asking for a way to soften your perspective instead of remove the dread and overwhelm you sometimes face around future-gazing with astrology. Because as long as we have hope and fear, built into being human and having an Ego, when we look at astrology we will have a range of feelings containing both.

With that understanding, how to soften? How to be gentler and kinder and more helpful, toward yourself? Several things spring to mind. One is to simply hold that intention. If you are looking at the astrology and notice fear, put it down. That indicates you are being taken out of the present moment, which is a given when looking towards the future. The future is full of what-ifs, and engaging the question “what if?” is very anxiety producing. I consistently encountered this fear in others when I was doing full-on astrology readings.

Another thing that has helped me is getting very clear on what having the knowledge of a future astrological transit can tell me, and what it cannot. It cannot reliably predict. Think of it as a weather forecast. When we see the sky looking a certain way, we surmise there is a probability of rain. But will the grey sky always bring rain? No. Sometimes it’s just a cloudy day. If I see a grey sky and know that sometimes that means rain, I’ve made a correlation. If I think because the sky is sometimes grey when it rains, that it will rain when the sky is grey, I’ve made a prediction. Astrology is much better at correlations than predictions.

Astrology does well at making correlations of a certain kind, and so using it in this way can be very helpful. Saturn transits bring a serious mood of hard work, maturity, and often the necessity of making a change brought about by this recognition that we are no longer the person we once were. Pluto transits bring an intense mood toward radical emotional honesty, wound healing and transformation. Sometimes transitory events occur in the external life but not always. It can happen on internal levels. This is true for all transits.

I’ve always found it quite reassuring that my worst fears for astrological transits have been unfounded, and likewise, for the times when “I didn’t see it coming”- despite being a masterful astrologer and having the astrology at my fingertips. Life is infinitely creative at “SURPRISE!” I am grateful for this. As much as my Ego goes through periods of wanting the answers, I love Mystery more. I don’t think the Creator created astrology for us to know our destiny. It is something to play with. Keeping a light spirit of play has been essential for me.

Finally, if astrology is the equivalent of weather, and moods, are you the weather or the mountain? Because when you allow yourself to get pulled into, wrapped up in, the transiting energy of astrology it is exactly like putting all your energy and attention into the weather and forgetting your eternal nature. You are the mountain. You are the strong, grounded and stable mountain. On any given day, you may feel rain or sun on your surface. On any given day, you may be a mountain full of flowers in bloom, or a mountain of barren, leafless, trees. Or, since we have simultaneous experiences, both at once. You are still the strong, peaceful mountain.

Be the mountain. Nourish the mountain. You may experience many changes over the course of your life, but YOU, the magnificent eternal and Divine Soul you are, do not change. Do things and engage in activities and ideas that support remembering the Real you — the Divine You who is permanently well, whole and good. In every moment, you get to decide whether to nourish the mountain or the weather with your awareness. 

Is focusing on your future astrological transits helpful for this Divine You, in this moment? This is a question each of us must answer individually. You get to define your own relationship with/to astrology, and it may change over time. You may discover there are periods when you need to pull your energy out of the weather, and back into YOU. You may discover, at other times, astrology to be helpful, validating and enjoyable.

My growing predilection for placing my awareness on the mountain (I AM) instead of the weather has certainly affected my astrological practice, and is a reason why I don’t make astrology the core of what I do any longer. I still use it; I also understand it’s limitations and how easily it takes a person out of Presence. I’ve discovered my preference for using it changes depending on the day’s mood, quality of energy, or who I’m with. On those days when it is easy for me to get caught up in the weather, or when I’m talking with someone who is caught up in the energy and weather, it often isn’t the right choice. It isn’t helpful. Instead, I will recenter in embodied and cognitive practices that help to come back down, into this moment. Into the peaceful mountain 🙂