Hello dear friends of Substack!
I felt called to compile my own guide on how to manage during difficult transits—and through our own challenging natal chart configurations. This is inspired by the current bumpy astrology we are within and the reality that it is not uncommon to have at least a few (or a lot of) challenging aspects within a birth chart or the world transits. This should say something in itself about how cycles work, moving like the tides in and out. This flow is mirrored everywhere we look, from the seasons to our breath.
Astrology is a map to understand potential energetic, psychological, somatic, spiritual, and material themes which may be arising in our personal lives and within the collective field around us. Understanding how astrology works, even just the basics, gives us the chance to know what energetic material we can expect so as to prepare ourselves through this awareness and hopefully make more informed decisions, find greater meaning in the moment, and experience more flow.
The first way to deal with tough astrology is to remove moral judgement of what a placement or transit means about us or other people. This requires a world view shift where we accept the multidimensionality of ourselves and others.
Accepting multidimensionality is necessary in order to see potentials more clearly as there is less probability of us projecting past wounding onto the future if we fundamentally understand how infinite we actually are. There is beauty in labels, definitions, experience and knowledge in how they help us create a framework for our reality. Without being able to loosen our grip upon these enough to see a more nuanced and expansive view of life however we stand to miss opportunities for growth and deeper embodiment of our divine wisdom.
Once you’ve accepted this, the next step arises naturally where aspects within a birth chart or in the world or personal transits are seen as part of a greater story. There is less pressure put upon a single aspect in the chart or on one particular transit when we understand the part within the context of the whole. Zooming out is so important to easing the suffering involved in fearful anticipation of a transit. It also supports us to stay more present to whatever arises from the astro weather.
We learn to co-create with the planetary combinations and placements in our birth chart when the expression of these through the trajectory of our own life story gets more clear to us. In this sense, co-creation is these first two things combined—where our self knowledge meets with our capacity to be flexible within our mind, heart, and action.
All of life is part of our path. Literally every moment. There is no wrong way to feel, experience, express, or to “do” any certain astrology transit or placement in our chart. Every time you zone out at your job, every piece of news you find yourself consuming and reacting to, that song today which triggered a past memory, your silent daily rituals, whatever it is. This is it. All of it. It is actually part of our evolution to come back into the remembrance that we are divinity embodied. There is no actual separation between material and spiritual or between our lived experience and our spiritual path.
Remembering this truth supports us in facing challenging astrology because it is a reminder that each part of our daily life and experience—however messy, seemingly insignificant or extraordinary—is an expression of the astrology and part of what our soul is learning. We don’t evolve just through mind altering trips out of the body or highly synchronistic life changing events. These type of experiences and tools like breathwork for example could help us learn to meet life with more openness and flexibility but they don’t signal a path that must be taken in order to progress. This means everything is game! We awaken (become more conscious and integrated) through the unique challenges of our daily life that teach us what sovereignty means via confrontations with our sense of self, our purpose here, and our inherent interconnection and oneness with others and the cosmos. There is no wrong way to live out your birth chart and transits.
We can get better over time at living into expressions of them that are more life giving rather than destructive but there is literally no right way, only yours. And even destruction and chaos has its place in our life for clearing the air and making things very apparent to us in new ways of how to progress. Nothing is ever wasted.
Let the transits help you clarify your needs, desires, and values in any given moment by getting more comfortable understanding what your emotions are saying.
Difficult transits tend to poke us in our sore spots and throw us into patterned ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. Instead of adding suffering to this by judging ourselves, show some compassion and get curious about what these emotions are telling you about what your truth is in this moment. And yeah, I know it gets tiring doing this over and over but I swear offering unconditional love to yourself around how you feel when you are triggered by events is never wrong. What changes is that the time it takes to move into a new feeling or thought pattern gets exponentially quicker over time when you are devoted to not adding fire to fire through self shame in these moments. Let yourself be surprised by the clarity that can come from your raw emotions when you stop trying to feel something else and decide to get curious about the truth behind the intensity.
Let how you are feeling be an invitation to look at your personal transits and see how the astrology might be working through you.
Sometimes it does help to just be aware of the astrology to better contextualize for example why for seemingly no reason we had a downswing and ended up in bed for days. Having the context doesn’t necessarily make it easier but can be a reminder that we are wholly connected with the cosmos and if something is coming up then maybe it’s time to be present with it in a new way. Dynamic transits like squares can be very generative and creative if we let ourselves be moved and respond to what is rather than what we would prefer it was. Astrology is about cycles and timing. We are always on time with our transits and how we are flowing with them. Let your understanding of astrology help you grow self compassion, gain greater knowledge of yourself, expand your creative life force, and feel into just how connected you actually are.
When planets are retrograde within the current world transits or in your birth chart, take it as an opportunity to work more directly with this planet. If you feel comfortable with meditation or visualization you might try speaking with the planet and seeing what they have to say. Retrogrades are introspective times for the energy and wonderful for getting to know planetary archetypes better. One of my favorite things is to create a small altar in my home for planets during their retrograde cycle. Or deciding to read certain books or watch certain things because of how it aligns for me personally with what I’m understanding about the energy. Our actions—from what we are thinking to things we physically create to relationships we decide to focus upon during retrogrades—can be like our own prayer or offering to the planet when there is intention and attention placed there. This also of course can be advice to take during any difficult transit. There is just a magic in retrograde cycles that seems to support deeper connecting.
Retrograde planets in our birth chart have so much to tell us over time about how we express their core archetypes in unique ways. It often signals the fact that we will grow to be intimate with that energy as it can be very internalized and take us longer than most to understand how to let it consciously shine through us into the external world. This can also mean that the energy is more charged and potent within our field. Other people may easily notice or feel that about us even if we struggle to express it or can’t fully see it ourselves until we are older. Retrograde planets in our birth chart can come to be expressed in such creative and powerful ways because of the time and introspective journey they demand of us. Let yourself fall in love with your own story.
Lean on and offer gratitude toward the supportive parts of your chart and more easeful transits you experience.
When there is astrology that is asking a lot from you—like a Pluto or Saturn transit to a personal planet in your chart—don’t forget what is working and what feels good. Take the time to learn about the trines and sextiles in your birth chart. Understand as best you can what your moon is showing you about how you receive nourishment. Create a solid foundation of self love through understanding intimately the sweetness of who you are and the perspective you came into this life with through your birth chart.
This could express itself in so many ways. If you have your moon in a water sign for example, maybe you make sure to bless your water before drinking it or get near a natural source of water often. If Venus and Mars are trine in your chart maybe getting out to go dancing is part of how you truly take care of your heart and stay connected to yourself. Whatever it is, make sure to give appreciation and time here. Let the love you feel within these moments help to ease the more difficult times and create a barrier of its own protective energy. By focusing attention here versus trying to avert the difficult transits it helps any transformations or surrender or shedding that has to happen come with less resistance and pain.
How does the energy of these planets express when they are working well together? When faced with the more dynamic or challenging transits or energy in your chart, do some reading or think back to how the energy played out for you or the collective when these planets were configured in a more easeful way. Try to come up with ways the energy is complimentary and could express itself in a harmonious way. Doing this might help give you some insight into how to show up to the moment more prepared. This reflects back to the idea of multidimensionality, if we can stay flexible enough to see that things could potentially express differently than what is currently presenting itself then this could give us leverage to respond or act with more freedom.
Try to release yourself from believing that you understand what is best for your soul process. Extending a little faith and trust in our higher self can go a long way, especially when things feel out of control. This won’t always work but if you find an opening within your heart toward trust, lean in. I can’t remember where I heard this but it still brings solace and calm for me to remember when things are tough,
“The most sacred thing is what is.”
Sometimes things don’t feel good and that’s ok. We don’t need to put a happy spin on something really hard. We can still be open hearted and having a hard time. Don’t force greater meaning when you are freshly inside something painful.
Some transits do change our lives forever in ways we would not have chosen for ourselves. There is so much that is out of our control here. We can’t force the ocean to do our will but we can discover ways to steer our ship through a storm. If we get committed to knowing ourselves better through our chart and transits, navigating the fine dance between asserting our will and surrendering to the flow of all we cannot control becomes easier.
I hope this helps you feel more confident to face life no matter the astrology or weather.
xoxo
Evan
For more personalized support or insight into what I’ve written about here, feel free to check out the offerings on my website. Many blessings on your journey 💗
co-creative astrology 