Midlife Transits

Saturn

Note: This article will form part of the International Astrology Day Blog-a-thon, March 19-21. There will be links to an entire collection of articles on Saturn on March 20 at the following URL: http://mandilockley.blogspot.com/2010/03/look-after-saturn-saturn-will-look.html. Check it out!

If you were born between late November 1950 and late October 1953 and your natal Saturn is in Libra, you are either experiencing your second Saturn return or will experience it soon. The second Saturn return is a predictable astrological phenomenon that occurs for everyone between the ages of approximately 58 to 60. It marks the time when Saturn returns to the sign it was when you were born.

One of the issues that almost inevitably comes up during the second Saturn return is aging. Saturn rules the aging process, and it is obviously pretty normal for a person approaching their 60s to think about getting older. For the generation experiencing the second Saturn return in Libra during the next couple of years (Saturn will be in Libra, with the exception of a short break in spring and summer 2010, into October 2012), the second Saturn return will be impacted by the presence of Pluto in Capricorn and Uranus in Aries. Both of these other energies clash with Saturn in Libra and therefore throw issues into sharper relief.

Let’s look briefly at how Pluto and Uranus can affect, although not fundamentally change, the dynamics of the second Saturn return.

Potential dynamic #1: Uranus in Aries represents, among other things, a rush of youthful impulsive energy, the desire for heedless, even reckless change. You may feel that events in society are making you all the more aware that things are changing faster than you’d like. You may feel like, or even be accused of being, a fuddy-duddy who wants to stand in the way of change. On a more personal level, the opposition between Uranus and Saturn could make you even more aware that your body isn’t what it used to be, and maybe your outlook isn’t either.

Potential dynamic #2: Saturn is a pretty lonely planet by nature, and in Libra, the fear of aloneness can be quite acute. You might think about being lonely if you retire, about not having a spouse or companion, about losing friends to death or illness. You’re ‘supposed’ to think about these things during the second Saturn return, because Saturn, a realistic and self-reliant planet, wants you to understand your own resources and to plan for a deeper confrontation with yourself, now that typical life tasks such as raising children or building a career are essentially complete. With challenges coming at you from two important outer planets, you may even feel a bit isolated in your point of view on things, as though you have accidentally stepped out of the mainstream.

Potential dynamic #3: Confronting mortality. At the second Saturn return, you realize your actions have consequences because you will not be living forever. You need, in essence, to make the most of the time you’ve got. With Pluto in Capricorn closely squaring Saturn in Libra off and on during this cycle, you may feel that death and mortality are getting all up in your face these days.

So…how to confront these things? I have a few suggestions that should apply regardless of when your second Saturn return is. I’m not saying they will make the current times wildly fun or that they substitute for the hard work of being yourself. But at least they can give you something to think about as you face this important transition in your life.

Suggestion #1: Face the fact that you’re not going to be who you used to be and that’s a good thing. Do the Saturnian thing and prepare for your future. If fear of loneliness and isolation are creeping around the edges of your thoughts, run a movie of your future in your mind. Make it come out with a happy ending.

How wonderful could it be to be able to do what you want, instead of what everyone else wants? How wonderful could it be to be a mentor instead of an employee, part of a girls’ trip to Las Vegas instead of a doting wife, and so on. Play around with the pictures in your head. I can almost guarantee you that there are parts of your subconscious mind that are just itching to shed some elements of the identities you’ve built up. Remember, if society’s values seem to be morphing away from what’s familiar to you, that your values count too. It’s okay to speak up for your own Saturn perspective. Goodness knows, we’ll likely need it.

Suggestion #2: Learn something. Not something easy. Something hard. Something that could be of benefit in your community. Like how to be a volunteer mediator or arbitrator (great for Libra energy). How to speak Spanish if there are many in your town who do so. How to program a website. Okay, I know these kinds of things could be daunting, but there’s a big payoff. You will grow new connections between your neurons. Literally. New connections will help keep your brain healthy and your mood stable.

The key to Saturn’s heart is contributing your fair share to society (it rules the community-minded 10th house). It wants so much for you to leave some kind of a tangible contribution or legacy. Make it happy. Step up to the plate and make a contribution of a type you’ve never been able to make before. Not only will you make Saturn feel useful, you’ll soak up some of that restless Uranus in Aries energy, energy that also cares about society, learning new things, and making changes. It won’t exactly make you feel young again, but it will alter your understanding of what aging really is. Furthermore, since the clash between outer planets indicates that society is going through some fundamental shifts, any contribution you can make to the larger community helps us all by easing the transition a bit.

Suggestion #3: Confront mortality as directly as you can. Okay, this is hard for a lot of us, including me. But Saturn has every right to be curious about it, and so do you. It is only natural to want to prepare for something none of us are going to be able to escape. I’ll give an example of a woman I met who made exquisite use of the second Saturn return. She went to school to take classes in biomedical ethics. She learned how to give counseling to families who have to make end-of-life decisions for their family members. Talk about confronting an issue in a useful way. Talk about making a contribution to society. She got to satisfy the Saturnian (and Plutonian) urge to find out what death is all about and to prepare, but she also got to help other people in a very important way. And…she kept her brain, heart, and soul sharp by challenging them with a new activity. She participated in the changes in society rather than hiding from them.

You can do these things, too. Maybe in a slightly different way than I’ve suggested, but you can do them too. You just might find, as many of my clients do, that when the second Saturn return is over, you actually feel like you have a whole new lease on life.

Blogger Victoria Bazeley specializes in the astrology of midlife, the key time periods between age 38 to age 60.

Other Articles on Saturn and Saturn in Libra:

Got Natal Saturn in Libra?

Saturn in Libra Horoscopes for Aries through Virgo

Saturn in Libra Horoscopes for Libra through Pisces

What Changes Will Saturn in Libra Bring?

a free report/chapter on an astrological topic–what would you want to read about?

I’ll be at the Culver City Farmer’s Market on March 9, from 3-4:30 giving free short consultations. If you’re in the LA area, stop by and say hi if you get a chance.

Your solar chart is still absorbing a tremendous amount of information about the world courtesy of your ruler Neptune in your 12th house, which meets up with Chiron again this month. Visions of healing are dancing through your chart’s head like sugar plums or fairy tales. What this actually will mean to you varies, but if you’ve got chronic problems of any sort, you might as well meditate on them during the week of the 7th. Couldn’t hurt.

To the 17th, this is also your time to share what you know, due to Mercury, the sun, Venus, Jupiter, and Uranus in your own sign. If you’ve found some secret to happiness, let the rest of us in on it.

From the 17th on, your chart’s mind turns to money and financial matters as Mercury moves into Aries. You will actually have 3 planets move into your money sector in March. Sometimes this brings in money, but in many folks it signals instead a desire to spend it. You will probably need to exercise caution before whipping out the checkbook or the credit cards, as Saturn in Libra is currently looking at any spending you do as a symptom of some sort of a horrible disease it wants to cure. Save, Saturn says, save, for the love of God, save your money. Saturn’s probably right, but perhaps you could sneak in a small birthday indulgence or two without breaking the bank.

As for the rest of your year, the money theme will continue to be important. Your chart is gearing up for a semi-wild ride through a rollercoaster of changes in both income and outflow. You could make big money and spend big money both. The changes in how you spend money will reflect the changes in your value system that have been gradually accumulating over the past 7 years. You’re actually on the threshold of big changes in your life. A new romance could come into the mix as well. Friendships could come and go.

The thing that may well ground you during the year is your spirituality or religion. Pisces is a spiritual sign by nature anyway, and that theme is greatly amplified in your chart during 2010. Communicate with your version of God and let him/her/it or them communicate back with you. Your own internal sense of the divine is probably your best navigation tool through what looks to be a very interesting year.

It’s hard to say what your mental state or thought processes will be like this March. If you were born in March, they may be pretty intense, as Pluto is stuck at 5 degrees all month, close to a square with your natal sun. Furthermore, your ruler Mars is at 0 degrees Leo for much of the month, giving you March Aries folks an intense shot of helpful energy. Saturn opposing your sun adds another layer of intense energy.

On the other hand, if you were born near the end of the sign, then you will benefit from wonderfully pleasant angles from Neptune and Chiron to your sun.That’s not intense at all. For the rest of you, it partly depends how you respond to Pisces energy. There’s a lot of it in March, and it may lift your mood or make you feel quite tired.

Planets also move into your own sign this month. Venus leads the way, entering on the 7th. Mercury follows, entering on the 17th. The sun brings up the rear, entering on the 20th. Energy in your own sign should presumably help perk you up.

We could also sum things up another way. Until the 17th, your mind is scheduled to be on Very Big Thoughts around issues that relate to the entire previous year or perhaps much longer than that. From the 17th on, your thoughts are scheduled to be on much more immediate and smaller matters. You may also get a single good idea in the second half of the month that proves useful for the next 12 months.

The skies are just really not all that rational right now, at least as far as the Taurus solar chart is concerned. Instead, they are heavy with irrational Neptune/Pisces/12th house energy. Let’s run it down real quickly.

Irrational Neptune meets up with Chiron in your career house in the middle of the month. Not good for analysis, but maybe you will get some sort of a genius vision regarding your career or professional life.

There are 5 placements that spend time in Pisces this month: the sun, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Pisces. There is also a new Moon in Pisces this month on the 15th. Not at all rational, but good for partying or hanging out with your friends.

Then there’s energy in Aries this month too, which just so happens to fall in your irrational solar 12th house. Give it up; thinking clearly is just not what the month is supposed to be all about. Far better to relax and just enjoy yourself. You can do that. You’re a Taurus; that’s supposed to be one of your gifts. Now if you could just teach the rest of us how to do it….

This is your career month, Gemini. There are 5 placements that move through Pisces, your career sign, in March. There’s also a new moon in that sector on the 15th. Three of the placements come and go pretty quickly. Venus leaves Pisces by the 7th, Mercury by the 17th, and the sun by the 20th. Jupiter and Pisces last a little longer.

Of these, Jupiter is the most important one because it can bring long-lasting benefits to the house it travels through. It is often associated with learning new skills or even formally attending a school or university of some sort. If you haven’t yet signed up for any career-related learning opportunities, you’ve got plenty of supportive energy for that in March.

This trend can tie in with the eclipse series in Cancer and Capricorn that’s in effect in 2010. The universe can help you substantially increase your earning power this year if you’re willing to play ball. The earlier you act, the better. In fact, if you’re reading this February, get started now. Venus can help you. Next month, planets will start rolling into Taurus, the part of your chart where they take a nap. It will theoretically be a little bit harder for you to operate at your usual peak mental efficiency.

If you don’t have a traditional career, you can still indulge in recreational learning and/or schooling this month. You could even study an occult subject or a metaphysical one if you’re interested. You would probably greatly enjoy the process.

Every year, as spring begins, Cancers have their annual career month. It’s time for yours this year, Cancer, but this is not your typical career month. This year, Saturn in Libra is annoyed at the very thought of you having a career month, and Pluto in Capricorn wants to hog up all the attention in your relationships sector. The bottom line is that major parts of your chart are more concerned with what they perceive to be restrictions on your love life (or involving your loved ones) than they are with whether or not you get ahead.

That’ll change somewhat in a couple of months because Uranus will suddenly decide that he’s very interested in your career, and he’ll be duking it out with Pluto and Saturn over what constitutes the most important element of your life. (A hint regarding the future: brace for a very interesting and impactful summer.) But for the time being, you’re simply going to have to sneak in whatever attention you can spare for your career over Saturn’s opposition. This gets easier after the 21st, so keep that in mind.

Another possibility is the various energies of the month will all mush up with each other so that you end up attracting some sort of relationship through your career, maybe even one that you think you need to keep secret. Because, for the moment, your chart simply cannot keep its mind off the subject of love or the lack thereof.

There’s a lot of energy in your solar 9th house this month, and that’s a house that typically loves learning, knowledge and all that intellectual stuff. It’s possible that you will love all that stuff too in March, but it’s just as likely that you’ll have love of a distinctly more physical kind on your mind instead. On the 15th, you get your annual new moon of carnal love, of rejuvenating your sex life, renewing intimacy, and establishing intimacy through good old-fashioned physical contact. Since man does not live by thoughts alone, perhaps it would be a good idea to invest some time in getting your groove back if you’ve lost it temporarily or simply getting it on if you know exactly where to find it. Your chart really is feeling quite passionate this month.

If the mere thought of passion scares you right now, well, then we go back to the intellectual. You can discharge some of your chart’s energy by interacting (maybe even flirting) through debate, discussion, the exchange of opinions with your peers and so on. If that sounds too abrasive for you, then you’ll need to at least vent some energy through writing, speaking, or doing something creative. If you do have some sort of a writing project you can throw yourself into, aim to wrap it up by the full moon on the 29th.

Last but maybe not least, if money’s on your mind, use the first week of the month to try to scare up some dollars through a joint project with someone you admire.

The sign of Virgo loves its facts and figures. For right now, let’s hope you’re one of those Virgos who fits the type–because you need to have a handle on your facts and figures when it comes to money these days. March sees both of your money houses lit up with energy, and March is really just the beginning of a long-term trend. The basic problem (and it kinda is one) is Saturn in Libra in your second house of income and values.

Saturn opposes the sun, Mercury, and Venus in your house of debt this month and there’s a full moon in your income house this month too (on the 29th). This is like a quadruple emphasis on money during the month. So what exactly are you supposed to do about all this? Probably what you are supposed to do is learn to put a great value on conservative investments, savings, and the like.

Live within your means. Develop an appreciation for free stuff–like walking in the park on a beautiful spring day, or a breezy spring day, or any kind of a day at all, so that you can save money on gym fees.

Yes, and gather facts. Face reality; figure out the truth. The thing is, Saturn in your second house is full of financial fears. Maybe some of those fears are justified; maybe they are not. You’re not going to know unless you get up the courage to look at your 401k account and see what’s left, balance your checkbook, see what kind of interest you are paying on your credit cards, and do all that sensible stuff that grownups are supposed to do.