The Saturn Return

The very first topic I want to address is The Saturn Return, because it is very relevant to myself, and to many who are approaching their 28th year or have embarked on it already.



It is one of the most important transits you are going to experience in your lifetime. It's when the planet Saturn completes a full cycle through your birth chart and returns to the place it was when you were born. There is a Saturn Return once every 28-years, which means the First Saturn Return will occur when you are 28, lasting for roughly 2 years until you're 30. The Second Saturn Return will be when you're 58 to 60, and the Third, if you live that long, will be when you're 88 and so on.



This is known to be a very stressful period, and you will find yourself becoming very introspective and questioning everything you've done so far in life. If you're happy with your achievements so far, it is harvest time and you will find yourself reaching higher goals and be on the path to a true vocation in life. If not, then you are in for some major spring cleaning, ie, you will discard everything in your life that's not working and will have to rebuild everything anew. You will start to think about more profound issues, such as where you stand on the world stage and what role you want to play in society. Saturn is a very serious and severe planet (austere Capricorn's ruling sign, and co-ruler of eccentric Aquarius) and puts forth alot of limitations and obstacles. You really need to work hard for your goals to prove that you really want them. Saturn makes you work hard, that's a fact. But, being the Realist of the planets, it also helps puts things into perspective. If things are not working out now, chances are they will get discarded, ie, relationships in particular. For instance, alot of divorces occur during people's 30th year because they got married too early in life and didn't know what they really want. Saturn gives people a reality check, much like a smack in the face, and tells them what they really want or should aspire towards. Some people get married or have children during their 30th year, or get a new job or move on to a new career. 'Change' is the key word, for better or for worse. Even if it were for worse, it can only get better after the worse has gone. Saturn is a very apocalyptic planet much like Pluto in this way. It blasts away all your illusions of grandeur and makes you suffer intensely before it gives you what you want. But you will get it, and the pain will pay off eventually. As renowned astrologer trained in the realm of Jungian psychology, Liz Greene says in her brilliant work, Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil: 'Saturn. . . is never easy to deal with because his function is that of promoting growth.....and it is only frustration and pain which at present are sufficient goads to get a human being moving." It makes perfect sense to say that one has not fully grown up before one turns 30; one can only be an 'adult' after one has been through Saturn Return.

Take myself for instance, I can testify that Saturn Return is indeed a painful period, having almost completed my cycle at the moment. Right now Saturn is 2 degrees from my birth Saturn (in Virgo), and will probably have moved on to Libra by the end of this year, I reckon, and I will finally be 'free'. I actually first experienced the inklings of Saturn Return towards the end of my 27th year. Some people may feel it earlier or later, depending on the level of evolvement of the person (the awareness) and also the fact that Saturn is a very slow moving planet and always goes retrograde (backward and then forward), hence it's effects come sometimes AFTER it's physical manifestation. During my Saturn Return, I have been propelled towards my vocation, and am in Cambridge doing my PhD now. I wouldn't have worked that hard to get to where I am now if it weren't for the obstacles and limitations that put me deliberately to the test. But yes, only good things will ensue if you have stood the test of the Saturn Return.