Midlife Transits

In response to a reader query, I’m tackling the issue of Saturn in Libra. The short answer to the question above is that on a world scale, no one knows for sure what Saturn in Libra will bring. The planets are extremely resourceful in bringing issues to our attention that we didn’t know we had. Saturn is especially good at this.

So there’s a better than even chance that during the next 3 years or so of Saturn in Libra’s influence all kinds of things will come up for examination that we’re not paying the least bit of attention to right now. If I had to guess, and apparently I do (can’t help myself), I would guess that issues of international relations will eat up more and more news bandwidth. North Korea has already been testing the waters as to how far it can annoy the international community with more aggressive provocations than normal. For whatever weird intuitional reason, I just feel that Asia will be the center of international tensions.

Now, we already know that East Asia is a mighty big trouble spot (Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan) and that China and India are becoming economic powerhouses. So it’s not exactly rocket science to think Asia could be a part of international tensions. After all, a huge chunk of the world’s population lives there. I just happen to feel that tensions will arise in that part of the world that we’re not currently paying attention to.

As to why Saturn in Libra would bring problems with international relations-well, Libra is the sign of relations and relationships. Saturn is the planet of pointing out that things are not what people would like them to be. Ergo, Saturn exposes rifts in international relationships.

He’ll probably also expose rifts in domestic relationships. Take gay marriage. This is not particularly a US issue. It’s a worldwide issue and a number of countries have addressed it.

Well,  marriage is associated with the sign of Libra. Saturn represents general discontent and unhappiness. So, theoretically, people around the world would trot out their discontents with the presence or lack of gay marriage in their communities. This is not new.

The twist is that Saturn tries his earnest if plodding and maddening best to actually try to get some sort of resolution of the issues he tackles. So if we’re lucky, we’ll finally (toward the end of the Saturn cycle probably) see some real diplomatic breakthroughs as nations are forced by Saturn to work through their issues and stop pretending that a) they like each other or b) that provoking each other and getting on each other’s nerves without diplomatic engagement is really going to work.

Saturn says ‘pony up and deal’ or ‘suffer if you won’t pony up and deal.’ So, in that sense, individuals and countries that take an isolationist view or that hate diplomacy (I could be thinking Dick Cheney here) will eventually get their groins kicked by Saturn and be coercively persuaded to hit the bargaining table. Saturn loves a good bargain!

It’s not going to be fun, though. I got an interesting and long-winded piece of spammy email this morning informing me that we are all doomed. Looking at the astrology, it’s kinda easy to see why ‘we are all doomed’ spam might be making its way through the system.

Just for starters: Saturn in Libra’s  going to square Pluto just as fast as his geezery Father Time legs will let him. Specifically for most of November. That means the period right before then will see the advance vibes jostling and hurling insults at each other.

The trash-talking won’t end in 2009 though. In January 2010, Saturn will slow down and station at 4 degrees Libra specifically so he can let Pluto catch up and they can continue their argument for another 3 weeks or so. Saturn will then be forced to say ‘whatever dude’ to Pluto and retreat back to Virgo for awhile to lick his wounds. Saturn and Pluto will then have another brief skirmish in August 2010. That’s 3 if you’re counting.

Just before round 3 with Pluto in August, Saturn will also try to pick a fight with Uranus, which will be in Aries by then. So we’ll see the same old Saturn/Uranus grudge match carried into a new pair of signs. It will be more of a brawl than usual in August 2010, because onlookers Jupiter and Mars will finally be drawn in. Jupiter will be in Aries and Mars will be in Libra. That would typically equate to a whole lot of shouting with some random and frantic efforts at peacemaking thrown in.

So, for about the first year or so of Saturn’s transit through Libra, there will be plenty of planetary challenges.

Next, what will it mean to individual personal horoscopes?

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