Saturn Returns Again! (Part 1)

I have written about Saturn a few times (http://wp.me/pJ9hq-1w & http://wp.me/pJ9hq-aX & http://wp.me/pJ9hq-7z) and I briefly mentioned the dreaded Saturn Return once before (http://wp.me/pJ9hq-2G) but I want to discuss Saturn Returns in a little more depth.

Everyone gets a Saturn Return at roughly ages 29-30, 59-60 and even 89-90. Live long enough and you can get one at 120. In the sky, at these times, the planet Saturn has circled the solar system and returned to where it was the moment you were born. As I posted two weeks ago (http://wp.me/pJ9hq-bR), I feel anytime any planet returns to its original position in a person’s chart, it is an opportunity for some kind of personal renewal, a chance to reexamine & recharge the issues symbolized by that particular planet in your chart, a time to take stock, and refuel.

Saturn is about responsibility. It is the planet that wants to know “What is real? What do you really really need?” It symbolizes the beliefs we hold that structure our view of reality. And it is about a sense of personal authority.

The first Saturn Return, in our late 20s, is often bandied about in astrological circles as a very significant turning point in a person’s life, and it is. It is, in a sense of speaking, the time when we finally become adults, when we are supposed to start taking full responsibility for our lives. If you have been avoiding things in your life up until now, avoiding the things that deep down inside you know truly matter to you, a Saturn Return will be a challenging time. What’s so scary about a Saturn Return? It represents a time to take inventory in your life, examine it in the cold light of day, and get rid of all the dead weight. It’s about sitting down and charting a course, and separating the wheat from the chaff. And sometimes, what we think we need, and what we really need, are different.

As a personal example, at my first Saturn Return, I was working as a commercial graphic artist (and still am) and as a lark, I decided to have an astrology reading done. A woman I was dating had hers done, and said it was interesting and fun. After the dust settled, I was so startled and surprised, I had to figure out how astrology was done. And here I am today, a professional astrologer with 29 years’ experience. That was what my first Saturn Return symbolized for me.

Now I am at the start of my second Saturn Return, and this will be interesting for me. Much is written about the first Saturn Return, but not so much about this one. I am taking inventory in my life, and getting rid of all the dead weight. My first direct hit was just this past December 18th  and by the time it had arrived, my wife helped me clean out a storage locker we had maintained for years, and we sorted through a lot of accumulated crap (mostly yours! she said, with that look in her eyes) and ditched a ton of it. I had been dragging around useless stuff. Out with it! And for me, the fact that I worked with my wife on this project is also significant, as my Saturn is on the cusp of my 7th house: relationships, partnerships, and marriage.

What else will I do with this second Saturn Return? I’m not quite sure yet. I will throw out more useless crap from my life, literally, emotionally & symbolically. I will start Act II of my life. I have two more direct hits of my Saturn Return this year, so I will continue to report on this as the situation progresses.

Then I am free and clear until I am 90… (at least from another Saturn Return, anyway)