Saturn Turns Around

Let’s begin at the end.

Saturn is the planet that is always, one way or another, “bringing up the rear” of the zodiac. Because he circles the signs at the slowest pace of all the planets, he has a way of sweeping up what may have appeared as waste or ‘trash’ and showing us (through what are often difficult lessons) that it has substance. He arguably carries the most spiritual weight of any planet in the zodiac, which is reflected in the fact that he is willing to hold and handle what others discard.

He is the wizened teacher or elder who doesn’t speak as much as shows through slow, tedious example the basic principles of life. His vantage point is different than the other planets because of his pace. He is concerned with the long-haul, not the instant gratification or comfort which might interest the Moon, or the momentary shine that might attract Venus.

Saturn’s influence is generally considered undesirable for this reason: he requires us to reckon with the consequences of our actions and is a constant reminder of the limitations inherent in the laws of Nature. This has been especially the case recently because of the influence of Saturn’s nakshatra or lunar mansion for the moment—Shatabisha—which amplified the focus on this adherence to the laws of nature and acceptance of limitations.

Knowing this, we can surmise that this Saturn retrograde cycle brought some serious reckoning. Saturn was going back to collect missed or broken pieces that are actually critical to the integrity of the whole, deep in the trash pile fishing out the treasures overlooked in his initial pass through Aquarius.

Saturn went direct in the wee hours of November 4th, after about 5 months of retrograde motion. This entire period would have been a time of attending to the laborious details of practical reality in a way that could have felt burdensome at times, and empowering at others. Saturn can bestow a tremendous amount of physical and spiritual strength on us, when we are willing to accept the natural laws of which he reminds us. He rules both muscles in the body and the physical laborers who are often made strong by their work. His capacity and endurance are enormous.

If you were able to tap into this strength in yourself during this time you may have come out of it with a renewed appreciation for the value in having a good handle on how the practical aspects of life work: knowing how to make a difficult recipe, learning how a small tool works, what cleaner works on the tile- all things which require slowing down and paying simple attention and may seem ‘boring’ but are actually places where life gets fortified. Saturn actually makes things work. He lives way below the high philosophies and theories about how things ‘should’ work it is for this reason that his practical intelligence is extremely useful.

Now, as Saturn changes direction to head into the second half of Aquarius and eventually into Pisces, whatever learning took place can be applied more readily, without being so burdensome. Things can start to feel like they have more ‘flow’ in the area that Saturn influences, even if they might still be more stagnant than you’d like due to Saturn being slow, even when not retrograde. You may notice that as Saturn gains momentum in the forward direction you are actually stronger in this area than you were before the retrograde, due to having had your face shoved into all of your weaknesses here and the hard learning that followed on the heels of that enlightenment. For astrological reasons which are a little too complicated to describe here, Rahu’s gandanta also influences the expression of Saturn, so that might keep him from fully hitting his stride in the short term, adding some extra vacillations and bumps to his forward motion.

Saturn will remain in Aquarius until the Spring of 2025, and this will not be his last retrograde in the sign. It can be helpful to take note of what the effects for you were personally so that when another retrograde comes around you know what to expect. With retrogrades I like to plan challenging tasks related to the planet: retrograde Mercury might be working on spreadsheets or hard-core studying or difficult conversations, Jupiter might be challenging spiritual practices like lots of mantra or fasting, etc, and Saturn can be projects requiring practical skills or building.