Midlife Transits

You can find Part I here.

The sign Saturn is in when you’re born gives Saturn his particular personality as a worrier. Some people worry about whether they’re unique and interesting; other people really don’t care. Some people worry about their privacy; it never occurs to others to do so. And so on.

One of the things Saturn in Scorpio tends to worry about is control. Self-control and control over other people. Saturn in Scorpio looks at control as a crucial adult survival strategy. He exerts effort toward warning you that it is very important to control your destiny rather than react to it. Depending on your circumstances and environment, he may decide that the only way to control your destiny is to be the boss of others, to wear a cloak of authority or power, to hide your potential weaknesses behind status or title. Or he may be terrified of any situation in which it appears that others might control you. He may fear authority and the law and other people’s power.

As a person with Saturn in Scorpio, you may love his emphasis on power and control, but it’s a bit more likely that you’ll not be that fond of it. Saturn can be quite the frustrating planet. He can make you feel that no matter how hard you try (and you may try very very hard) that you can’t quite achieve enough or get enough of what he wants for you. You may be consciously or unconsciously driven by his fears of being manipulated or his fear that you will not be able to manipulate others enough to keep yourself safe.

As you go through the second Saturn return, and as Saturn updates his worry list, you may experience some nice effects. Saturn may realize that he was perhaps a bit, a teensy-weensy bit, over-paranoid about some of the dangers he identified earlier. He may realize that things get screwed up, that you screw things up and other people screw things up and the world doesn’t end. You can handle the occasional error and if other people (other people terrify Saturn in Scorpio) make mistakes, it won’t kill you. That’s a good thing.

But it would be misleading to say that the second Saturn return is a 2 ½ year period of happy rosy realizations that you have outgrown certain fears and that certain risks and dangers no longer apply to you. Because when Saturn updates his worry list, he confronts new realities. And one of the realities he most often confronts is that people do die. That loss does occur. Careers do go down the tubes or end. Success doesn’t necessarily last forever. That you can outstay your welcome in a certain role. That it is necessary to move on sometimes.

Saturn is a paradoxical planet. Once he realizes that you are, in fact, going to die one day, he starts having you put a lot less effort into not dying. He starts caring less about survival and more about living. He shifts from fearing death to appreciating life. He starts caring more about how you live through things than about how you avoid them.

That sounds great and in fact it really is. The second Saturn return brings really great gifts. The catch is that you actually have to practice confronting death, understanding mortality, shedding outgrown fears, and living through loss or failure or setbacks or reversals in a more conscious, thoughtful, even grateful way. That’s not as easy as rolling off a log. It takes awhile to get the hang of it and almost no one signs up for that kind of practice willingly. Life just confronts you with the necessity of doing so.

Next: How Saturn in Scorpio deals with the second Saturn return.

You can find Part I here. You can find Part II here.

As a person with Saturn in Scorpio, the ways in which you will confront Saturn’s fears about control will vary. It’d be reasonable to be prepared, to the extent that it is possible to be prepared, to confront fears about managing your money or your business and career affairs. Your sense of your proper role may change. Practical concerns, especially financial ones, will most likely be important. Illness or danger to loved ones are real possibilities. Your ability to manage things or your ability to direct and regulate your own life and the lives of others may be upended.

You’ll learn to deal with all the potential ramifications because you’ll have to. Saturn won’t let you fail. He’ll let you worry and fret and stew, but he won’t let you fail.

There’s one more element to the story. And that’s your contribution to society. Every Saturn generation has a contribution. Yours is kind of important right now.

It has to do with politics and government and the economic realities of the times. The interests of Saturn in Scorpio coincide with the issues on the world’s agenda these days. Things like the role of government in the economy, debt, taxes, reform of government, the power of political parties. These are exactly the kinds of things Saturn in Scorpio in your chart has been thinking about for a long time, even if you aren’t aware of it.

Saturn in Scorpio is a natural politician. He understands the realities of how power is actually used, overtly and covertly, and he understands how people and politicians and societies are driven by self-interest. He understands the paranoia about the economy, because he’s always been paranoid about your own personal economy. He understands the relationship between money and freedom, about the desire of people to control their own destinies. He knows all about the dangers of debt and taxation both. He realizes that if people don’t control themselves; other people will control them.

You may hate politics. You may be bored with politics. You may know nothing about politics. Or you may be an avid follower of national and international affairs, with a subscription to 6 newspapers and 23 opinion blogs. Saturn in Scorpio won’t care either way.

He just knows you have a responsibility these days to put your experience to good use. You need to care enough about government to vote, express your opinion, speak up, ponder the needs of your country, hold politicians to account and let other people know what and how you think. You’ve reached the age where you’re old enough and responsible enough and wise enough (how did that happen?) that you need to let the fools trying to run the country know what you know—which is how things really work and what’s important. Right now, you are part of an important constituency.

This public participation as a valuable member of a self-governing society may be your favorite part of Saturn’s to-do list or your least favorite. But it is part of the to-do list for you Saturn in Scorpio folks. Let the people with Saturn in other signs be clueless. We need you to let us know what the score really is.

I wrote recently about the upcoming move of Neptune in Pisces, which is like a double dose of Neptune. The other day someone sent me this description of feeling lost. It’s one of the best descriptions I’ve ever read of what a Neptune transit. The sensations this person describes often occur during a midlife transit of Neptune square Neptune, although not for everyone of course. Here it is:

“To tell the truth, I am lost right now. It’s like I don’t know who I am or what I want or where I’ll be in the future. I kinda know what I’d like, but I doubt that I can get it or how I will get it. I’m in a free fall, letting myself get deluded and anesthesized by fantasy by escaping into music and T.V.: “Crossfire”, “Dog Days are Over”, Deadwood & everything with dreamy Timothy Olyphant.

I am sucked into the words and stories and don’t really want to pull away because if I pull away, there is nothing really here for me to do or to look at. I’ve surrendered to the fog and it has swept me up and thrown me off a cliff. When I hit bottom I could land safely and get up and walk away as if nothing happened or I could shatter into dozens of pieces. I kinda want to shatter….so that I can pick up each piece and really look at it, throw away some, pocket some, try to salvage the remaining.

I can’t say that I like it but I can’t say that I don’t. I’m curious and confused and at times content with the utter unknown of it. But it does try my patience. I feel isolated, albeit self inflicted. If there are answers it seems they are here somewhere inside me so if I stay put long enough they’ll come, rather than getting out and about and among others.

But is inactivity counterintuitive? Isn’t taking action the way out? Not if the inner me keeps cajoling me to  ‘stay put’. So I stay and listen to “Dog Days are Over” and Brandon Flowers’ “Crossfire” a zillion times, hanging on the words as if an answer is in the refrain, the songs a sort of anthem for my search.

I watch Deadwood over and over, vaguely thinking I’ll learn something but really just caressing my mind by being in this faraway place with Black Hills Shakespearan characters and their schemes. They may be somewhat conflicted, but their wants and actions are so clear, so doggedly executed and I am fascinated by that and how this wild town creates itself, disposing of those who aren’t of use and how it’s figuring out how to form and become civilized, how to get along with the various personages who are making their place, their way, their fortunes amidst good and evil.”

Such a profusion of Neptune feelings in the description above: lost, unknown, undecided, free fall, deluded, anesthetized, fantasy, escape, dreamy, sucked in, surrendered, fog, swept away, curious, confused, searching for answers, inactive, caressing, figuring out how to form. It’s pretty amazing how dead on this description is.

Why you ask, would the planets throw us into such a state? Well, the answer is that often such a state is the precursor to inspiration, to a new level of clarity, to opening up to possibilities romantic and artistic and spiritual. It’s a form of divine discontent and enthrallment that leads us to somewhere we never knew existed. The Neptune sea sweeps us up to exotic new destinations, new frontiers, new homes. The attachment to a celebrity or celebrities, to a story, a movie, a type of music, etc. is very common during this kind of transit. It allows for a safe exploration of feelings that real life often has little use for. And the attachment in its own way heals and allows for the processing of emotions and experiences that the daily crush of demands don’t honor. Neptune allows the imagination to become a vehicle for redemption.

If you surrender to a Neptune transit, it can be almost ecstatic. It re-sets your priorities and pulls you out of mundane worries into a land of exalted emotion. Although strange and confusing, it’s a good thing. And worth enjoying–for it won’t last forever.

P.S. Thanks to our anonymous contributor!

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. She has written for ThirdAge.com, started the website Practical Astrology and now blogs here at Midlife Transits. Become a Facebook fan!

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?

This article is featured in Look After Saturn and Saturn Will Look After You as part of the 2010 International Astrology Day Blogathon. The purpose of this web-based event is to create a permanent library of articles about how to deal with the stresses of the Cardinal T-Square of Pluto, Saturn and Uranus. The main page for the Blogathon collections is at The 2010 International Astrology Day Blog-A-Thon.

The URL for the Saturn collection is: http://mandilockley.blogspot.com/2010/03/look-after-saturn-saturn-will-look.html
The URL for the main blogathon collection is: http://2010astrologycarnival.wordpress.com/

If you’ve got your natal Saturn in Libra, your Saturn return is staring you in the face these days. Today I’ll talk about the social and even personal importance of your second Saturn return in this sign.

If you were born between late November 1950 and late October 1953—you picked a heck of a time to have your second Saturn return. The second Saturn return is a much commented upon astrological phenomenon that occurs for everyone around the ages of 58 to 60. It signifies the time when Saturn returns to the sign it was when you were born.

Saturn’s been in Libra since November 2009, and it will stay there (except for a brief retreat into Virgo during spring and early summer 2010) into October 2012. So why is this a heck of a time for a second Saturn return? Because during most of Saturn’s current stay in Libra, Pluto will be in Capricorn and Uranus will be in Aries. Uranus opposes Saturn during this time and Pluto squares it. In blunt astrological terms, this means we are looking at a time period when three important planets are fighting each other tooth and nail.

What does this mean to you? Let’s look first at a really simple idea of what the second Saturn return can mean. The first time in your life that Saturn returned to Libra, you were close to 30 years old and you were asked to realize that you’re not going to die anytime soon and that what you do has consequences because it affects your future. You were supposed to grow up in a certain sense.

At the second Saturn return, you are asked to realize that you’re not going to live forever and that what you do has consequences because you only have a certain amount of time left to do what you came to do. You need to secure your legacy, fulfill your responsibilities as a member of the human community, and grow up into a hopefully wise elder.

Piece of cake, right? Of course not. The second Saturn return can be difficult because lots of people are not all that anxious to face mortality, don the mantle of wise elder, and accept their responsibilities to the rest of humanity.

One of the main issues during the second Saturn return is often challenges from the outside world to your particular Saturn style. No matter what sign your Saturn is in, part of the task of the second Saturn return is to use your innate Saturn gifts wisely, the ones that come with your Saturn sign. For your generation, society as a whole is scheduled to very overtly challenge your particular Saturn in Libra gift—and you need to stick up for that gift and do your part to help us all get through this rather momentous time of astrological transition.

For example, Libra is the sign of indecisiveness because its mission is to think through every decision with excruciatingly precise thoroughness, balance all factors, take into account all options, contemplate all ramifications and generally take forever to come up with the best possible decision. Saturn in Libra natally works real hard at this task, practicing it and practicing it until you think you are going to go crazy. It practices it until it gets good at it, better than all those other placements that breeze through to decisions without a second thought.

During your second Saturn return, people under the influence of Uranus in Aries are going to be manifesting the opposite approach. They’re going to be bursting with youthful impulsive energy, disinclined to think anything through, overly enamored with new technology while casting nary a glance at the potential implications, and they’ll be in a big hurry. They will look at you as hopelessly old-fashioned, excessively cautious, and as a stick in the mud.

Too bad for them. At your second Saturn return, it becomes your responsibility to stick up for the virtues of making considered, precise decisions, and worrying about the future impact of today’s rashness on tomorrow’s society. Saturn wouldn’t have gone to all the trouble to thrust himself into the big planetary debate of these few years if he didn’t know that sometimes you’ve got to slow the pace of change the heck down and think about what you’re doing. For the next few years, your Saturn contribution is important.

Libra is also extremely concerned with fairness. Saturn in Libra worries about justice, the rule of law, negotiating through disputes, mediating conflicts, and generally using codified procedures to keep people from indulging their instincts to blow each other up and commit acts of violence. Pluto in Capricorn meanwhile, is going to be urging people to use sheer force and power to impose their wills, under the guise of necessity. Pluto in Capricorn will try to convince everyone that we don’t need the rule of law, fairness, and due concern with true justice because our collective security is in danger.

Tough. Your job as a member of the Saturn in Libra generation is to hold out for justice, law, and fairness anyway. To play up the importance of negotiation, procedure, and deliberation even when people want to run around like chickens with their heads cut off, shouting for vengeance, and making earnest mob-like efforts to manifest their baser instincts.

That’s a big important job you have there Mr. or Ms. Second-Saturn-Return-in-Libra. Now I’m not going to tell you that world leaders are going to phone you up and ask for your advice during troubled times. I’m not even implying that you need to be especially politically active. Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn will find you even if you’re hiding in a peaceful stone cottage in Vermont. You will feel the unrest in the skies no matter where you go.

Maybe it will be your spouse who goes off the Uranian deep end or the corporation where you work that will trot out spectacular displays of Plutonian injustice. Maybe your investments will go south when you don’t want them to and you’ll need to keep your head, even as your children have decided that now is a good time to suck you financially dry by laying guilt trips on you.

Or maybe nothing all that dramatic in your life will happen at all. Maybe the Uranus and Pluto influences will be subtle.

It doesn’t matter. Your chart has been waiting all your life to call upon the very Saturn in Libra qualities it has worked so hard to develop. If you’ve lost touch with your Saturn in Libra gifts, you will get back in touch with them now and learn to use them.

And that’s important. It’s part of your legacy. No matter what happens, this is your moment, your crowning moment perhaps, to display the integrity and values you’ve always had inside.

Go for it.

Phoenix

From Lara Owen, reprinted from Mountain Astrologer magazine.

Phoenix Rising

It has a nice hopeful tone and deals with more transits than usual (including the Chiron return). It makes some things sound a bit easier than they are (believe me, following a pregnant woman’s diet will not by itself make hot flashes go away). But it has solid examples and a nice listing of midlife transitions for men and women and their effects on the various houses.