What’s A Pivotal Day. . .
Each year we experience twelve Pivotal Days.  A Pivotal Day is a day when a transiting planet (Jupiter, Saturn, Chiron, Uranus, Neptune or Pluto) makes a literal pivot in the sky, causing metaphorically pivotal experience for us here on Earth.  A pivot happens when a planet that was moving forward turns backwards (“retrograde”) or when a planet that was moving backwards turns forward (“direct”).  Each of the six planets turns retrograde once a year and then direct again several months later, thus the twelve Pivotal Days.

. . . And Why Do We Care?
Not every Pivotal Day will be significant for every human being here on Earth, but every one will be significant for enough people that cascades of change will sweep the population on these days.  If not you, then lots of people around you will experience shifts, epiphanies and other interesting things within a week surrounding these days.  So it’s good to know when they are.

These Pivotal Days come in pairs, spaced several months apart.  Each pair belongs to a specific planet and the nature of the shift it brings will be tied to the planet that is making the pivot.  These days happen again every year, drifting a few days from one year to the next—for example, in 2010 Pluto went retrograde on April 6, while in 2011 Pluto goes retrograde on April 9.

Each time a pivot happens, I make a post about it (which is why these posts may look familiar—they do repeat from year to year).  The general feel of the pivot is the same, but the dates are current for this year.  You’ll want to know about these as they happen because each year some of these Pivotal Days will impact you directly, and the posts will help you figure out which.

Here are this year’s pivotal days:
Saturn goes retrograde Jan 25, 2011  (see 2010 article  Saturn Goes Retrograde: What’s Your Unavoidable Responsibility?)
Saturn goes direct June 12, 2011  (see 2010 article  Saturn Goes Direct Today: The Pressure Is On)

Pluto goes retrograde Apr 9, 2011  (see 2010 article  Pluto Goes Retrograde: What Part Of You Is Dying?)
Pluto goes direct Sept 16, 2011  (see 2010 article  Pluto Goes Direct This Week: Time To Take Out The Garbage)

Neptune goes retrograde June 3, 2011  (see 2010 article  Neptune Goes Retrograde: Time To Walk Between The Worlds)
Neptune goes direct Nov 9, 2011  (see 2010 article  Neptune Goes Direct:  Are You Living Your Dreams?)

Chiron goes retrograde June 8, 2011  (see 2010 article  Chiron Goes Retrograde: Healing Journey Into The Past)
Chiron goes direct Nov 10, 2011  (see 2010 article:  Chiron Goes Direct: Healer, Heal Thyself)

Uranus goes retrograde July 9, 2011  (see 2010 article  Uranus Turns Retrograde: Breakdowns On The Way To Breakthroughs)
Uranus goes direct Dec 9, 2011  (see 2010 article  Uranus Goes Direct Today: Ready For Your Breakthrough?)

Jupiter goes retrograde Aug 30, 2011  (see 2010 article  Jupiter Goes Retrograde:  Where Do You Need To Grow And Expand?)
Jupiter goes direct Dec 25, 2011  (see 2010 article  Jupiter Goes Direct: Get Ready To Grab The Brass Ring)

Will This Affect You?
You now know that each of these six planets turns retrograde, retraces some old ground, then moves forward again, to cover that same ground a third time before it moves on.  This means that each of the six planets covers a small patch of sky three times inside a given year then moves on to another patch of sky, which it will cover three times inside the following year.  If you have anything in your chart that sits inside that patch of sky, it will be triggered multiple times by a transiting planet and you will inevitably go through a big change. The kind of change is dictated by the transiting planet and the area of change is dictated by the part of your chart that’s being triggered.

If your Venus is being transited, you will experience change in your relationships.  If your Saturn is being transited, you will experience change in your career.  If your Mercury is being transited, you will experience change in how you think and learn.  And so on—these are just a few examples of areas of your life that might be affected.

How The Planets Change Us—And Where
Saturn brings change through pressure to take responsibility, to mature and be more grown up in whatever area it touches.  This year Saturn is covering the patch of sky from 10 to 17 degrees of Libra, affecting things in your chart that are placed in 10 to 17 degrees of Libra, Capricorn, Aries and Cancer.

Pluto brings change through metamorphosis, a death-and-rebirth experience that feels like a “long, dark night of the soul.”  This year Pluto is covering the patch of sky from 4 to 7 degrees of Capricorn, affecting things in your chart that are placed in 4 to 7 degrees of Capricorn, Aries, Cancer and Libra.

Neptune brings change through inducing a dream-state, allowing you to explore imaginative realms and re-dream or re-vision the area of your life it touches.  This year Neptune is covering the patch of sky from 28 degrees of Aquarius to 0 degrees of Pisces.  It will affect things in your chart that are placed in 28-29 degrees of Aquarius, Taurus, Leo and Scorpio and also things in your chart placed in 0 degrees of Pisces, Gemini, Virgo and Sagittarius.

Chiron brings change through a healing crisis, bringing old wounds to the surface in any area it touches.  Chiron brings opportunities to heal these old wounds, making us more whole and speeding our evolution.  This year Chiron is covering the patch of sky from 0 to 5 degrees of Pisces, affecting things in your chart that are placed in 0 to 5 degrees of Pisces, Gemini, Virgo and Sagittarius.

Uranus brings change through sudden insight, startling new perspectives and a restructuring of any area of life it affects.  Uranus triggers a shift to a new paradigm and once you see things the new way, you cannot un-see it again.  This year Uranus is covering the patch of sky from 0 to 4 degrees of Aries, affecting things in your chart that are placed in 0 to 4 degrees of Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn.

Jupiter brings change through adventure, exploration and expansion.  Jupiter brings opportunities and the confidence to grab them, making you lucky in any area of your life Jupiter affects.  This year Jupiter is covering the patch of sky from 0 to 10 degrees of Taurus, affecting things in your chart that are placed in 0 to 10 degrees of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius.

To find out more about other astrological events happening in 2011, such as eclipses and planetary conjunctions, see this:
The Year 2011

To find out which patch of sky every planet in your chart occupies, order your Astrology Chart Decoder.