We may be feeling a bit restless today, and we will probably find ourselves expressing those feelings. All in all, it will be a good day for conversations, but there could be a few disagreements late this morning. People could be very erratic this morning, and some may go to extremes. But, by mid afternoon, most of the craziness should be behind us. Our intuitions will be sharp this evening, and there may be a bit of romance in the air.

Tue 10/2/07 Happy Day with Romantic Potentials

We may feel like we have lost our direction this morning, and our thoughts could be scattered. Our thoughts may turn to home and family early this afternoon, and we will be ready to act on our feelings. It will be a happy day, and we may want to enjoy time with friends. There is also a strong potential for romance. People will be patient this evening, and our minds will be clear tonight. If there are any situations you have been debating what to do, you will have your answers tonight.

Wed 10/3/07 Creative Day, but a Quiet Night

Today will begin with lots of potential. People will be kind, and many of us will be feeling very creative. It will be an excellent day for expressing our emotions and for displaying affection. We may have some really great ideas this afternoon, and we will find it easy to persuade others to see our point of view. But, by late this afternoon or early evening, we will loose our momentum, so get important projects done early in the day. Tonight will be good for puttering around the house, or taking some time for quiet contemplation.

Thu 10/4/07 Boring Day but a Fun Evening

Its going to be a very boring day with the Moon void of course until this evening, and no major planetary aspects. Today would be good for routine chores, or taking some time to reflect on past business. We may not get much accomplished today, but don’t worry. We will make-up for it tomorrow. The Moon will enter Leo at 6:27 PM Eastern time, and then the drama will begin. It will be a great evening to have some fun, so get up, get out, and do something.

Fri 10/5/07 Recognize and Appreciate Me!

We will want to take center stage this morning, under the Leo Moon, and most of us will want to be recognized, applauded, and appreciated. Some may be overreacting, and all that excitement can turn to melodrama in the blink of an eye. So, be gentle with others. Relations with the opposite sex should go well this evening, and we should find it easy to make decisions. Optimism will be high tonight, and there will be a general tone of good will.

Sat 10/6/07 Happiness, Romance, and Pleasure

Its going to be another creative and happy day, so get out and play. The work will be there tomorrow, and we will feel much more like doing it then. It will be an excellent day for social events, and any kind of creative projects will go well also. There is a strong potential for romance and pleasure early this evening. So, even if you don’t have a date, do something special.

Sun 10/7/07 Lots of Energy this Morning, and Great Ideas Tonight

We will be ready to get busy and get some work done today as soon as we awaken. Its going to be an excellent day for cleaning and organizing, and we will be ready to look at the details of any project. Our energy will be strong this morning, and so will our patience. Our minds will be balanced this evening, and we may have some really great ideas. Travel will also go well today and tonight.

Janet (Sparrow) Moon is a professional psychic and astrologer. You can visit her web site for more articles about upcoming events in astrology, and to order a personal reading. (This article can be reprinted freely online, as long as the entire article and this bio is included.) http://www.sparrowmoon.com/

Without exception, all marriages are planned in advance whether one believes in astrology or not!

As distinguished from ‘convenience marriages’, traditional weddings are basically meant to keep a relationship long and strong. It would be prudent to select auspicious dates and times for weddings so that the vow - till death do us part - turns out a reality.

Astrology, be it Indian or Western, believes in proper timing of events for success. The study of Muhurta or Electional Astrology deals with auspicious moments, dates and times for various important ceremonies. So goes the saying, ‘Strike the iron while it is hot.’

According to Indian Astrology, Muhurtha means two ‘ghatis’ or forty-eight minutes. The essential elements comprise ‘tithi’(lunar day),’vara’(weekday),’nakshatra’ (constellation),’yoga’(joint motion of sun and moon amounting to multiples of 800 angular minutes) and ‘karana’(half a lunar day). These five elements collectively are called ‘panchang’, that is, ‘five limbs’.

In considering ‘tithi’, generally the 4th, 6th, 8th, 12th, 14th, full moon (’pournami’) and new moon (’amavasya’) are avoided.

In regard to ‘vara’, in general Tuesday and Saturday are considered inauspicious though they are valid for surgical operations. One should note that in Indian Astrology, the weekday is said to commence from sunrise.

Of the twenty-seven ‘nakshtras’, Bharani and Krittika are avoided for all works as they are said to be presided over by Yama, the lord of death.

Of the ‘yogas’, the 6th, 9th, 10th, 17th and 27th are inauspicious.

Of the ‘karanas’, ‘bhadra’ is the most unwanted while ‘bava’ and ‘thaithula’ are very auspicious.

One of the major advantages of Muhurta is that a properly elected time can dilute to a great extent the inherent weaknesses in a birth chart or horoscope. These days the only purpose of selecting a time for marriage seems to be have a good attendance of guests and for this reason sundays or holidays are chosen. So unwise!

If marriages at night are not feasible for some religions or communities, there are alternatives too provided by Indian Astrology and advantage can be taken of these.

May the new young couples planning to enter into wedlock be blessed!

Learn how to ascertain and use auspicious moments for success in important undertakings by knowing your Lucky Days based upon correctly casted Horoscope Chart. Auspicious wedding dates in October 2007 can be viewed at http://allaboutmuhurta.blogspot.com

For thousands of millennium stories and myths have existed about the struggle between mankind and dragons.

But what is a dragon?

According to the Oxford English dictionary:

A dragon: drag’en, a fabulous beast often shown as a gigantic fire breathing reptile with huge claws, the tail of a serpent, wings and scaly skin.

Dragons have been talked, written and sung about for as long as can be remembered.

But did they ever exist?

Are they fact or fiction?

Did these large beautiful, majestic, mythical fire breathing beasts ever live?

Or are the stories just a legends and myth with no substance or truth?

Many people claim that dragons are based on ordinary creatures that were distorted by the fears, imaginations and psychological tendencies of groups of humans, or that they were some type of dinosaur or archosaur.

But there are many references to dragons in the bible as well as mythology and it is said that it was with the advent of Christianity and the crusades that brought the age of dragons to an end.

Therefore if we accept that the bible tells us the truth about Christianity and God, then why not dragons also?

Christianity brought with it the Crusades and with them came the knights who hunted and slaughtered the dragons bringing about their eventual downfall and extinction.

It was these very knights of honour and valor who lusted after the fame and fortune of killing a dragon for their skins and riches or often just for sport.

It is said that Dragons blood was prized for it’s magical properties as legends tell that when wiped onto the skin it protect the wearer from stab wounds.

Other legends tell that if you ate their tongue you would win any argument (something I often wish I could do at home!) and eating their heart gave you the power to understand birds, not sure why you would but…

There are said to have been as many different species of dragon vary in shape, size and colour as any of Gods other creatures around us. A few of the more common ones documented and written about are:

The Western Dragon

Often portrayed as being evil and blood thirsty the Western Dragon was also said to be a hoarder of gold and jewelry.

Generally the Western Dragon has a long thick, four strong legs, large claws on its feet, two wings, a long neck and can usually breathe fire.

According to some legends and history Western dragons also had the ability of changing their shape and colour, but I expect that this was probably more akin to the ability of a charmelion than a “shapeshifter”.

They normally ate once a month preferring to feed on cattle or sheep but would sometimes eat a human, particularly if he, the human, was being particularly troublesome or threatening.

The Eastern Dragon

There were three different families of Eastern Dragons which looked very similar but came from different parts of the World. They all had serpentine bodies and four legs but unlike the Western Dragon they didn’t breathe fire.

They are said to have had the body of a snake, scales of a carp, belly of a clam, claws of an eagle, paws of a lion, horns of a giant stag, head of a camel, eyes of a hare and ears like a bull.

Legends tell us that they had 117 scales, 81 with yang, the good and 36 with yin, the bad thus giving them an even temperament and personality.

The main difference between the three different families of Eastern Dragons is the number of toes they had.

The Japanese dragon is said to have had only three toes, the Korean or Indonesian Dragon four and the Chinese dragon five.

Eastern dragons are usually shown either holding a pearl in their paws or mouth as it was this pearl that gave them their unique powers and allowed them to ascend to heaven.

Ascend to heaven? I hear you ask.

But weren’t dragons evil, viscous killers?

Far from it.

Like any of Gods creatures they were often docile and very placid unless provoked. Content to live peacefully and go about their was as they always had but unfortunately they got this reputation by being used for evil means by their masters, who had trained and domesticated them, or when trying to protect their own lands or homes.

Hardly a justifiable reason for branding them evil.

In fact many legends and myths tell of the good dragons kind did for mankind.

But that’s another tale..

The Eastern Dragon is probably the most documented in the World and is described as being kind, intelligent and good.

The Eastern Dragon has also been closely linked to the weather and legend says that some of Asia’s worst floods occurred when a mortal upset a dragon.

The Eastern Dragon is usually shown as either blue, black, red or yellow.

In China the five toed dragon is considered to be the most powerful and intelligent of all dragons and it’s called the Imperial dragon, because of this it was forbidden for anyone other than the Emperor to show the image of a five toed dragon on his clothes.

These images were usually of a yellow dragon, considered to be the most superior.

Anyone, other than the Emperor, found wearing the symbol of a five toed dragon was put to death!

There are four main types of Chinese dragons, known as Lung:

The Tien-Lung, who protects the places of the Gods and is the Celestial Dragon.

The Shen-Lung, the Spiritual dragon who controls the wind and the rain

The Ti-Lung or Earth Dragon who controls the rivers and water on Earth

And the:

Fut’s-Lung, the Underworld Dragon who guards the Earths precious metals and gems.

The Wyvern (wi-vurn) Dragon

The Wyvern dragon was a European Dragon and typically had only two front legs, although it has also been reported to have had two claws on the end of it’s wings that also act like “hands”.

The Wyvern dragon is also reported to have had a “stinger” on the end of its tail filled with poison much like a scorpion.

Most reports of this dragon seem to stem from Europe and have been the subject of many fables an legends and across the continent.

Despite this little is actually known about the Wyvern dragon and much of it’s history remains a mystery.

The Faerie Dragon

Probably the rarest of all dragons is the Faerie Dragon so named because of its size and because according to legend the were used by faeries to travel between cities.

Very is little known about this dragon as there has been so little documented about them as they were so rarely seen.

Until now you could only have hoped to see a dragon up close in your dreams or the movies but now McFarlane’s have managed to capture the beauty and essence of the dragons with their amazing line of Dragon figures.

These beautifully sculpted and artistically painted figures truly bring the myths and legends alive.

Lending their respected and renowned talents for sculpting, detail and painting McFarlane’s artists have excelled themselves by creating a remarkable collection of figures.

Looking at these you are transformed to another world and time that has long been forgotten.

You can smell the acidic dragons breath on the cool winters wind, hear the fierce shrill of his piercing cry through the air, and the beat of its wings high in the sky.

Rarely have I seen such superb detail and artwork in figures. So good are these it’s with reluctance that I call them toys.

Because despite the little articulation that there is there is little else that would categorize them as toys. I would classify them more as an adult’s collectible.

In fact these are more like statues than your classic toy such is there amazing quality and beauty.

Each dragon is beautifully crafted and frozen in time for your enjoyment and pleasure.

So if you’ve never seen a dragon before and have always wondered want one looks like know you look in wonder…

Colin Dorman
http://www.mcfarlanes-figures.com/mcfarlanes-dragons-series-homepage.html

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This article will help you to understand the basics of astrology and the various uses of it written in everyday layman’s terms. We may better understand ourselves by the use of free astrology charts and / or astrology software programs and readings.

I will be touching on the following subjects:

1) Astrology compatibility

2) Astrology Vs Free Will

3) Astrology Software

Astrology is a century old science that has been used throughout history to study the effects on us by the movement of the planets in our solar system.

Astrology Compatibility

Will you recognize your soul mate when you meet? Is it really love or only a flash-in-the-pan passing fancy? Are you astrologically compatible? Have you ever wondered why some people seem to be fortunate when finding what we generally term as love ‘soul mates’, while others seem to go through many relationships all their lives that just don’t last?

Astrology Compatibility is widely accepted and used today to help in this area – you may well get the answers you need by this approach.

Are we just puppets on a string?

By studying certain different planetary positions it is possible for an astrologer to help you anticipate your future experiences and events and help you to prepare for certain situations, but it doesn’t take away your ability to direct your own actions and control your own free will, as we are not puppets on a string controlled by some invisible puppeteer. Sometimes astrology is presented as superstition mixed with paranormal phenomena. Until recently, astrology was considered to be the same a astronomy, which is an extension of it and uses the same tables as an astronomer.

Astrology is often associated and used with other related sciences such as:

Numerology

Graphology

Tarot

Palm reading

Astrology Software

There are many astrology software tools available today that are indeed very good, although they probably aren’t considered as accurate as a horoscope performed by a qualified professional astrologer.

There are also professional astrology software programs that are indeed a very effective resource for astronomy students and are a great help for beginners.

They can combine astrological and astronomical functions with masses of graphical information and data. We’ve only just briefly outlined some of the various uses of astrology and some it’s different uses. I hope that it has been of interest to you and I’m sure that you will totally benefit from the use of astrology.

If you’ve ever felt that there may be a solution to help guide you through your life more enjoyably than you’ve experienced so far and have not tried the science of astrology as yet – perhaps it may well be a good time. Let’s face it, life is a very short journey – why not travel the best path that suits you? There are many online websites that offer free astrology charts and readings. A quick Google search will provide them for you.

Best wishes and warm regards.

It is hoped that you may greatly benefit by the use of Astrology in many important areas of your life as many thousands of people all over the world have already done so. It has especially helped people in the areas of Career and love compatibility and I’m certain that it can also help you.

For more articles on Free Astrology Charts please visit: Free Astrology Charts

THE TAURUS CHILD

The solar chart for Taurus children is invaluable for parents. They can see the energies that the child is attracted to according to the energies of the Astrological Matrix in the heavens. They can then help plan their life according to their strengths and help them with their weaknesses.

A solar chart is a wheel chart just like a natal chart only the 12 houses are divided equally around the wheel.

Going around the wheel CCW from left to right we have the first house on the left hand horizon and all the others follow in the same sequence.

A Taurus Astrological Solar Chart has Taurus in the first house.

This Taurus Astrological Solar Chart is a divine blueprint that resides in the Quantum Ocean (Mind of God) and its energy structure is the energy structure for all living Taurus children.

If you as a parent pay attention to these energy structures than your little one should have a fairly smooth life and fulfill their destiny (why they were born to you and what they came to do).

If you ignore these energy patterns and try to treat your child like an Aquarius or a Leo, then they may meet with difficulties and not fulfill their destinies.

THE ENERGY PATTERNS FOR A TAURUS CHILD

FIRST HOUSE TAURUS. Their house of Personality. Ruled by VENUS. This gives them the energy for attracting riches, luxury and aesthetically pleasing surroundings. Help them to look and dress the part.

SECOND HOUSE GEMINI. House of Money. Ruled by MERCURY. This gives them the energy of a fine mind and speaking ability. They will most easily earn their money with their mind, writing and speaking. Help them early.

THIRD HOUSE CANCER. The house Communications. Ruled by the MOON. Their speech and talk will have an emotional flavor like a poet or a Mystic. Teach them poetry early.

FOURTH HOUSE LEO. The house of the Home. Ruled by the SUN. This gives them the energy gift of great creativity and the ability to have fun and love throughout their life. Make their room sunny The Sun will always shine on them.

FIFTH HOUSE VIRGO. House of their Creativity. Ruled by MERCURY. This gives them the energies of a very great creative mind. Start them reading and writing early.

SIXTH HOUSE LIBRA. House of Health. Ruled by VENUS. This gives them very refined energies. Watch their nervous system. Harmony at all times. They will know how to use color, scents, flowers, etc to heal. Listen to them. Beauty is important to their health.

SEVENTH HOUSE SCORPIO. Ruled by PLUTO. The gives them the energy of understanding the transformational function of relationships. They will know how to bring all relationships to a higher spiritual level. Be frank with them.

EIGHT HOUSE SAGITTARIUS. House of Death, Sex and Other Peoples Money. Ruled by JUPITER. This gives them the energy for a wide comprehension of Death, Sex and Money. Do not fill their heads with dogma. Let them soar.

NINTH HOUSE CAPRICORN. House of Spiritual Growth. Ruled by SATURN. This gives them the energy to build a powerful understanding of spiritual matters. Present them with a potpourri of spiritual subjects and let them choose.

TENTH HOUSE FRIENDSHIPS. House of Career. Ruled by AQUARIUS. This gives them the energies for attracting friends from all walks of life. They can build a fine career in the Aquarian Age industries, Internet, Quantum Physics, Astrology. Working with friends will be important. Don’t look askance at the different types of friends they will attract.

ELEVENTH HOUSE PISCES. House of Friendships. This gives them the energy to attract older people, poets, mystics and musicians to call friends. Help them in this area.

TWELFTH HOUSE ARIES. The House of Inspiration. Ruled by MARS. They will be a great help in inspiring those around them They will get inspiration by reading and meeting people who are heroines and heroes. Bring them to them.

TAURUS CHARACTERISTICS

Taurus is an earth sign.

Taurus is the sign of the Bull.

Friday (Freya’s day) is their lucky day of the week.

Earth tones, green, orange, yellow are their colors.

GEMS; Coral, emerald.

METAL: Copper

SCENTS: Bitter almond, rose vanilla, violet

The need to avoid rigid ism, stubbornness, tendency of be over possessive and materialistic.

Their compatible signs are Virgo and Capricorn.

Incompatible signs are Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius.

They need comfort, material ease, wealth.

The quality they need most for balance is flexibility.

Their strongest virtues are endurance, loyalty, patience, stability, a harmonious disposition.

If your child is an Taurus then help them to be one, act like one. Don’t stifle any of their energies because society does not like it. Our world needs more strong Taurus children.

Next article: Gemini Solar Chart for Children

Ellis Peterson AKA Ragnar Storyteller (earned Viking name) is 72 and a skald and rune master. He is a retired math professor and electrical engineer. He brings his scientific knowledge of Quantum Physics into his Runic Information Website. He offers a unique approach to Runes and Quantum Physics. He offers free Runic and Quantum Physics essays and articles plus a free newsletter. To take advantage of his uniquely interesting stuff check out his webiste at http://www.runes-for-health-wealth-love-now.com and http://www.olevikingshop.com

As our Sun enters the Cardinal Air Sign Libra, we celebrate the Autumn Equinox and officially say goodbye to another summer season. Venus, our planet of love that admires all things beautiful, is the ruler of the 7th sign on the Zodiac wheel. Symbolized by the Scales, Libra represents the perfected idea of justice with the intention of balance being their guiding light.

With charm and a friendly nature, relationships are one area a Libra seeks to bring a union to, always yearning for the marriage of spirit and matter. They cast a loving approach to any situation, typically at the forefront of causes that are of benefit to humanity. Adept at leadership, our Scales natives innately see both sides of the issue at hand, and make excellent judges.

This harmony-seeking sign carries a strong sense of idealism through the guidance of Venus just like their Zodiac “cousin” Taurus. Both are admirers of nature and beauty; but unlike a patient and steadfast Taurus, Libra’s airy persona seeks security through their relationships rather than the grounded material plane. Wherever there is a place to adjust, negotiate and compare, you’ll find a Libra appropriately displaying a diplomatic manner.

When their Scales are unbalanced, Libra’s possess the potential to fall to vanity, dramatic reactions, insincerity, and co-dependency. Cultivating firmness, decisiveness and consistency will allow their acute mental energy to find it’s proper focus. All areas of the intellectual plane stimulates a Libra’s interest. Gravitation to the arts, meditation, and music are the channels that grant their peace to flow- tipping those Scales back to an even weight.

Each of us has the chance to embrace the balance of Libra’s energy by looking to the house that it rules in our individual birth chart. This is the area of life where we can see an extra boost while the Sun transits through it. Up until 9/27, Mercury also grants excellent communications and thinking where Libra sits in our own chart. A renewal within this area of the life on an emotional level can be see upon the New Moon 10/10-11.

Renewals for the collective continue as Mercury goes Retrograde 10/11-12 until November 1st, marking its’ third and final reassessment period for 2007. Retrograding from 09 degrees Scorpio to 23 degrees Libra, our Messenger planet can bring upheavals to skeptical and secretive mentalities; as it revisits Libra it strives for the collective to reflect upon ideals and harmony-seeking mindsets. The Libra and Scorpio ruled houses in the birth chart will see adjustments and point to the area of life it is best to place a personal focus of those Retrograde RE’s such as REdoing and REfreshing.

Mars moves forward into nurturing, sensitive and imaginative Cancer upon 9/28. Desires and drives on the collective lean to an intuitive nature; heightening the tendency for emotional energies to be stirred while it is wise to steer clear of clinging and brooding behaviors. The application of courage rather than aggression is key when looking to where Cancer’s energy sits in one’s birth chart. This area indicates where Mars is stimulating our individual natures to gravitate to an instinctive approach until Mars, who begins a two and a half month Retrograde period beginning November 15th, reenters stirring Gemini upon New Year’s Day, 2008.

May you seek to understand others as you bring balance and sincerity to your life throughout the month ahead.

Since the young age of 7, Sharita has been a student of the planets above and all of the mysteries of our Universe. She is available for all levels of astrological, numerical and lexigram analysis through readings and party services, available at: http://www.sharitastar.com She resides in New York City and currently is working on her first book.

Each natal aspect contains a host of promises, since even the most difficult of combinations has gifts to bestow once we learn to use the energies of the two planets well. Throughout our lives, transits to a natal aspect represent windows of time when we are challenged to make changes in how we are using that aspect. If we are wise, we gradually learn to let go of self-defeating ways of expressing the energies of those planets and, instead, to capitalize on their strengths.

Never is that more true than during the periods when the natal aspect is echoed by the transit — that is, when one of the planets involved natally is the transiting planet as well. For instance, suppose that Saturn is square Mars in the birth chart, and now transiting Saturn is opposite natal Mars. The aspect isn’t the same, but the pair of planets in the picture (Mars and Saturn) are. Saturn forms hard aspects (such as squares or oppositions) to its natal position about every seven years, during its 29.46-year orbit around the Sun; so, at seven-year intervals, Saturn will echo all of the major difficult aspects it makes in your birth chart. (It also forms trines to its natal position twice during that orbit, providing opportunities when Saturn’s better qualities can be developed with somewhat less stress.)

In those recurring intervals, you will be challenged anew to master the lessons of Saturn and to make substantive progress through self-discipline, hard work, and a more mature perspective on your old limitations. You may wish to consider how you’ve been using your Saturn energies in the seven years or so since the last such aspect. If you have worked hard in the areas of life represented by that natal aspect, the transit may very well be a time when your efforts reach fruition — provided, of course, that you have been both diligent and wise. Sometimes, we work much harder than we need to, when not only our methods but even our game plans are flawed. If so, it may be time to evaluate your priorities and redirect your efforts toward more appropriate ends, so you won’t wear yourself out.

The so-called Midlife Cycle of the late thirties to mid forties is a crucible for much change and growth, because the astrological picture at midlife includes a series of outer-planet aspects by transit to their own natal positions. Transiting Uranus makes an opposition to its natal position in the chart, transiting Neptune squares natal Neptune, and transiting Pluto squares natal Pluto. In the process, the transiting outer planets trigger all the aspects that the outer planets form in the birth chart, giving us the chance to learn how to use those aspects better and to fulfill more of their innate potential. (The exact ages when these aspects occur vary from generation to generation, because the orbits of these three planets around the Sun are not as regular as the orbits of the inner planets.)

The energies of the outer planets are not as accessible to our consciousness, nor are they easy to express; instead, they require a great deal of maturity to handle well. This sort of meandering through life and having a variety of experiences seems to be a necessary part of growth and evolution — as though the life journey were a long pilgrimage through a wilderness. It’s easy to lose our way with the outer planets; where these planets are located in our charts, we often do so repeatedly — learning much from our mistakes as we stumble and fall on our faces. It is usually at midlife, when all the natal aspects to an outer planet are also set off by transit, that we bottom out on the less-productive uses of these energies and are impelled, if we are blessed with sufficient maturity, to work toward more uplifting expressions.

For example, suppose you have a Venus–Neptune conjunction in your birth chart. The slogan for that combination might be: “Someday my prince will come — but first I have to kiss a lot of frogs.” (Of course, there are many ways to express that particular combination, but this is a fairly common pattern.) During earlier transits to that conjunction, over the years, frogs of countless varieties are likely to have appeared — looking for all the world like princes. Unfortunately, your heartfelt efforts to turn the current frog into the prince you know he could be are doomed to failure after wrenching failure. Reluctantly, you’re forced to conclude that this particular frog will remain a frog until he croaks. Still, you may persist in the notion that, if you could just somehow succeed in morphing yourself into a princess, your prince would surely appear.

A likely window for changing this persistent pattern is during the Midlife Cycle, when transiting Neptune squares natal Neptune, because in the case of this particular conjunction, transiting Neptune will square natal Venus as well. One of the numerous ways that this transit can manifest itself is that the frog of a lifetime arrives — clad in such elegant, princely attire that you are certain your soul mate has finally come along. If he is not in fact a prince, the experience of trying one last time to kiss someone into princeliness may represent the bottoming-out of an old codependent pattern of relating through rescuing. Under this transit, the romantic haze that has always clouded your ability to see potential partners clearly may lift. Sadder but wiser, you now begin to look more realistically at new prospects. Relationships will never be the same, and that’s a good thing! Until now, that same romantic haze has kept you from recognizing the occasional true prince who does come your way (perhaps because you can’t get past his frog-like spots and raspy voice). Now you may recognize him — and learn how to relate to him in a healthy way.

One way to evaluate the intervals when natal aspects are echoed is to consider the type of angle (e.g., square, trine, or quincunx) formed by the natal aspect and compare it to the type of transiting angle. The transiting angle does help us to revise how we have worked with the planetary energies in the natal angle. Especially when these energies are used consciously through an in-depth analysis of the meanings of the current and natal planetary placements, the transit represents a fruitful time to upgrade how we express those energies. For instance, suppose someone has natal Pluto square the Sun, involving the career or money houses (the 2nd, 6th, or 10th), and now, transiting Pluto is trine the natal Sun. This is an opportunity to address the problems that this square may have highlighted for much of the individual’s life.

Perhaps that individual has always been visited by self-doubt, or even self-loathing, when confronted with those in powerful or wealthy circumstances. This self-esteem problem may have alternated with a sneaking sense of pride at not being as corrupt as “those awful power-mongers with all that filthy money” — a pride that may have created persistently self-sabotaging financial patterns, such as remaining underpaid. Under the transiting trine, catalytic events, opportunities, healing work, or new self-awareness may well create a major shift, both in self-confidence and in financial dealings. The resulting greater prosperity could give rise to a benign spiral over the two years or longer that the transit is in effect: As the sense of self-worth grows, the workplace may reflect that growth with additional well-deserved raises, which in turn grant new confidence.

In contrast, suppose someone has a natal trine between Pluto and the Sun. Depending on the signs and houses involved, the mantle of authority or power often sits very naturally on the shoulders of such individuals. This may not be worldly power. If the 12th house is involved, it might be spiritual power where the person’s mere presence can be healing and comforting to those who suffer, helping the downtrodden to reclaim their own power. Likewise, if the 4th house is involved, this person might be the family matriarch or patriarch around whom the whole family network revolves.

The problem with trines is that we don’t always make of them all that we might — it’s so easy just to coast. However, for such individuals, a transiting square of Pluto to natal Sun is highly energizing. It echoes the natal trine between the two planets, yet represents a golden opportunity to make much, much more of the potential of that trine. Circumstances shift, new demands are experienced, and although the resulting challenges may make the person doubt those taken-for-granted gifts, the end result is likely to be a new and more powerful way of expressing innate abilities. Through the pressure of the transiting hard angle, the natal promise can be fulfilled.

When working with clients, I watch very carefully for transits that echo natal aspects, for they are among the most meaningful transits of all. In our session, we then spend considerable time grappling with that natal aspect and the life patterns — both self-defeating and self-fulfilling — that they represent. If you yourself are in the process of an echoing transit, analyze that natal aspect thoroughly to see how you are currently using it, for the transit can be a true gift that allows you to bring that natal aspect to a new lev