by guest astrologer Frank C. Clifford

Frank Clifford is an astrology writer, teacher and consultant living in London, England. He is Principal of the London School of Astrology. His work on Shadow Transits was featured in The Mountain Astrologer (Dec 2008) and can be found in his new booklet for astrology students and professionals, ‘Solar Arc Directions’, available postage free from his website www.flareuk.com.

As a student astrologer, I never found secondary progressions to be particularly useful, especially once I discovered Solar Arc Directions and added these to my forecasting toolkit. And then I used to wonder if transits to Solar Arc directed positions ‘worked’ and, if so, were they any different from transits to natal positions? I searched but couldn’t find any literature on this. Fortunately, some years later my clients started to bring examples to me and, in 2004, I began to develop an additional forecasting tool that I named ‘Shadow Transits’.

In my experience, transits to directed positions in the horoscope work very well, but I was curious to know how they differed from transits to the natal chart. Is one more important than the other? Is it a case of either/or? Well, I discovered that not only is the transit to the directed position (what I call a Shadow Transit) as important as the original transit-to-natal event, it also has a strong link to the themes that came up and developed under the original natal chart transit. That may not be a surprise, but it has, in my practice, become a very useful tool and enabled me to discuss a past event with a client in order to help them draw parallels and gain some insight into the process currently unfolding under the Shadow Transit.

The Shadow Saturn Return

We astrologers often see clients around their first Saturn Return, but I was a bit flummoxed when clients returned at age 31–32 saying they were experiencing similar situations and themes to those at 28–29. I soon realized that the Saturn Return isn’t really over until the Shadow Saturn Return occurs some two to three years later, i.e. when transiting Saturn meets up with Solar Arc directed Saturn 31–32 degrees further in the zodiac. This would take around 2.5 years to catch up and, by then, the Shadow Saturn Return occurs in a new sign and often a new house (depending on the house system used).

Repeating Themes

Since 2004, I have worked with Shadow Transits in consultation (and while researching charts) and have found that they repeat themes, events and feelings that transpired during the original transit to the natal horoscope. I believe that the event gives us another chance to tidy up unfinished business, another stab at an opportunity, or a further possibility to recognize a pattern from the past – and to make different choices, if necessary. For example, while writing this piece (June 23, 2011), I have just finished a phone consultation with a client who has TR Neptune conjunct her Solar Arc (SA) Descendant at 0° Pisces. She is attempting to be in relationship with a man who is uncertain about his sexual orientation but is more interested in pursuing his first opportunity with a man. He is, simply put, unavailable. My client ‘feels’ that they have a very important link and is attempting to forge a further bond by wanting to start a committed relationship.

As we spoke about this, I mentioned several dates in 1992–3 when TR Neptune was conjunct her natal Descendant. At this time, she was immersed in a one-sided, devotional relationship trying to ‘save’ a man who was non-committal and troubled on a number of emotional levels. During the consultation, my client was able to see the link and its importance on a number of levels, and realize that this was a ‘second chance’ to revisit and examine her own compulsion to rescue or pursue the unavailable. In her words, she didn’t want to ‘drown again’ in a less-than-ideal situation. (With a heavy emphasis on the Water signs in her chart, there is a strong natal theme of dependency in relationship.)

Knowing what happened during the transit-to-natal period enables us to understand themes that might be revisited when that transiting planet finally catches up with the SA position. Of course, the length of time it will take to do so depends on the transiting planet, so it may not happen in our lifetime. The Shadow Transit will bring up the same issues (planet/angle) but with a different emphasis (sign) and usually in another arena (house).

An Acid Reign

The chart of former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher,* with natal Saturn in Scorpio less than two degrees from her Ascendant, depicts a controlled, humourless Iron Lady who was famously ‘not for turning’. Saturn transits or directions prove to be pivotal times in a politician’s career. At 58, during her second Saturn Return (and TR Saturn conjunct Ascendant) in January–April and September–October 1984, Thatcher faced two of her sternest tests while in office. First, in March 1984, there was the start of a year-long coal miners’ strike (a major confrontation between the workers’ unions and her government), and then, a narrow escape from an assassination attempt by the terrorist IRA on 12 October 1984.

Some six years and 65° later (in October–November 1990), TR Saturn caught up with directed Saturn–Ascendant (her Shadow Saturn Return, now in Capricorn). Mrs. Thatcher was vulnerable again. There were conflicts with key members of her Cabinet concerning European integration and a single currency, as well as great unpopularity over a government house tax deemed unfair by much of the UK. A leadership challenge and lack of support from her Cabinet (Capricorn) were the deciding factors in her resignation on 22 November 1990. (SA Saturn had also reached a square to her natal Sun in Libra.)

My client files are packed with fascinating examples of these links. Often the same person reappears in our life or a similar situation arises that forces us to confront an area of our horoscope once again. One client with TR Neptune to natal Jupiter in Capricorn had, under the heavy weight of expectation (Capricorn), quit (Neptune) before taking her final exams at university (Jupiter in Capricorn). At the time of our consultation, TR Neptune was conjunct SA Jupiter in Aquarius. She was training to be a professional astrologer but shied away from taking the final qualifying exams. When made aware of this link between transits to her natal and directed chart, she realized how important it was to stick with her investment, and she ended up passing her exams and qualifying as an astrologer.

When trying to anticipate how a transit to a Solar Arc Directed planet is working in a client’s life, I now track the date of the original transit to the natal chart and ask, ‘What happened back then?’ Usually the client recalls an event that has a direct link to current circumstances. It may be a repeat, ‘here we go again’ experience but in a different setting with different players. With the benefit of hindsight, we can make useful, meaningful links between past and present conditions that can empower our clients to make informed choices about their lives.

* Margaret Hilda Roberts, born October 13, 1925, 09:00 GMT, Grantham, England, 52N55, 0W39. Source: From her, via her private secretary to Charles Harvey.

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