How Astrology Really Works, Julian Lee

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Julian Lee

How Astrology Really Works
Julian Lee Copyright Julian Lee 2013

Most don't realize astrological phenomena play out in the following 6 realms:

1) What you think

2) Sensations in the body

3) What you hear, see, or notice

4) Actions you feel like taking but don't take

5) Actions you do take

6) Occurrences (Events that Happen)

Notice that the list moves from subtle to grosser forms of manifestation. Astrological skeptics -- and a few astrological fools -- tend to focus on the realm of occurrences and events exclusively and the supposed desire to predict them when criticizing astrology. They believe that the goal of astrology is to predict exactly what will happen at Level 6.

But a given astrological transit, such as Mars-Quincunx-Saturn, will be found playing out in realms 1-5 long before any grosser manifestation in Level 6.

Long before anybody "knocks on the door" (a Level 6 event occurs) the transit associated with that knock has been playing out in the mind, in bodily sensations, and the things seen out the window or on a walk around the block.

Meanwhile, what the individual does or doesn't do in the first 5 levels impacts what happens at Level 6. Thus...

-- what he thinks of or doesn't think of
-- what he does or doesn't do about bodily sensations
-- what he notices or doesn't notice
-- what he allows or doesn't allow
-- actions he takes or doesn't take...

greatly modify what can manifest at Level 6.

Let's say one is about to have Mars square their Mercury for the next 10 days. If one does a lot of #3 -- does a lot of skillful seeing, hearing and noticing during this transit -- it greatly attenuates what will happen at #6 (events). Simple watching/observing/noting has power to very much drain the Level 6 swamp. In fact the Buddhist technique of Vipassana employs this wisdom at Level 2 -- sensations in the body. By focusing on them and, in effect, magnifying these small sensations, huge and grotesque astrological karma is busted/neutralized at the level of the body.

See, the planets (the karma) only demand that you experience a thing mentally. They ultimately only require that you experience various combinations of mental ideas. And there are states you can enter in which they can't even require that...

I study and watch my own personal transits on a daily basis, and have done so for many years. So what's written here comes from that personal observation, then adding in much vicarious information through talking to my clients with their transits.

One of the principles involved with observing (#3) is that the mind magnifies a thing by focus on it. Meanwhile, magnifying that experience, the transit becomes "satisfied."

Often I have "sat through" a bad transit to see if non-action (#4/5) can reduce manifestations of a transit. Such is the case! We can "sit out" a great many negative transits and they become very deflated thereby. Action makes a transit expand in its potential.

At other times I might choose to act through a transit I know is negative, but within a limited sphere. A funny vignette will demonstrate how noticing and mental magnification works:

I remember one day my transit was something like Mars-Dodecile-Moon, and it was very strong that day. (Mars transits involve very noticeable things, generally.) Under this transit, walking around the block might typically produce things like "people fighting," the appearance of a police car, an aggressive panhandler, a lot of cursing or unpleasant visuals (on my "Mars" transits I often run across people with tattoos and piercings), loud sounds...just on a walk around the block. I knew this by years of observation. My experiment that day was to walk around the block, only, but to look down at my feet and sidewalk, taking in a very limited amount of information. I wanted too see if the transit would still manifest itself somehow, plus see how subtle I could get my "observing" to be.

So I commenced my walk, staring downward resolutely, and within 100 paces I was seeing the transit: I saw graffiti written on the sidewalk that I'd not seen before. I saw some litter that was unpleasant and had not been there before. Then I saw two ants in battle. They were small. Typically nobody would see them. They were engaged, trying to kill each other.

All of the above items were, I knew, subtle manifestations of my Mars-hitting-Moon. Mars hits often 'produce' messes, coarse things. But the "ants fighting" was perfect and really took the cake! Next I suddenly ran into a thick wire pinion, one of those things at an angle that the city puts in to hold a telephone pole up, and I almost tripped on it. It had not been there before. (Mars hits are often associated with physical accidents and metal equipment.)

So from that experiment we can see that: Any "action" in time/space will let the transit manifest, but that very subtle things can "satisfy" the transit. For the rest of my walk I mused about the "two ants fighting" and the whole topic of fights, aggression, territory, the amazing stories I'd heard of ants who could eat a hapless adventurer, times I'd had to get rid of ants or infestations in my house, that time I had wasps in my porch. Then came to mind some experiences in my teens where I was harassed/threatened by some other young men while walking about my home town, how they threw rocks at me, etc.

Basically the tiny thing on the surface of the sidewalk -- two ants fighting, and especially my mental concentration on it, then the thoughts that I brought into my mind that had me experiencing certain ideas -- allowed for the fulfillment of my Mars-Square-Mercury during that hour. These were all subtle things -- the graffiti on the sidewalk, the ants, and my thoughts -- but I magnified them in my mind by noticing and pondering.

So this power of noticing things in the environment or in the body -- this being fields #2 and #3 -- is a very basic power in "chart transcendence," and learning to use this technique very much modifies what can manifest at level 6.

To mention an even more basic power: Whether he/she chooses to sleep for a while or practice meditation, during a particular moon transit, utterly controls what he/she experiences!

One can easily take a nap through a difficult moon transit, for example, and it basically kills it off. Nothing happens! When sleeping, you don't experience your earthly transits much or at all. They are pulled out by the root. This may seem obvious yet it relates to the core principle under discussion: That what is experienced mentally and bodily is the controlling factor in what finally manifests at, say, Level 6.

The pace of one's breathing also -- and this relates to sleep and meditation -- also controls how planetary phenomena may manifest on a given day or hour. The faster and more mind-stimulated the breath, the grosser will be transit manifestation. The slower and more subtle the breath, the more such manifestation will become subtle...

Astrology is far more subtle, layered -- and magical -- than astrology skeptics are capable of anticipating. This is to be expected because the materialist type has already been denying the larger magic of the material world, itself.

With astrology, a list of phenomena and conditions can definitely be predicted, in the case of any particular setup. You can also list them from gross to subtle. "Your house burns down" would be a gross possibility of, say, Mars-Dodecile-4th-House-Ruler-for-3 weeks.

More subtle fruit from the same transit might be:."Your neighbor burns a lot of trash and you see red vehicles around your house, the cops show up for some reason."

An even more subtle version would be "You read a little bit about the Great Fire of Chicago" or "You hear about a friend having a fire" and "you finally mow the lawn."

The one who has done a lot of items 1-thru-5, especially the "noticing" -- will be the one who gets the nicer versions just above.

A concept to grasp is that you continually alter the manifesting possibilities of your chart/transits as you alter the contents of your mind and body. This is logical since the outwardly- manifested conditions/events are nothing but a projection of your own physical body, just as a picture on a screen in a movie viewing is manifested by a light bulb, lens, and strip of plastic. The chart is like the schematic that contains the possible pictures/stories. If you could visualize a crystal with a light shining on it, which projects a particular color on a wall, and imagine that applying different heat/cold to the crystal alters the color projected: That's the best analogy here. The contents of your body-mind control how much, or what grossness/fineness can be projected. If, for example, by yogic development you could reach a state in which your body is burning with pranic heat, and your mind is subsumed with bliss -- you'd find your chart/body immediately manifesting very satvic and magical outer phenomena, phenomena that was never possible for your body/mind to manifest in the ordinary state.

Why Astrology Can't Regularly Predict Exact Events

Because many of these 6 above are subtle realms, and because we have the power of going to sleep as well as slowing the breath and mind, and the power to notice or not notice a thing, to act or refrain from acting, and because no moment ever contains a repeat of planetary configurations, and because every planetary configuration is capable of showing with a wide range of possibilities -- it is impossible to predict exactly what will happen.

Who would want to, when there is so much choice, and when predicting the future would destroy the pleasure of life? Life really consists of your Soul playing games with your earthly ego-self. Your own Soul knows that existence would be hell if everything could be predicted, thus your Soul does not allow that situation to develop. Your Soul, which is infinite in knowledge and bliss, always knows more than the earthly ego-self and its strategies and theories, and will always present surprises to it. In my own astrology I'm always moving from plateaus where I think I know a lot, to being cast out to sea again by some new knowledge-vista, and regretting the days when I thought I "knew it all." Astrological knowledge continually expands just like knowledge of the material universe expands. Yet the Soul always knows more. In fact, outer knowledge is just tiny distillations and accretions secured from that Self.

Predictors Often Do Harm

Given a particular technical situation, a range of phenomena can be confidently predicted, from gross to subtle; from what we could call low-end to high end. Example: Let's say Saturn will afflict a woman's marriage ruler for 2 years. A gross outcome might be divorce or death of her husband. A high-end or subtle outcome would be: He works a lot, he's not so present or available to her, or maybe he will be sick or challenged in some other way. It is actually not technically possible to predict whether the woman will have the low-end, or more high-end, and as illustrated, it depends on her responses and how much she registers things in levels 1 thru 5. However, the loving and constructive role of an astrologer would be to direct her mind to the high end possibilities (his work, unavailability).

In my work if I see particular bad challenges ahead for a client, I almost never breathe (speak) the lower-end possibilities, because I know that speaking those will make them more likely to come true. Instead I direct their minds to some of the high-end possibilities.

When an astrologer makes a prediction based on astrology he/she is only doing these two things:

1) He is making a statement serving him/herself, in terms of manifesting their own karma and desired outcome, and

2) They are attempting to place their mark on the external world, through that speech/prediction. The degree to which they succeed at that relates to their own power of speech and will.

False Premises Held by Skeptics

Skeptics approach the idea of astrology (note they always approach "the idea of astrology" -- not astrology itself) with false premises about what it is; or with unnecessary or absurd theories of "how it's supposed to work" such as the idea of "planetary influences," "cosmic rays," etc. Or that it is supposed to "predict exactly what will happen in the future."

In this paper I point out that astrology is the one field where the materialist insists on having a credible theory of explanation before he is willing to study it by watching his transits, or collecting many natal charts. With all other scientific studies, the phenomenon itself is studied as a phenomenon though no theory yet exists to explain it. Only after studying the phenomenon itself does the scientist try to create a theory to explain it. Then the theory explaining the phenomenon typically evolves and changes.

Only with astrology do the materialists require a final theory for "how it could be true" before looking at the phenomenon itself.. Because of this I suspect that they are reacting emotionally and irrationally to astrology.

This is, I can only guess, because they view astrology as threatening to their assumptions about what the world is, or maybe for other neurotic or emotional reasons. I suppose it makes them afraid. Maybe it threatens to topple some of the paradigms by which they understand the world. Maybe they have met some simpleton astrology types who gave them a negative impression of what astrology is. Perhaps they instinctively know that it challenges basic assumptions about life and what the material creation really is: The extension of themselves and their own mind. Astrology does lead you to that conclusion.

The scientist doesn't realize that he is only studying himself, his own mental projections; his own karma. Astrological observation leads you to that conclusion faster than the scientists' studies. The scientist is led endlessly into the swirling eddies of his own mind that he calls The Universe, always viewing it as "other."

This paper is written to address the premises and childish refusal of astrology skeptics to actually study astrological correlation without having a satisfactory theory in hand. I also show how their starting premises are often irrelevant, optional, or useless. I then give practical advice for the study of astrology in which -- as with most other studies and investigations -- no theory-of-cause or explanation for astrological correlation need be in hand. You simply watch life and watch your transits (or study natal charts) and see what you see.

I hope that perhaps only 1 in a thousand skeptics reads this and becomes a natural astrologer. As I mention below, I would not like to l live in a world in which astrology was any more popular than it already is. In astrology you meet your own self-projected law. Most people are already burdened enough. As Jesus said, "Take no thought for tomorrow...sufficient to the day is the evil thereof." In other words, each day already has enough sorrows and limitations. Don't make it worse. Astrological knowledge is a burden. A wise man, after encountering astrological laws -- as subtle and mystifying as they are -- soon sets about trying to dissolve them in God's Seven Seas or burn them in a Divine Fire. Yet in my own life, understanding astrological charts was the saving grace that made me capable of bearing sorrows and staving off madness. All of this is just passing karma. Astrology shows you that.

-- Julian Lee

Let me say at the outset that I'm thoroughly happy if the majority of people don't know about astrology, view it as nonsense, or fear it as is often the case.

Happy as punch. I would not like living in a world in which the majority of people had astrological knowledge. I am not going to explain why I feel that way, but let me say it at the outset.

Another way of putting it is that I have no desire to convince cocksure attackers, who pose as science types but are really approaching the enigma of astrology emotionally and who, unlike the scientist, demand a plausible theory of "how" before even looking at the phenomenon itself. Neither do I desire to convince the fearful and unadventurous about the universal cohesion seen in astrology. I have no wish to disturb anybody's world. I'm happy to leave them alone. My phone continually rings with the voices of those who have experienced the deep validity of astrological observation. From a purely selfish standpoint it is better that few know, for example, about my particular brand of locational analysis and how I find better locations for people where definite changes can easily be predicted. Thus I tend not to even gush to avid astrologers about astrology.

That's what it is, you know. Astrology is essentially the observation of the microcosm (humans) with reference to the macrocosm. You don't need to believe anything or even understand how. Just watch. A good astrologer is a Watcher.

But it's more fun that most don't know about astrology in any convincing way. For one thing, people who are into their charts and transits are the most tedious and boring people in the world, to me. I'd prefer to talk to non-astrologers and I don't want a world full of white-knuckled chart watchers. They lose the magic and they take away the magic for me. But every now and then I can get drawn into explanations.

The essential claim of astrology is that there is a correlation between life phenomena and the planetary positions and movements.

Not that that correlation is not perfectly comprehensible, or that it correlates perfectly. We can say that traffic incidents like speeding tickets or parking tickets usually correlate with the transiting moon making a hard aspect to Saturn. But we can't find a set of transits sure to predict a parking ticket. On the other hand the hard moon transits to Saturn are almost sure to predict some kind of stress, mess, screwup, or unpleasantness. You find out about this easily by logging the planetary positions whenever you have unpleasant experiences.

The claim of astrology is not that one can predict exactly what will happen. Who would want such a life? And how could it be done when every moment is new, with no set of planetary configurations ever repeating exactly?

Astrology doesn't claim to be a science. That would be a downgrade. I'm insulted if somebody tries to praise astrology by calling it a science. Isn't it science and the scientific attitude that has most f---d up the world? And the thing that never delivers on its promise (to get rid of duality/problems)?

The best use of astrology, moreover, does not concern "happenings" much. It's best use is to give understanding and the comfort understanding brings.

It's very highest use is to enable the canny watcher to discern the difference between mere good karma and grace; the difference between transits and the Transcendental. It becomes, for the wise, the biofeedback system leading into states of grace.

Astrology is not a matter of temperatures, boiling points, weights and exact measures. No, it is not a mere unsatisfactory material science. It's loaded with layers, filters, modifiers, and mysteries. Just like the rest of your self-projected world-dream. In general astrology is far more complex and layered than the average skeptic (or uneducated critic) wants it to be.

Now let me repeat the essential claim of astrology: that there is a correlation between life phenomena and the planetary positions and movements.

Now to show that most skeptics are ill-equipped to even discuss astrology, let's ask: What is meant by "life phenomena" that ends up correlating with planetary positions? Where do these phenomena take place? This is where the skeptics are immediately out of their depth.

The realms of life phenomena that correlate with planetary positions encompass at least 6 areas:

1) What you think; what comes into the mind,

2) Sensations in the body (noticed and unnoticed),

3) What you hear, see, or notice,

4) Actions you feel like taking, or think of doing, but don't do,

5) What actions you do take

6) Occurrences. Events, 'Things that happen' or arise on their own, whether in the course of taking action or not.

Yes, astrological transits manifest as mere thoughts. And yes, they come out as feelings in the body. And the most interesting thing is how you can walk around the block or through your neighborhood and immediately witness your changing astrological transits playing out -- just in what you notice or observe. That phrase "notice or observe" is very key, and makes a big difference.

Notice that most of the phenomena of life play out in these 6 areas.

Likewise, astrological correlation can be studied in these same six realms.

Neurotic attackers of astrology (who have usually never studied even their moon transits much less their Mars-square-Moon) tend to focus exclusively on number 6 -- events that happen. They think an astrologer is preoccupied with predicting events.

The fascinating fact is that what is done/not done in the prior five areas will modify outcomes in #6, or events.

That is, whether you "notice" a thing in #3 or walk past it modifies what emerges in levels 4, 5, and 6.

They want a good theory before investigation

Normally when men wish to investigate a thing they look at the phenomenon itself. Only afterward they might try to come up with theories or explanations for the phenomenon.

For example, a early traveler might say "I went to Madagascar and there is a lizard that can change its color." Or "There is a bird that can eat poison." The fellow back home with a true scientific attitude will say, "I can't imagine how that could be, but I want to come there and study it." Then only after studying the phenomenon does he try to come up with theories of how/why. This is the correct approach to astrology, also. But a more emotional type will say: "I can't conceive of HOW a lizard could change colors. So I am not interested in coming to study your absurd claim." That is, he says: "I can't conceive of how planets could control/influence us, so I am not going to study it."

Notice that he has presumed astrology is about planets "controlling" or "influencing." I am an astrologer and I don't believe planets control or influence! So he is, as usual, approaching it with false assumptions.

But more importantly, notice his emotional stance that he must have a satisfactory explanation FIRST, before he will deign study the phenomenon.

This is not normally how people proceed in investigations. They want to see the phenomenon first, then theorize about it later. But the astrological skeptic makes an exception with astrology: He must have a plausible theory before he studies the phenomenon itself. I would tell him: "Simply make journal whenever transiting Mars opposes, squares, or conjuncts your natal moon. Write down what happens." Pretty soon he'll be a 'believer' in astrology or at least realize there is something uncanny to it. But he won't have a theory of how it works, and he didn't need one. He just needed to study it.

But for some reason most ostensibly "science" minded men always reverse the normal processes of investigation with astrology. They say: "I can't conceive of how/why it should work, so therefore it must be nonsense and I won't study it." It's like the hometown fellow circa 1800 saying "I can't conceive of how a lizard can change color, so I'm not going to look at it. Only after you give me a believable theory for it will I look at your lizard." They also, typically, are carrying lots of baggage in the form of theories (such as "planets cause things" or "planets emit rays" etc.) They must have a believable and logical theory in hand first before they will study the subject. Only with astrology do they reverse things this way and require a believable explanation first.

The skeptics typically approach astrology with a catalog of pre-registered premises about the "how" of astrology: that planets "cause" or "control," or that "cosmic rays" are emitted from planets, or that there is "a scorpion in the sky," etc. (It never occurs to them there there was never a scorpion in the sky, and one can connect star-dots in limitless ways to imagine fanciful pictures. For the "precession" fanatics, they don't realize that the 0 Aries point is still the spring equinox and that these creatures never existed in the sky.)

Another of their false premises is that astrology is supposed to predict "exactly what's going to happen." They have this expectation even though at each moment a completely unique set of planetary movements is occurring -- one that has never occurred before in history. (Even if the main purpose of astrology was to predict "what will happen," if every moment in time involves an unprecedented, never-occurred set of planetary configurations, how can anybody predict exactly what will happen?)

Theories about the Northern Lights continually change, yet we always studied the Northern Lights. Why do astrology skeptics require a fixed-and-final satisfactory theory for astrology they will actually study it?

Even in the realm of material science the theories that explain a phenomenon are found to change. At first they think the sky is blue for one reason, then another. At first they think fire makes blisters for one reason, then another. At first they think cancer is caused by one thing, then another. This is one more reason the theory-before-study astrology scoffers are ridiculous.

When entertaining their unnecessary theories on approach to almost-study astrology, they include crap

Notice too that the scoffer approached it burdened by assumptions about theory or cause that are not necessarily true: That planets "control" or "influence." I have never believed they control or influence, and yet I am an astrologer. Rather, they correlate, in a synchronous universe in which all things are related because all perceivables are the property of a perceiver. Or we could say everything is connected because everything arises spontaneously from one divine source.

A farmer may have noticed that the deer come down into a certain meadow of his about a week before a frost. He notices that the deer are down in the meadow, so he figures a frost will be coming soon. Is it because he believes the deer "cause" the frost? No. He just knows everything is connected. There is no need to approach the study of astrology with a theory of "how it could work" any more than the scientist needed to have final explanation-in-hand before studying the lizard.

The same farmer may watch the barn swallows swoop low on a summer evening and reckon it will rain by sunrise, based on past experience. Is it because he believes the Barn Swallows cause it to rain? No, again, he just knows things are connected. Astrology works because everything is connected. Your dreams at night have everything to do with you, because you are the dreamer. Likewise in the waking dream of a material cosmos you also find yourself (your life shown in astrological charts, etc.) -- because these projections -- skies, earth, and "charts" -- are likewise just yourself.
The real claim of astrology is that there is correlation between microcosm and macrocosm. Not that planets are causative. If a fellow actually wanted to study astrology as a phenomenon he would see if it's true.

How to truly study astrology

To best study astrology, one watches life while also watching the astrological positions, without preconceptions. As with all other studies, there is also no need to have a logical theory about "how" or "why" it could be true. It is only needful to study the phenomenon in itself.

I would recommend these steps:

-- Meet 50 people who have their natal Saturns in square, opposition, or conjunction to your natal moon and observe what your interactions are like.

-- Watch the transit of Mars squaring your natal moon at least 4 times (over years) and journal about what goes on then.

-- Observe the hours when transiting Moon "hits" your natal Saturn. Do this for a few years. Do this and observe what takes place in 6 realms: 1) What you think, 2) Sensations in the body, 3) What you hear, see, or notice, 4) What you feel like doing but don't do, 5) What actions you do take, and 6) What happens. (Note: Nitwits always focus exclusively on this last of 6 fields of astrological phenomena, exclusively.)

-- Take all the times you were stopped by a traffic cop (given a ticket, etc.) and note what the planets are doing both in the sky and in your natal chart. (Similar examples are endless: The times you see a pretty woman, the times you cut yourself or have a physical accident, the times you see people in wheelchairs, etc.)

I know that astrology is a true phenomenon because I have watched it daily for 30 years. But it's more subtle, and more deep, than the typical scoffer wants to allow for. One of my working theories for how it works is that all arises spontaneously from one divine source, thus all is connected. Planets correlate, in a synchronous universe. You cause the planets; looking at them is looking into a mirror. These theories of how/why are very different than the theories with which skeptics typically encumber themselves as they scoff without actual study.

Astrology is a lot like this:

Two jungle dwellers come out of the jungle and see their first pool of still water. The first jungle dweller gazes into it and sees a being there. Just then the being moves its arm. At the very same time, the jungle dweller notices that he, himself, moved his arm. He says, "That being in the water made me move my arm."

The 2nd jungle dweller, gazing at an image in the water, and seeing its movements corresponding with his, says: "Maybe that is just me." Astrology's the same way. The planets are just a mirror. They don't cause you; you cause them.

And yet it is more subtle than that, because look at the 6 areas I listed above. What one does in the earlier stages (thought, body feelings) has influence in what happens in the later fields (things done/things happening). For example, just being a good observer -- which most people are not -- of small things (item 3) "satisfies" a great deal of astrological movement, and can modify the outcomes in 4, 5, and 6. (Noticing the beggar on the street vs. not noticing them.)

Astrology is profounder than what average minds are prepared for, and most critics approach it 1) with no actual study, and 2) false premises about it.

The Six Levels on a Trip to Los Angeles

I mentioned that worldly life happens in at least 6 levels, and that astrology also plays out in the same 6 levels. Let's review them:

1) What you think; what comes into the mind,
2) Sensations in the body (noticed and unnoticed),
3) What you hear, see, or notice,
4) Actions you feel like taking, or think of doing, but don't do,
5) What actions you do take
6) Events. Things that happen or arise on their own, whether in the course of taking action or not.

Let's have a demonstration:

A woman is driving to Los Angeles from Ventura, California for a little business meeting. At this time transiting Mercury is in an opposition to her natal Saturn. She has studied your life, watched her transits, and made many notes of past events and astrological positions. She knows that breakdowns, accidents, or cop events are often associated with transits to her Natal Saturn. She has figured this out by observation. Maybe she has noticed that the moon is usually in some aspect to Saturn, also. And this is one of those times.

Let's say that what she wants in the 6th realm, of happenings, is simply to arrive in LA without incident. She don't want any 6th realm outcomes except safe arrival.

Already the planetary phenomena are playing out in the 6 areas. Already there is a Number 5 -- she is taking at action. She has an obligation to go to this business meeting with a potential client. (Obligations often arise during hard transits to the natal Saturn.)

At this time she may feel a discomfort in your body as she drives. Maybe an itch. Maybe the skin of her back is crimped against the seat behind her for a moment. This was the transit at number 2. If she is unaware of it and ignores it, the transit has to keep evolving and manifesting in the other levels. Instead she is aware of it, but decides to end it. I would do the shamanic trick of letting the itch remain -- if I knew I was driving under difficult transits. But she shifts in her car and she scratches her itch. No more pain. Now the Mercury-Saturn opposition is 'looking' for something else to do, some other way to hit her.

Cosmic Karma-Busting Tip of the Millennium:

Allowing transits to "work out" on one's body is the best way to mitigate them, flatten them out, deflate them, or even kill them.

At this time for some reason one of her old jobs comes into her mind. She was fired from that job. She thinks of the people involved, the boss who fired her, and relives it a little. She processes on it and gets new understanding of that event. This is the transit manifesting at Level One, the level of thought. This was very good for her trip and a good thing to think about at this time. But it is unpleasant, so she turns on the radio to forget those memories and change her mood. The song that's on is one she doesn't like. It reminds her of a bad time in here life. She goes searching for one she likes. It is difficult! She turns off the radio.

She should have left it on. Radios, TV, music, and media are great ways to let transits express. The bad song was just her transit. So was the thought about the old job and the firing. Had she left the radio on she would have heard more songs she disliked, and likely some nasty news, or a talk radio conversation that was negative and unpleasant. This would have been good, but she wanted to avoid and stop up the transit at Level 3. (Things seen and heard.)

Now there are some people broken down by the side of the road. A woman is standing there and a fellow is down on his knees in a busy place trying to jack up their car. This is her transit manifesting at level 3.

But she only barely notices them. She doesn't give them much mind. In fact she could do major "noticing" -- even ponder each situation for a while. But she don't even pay attention to them. This was the Mercury-opposition-Saturn manifesting at Level 3, Things Noticed and Seen, but she didn't make use of it. If she had really noticed, registered and pondered the broken-down people and their car, it would have given her a great deal of protection.

As she passes the exit to Coldwater Canyon she think it would be fun to pull off and get a fruit smoothie at that favorite smoothie place she likes, next to Whole Foods. This is the transit at Level 5 -- actions you feel like taking. (Under the transits to Saturn people feel negativity and pain, even subconsciously, and instinctively want to go toward some kind of pleasure.) Had she gone there, associated with the transit she would have likely had some disappointment, such as the store being closed, a server being rude, or her smoothie not smooth. That is, with some luck. It's as if there are lawful times to have fun, and times when Saturn "doesn't want" you to have fun. (To use language creatively.) But instead, she decides to be austere and pass up that temptation. This was good. Had she had fun with the smoothie stop Saturn would have had to, as it were, slap her harder somehow on this trip.

At this point by foregoing that desire she was feeling, she is beginning to give "satisfaction" to the transit. She is suffering because she did not take that action. In other cases a transit becomes satisfied because you do take an action, maybe one you don't enjoy or one you do enjoy.

Now she gets to her location in Santa Monica and it's hard to find a parking space. This would be typical for the transit. (Assignment: Log all the times it's hard to get a parking space; look at the moon transit etc.) Somebody parks sloppy just before she gets there. The woman even takes up two spaces. She has to spend extra time looking for a parking spot and park at a greater distance away. Rolling up the windows, the handle breaks off in her hand. Getting out of the car, our driver catches a screw on her runner and it makes a tear in one of her favorite skirts. As she heads down the sidewalk an unpleasant looking street person approaches her. He, also, is her transit. He says lewd things. She ends up 20 minutes late to the business meeting and embarrassed.

These items are Level 6 items now. The parking trouble, the tear, the street person, and the late arrival are all part of "things happening" at level 6.

Predicting these are things that the astrological skeptic tends to focus on as being the goal of astrology. However, they are modified (even controlled) by what's done or not done in the other levels.

All that is required is that the transit (Mercury-opposing- Saturn) be "satisfied." Had the driver looked at some of the people broken down along the road, on her trip, outcomes at level 6 would have been different. Had she noticed her itch or bodily discomfort, and especially allowed it to remain without trying to get comfort, it would have modified the level 6 outcome all the more. Had she indulged in pleasure during this transit (Level 4) and found a great Smoothie Shop, it is likely that the outcome at level 6, because the foregoing pleasure was contrary to the transit, would have been grosser. For example, she may have a Level 6 outcome such as a traffic cop pullover, or a little bump in the parking lot, or a malfunction of the car. Her austerity in not going to the Smoothie Shop along the way protected her.

What the individual does at Level 2 and 3 are powerful modifiers of what can happen at levels 4, 5 and 6. An itch left unscratched, or a pebble left in the shoe, are powerful satisfiers of certain kinds of adverse transits, for example. Along the way, this woman could have made even greater use of Level 3 -- the noticing of things seen and heard. She didn't pay attention, but there were 3 broken down cars along the way she could have "taken in." Had she pulled over at a convenient spot to offer assistance to a safe looking person, it would have given further satisfaction to the transit. There was a cop over on the left oncoming freeway who had pulled over a speeder. He was her transit. She didn't notice this. She could have also turned on the radio and been treated to some Talk Radio that was very unpleasant, upsetting or crude. That would have been her transit expressing, also. But she unwisely left her radio off. There were also some unpleasant persons she could have noticed in cars, some with monster hair, some hitting their kids, a woman with a tattoo on her face, plus a guy with his radio cranked up really loud with a song that she dislikes. However, she didn't do the wise things and notice any these things. (Received the transit at Level 3.) Had she done so, it is likely (and this based on my experience) that she would not had the parking difficulty, or torn one of her favorite skirts, broken the window handle, or been late.

One can receive and satisfy all astrological transits at the level of mind, at the level of sensations in the body, and at the level of things seen and heard. What manifests at Level 6 (Events that happen) depends on what is done and not done, noticed and not noticed, at the other levels.

When you go to sleep, all transit phenomena associated with the world immediately dissolves. You master everything, taking down the entire circus tent. Likewise, when you sit in one spot and meditate you reduce the grossness of 'astrological manifestation' (life manifestation) greatly. Action itself expands astrological manifestation. Non-action mitigates it and flattens it out. Let's say you liked to walk through a grove of willow trees on your way home from school. One day you started down the grove and there was pollen on all the hanging fronds. If you will stop there, you will get no pollen on you. It's only as you move forward (act) into the willow grove that you get the pollen all over you. Likewise, it's when you take action during various transits that you "get the transit all over you." Action makes the transit potential expand, just like her trip to LA. Had she spent the day knitting and watching TV, she would not have torn her dress, encountered an unpleasant beggar, or insulted her client by being late. Other things would have happened, but with less action likely would have been less dramatic. Astrological potential expands with action.

In my astrological practice I've had times like this: A client says: "I have to take this difficult trip, this Thursday. I have to be on time. I can't have any bad traffic, hassles, or troubles. Is it a good time?" And looking at it, it may be a bad travel time. So what do I tell them? I say:

-- Play the radio while you drive. When songs you don't like come no, LEAVE THEM playing.
-- Try to find a talk radio show. You will probably find the content and language distressing. Leave it on.
-- You will probably see people broken down along the way, or people stopped by the cops. When you see them, notice everything about the situation. Think about similar times in your life, or other stories like that you've heard (friends and family). Write novels in your head, while driving, about "breaking down" or "stopped by cops." Mentally explore those ideas.
-- Don't try to have fun along the way, or repeat pleasures from the past. If you are hungry, try to stay hungry.
-- Discomforts will arise while driving. If you can bear a few of them, choose to "allow" them rather than trying to make yourself perfectly comfortable.
-- Negative memories may come into your mind. Explore those memories and thoughts.
-- Take special precautions before the trip, things you might not usually do. Like, check the water level and oil. Do it yourself. Get dirty doing it. (Note: It's the hassling over these "caution" activities that gives the protection and pleases Saturn, no so much the things themselves.)

By doing these things during that trip, I say to the client, he/she is likely to get there without incident.

Because astrological phenomena play out in these 6 realms, and because astrological positions at any given moment are ones that have never occurred before in history, nobody can predict exactly what will happen. And such prediction is not astrology's purpose.

But you can get to know the typical phenomena that take place during, for example, any transit such as Moon-quincunx-Natal Saturn. It will And to do so is interesting, makes life more fun as well as more in your control, and gives a lot of protection, understanding, and peace.