As a born-and-raised Albertan, I know how to plan for bad weather. It’s all about checking the forecast and planning ahead. You need to have the right gear, especially when you have to go outside during extreme weather. You also need to keep a stash of supplies on hand and be prepared for sudden issues like power outages.
Planning for bad space weather is really no different.
First, you need to check the upcoming astrological transits and how they affect your chart specifically. That means either doing the forecast yourself, reading a reputable astrologer’s forecast, and/or hiring someone to do a consultation for you. (Shameless self promotion link here.)
Then you need to plan ahead to ensure you have everything in place for when the bad weather hits. This is remarkably similar to preparing for a big snowstorm, hurricane or other known-in-advance weather event. It means having your resources in place and a plan for when things go sideways – which is sometimes just knowing that things will go sideways. It’s remarkable how forethought can help you keep your cool when the shit hits the fan.
The great thing about astrology is that unlike physical weather, we know precisely what the space weather will be in advance. You can look up the astrology days, weeks, months, years and even decades ahead of time. Having a working knowledge of the short, medium and long-term transits is crucial for planning your best life. (Another shameless self promo: read my 2026 forecast here.)
Below are examples of how I plan for some astrological transits in the short- and medium-term. It’s not that I don’t plan for the longer outer planet cycles, but those require a lot more forethought and planning, and are very unique to the individual. It’s certainly worth knowing if you are going to get slammed by, say, the Saturn-Uranus conjunction in 2032. But there are many other things you can be doing right now that have immediate impacts. Keep the long game in mind but focus on the here and now.
Also, this is by no means an exhaustive list of all the transits to watch out for or all the things you can do to mitigate them. My intention is to simply illustrate the concept of living in tune with the astrological weather, as well as provide some practical examples of what I do personally.
Mercury Retrograde
We have to put this one at the top of the list because it’s probably the most mainstream-famous astrological event that gets a lot of attention each time it comes around – probably too much, honestly.
Mercury retrogrades aren’t usually too big of a deal. They likely won’t bring calamity. However, they are annoying as hell. Technology goes haywire, communications are misunderstood, travel is delayed.
The main thing I do before each Mercury retrograde – there are three each year – is backup all my files. Should I do that more than three times a year? Probably! However, when I remember there is a Mercury retrograde coming up, that’s my cue to dig out the external hard drives.
You’re also not supposed to sign any major contracts, buy vehicles, computers or other tech items, or travel during Mercury retrogrades. I’ve broken all of these rules, and usually things are fine. However, if you can possibly avoid doing these things, it’s a good idea to do so. The simple reason is that those are more vulnerable to mercurial shenanigans at that time, so why give the astrology an easy place to land (and mess with your stuff).
Eclipses
Eclipse season means it’s time to clean. Yay!!! I’m low key obsessed with eclipses, ever since I started seeing and experiencing just how fateful they can be. I take eclipse mitigation seriously and have written about it in the past. The TL;DR is that you should clean and pray.
I spend the day or two before the eclipse giving my house a nice good deep clean. This is the time when I go beyond surface tidying and really get things looking really good – like a “hosting Christmas dinner” level of clean.
Luckily, eclipses only occur twice a year so I’m not deep cleaning my house all the time. (Although, I’ve gotten myself to a higher standard of baseline house cleanliness over the last year and I’m a big fan – and it makes the eclipse cleaning days much easier to handle.) Much as I generally hate eclipses, I appreciate having these pre-ordained times of year when I put in the extra effort to get things sparkling.
Moon in Scorpio
This one happens every month and often surprises me, even though I’m doing astrology all the time. The Moon is in its fall in Scorpio, and accordingly for these two or three days each month, tempers are shorter and emotions run hot. This is especially true in my household, as we are a pretty Scorpionic bunch – all of us have personal planets in Scorpio. It’s my husband’s Moon and Mercury sign (the latter of which rules his Ascendant and Mars), and I’ve joked that Scorpio Moons are his time of the month.
This is kind of a “pot calling the kettle black” situation though, since I’ve got Mars and Saturn conjunct in Scorpio. It’s not like I’m blissfully unaffected when the Moon passes through that part of the sky.
The way I mitigate Moon in Scorpio is usually just awareness. Luna moves fast and changes signs every couple of days, so she’s easy to lose track of. However, I do my best to remain aware of the Scorpio Moon days so that I can do my best to remain level headed – or at least tamp down those particularly snarly emotions when they inevitably bubble up. This is hard and I’m not always successful at it.
Venus Retrograde
I take this one pretty seriously, partially because Venus is a big health indicator for me (she rules my Ascendant and my Moon, which is in the sixth house). When Venus is going through some trials, I usually am too.
The biggest thing I’ve found to help with Venus retrograde periods is temperance. That means trying to re-assert balance in my life, especially in areas where I’ve been out of balance. Often that’s diet and/or exercise.
I treat Venus retrogrades like astrological Lent. There are some interesting similarities between them: the Venus retrograde period lasts for 40 days, as does Lent. Just like how Catholics will fast during Lent and restrict their diet in specific ways – often reducing or eliminating certain foods, especially sugary treats or junk food – Venus retrograde periods are good times to pay closer attention to your diet and try to keep things on an even keel. Venus is associated with indulgences like food and drink, especially sweet foods, so keeping those in check is a good way to work with this period of time.
Remember that Venus rules Libra, the sign of the scales, and delights in keeping things balanced. Find where you’re off balance and try to correct that.
Annual Time Lord
This one changes every year as it’s dependent on which planet is my annual time lord. This is determined through annual profections, which I’ve written about here.
The house(s) that your annual time lord transits will take on more importance for that year, as will that planet. I don’t have a quick recommendation or action for this one because it varies so much. It depends on the specific planet involved, how that planet operates in your chart, and what else is going on with the current transits interacting with your natal chart.
One example, for when the Moon is your annual time lord, is to keep a Moon journal. I did this a few years ago when I was in a Cancer profection year, and wrote an article about it – read it here. Essentially, a Moon journal is where you take time every day to note where the Moon is and what happened to you that day/how you were feeling. It’s is a great way to learn astrology as well as stay in tune with yourself and your chart.
After you’ve done this for a few months, you’ll notice patterns emerging – like how I noticed the aforementioned Moon in Scorpio days being more difficult for me and my family.
There are many more ways to prepare for the space weather. As I mentioned at the start, the sky’s the limit (literally) for how far you can take this – you can plan for things on a daily, weekly, monthly and/or yearly basis.
These were also all specific examples of major recurring transits, except for the part on annual time lords. That section gives you an idea of how to go deeper with astrological forecast planning: once you know what parts of your chart are being highlighted at a particular time, you can figure out way to use that energy towards your goals.
Knowing where Saturn is going to reside for its two-and-a-half-year transit of a sign, for example, tells you where you may run into restrictions or setbacks aligned with the topic of that particular house in your chart. Here’s a piece I wrote on Saturn in Aries, which will be in effect until 2028.
And if it sounds like I can’t get out of bed without checking the transits, and obsessively plan my life around them – nope, not at all! I can and do get blindsided by the astrology all the time. As a professional astrologer, you’d think I’d be on top of all of this all the time, but I’m only human. I get caught up in life and then things happen, I check the chart, and then shake my head ruefully. I do my best to stay in tune with the sky, but that also means knowing you can never plan for everything.
