Planets in Transit: Life Cycles for Living covers complete delineations of all the major transits – conjunction, sextile, square, trine and opposition – that occur between transiting Sun, Moon and all planets to each planet in the natal chart and the Ascendant and Midheaven, as well as complete delineations of each planet transiting each house of the natal chart.
Introduction:
A transit occurs whenever a planet, moving in its orbit during your lifetime, forms an aspect to a planet, the Sun, Moon or any of the house cusps in your natal horoscope. Also, whenever a planet passes through the part of the zodiac occupied by a house in your natal chart, we say that the planet is transiting the house.
The study of transits is one of the most fundamental techniques in astrology. That transits indicate important trends and issues in your life is one of the few points upon which all astrologers agree. Along with directions and progressions, they are basic to the astrologer s predictive methodology. Yet there is not a single, detailed one-volume text that gives you an idea of what to expect from each transit. Nor is there much literature on how to integrate transits into a larger view of the development of your life as a whole. This text is designed to fill that gap.
Here you will find extensive delineations of the transits of the Sun, Moon and planets to all of the major factors in the horoscope by conjunction, sextile, square, trine and opposition, with some introductory notes on the minor aspects. Some readers will note that the transiting node of the Moon is not included. Although I believe that the Moons node has an effect, at this point I am not sure enough of its meaning to speak about it with confidence.
While these descriptions are not totally complete — that would be an impossible goal to realize — they do provide an in-depth account of the significance of each transit. You will learn what you are most likely to experience, emotionally, psychologically and circumstantially, under each transit. The delineations differ from those in earlier texts because they are written primarily in psychological terms rather than in terms of events. In the past, most texts have been oriented primarily to predicting the events that will happen to you. This tends to support the older view of astrology as a fortune-telling system, which almost everyone now agrees is at best a debased form of the art.
The purpose of astrology really should be to give you an understanding of your place in the universe and the kinds of energies that are flowing through you and through the physical universe. Astrology should not try to make up your mind but instead provide information upon which you can make an intelligent decision. Obviously, transits indicate times that are appropriate for certain kinds of actions and inappropriate for others, and certain kinds of events often do occur with particular transits. But transits should never be viewed as signifying events that will inevitably come to pass, with you as a helpless observer.
Contents:
- Interpreting Transits
- Timing Transits
- Case Study: Nixon and Watergate
- Sun
- Moon
- Mercury
- Venus
- Mars
- Jupiter
- Saturn
- Uranus
- Neptune
- Pluto
Planets in Transit: Life Cycles for Living By Robert Hand pdf
Madisyn Terrell (verified owner) –
I highly recommend this book. I was contemplating on spending the money to buy it, I broke down and bought it and have no regrets, its to bad I waited to buy it. Very well written.
Theodora Gonzalez (verified owner) –
This is a “classic” on astrological transits. It is good indeed. Nevertheless…It is written with the “usual, infectious” tendency of modern astrologers to interpret everything with too much Psychology…that unfortunately “dries up” the subject. The final result is the missing of the most subtle, mysterious and often astoundingly exact(in mythological symbolism) astrological phenomenon ! Please, everyone. One good thing is Psychology. Another, much deeper and unfathomably beautiful is Astrology, the language of the stars, for God’s sake !
Kallie Small (verified owner) –
This was a replacement book, which was really old and pages were falling apart. Robert Hand’s book is really helpful for me as a basic book with explanations. This is it. I’m not a professional but his book has been an asset for me to understand transits in my birthcharts. It also helps to understand what the astrologers are telling me.
Jessie Andrews (verified owner) –
This is a book every astrologer and astrology student should have. The author is one of the most respected living astrologers and is known worldwide. My previous copy was taken and I went ahead and replaced it although I have read that the author plans on updating this book either in 2015 or 2016. I decided not to wait for the update.
Sergio Perry (verified owner) –
I wish I could meet Robert Hand in person to tell him how this book has changed and enriched my life. This book is very accurate concerning planatary aspects. Mr. Hand writes from the point of view of how one might grow spiritually and psychologically from the experiences they have. In fact, it has done just that for me. I have used this book for 20 years. My world has became fuller, richer and bigger since I started studying Astology using “Planets in Transits.” Thank you Robert Hand!!
Martin Glover (verified owner) –
This book is a must for any astrologer – beginner to advanced; hobbyist or professional. Each chapter covers one of the ten planets – from the fast moving Moon to slow Pluto. Each chapter has an introduces the energy of the transiting planet followed by a description of effects of in the house of the natal chart. The remainder of the chapter gives a description planets in aspect ot the natal planet and plus the Midheaven and Ascendant. The five ptolemaic aspects are used with postive and negataive influences of each aspect. This book is a classic in the field of astrology.
Josue Buckley (verified owner) –
Robert Hand’s classic text is the authoritative astrological reference for professional astrologers and the simply curious. The author’s starting point is that astrology is not a belief system but a knowledge system, and that when understood and practiced correctly astrology has explanatory power. Every science ultimately rests on its ‘predictive validity’. In other words, is a body of knowledge able to say in advance what will happen under certain conditions yet to arise? This text does precisely that. The author describes the inner and outer experiences most likely to occur during a particular planetary transit. His clear no-nonsense explanations elevate this book head and shoulders above the many derivative texts written since.
Clara Banks (verified owner) –
a very useful book for both beginners and advanced students of astrology. The author has done his best not to present transits in black-n-white terms, and each entry is quite detailed. A typical text is around half a page, but the letters are quite small – so the text is longer than what it may appear to be at first.
A lot of attention is given to transits to the Ascendant and MC, which I found both useful and accurate. Alas, there is nothing on the nodes, but the author states clearly that transits to nodes will not be part of this book due to his lack of experience with these points. The book also discusses the transits of the different planets through the houses, and these descriptions are very clear and useful.
In short, a very useful, clear, and objective book.
Jaxen Knox (verified owner) –
Would be better if it told how to understand
Lukas Knight (verified owner) –
I have had a copy of this book for 13 years and have consulted it regularly. It does give a good overview of the POSSIBLE effects of transits, but it must be understood they are only one person’s viewpoints. I have read transits of his pointing to possible hardening of the arteries and other quite bizzare and extremely negative possible occurrences. It seems most transits carry an extremely negative flavour even if they point to a good one he usually brings you down with a negative. In my early days I used to get quite upset all day after having read about future transits, eg a year long transit called ADVERSITIES. While it is nice to be prepared, astrology interpretation is anyone’s guess. The book was written a long time ago and surely he has changed his mind many times as we all do.(If he hasn’t, what is that saying?) Our minds are believing his mind. That’s all. While I can see he has a great understanding of astrology, and has studied it in great depth, his own interpretation can only be personal to him. The best gift or advice you can surley give another through astrology is hope and something positive, even if a tricky transit may be looming. It’s not WHAT you say but HOW you say it.
Many people look at the transits on Astro.com (Where you can view your current transits taken from his book) and may, like me, often NOT be able to see even a glimmer of hope EVER on the horizon. I viewed all mine for 2012 and there was not one positive transit on the horizon. How can that be??. Life by it’s very nature is both positive and negative. All I can say if you want to take this seriously develop very thick skin and take it all with a bag of salt. A person who is feeling vulnerable, having relationship issues, suffering with illness, or in other dire straits does not need to read this negativity, they need to be uplifted and encouraged . Probably only a few (one or two) of the transits in this book can be described as ‘uplifting’ in my view. The bottom line in my long experience of having having read every one of his transits backwards, and having for a long time belived every word he wrote, is that it is an extremely negative preachy book.
Rosie Reid (verified owner) –
Robert Hand’s father used astrological cycles to forecast financial trends and stocks. He taught his son astrology (age 17) at a time when psychological astrology was coming into vogue. From those perspectives, Hand wrote Planets in Transit. Each transit takes into account an evolving dimension of the individual, considering each planet’s current state, the influence of the transit, and probable impacts, outcomes and consequences of the transit. This is a deeply thoughtful work that remains the definitive book on transits. Yet, its an easy and interesting read. I have watched my transits and others over many years. When major transits are in play, I do my best to understand what they mean to me and how best to take advantage of them. I recommend this book to experienced astrologers and novices alike. If your going to get into astrology, may as well jump in with both feet. Jump here.
Ethan Bender (verified owner) –
This book has exhaustive and amazing coverage of the transits, all nicely organized from inner to out planets with page end tabs for easy location of each planet.
Transits are an often misunderstood and overlooked aspect of chart interpretation, but with this book, you’ll know much more about the influences and how they relate between each planet. Each aspect is covered in a way that both the professional and the novice alike will have no problem finding the meanings for each planetary transit, whether it be for interpreting the natal chart, to planning and writing “horoscopes”.
Of course the mathematical formulas are given in the beginning of the book so that you can find each aspect, should you decide to do it the old fashioned way, but with today’s computer software, the aspects are so easy to find, that this book acts as a great tool simply when you need an interpretation.
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in astrology!
Armando Nash (verified owner) –
Actually, the book was defective and could easily have earned one star for its condition. This came from SynergizingBackwardOverflow and I contacted them to explain the problem: a broken binding, not easily seen until the book was opened. The mixup was understandable because the problem may not have been seen when the book was handled for shipment. SynergizingBackwardOverflow’s response was extraordinary. Within 24 hours, they resolved the problem courteously and beyond what I was expecting. It is a joy to deal with an honest and respectful reseller and they will be my “goto” choice for future purchases.
Even though this copy has pages falling out, from a previous read, I can say that this is really a classic book for explaining transits. It is well organized (making frequent use a breeze) and very thorough. So, the five stars applies to both the reseller and the book.
Alessia Acosta (verified owner) –
If you’re not quite a professional astrologer but know enough to understand what a “transit” is, then this book is invaluable for you as well. Using the full depth of his experience and talent as a professional astrologer, Rob Hand has written a masterwork that explains what to expect from the various astrological transits. He includes transits forming all Ptolemaic aspects from and to every planet as well as the ascendant and Midheaven. His descriptions are comprehensive and, as you would expect, highly accurate. As a professional astrologer myself I use this as well to augment and confirm my own interpretation and of course it’s extremely helpful in assessing my own transits since it’s always difficult for an astrologer to read their own chart. This is a definite “must have” for every astrologer or person who avails him or herself to the insights provided by this ancient art.
Gracie Casey (verified owner) –
This book is phenomenal, it’s incredibly accurate (in my experience of real life events and the author’s interpretations of the energies). It’s worth every penny. If you’re interested in predictive astrology and/or helping to describe the energy of past or your current events, this is a vital resource. I am very impressed.
Novah Zimmerman (verified owner) –
But so what? This is a great cheat book for quickly analyzing transits (current, or temporary planet locations) and their GENERAL effects. It’s a great book and you should own it–but–it, like so many other books on astrology look at the planets, signs, and aspects from the outside, seeing the effect, and not the cause. This book will not help you understand the why’s and how’s, but most people don’t even know about this stuff, much less want to learn it. Therefore it is a “must own” to sit on your desk (keep it close by) and when you want to see how the Moon square Mars in Libra is affecting your no-good ex boyfriend this weekend, this will give you instant answers.
What this book will not do is help you get inside Mercury in Cancer and understand how a mutable planet trapped in a gooey cardinal, prime water, first triad, second quadrant sign acts, and how this temporary effect colors reality (perception, the effects of actions based on perception, and the energies that set all of this up), or how to capture this transiting energy and use it toward your own goals. But then where can THAT INFORMATION be found (in public)? For that you have to go to (mystery) school.
But still, it is a good book; especially if you just want quick, easy answers. As always, thanks for reading.
Jensen Vang (verified owner) –
My growing interest in astrology is the reason why I bought this book. If you’re interested in developing a deeper understanding of astrological transits then this is your text. Hand’s book is clearly written and easy to understand.
Rudy Hubbard (verified owner) –
This book gets all the stars it can get because this is most probably the definitive work regarding this subject (so much so that the passages encountered in the Daily Horoscope on Astro.com, as well as in its Forecast section, are all excerpted literally word for word out of this book.) This book has come in handy time and time again. Not only does it help in determining what planetary forces are currently active in one’s life at any given moment, it can be deftly employed to peer into the future or the past, or snoop on the transits of other people you know with equal vigor (but, such is the nature of understanding transits, and any resource could easily provide these.) I think what sets Robert Hand’s literature apart is his deep reservoir of knowledge and experience he very visibly exhibits in his analyses. It’s quite apparent he’s working with a vast comprehension of the various manifestations of each combination of planetary energies. And what’s more, his advice is practical. He’s not really the Liz Greene type, delving into the depths of the psychological process. His approach is much more grounded in real world application (however, he does provide insights as to the likely psychological impact of those transits which offer such things.) There’s a cut and dried qualiy to his writing which reminds me of a dad talking on occasion, and a note of very dry humor which surfaces once in a while, or at least I think it’s humor, “Pluto transiting conjunct natal Pluto. This transit does not happen to anyone except possibly right after birth.” My one and only real criticism is that I would have liked each passage to be longer. They are usually 3 to 5 decent sized paragraphs, but not more, and only fill up two thirds of each page, albeit typed in relatively fine print. In any case, this book has been my go-to resource whenever a transit question comes up and the option to sift through pages of search engine results of questionable origin and integrity just isn’t beckoning me. It’s totally comprehensive, including all the transits, with the sore exception of Chiron, my personal favorite planet(oid) or what-have-you. This book still gets the 5 stars, but wouldn’t it be nice if Mr. Hand released a new edition that also included Chiron……Ahhhh, le Sigh!