Major (personal) events without major transits

[Mike V]

Hi all,

I've got something perplexing me figured that this is the best board to discuss it.
A few times in recent history, friends have had major or semi-major events happen to them, and upon using Solar Fire to check their:

lunar and demi-lunar returns
transits to natal, SSR, and secondary progressed planets
SSR progressions (SQ, I believe?)

I have found few factors that adequately explain what they're describing to me.
Looking at any of these dates and times in advance would have led me to expect that nothing particularly notable would happen, in other words - other date ranges include interesting transits by outer planets, tough-looking lunar returns, etc, but I repeatedly seem to come up on significant events occurring in the "dead spots" between.

Is it that the SSR gets the entirety of the spotlight in these times, and these are part of the main-plot unfolding of the SSR?

[Jim Eshelman]

Can't tell you what's going on without seeing the charts.

One minor point: As a rule, transits to secondary progressions are usually worthless, except to the luminaries. I don't even calculate them for myself anymore and I calculate everything for myself

So... give us the best example of a major event for one of these people, with full birth data, and we'll take a look. Transits to natal &/or solar, and the SLR and Demi-SLR against the background of the SSR, should peg them all, with occasional support from progressions (especially if progressed Moon is involved).

[Mike V]

Mm, understood.

Here's the best one I got.

Birth:
Dec 23 1989
12:03pm
Ridgewood, NJ, USA

Event data:
Type: Major life-defining spiritual experience
Date: Oct 19 2017
Location: Chichester, UK (should be Sussex County)
Time of event: Around noon on 10/19, with notable impact/unfolding continuing for several days after

I would be relieved to know that I missed something plain and obvious.

I should add that at the time of her Dec 2016 Solar Return she was in Morristown, NJ. (Not that far from Ridgewood, but still.)

[Mike V]

Continuing to think aloud...
She traveled to the UK on 10/13/17.

In checking her 9/23/17 SLR for Morristown NJ, I must have initially missed t. Pluto about 1* off the EP (looks like 1*47' square MC in RA), and in her 10/7/17 Demi SLR, t. Neptune 3* off the Asc.

Sorry I wasn't completely clear in the original post!

[Jim Eshelman]

I can dig into this when I have time (maybe shortly, maybe not), but I'd rather you come up with a different example.

Two reasons: First, the high variability of location that you've cited in your follow-up notes. But also, this is a kind of event that normally shows quite badly. While purely internal (psychological etc.) phenomena do show vividly in charts as a rule, the sort of event you describe has such a personalized impact that one can't presume in advance what the real meaning and real nature of the experience is. (I've seen a few spiritual breakthrough events experienced as rapturous appear under primarily strong Saturn: The nature of Saturn is transformed at that level, or something akin to crucifixion symbolism is basic to the rapture, or... you get the point, yes?)

Besides the variability of highly personalized meaning, there is the issue that events which show best are concrete, objective events manifested into the physical world through shifting physical things.

Nonetheless, if you like, I'll take a look at this and see what I see.

[Jim Eshelman]

Funny I mention that Saturn thing, because the first thing I notice is that the natal chart relocated to Chichester, UK has Saturn 1°01' from Descendant conjunct Neptune 2°43' from Descendant. They are 1°42' from mundane conjunction. which is closer than the roughly 3° of ecliptical conjunction. Nearby is a more distantly foreground Jupiter-Uranus opposition.

I don't know this person's spiritual orientation, but simply being in that location sets the person up for what would classically be deemed a mortification epiphany, if any sort of spiritual awakening occurred.

TRANSITS
Given that Uranus and Neptune were in ongoing semi-square (15' for this event), and transiting Sun was exactly opposite Uranus that day, it would be lovely to find this pattern exactly hit something critical - but it doesn't do so in the natal chart.

Mars is octile natal Moon 17'. Venus crosses natal Descendant 51'. Moon squared natal Mercury within minutes (probably some sense of "a communication"). But that's all. Just little stuff.

SOLAR RETURN
SSR for both its initial place and event locale has an angular Venus. That gives one spin to the event, though not necessarily the one I'd expect from past charts unless it was primarily, almost purely, a vision of love. Otherwise the SSR isn't really helpful.

LUNAR RETURN
As you point out, the SLR, which occurred in New Jersey, has Pluto on EP. That's at least life-altering and potentially transcendental. It exactly conjoins natal Saturn - I keep getting messages that this was a fundamentally Saturn experience, either profoundly (which could mean ecstatically, too) mortifying, or thematically dealing mostly with the fundamental nature of reality. Transiting Saturn is also rising.

As she went to England, we get our best clear hit yet: The SLR now has Sun 0°11' from Descendant! Mercury is a degree and a half below. Several other potentially relevant planets are in the range of the horizon, but these are closest. I have seen exactly this when the person primarily experienced the event as "self-realization." - In this case, it's double-Sun, because it squares natal Sun near MC. (The Demi-SLR for England also had natal Sun closely angular.)

PROGRESSIONS
Progressed Moon conjoined progressed Pluto 0°33'. This is our clearest tight-timing yet! Better yet, progressed Jupiter is 11' form sesqui-square the Moon, 17' from sesqui-square the Pluto - nearly their midpoint. (Saturn also touches them by very close sextile: It seems a signature planet for this particular event.)

Relocate it, and you pick up progressed Ascendant opposite natal Venus 07'. I wouldn't have thought this all that important were it not so close: It's added only because of where she went. For England, progressed WP is only 05' from progressed Neptune, also partile conjunct natal Neptune (again, only there because of where she went).

ANLUNAR
Just on a lark... the event happened a few hours before a new Anlunar, which normally would have 24-hour lead expression. Neptune (exactly aspected by Sun and Uranus as mentioned above) is half a degree from Descendant.


So there you have what I can see. My biggest limitation is that I don't know the nature of this particular chrism. I see touches of Neptune and Venus spattering through, but mostly see Saturn and Sun driving the event - which is quite descriptive in general, but perhaps now in this case - all wrapped around the one centerpiece of a progressed Moon-Pluto conjunction.

[Mike V]

I have a draft with another event saved (I'm making sure my info is all sensible before I post it) if you want that one too, although you're on a roll with this...

My friend confirms that you're totally hitting the nail on the head with this.
The event was a spiritual experience that was catalyzed by eating the non-poisonous part of a poisonous plant (yew). If she had screwed up at all in that process, she would have gotten at least very ill, from what I am told. The whole time she was in the UK was very spiritual but this was a singular crisis in that period.

Saturn is incredibly appropriate for all of that.

She confirmed that during her experience, she realized the critical importance of the specific relationship she is in now (it was solidified for all time for her), so Venus is also appropriate for that part.


Edit now that your post is complete: Thank you so much for taking the time to look at this. It looks like there's quite a solid explanation for her experience - it was extremely Saturn-centric. I don't think I was expecting to see that particular blend of planets for this type of experience, and I don't think I was looking at Eastpoint when I reviewed this immediately after it happened, so I didn't catch the foreground Pluto in the SLR.