Friday, October 15, 2010

Saturn Return and the 29-year-cycle of Time

Saturn transits are often looked upon as a time of difficulty, obstructions, delays, and other forms of restriction.  The 29-year-cycle of a Saturn return is often looked upon as a marker point of oppression and burdens.  A Saturn transit to the 1st house of the physical body can bring pains and complications to the skeletal system or bones.  

However, like all other transits, Saturn is here to teach us to go back and review what we need to accomplish.  Robert Hand, in Planets in Transit, says this: 

   Saturn is one of the most important planets to examine in transits (or movement of activity in the chart that emphasizes change and current conditions): it represents the way we see and experience the Universe as we have structured it on an individual level.  The location of transiting Saturn in a chart indicates the part of life that is being examined and tested at this time.  The house (or realm of experience relating to that area of life) indicates the area of greatest tension to which the individual must direct his or her closest attention.  The planets that Saturn brings up for testing and examination of mastery during a transit represent energies in our lives that are being challenged and behavior patterns that require strengthening and correction.

     Most people experience Saturn transits as if Saturn were an external force that was utterly out of control.  Frequently a Saturn transit seems like the product of fate, usually an unpleasant fate.  However, we must understand that Saturn represents the way we program our personal universe at the deepest, most fundamental level.  Consequently, the energy of a Saturn transit is never truly external.  But our conscious mind avoids responsibility for what is happening, so the unconscious mind takes over by programming the event unconsciously.  We do not experience its effects until the outer world reacts and a “fated” event occurs, which is nothing more than the universe responding to our own actions.

    No matter how unpleasant a Saturn transit seems at the time, it represents what we truly want in life and is helping us to get it.  Most people are out of touch with what they truly want.  If we thoroughly understand our wants and needs, we will find that Saturn simply brings out their manifestation.  The “losses” that Saturn brings are of things that we do not want or need, no matter how much we think otherwise.  Let them go, especially relationships that Saturn may end.

    When Saturn transits a house (wedge of the chart) through its 2.5 year cycle, pay great attention to the affairs of that house.  It is not a sign that everything in that house realm is going wrong, but direct your consciousness there and find out how to relate to those affairs.  If one is in a good position—that is, one that is appropriate at this time in life, the transit will firm up and structure that house experience.  If an individual is not in a good position and insecure, Saturn will bring great changes that will be unpleasant insofar as the person resists the Master Teacher’s lessons.

    Depression, sadness, physical and emotional loss are all signs that one is not well adjusted to the issues of the house and sign ruled by Saturn as well as the house being transited.  Do not be dismayed, however, if one experiences these feelings.  They are normal responses.  Very few people are so in touch with themselves that they can react to Saturn positively.  In a very real sense, Saturn is the Teacher of what we are asked to prove we have learned until the next cycle brings it back again to that respective house in 29+ years.

Rob Tillett, astrologer from New South Wales, Australia, says this:

The Saturn Return

Each twenty-nine years naturally presents us with the challenge to rise to new levels of awareness, or face the consequences of having failed to gain the wisdom required so to do. When Saturn in the heavens returns to the zodiacal degree where he was placed in your birth chart,  you are said to be experiencing what astrologers call your Saturn Return – one of the most important times of your life. It only happens once every 29 years, so at around age 28-30, 57-59, and (if you live long enough) 86-88, you have a Saturn Return. This signifies a time of transformation, an emotional transition from one life-phase to the next.

The first Saturn return (around age 28-30) marks the transition from the Phase of Youth to the Phase of Maturity; the second from the Phase of Maturity to the Phase of Wisdom. The last one, if reached, seems usually to mark the transition either to the next world or else back to a second childhood!

As the Saturn return approaches, often our lives seem to speed up, as if hurrying to clear out old baggage from the past, to lighten the load for the next stage. Important things that either finalize old issues, or prepare the ground for new developments tend to occur with increasing frequency. For those who are unprepared, this is often a time of severe suffering, as we struggle to understand the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune that seem to be aimed squarely at our hearts. Indeed, relationships and major life-decisions are all too often the focal points for this clearing out of karmic baggage.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The 15 april 2012 is my 29 1/2 years for Saturn return since birth. This coincides with saturns opposition with the sun . What effect could this have...I did not know any thing about this till 2 days Sufi for some reason I needed to find out about Saturn ..weird but very interesting to read this post so thank you.k