Midlife Transits

Saturn will move into Libra at the very tail end of October and will start kicking up trouble with Pluto almost immediately. Not everyone will feel the effects immediately, though. Cardinal signs or people with planets in early degrees of cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn) should feel the effects the soonest.

Here’s a preview of Saturn in Libra for the various sun signs. We are going to be using the keyword relationships to represent the influence of Libra. For Saturn we will be using the concept that the planet points out areas where things are not as you would wish them to be, so that you can take actions and make corrections. Note that both Saturn and Libra relate to a lot more than this, so this is only one slice of the many potential possibilities. We’ll address others as we move through Saturn’s transit of this sign starting later this year.You can also visit Practical Astrology for more keywords (scroll down) and articles on the planets, signs, and houses to get an alternative view.

Libra: Saturn will be moving out of your solar 12th house and into your own sign. Typically, this can affect how you present yourself to others. People often become aware of how they are defining themselves during a Saturn transit to their sign and they start feeling that they want to make a step up in how they advertise themselves to others. Sometimes it is said that Saturn in your own sign is a ‘bad’ transit, but in my experience with people it is not overall worse than having Saturn in another spot. In fact, you can make substantial changes in your life during a Saturn transit. Making the changes may be stressful, but the changes themselves are not. It is true, though, that almost all of your relationships can be affected by this transit to your sign, and not just one or two–because it is you yourself that is changing.

Scorpio:  Saturn will be moving out of your solar 11th house of friendships and into your solar 12th house. Typically, a Saturn transit here changes your relationship with yourself more than with anyone else. A common response to Saturn in the 12th house is to become more socially isolated. Sometimes this is on purpose, sometimes due to circumstances, and sometimes both. Saturn in the 12th house is maybe not the ultimate ‘get to know yourself on a deeper level’ transit, but it does come close. Like any Saturn transit, it can point out to you areas where your relationship with yourself is really not what you’d like. Then you have a chance to correct problems.

Sagittarius: Saturn will be moving off an angle (your 10th house of career) and into your solar 11th house. On a straightforward level, Saturn here can affect your relationships with your friends. You may feel cooler toward them or vice versa. You may identify problems that need to be corrected. The same thing applies to groups you belong to. You may feel a need to straighten out problems there. On a larger level, Saturn in the 11th can affect how you relate to society in general. Your networking via social media sites can change, but also some of your deeper convictions and sense of contentment with how your life as a member of society is going. Social issues may affect you more profoundly. This can be good, in the sense of greater engagement with the world at large, and not so good, as you realize that society’s ills affect you personally.

Capricorn: Saturn enters your solar 10th house of career. This is like a triple whammy for you and it is not just the routine transit. That’s because Saturn is your ruler and the 10th house is ‘your’ house–the one associated with your sign. You’ve also got Pluto in your sign, putting more attention on you. To add to all that, Uranus will be moving into Aries and another angle of your chart (4th house–family). Saturn in the 10th is said to have 2 different kinds of effects. One would be typified by something like a promotion, wherein you gain more responsibilities and have to adjust. The other would be frustration with your career, often occasioned by relationships with other people. The typical tactful Capricorn strategy for climbing the ladder may suddenly appear to be fraught with problems and costs you didn’t previously find important. Career problem-solving becomes a top priority.

Aquarius: Saturn moves out of your solar 8th house of debt, joint and marital finances  and various financial troubles and into your solar 9th house. The 9th house relates to a lot of things, some of them rather abstract. It is considered a much easier place to have Saturn in your transit chart than the 8th house. Part of this is because Saturn will be moving into a sign that is compatible with your sun. The 9th house relates to the search for reasons and purpose and meaning. A typical response to Saturn in Libra would be to look for the reasons behind other people’s behavior, to become more other-focused again after the stresses of the 8th house. The 9th house also relates to a lot of other things like publishing, higher education, and travel. So some will see long-term projects in those areas. But mostly it allows you to look at problems with others from a more detached, less gloomy or worried perspective than Saturn in Virgo.

Pisces: Saturn moves off an angle (7th house of relationships) and into your solar 8th house. The 8th house has to do with marital finances, debt, and quite often general financial problems. A fairly typical example of Saturn in the 8th would be a spouse with severe financial problems, perhaps due to a job layoff or other difficulty. This is the most financially hazardous house in which to find Saturn and a great deal of attention must be paid (in many cases) to financial problem-solving. Not the best transit under which to co-sign a loan with anyone. On a deeper level, Saturn spotlights who you choose to merge with, as virtually anyone you are financially entangled with could present problems. So the transit becomes an opportunity to become more conscious of the choices you make in relationships.

Saturn will move into Libra at the very tail end of October and will start kicking up trouble with Pluto almost immediately. Not everyone will feel the effects immediately, though. Cardinal signs or people with planets in early degrees of cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn) should feel the effects the soonest.

Here’s a preview of Saturn in Libra for the various sun signs. We are going to be using the keyword relationships to represent the influence of Libra. For Saturn we will be using the concept that the planet points out areas where things are not as you would wish them to be, so that you can take actions and make corrections. Note that both Saturn and Libra relate to a lot more than this, so this is only one slice of the many potential possibilities. We’ll address others as we move through Saturn’s transit of this sign starting later this year.You can also visit Practical Astrology for more keywords (scroll down) and articles on the planets, signs, and houses to get an alternative view.

Aries: Saturn is moving out of your solar 6th house of work and health and into the sign opposite yours. This puts him in your solar 7th house of relationships. The most straightforward interpretation of this is that Saturn will point out to you which relationships in your life are not all that they could be or that your approach to relationships is not what you want it to be. Some of you will be literally battling it out with boyfriends, girlfriends, spouses, exes, or even enemies and rivals. Stuff comes out into the open during a Saturn transit. You are likely to have a new appreciation for the virtues of peace by the time Saturn leaves and thus a better handle on ways to avoid unnecessary conflict.

Taurus: Saturn is moving from your solar 5th house of love affairs and children to your solar 6th house. Saturn here tends to be stressful and to focus on either health or work issues. More specifically, Saturn here can point out when relationships stress you and cut down your health and vitality. Proactive stress management becomes important. Relationships at work could also tax your patience. Saturn in an air sign teaches detachment as a road to stress relief and counteracts the natural tendency of an earth sign to react subjectively and emotionally in relationships. This is a natural reaction, but Saturn teaches you that sometimes it not all about you, it’s about the other person and what they’re going through.

Gemini: Saturn is moving off an angle (your solar 4th house) and into your solar 5th house of love affairs and children. This is a better spot for Saturn to be in for your sign. Your energy level and vitality may well pick up as Saturn moves away from a stressful angle with your sun. You may also find new abilities to be creative and disciplined at the same time. On the other hand, Saturn can point out where your relationships with girlfriends and boyfriends, etc. is not exactly what you want. The same idea applies to your relationships with your children. Saturn will ask you to solve problems in these areas.

Cancer: Saturn is moving away from your solar 3rd house onto an angle, your solar 4th house. The 4th house relates to family and virtually everything that is an offshoot of family–your home, your parents, your roots, your genetic, racial or national heritage, and the effects of those things on your life. Saturn here also opposes your solar midheaven (Midheaven or MC generally refers to your career or public life). Attention to family members can take time away from focusing on your career, sometimes quite literally in the case of people who quit jobs to care for elderly parents. In general, though, Saturn shows you where your relationships with your family (especially parents or the older generation) are not all that you would like. You’ll be challenged to work through issues and problems and perhaps establish a bit more of your own identity.

Leo: Saturn moves away from your solar second house of finances to your solar third house. This can be a real relief, especially if your energy has been flagging. The third house is primarily a mental house (i.e., relates to the mind), so Saturn here can show you where your mental activities are not what you want them to be, and it can start encouraging you to proactively exercise your brain. The third house also relates to siblings, cousins, and other relationships that occur in everyday life (e.g., those with neighbors). Actively engaging in daily social relationships is good for your brain, too! If you have problems with your siblings, Saturn may well point this out to you. Problems here can be productively addressed.

Virgo: Saturn moves out of your sign and into your solar second house. The second house relates to finances and to what you own. A typical example of Saturn here (not the only one) is to point out how acquiring possessions to keep up the with Joneses or to impress other people can be self-defeating and burdensome. Saturn here can depress income (lower it), but it can also leave your income alone and encourage you to stop spending so much. Issues of joint finances and how you and your spouse relate on money can come up as well, especially since Uranus will be moving into your 8th house of marital finances next year. Becoming more conscious of how you spend money is almost a necessity during this transit.

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?

In connection with the proposed daily horoscopes (Sample Page here), I’d like to make an offer to my most loyal and enthusiastic clients. Anyone who can get a dozen people to sign up for the daily horoscope service will get a 50% discount on any reading (natal chart, transits, compatibility, whatever), as well as a 50% discount on the service itself for 12 months.

Just a way to say thank you and also make the service sustainable if there’s enough interest to launch it.

Sometimes our current president seems immune to transits. Pluto’s been punching his Venus, and yeah, his poll numbers went down, but to nothing like what our former president had to endure. He’s seemingly sailed through a number of transits since he came onto the national public scene.

He’s not immune to Neptune though. He’s a very Neptunian person, or at least he has a very Neptunian persona, full of glamor and a certain sort of charisma. Right now, Neptune is opposing his natal Uranus, and it’s showing. His attempts to explain his health care proposals have been very vague, and he cannot seem to communicate them to the American public, no matter how he tries.

That’s partly because they are vague. At least at this point in time. He left the heavy lifting to Congress and Congress can’t make up its mind. Meanwhile, Obama can’t seem to get his story straight on things like behind the scenes deals with Big Pharma. There is “ambiguity” as one news article put it. Ambiguity is Neptune’s specialty.

Deception is another Neptune specialty and it seems to be rampant these days.  That’s not too surprising. The thing about Neptune, though, is that it’s hard to tell who’s doing the lying. Is Obama lying about the effects of his proposals or are his opponents lying when they claim that all sorts of dire consequences will ensue or that strange ‘death panel’ provisions are to be written into legislation. It’s all gotten pretty bizarre–another Neptune specialty.

Maybe they’re all lying or out of their deluded minds. It wouldn’t surprise me if the entire political class–activists, Congresspeople and Administration folks had all collectively gotten on the loony tunes bus and were busy riding it furiously to nowhere.

It’s been a very Neptunian year, but things will get less Neptunian as the process wears on. Won’t they?

Saturn and Uranus are scheduled for the next round in their ongoing dispute in September. But traditionally, these planets don’t like to wait for an exact aspect before they start sniping at each other. They like to get ugly before the exact aspect and stay ugly until the aspect passes.

This time round, they’ve decided to get ugly over health care in the US. Health care is dear to the hearts of both these planets right now, as they’re in health oriented Virgo and health-oriented Pisces. Between the two of them, they’ve got people screaming at town halls, getting creative with Hitler-esque mustaches and inventive comparisons to Nazi Germany. Obviously, these two planets are not averse to jacking up the drama and throwing out wild comparisons if it will serve the cause of highlighting the radical differences in approach that these two planets take.

Uranus, our old friend and sometimes enemy, is on the side of change. He’s also on the side of freedom. He’s working both sides of the aisle these days, promoting change and the kind of quick holistic overhaul that Uranus in Pisces favors. He’s also promoting some heavy duty shouting in the name of freedom. Stirring up trouble keeps him from getting bored.

Saturn, meanwhile, is naturally terrified of change, of Uranus, of radicalism, and of messing things up. He’s working both sides of the aisle too. He’s encouraging conservatives (his core group of supporters) to resist any sort of change. He’s also encouraging reform of health care, but wants to take it slow. Saturn knows there are problems, and the screaming is giving him a headache. He wants to sit down and figure out how to solve the problems, Saturn style.

Meanwhile, the big pharmaceutical companies are on the side of change. This makes astrological sense as they are preparing for Neptune in Pisces. Pisces is the zodiacal representative for pharmaceuticals (and drugs of all sorts), and this sign is planning, when his ruler Neptune enters in a couple of years, to massively expand the reach of prescription drugs if at all possible.

Getting the uninsured insured will expand access to drugs for millions and millions of Americans. Making sure that people are not excluded from insurance due to pre-existing conditions will expand access to drugs for many more. Anything that changes the system so that more people can be covered is good for the pharmaceutical industry. It’s even worth cutting costs, Saturn style, right now, to prepare for a big expansion later.

I suppose my astrological betting money would be on change and freedom, with a little bit of Saturn restraint thrown in. Uranus won’t get everything he wants (which is probably a good thing), but it’s unlikely that Saturn could entirely defeat his momentum. Uranus has deep pockets this time around, and he’s a savvy player in the planetary lineup, even if his methods look rather chaotic.

It’s probably a complete coincidence that the cash for clunkers (CARS) program was launched during Mars in Gemini. But it’s exactly the sort of thing that Mars in Gemini loves. For one thing, it involves destruction (Mars) of old cars (Gemini). For another thing, it involves spending money (Mars) on transportation (Gemini).

It would be a stretch to say Mars in Gemini is what made the program so popular or that wide squares to Uranus and Saturn made it so glitchy. But I’m just saying….Mars in Gemini must be pretty darn happy smashing all those old cars and laying down the bucks for those shiny new ones.

Just a  couple more weeks and then Mars will be bored with cars and will want to move on Cancerian things. After that, we’ll get a very long spell of Mars in Leo. Interesting to see what that will bring.

Here’s a link to a page with a sample daily horoscope for the sign of Aries:  Sample Daily Horoscopes. Feedback is welcome.

It’s time for some Jupiterian expansion around here. One of the ideas under consideration is adding a paid daily horoscope subscription. The cost would be $4.95 per month. You’d get your daily horoscope based on sun sign delivered weekly to your email inbox.

It would be a little bit more than a traditional daily horoscope. One of the things I’ve long wanted to do is produce a horoscope calendar that would be truly useful in the sense of helping a person to achieve their goals rather than giving them just a short blurb. So you’d get information on the big picture and longer-term trends as well as suggestions for how to use the energies.

You’d get daily motivation to stay on track and get reminders to help you progress. If enough people are interested, this would be the beginning of a more comprehensive membership service.

Take a moment to vote in the poll on the right. If enough people are interested, I’ll proceed. Thanks for your input.