Cycles are at the heart of the human experience. In New England the seasons change dramatically and rapidly, yet seamlessly blend into one another. Similarly seasons define the developmental process of our lives; infancy, childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, the middle years, the elder years, culminating in death of the physical body. Each epoch unfolds predictably, sequentially and inexorably unless interrupted prematurely. And each is characterized by certain stage specific maturational tasks and experiences.
The Sun, Moon and planets all have their cycles too. We are familiar with the Moon’s orbit around the Earth; 29 days or a month. The Earth’s orbit around the Sun; 365 days or a year. But all the other planets have their own periodicity as well. Saturn takes approximately 29 years to travel around the Sun and arrive back at the exact point it was when you were born. The average human life span can be divided by the Saturn cycle into three stages, birth to 29, 29 to 58 and 58 until 87 or death. All of the planets are linked with particular archetypal aspects of human experience. Saturn is thematically linked with time and maturation, credibility, experience and the wisdom of the elders, responsibility, duty, authority and alignment with universal laws.
Many patients appear in my practice when they are 28 or 29 years old, at the time of their first Saturn Return. It’s a time when many young people feel an urgent need to figure something out about their lives. In our culture there is acceptance that a 24 or 25 year old may still be searching, perhaps feeling a bit lost, still experimenting. But when they reach 28 or 29, it is no longer as appropriate to feel so uncertain and undecided about partnership, children, career or direction. There is a developmental pressure at that time to finally leave childhood behind and become a responsible adult and contributing member of society.
Similarly at the Second Saturn return the developmental pressure is felt again. This time it is linked with an awareness of mortality. Saturn slows you down and forces you to take a long hard look at reality. How much time do you have left? How do you want to spend it? There really is no time left for procrastinating, otherwise time will be up and those books will never be written or paintings painted. Ironically as time the remaining time diminishes, subjectively it passes with ever increasing speed.
The Second Saturn Return is a time of life review and soul searching. How did you get here? Is this really where you want to be? Often it represents a cross roads of sorts, and an opportunity to deal at last with unfinished business. Sometimes this means getting rid of people, jobs and situations that no longer fit who you are or want to be. There is a taking stock that can culminate in a kind of purging and reordering of your life. This death of the old way of doing things can be painful, but subsequently there is often a feeling of relief and gratitude that you are no longer stuck in circumstances that no longer served you.
Saturn is also known as the Lord of Karma or Lord of the Harvest. You will reap what you sowed. It is a time when hard work will be rewarded, but if there has been neglect or carelessness, the natural consequences will not be able to be avoided.
Saturn asks you to claim your authority, to step up to the plate. It is inappropriate to wait for someone else to do it.
In my own case, I am 57 years old and just on the cusp of my Second Saturn Return. I am thinking about letting my hair go grey. There is less of an investment in vanity and more in spiritual wisdom. I am accepting invitations to do public speaking, even though it is not within my comfort zone. It feels more important to share my thoughts and make my contribution, than to give into shyness at this late date.
I am writing about Astrology, even though there are few subjects in our culture more generally viewed with contempt. But Saturn is asking me to make a contribution and give voice to what I believe is true, and to write about what is important to me and on my mind. I have no idea how Astrology works, but empirically I observe that it does, and it provides an invaluable context for making sense of our experience, guidance for making choices that are most meaningful and a perspective on ourselves and others that promotes compassion and understanding.
One of the most common regrets that people voice at the end of their lives is that they did not sufficiently honor their own truth, that they lived in accordance with other’s expectations or internal “shoulds” instead of their heart.The Second Saturn return is often not an easy passage, but it is rich with opportunity to re-create our lives in order to have the most meaningful and vibrant remaining years, so that when we are on our death beds looking back, we can sigh and say, “Ah, that was a life well lived.”
Fascinating comments by so many. I feel compelled to add mine.
I have a several points in Pisces including a stellium:
Sun 5º, Asc 12º, Saturn 18º, Mars 19º, Mercury 20º, Chiron21º.
Much of that is opposing in Virgo: Pluto 17º, Uranus18º.
At the moment, I’m experiencing Saturn conjunct Sun. I’ve coincidentally renewed my interest in cycling, regaining strength as I progress. Weeks after, I began to become physically wiped out. My GP was concerned about low white blood cells in a routine test then forwarded me onto a specialist. He’s ruled out a number of things but still under his care to sort it out.
To accommodate the loss of energy, I picked up an upright ebike. I only activate it on hills or for wind. It greatly helps to cover the ground, be out and about and maintain my physique. I opted for pedal assist rather than one with a throttle. As I casually observe bikes on the road, I see that people on pedal assist are fit, lean and active while those with a throttle tend to be rather well-fed looking and not at all turning the pedals.
As well, I’ve been fasting to get rid of some stubborn visceral fat. Prolonged fasting of more than 48 hours appears to assist a whole host of physical benefits, including burning fat and boosting white blood cell production. I’ve been regularly following 18:6 or 20:4, so the occasional 48 hour fast is the same but different. Since taking that on – twice a month, both my eczema and psoriasis have desisted.
Additionally, I’ve cleared away all ultra processed foods from my diet. The momentary pleasures of store bought ice cream or potato chips are not worth the trouble for my gut. I’ve never really been a pop drinker. I used to have quite the sweet tooth for home made cakes, cookies and the rest. An intriguing side effect of the fasting appears to be my diminishing interest in those things. I still enjoy food immensely, simply cooked whole foods are a pleasure. Salt butter and pepper are pretty much all I regularly add.
It may sound rather dour but a humble bowl of steel cut oatmeal with a dollop of high fat yogurt and some dried fruits and nuts is a satisfying and enjoyable, first meal of the day for me.
My goal has been to strengthen my muscles and immunity before the upcoming Saturn Conjunct ascendant starting in Feb’24. Then the subsequent Saturn return.
Despite the low energy and low white blood cells, I’m quite committed to keeping the wheels on my bike turning and feeding my fire with a nutritious variety of whole foods prepared simply.
The last time I had Saturn in this area, I was living in countries where I cycled daily as a matter of course. It was simpler, faster and more convenient than just about any other conveyance. As well I met many people who showed me how to eat simply but very well.
Thank you for writing. You have an impressive Pisces stellium especially when combined with that Pluto and Uranus opposition! Steven Forrest published a podcast about Saturn in Pisces and the main theme that I recall was dedication to spiritual practice. Your devotion to your healing practice feels to me like a wonderful use of the transit. The first house is so much about the physical body that you were born with and you are tending to it with so much consciousness. I liked hearing about the impacts of the longer fasts on your skin conditions. Saturn in Pisces is an archetype that I would associate with the spiritual discipline of fasting. In medical astrology Saturn is linked with the skin. Many blessings on your upcoming Saturn Return.
Thank you for your kind words. I did find that post by Steven Forrest and it did resonate in so many helpful ways.
His quote about Saturn especially:
“this is the planet that gives us the ability to do what we don’t feel like doing.”
Spot-on comments about the gifts and lessons of our 2nd Saturn return. My 3rd house Saturn in Scorpio came back with a bang the day it went direct: I became homeless (again; 2x in 30-year cycles!) and ended up taking a job at a university in China to teach English and communications. I ended up as the Director of Teaching Affairs for several months, and my rapport with students made for a great ending. It was a time of great effort and rebuilding in my career in education.
That is a great Saturn Return story! Many blessings on this next chapter going forward.
My second Saturn return hit 3/3/2022 in Aquarius in the 9th house. In the past year, I had to quit working at the peak of my career to care for my mom who has stage 4 cancer and my brother who has schizophrenia. My favorite dog died after two years with congestive heart failure, and I’ve had three ankle and knee surgeries, plus multiple spinal procedures. I’m always on the verge of “this is more than I can handle” and now I’m worried that the past year was just a warm up for what is about to happen! It’s scary to live on the edge of so much stress and uncertainty. My question: Is there a “bracket effect”, as in, does the effect of the Saturn return last longer than the actual transit? My final transit is in December, so is that the end of it, or will there be another year of upheaval on the other side? It would be helpful to know how long I need to prepare myself to endure it!
Wow, it sounds like it’s been so difficult. In personal astrology when a planet moves 2 degrees beyond the exact degree, the cosmic weather pattern correlated with the transiting planet usually feels like it’s over. It sounds like a time for radical self-care to calm down the nervous system. One really effective modality to calm the limbic system of the brain is the GUPTA program. I recommend it frequently in my practice. Its very hard on our organism when we are in a state of fight or flight induced by chronic stress. Many blessings on this stage of your journey. May it be for your highest good and the highest good of all concerned.
Well said, well said. Thank you for sharing. It’s interesting to hear how you and others have face similar challenges, ebbed and flowed in order to move forward with their lives and ultimately, soul’s purpose. I too am 57 and staring into what feels like the abyss of my 2nd Saturn Return, not knowing which door to pass through. I have multiple talents and many interests, I just wish there was a tool or something that could help guide a clueless soul to their rightful destination during this passage. All the best
I am reading, well actually listening to an audiobook by Connie Zweig Ph.D. called “The Inner Work of Age: Switching from Role to Soul.” I am finding it incredibly thoughtful and helpful. I recommend it to you.
Im so glad to see I have such an aware holistic healer in my backyard (Massachusetts).
Ive been studying astrology for 5 years. My focus was always my 11th house North Node in Leo until now.
My 2nd Saturn return is going on in Aquarius in the 5th house as well as spilling over into my 6th. Im frozen in terms of my next career move. Nothing seems to speak to me except the familiar.
You are right. Time is running out. Im absolutely petrified.Im anticipating a job loss and Im searching online and nothing appeals to me. This is not good at 58.
Thanks for writing. Maybe look back at your first Saturn Return for clues as to the way forward, what to embrace, what to avoid. Don’t let fear overrun you. Its understandable, but that is a lower vibration expression of Saturn. Try and keep your spirits elevated by focusing on what is uplifting and nourishing you. It will help bring in more of that kind of energy. Blessings on your evolutionary journey.
I found this page in search of consolation. I’m currently at the end of experiencing my first Saturn Return. What has not yet been mentioned is that not only the house position is decisive for the return, but also the aspects. My Saturn is in the 3rd house and it automatically aspects the 5th, 9th, and 12th house. Result: major heartbreaks and delays in love (5th), battling with depression and low self-esteem (12th house), delays with my studies (9th house), and like one user before mentioned problems with my bones and speech (3rd house). Honestly, there are not many life areas that my Saturn didn’t attack. It feels like all hidden fears are being brought to the surface and the areas where you haven’t built rock-solid foundations are mercilessly destroyed. I’ve been scared of fear for years and have always been a ‘security person’ choosing the safe but not always the right options in my life. In the meantime, I’m learning that nothing is certain and that everything is subject to change…
It sounds very very hard, but also that your suffering would ultimately result in increased wisdom. This is at the heart of Buddhist wisdom, that the only certainty is that everything changes.
Hello, I have been out of astrology a while but I see Saturn and Jupiter are conjunct on my Saturn/ascendant on this winter solstice! I found your blog and it resonates. My first Saturn return I began my path of holistic healing, learning and then practicing Shiatsu (7 years). Circumstances caused me to divert (14 years) but the last 7 years have seen me return to the path, training and qualifying as a therapeutic counsellor I recently find myself in an established, supportive organisation where I am appreciated, and can bring together all my skills and learning helping others. I have found Saturn on the ascendant to be somewhat harsh this lifetime but I feel I can lean into it now and feel the stability of it and finally be myself. Anyway, thanks for the insight, happy solstice to you. 🙏
It should be an extra intense Second Saturn Return for you given Saturn’s placement on your Ascendent and the Grand Conjunction occurring there. It seems like this will be a very powerful upcoming cycle for you. It sounds like you are in a good place in your life to fully embrace it all! Many Solstice blessings and blessings for your Second Saturn Return.
Interesting to see all the 1961 births experience. My second return-Saturn at 29 degrees cap- is coinciding with the Saturn pluto Jupiter conjunction in my 11th house. I was born with Saturn conjunct Jupiter in early Aquarius, so will experience Jupiter return simultaneously! At this same time pluto finally trines my sun . …
At my first return I abandoned what I was educated in and started all over in nursing. Have advanced and advanced my education while raising my kids and TRYING to maintain a resume. I obtained my final licensure last year, and have found myself where I absolutely belong: Psychiatry.
Unfortunately, trying to keep all those balls in the air has left me with a patchy resume. Neither fish (primary care) nor fowl (psych) as I try to find ‘my’ place in health care. (Oh yea, and the pandemic throwing a wrench in all of it🤦🏼♀️)
A student of astrology, I feel like pluto trine my sun (11th to 3rd houses) SHOULD foretell the ‘victory lap’ for all my hard work. But I find myself trapped in the job I could get – loving the work but in an insecure and sketchy private practice.
Nearing 60 I am suddenly aware of my age and anxious about my viability as a candidate for a position I might want. I never paid a moments attention to my age until right now! I have maintained my health but am contemplating plastic surgery in attempts to at least APPEAR younger… and trying to spin a broad, patchy resume into what I WANT to convey. TIME IS RUNNING OUT
I feel cheated out of my Pluto trine, frankly LOL. You have definitely spelled out my experience in this rare presentation of the Saturn transit- but also provided comfort in a trying time. Thank you
Thank you for writing and sharing your experience. I love learning about the infinite variety of Saturn Return experiences. It sounds like you have a wealth of remarkable experiences professionally. May it all translate into work that you love. Wishing you all the best.
I am not in this second saturn return yet but am really feeling it already at 56.
My first was a doozy and it propelled me to make some needed changes but I managed to run away from most of what needed to be dealt with. I have some other very challenging transits happening as well ( uranus conjunct my moon and venus) I lost two best friends so far with that one. My business was almost destroyed due to covid and since my saturn is in the 10 th house of career I am questioning that.
With pluto going through my 8 th house my father and my brother died just 3 weeks apart this year. Plus, I am in a relationship that has been a struggle for me to maintain. Ironically, he has saturn, venus and jupiter all in capricorn.
Yes, I am living with Saturn. ; )
I feel like I am trying to hold so much together ( Saturn and pluto control)
yet the uranus keeps telling me to break free from it all.
I keep having fantasies of getting an rv and living on the road with a rescued chiahuahua! Lol!
Thank you for writing and sharing your experience. That all sounds like a profound series of losses and challenges. I can appreciate the RV fantasy! May all of these travails bear beautiful sweet fruit in your upcoming years as an elder.
I know how you feel. I turned 56 this November and my Saturn is in late degrees Aqua in House 2. I…think I will feel it most around Feb 2023. Right now I fantasy getting an RV or something that will allow me to move again and find that place that feels like home, without restriction to location, ie job. That would be so freeing for me….To have the resources to have the ability to live wherever I feel as a minimalist, and say, This is where I belong!” If I find that place, I could be happy living in one of those new small houses too. I know my long time best friend and fellow water sign Cancerian would be happy to join me once he let’s go of clinging to the familiar (both Sag Ascs.) And we would also like to get a couple of kittens again ourselves. ..;<)
Dr. Tsafrir,
I came across this blog article only last week when I did a search on our second Saturn returns, for a friend actually. I feel like I am coming out or have come out of my 2nd Saturn return as I turned 60 in March 2020… Just when the Pandemic started! I have been a student of astrology since I was in my 20’s. It was actually my first gateway into personal awareness and development. I knew about Saturn returns then, but I didn’t know that they occur every 29.5 years. When my first saturn return occured around 29, but I turned 30, my father died of prostate cancer (at 56) later in June. My second return began in my 59th year and more noticeable in September 2019… when I felt my life go sideways. My oldest sister ( a matriarch sibling) was diagnosed with metastasized breast cancer in the liver. It was a horrible process that fairly quickly took her life in November of 2019. I am just now realizing / processing that death, has been the element of life that has marked my saturn returns. In both returns, I sought support from PHD level counselors that have helped me process my grief and other wounds and hurts from my relationships with them. I have emerged feeling risen and whole from my profound 10 year cycle. I am in awe of my ability to rise like the Phoenix, but would appreciate any insight on the symbolism of death in my returns. Thank you for the amazing good work you are doing in the world. Namaste.
It’s uplifting and inspiring to learn about your response to your Saturn Returns. Though they were so painful they catalyzed so much maturation and growth for you. Saturn is about time and mortality. Our own specifically. Not everyone’s Saturn Returns involve the loss of loved ones like yours. But I imagine that confronting the death of your father and sister both would have stimulated awareness of your own mortality. Contemplating our own deaths is for many one of the gateways to living more fully, deeply and gratefully in the present moment. Thanks for taking the time to share and write.
Wow! Normally when one searches the www anymore, one rarely finds such breadth & depth, especially about Astrology. Like you, I know very little about how astrology works, but the deeper I dive it astonishes me with it’s accurate timing and synchronicity.
I have begun to delve more deeply into Astrology with all the social isolation time on my hands. I just discovered that I am in the tail of my 2nd Saturn return as I turn 59 on New Years Day. Saturn in Capricorn in my 4th house. I don’t yet even know what that even means. Apparently I handled my first return in explosive style. Shredded intimate family relationships while coming out, which in turn allowed me to begin building relationships with the extended family my parents had always shunned.
Now, I find myself releasing or being released from all family ties entirely. I have a solid and established relationship with my partner of, get this, 29 years. He’s allowed me to be relatively worry free since leaving the workforce in ’02. I have no real crisis on my hands, just baffled by the state of the world as it stumbles out of the Age of Pisces battered & bruised headling into the Age of Aquarius.
Also sort of astonishing to find such active commenting upon a nearly 7 year old post. A solid testament to the depth & courage of your original post.
Thank you so much for your appreciative comment. The fourth house is about home, family, the clan and the deepest roots of the self. There has been so much energy in the Capricorn part of the sky this year which has been all about restructuring and transformation, of old cycles ending and new ones beginning. We are witnessing a truly huge time of transformation. This is a collective experience, but with your natal Saturn there, it’s specifically magnified for you. It is a lot to manage but offers huge potential for growth and development. Many blessings on this new chapter!
I meant to also comment about your decision to let yourself go grey. For grey had already begun appearing during my first Saturn return. Unlike most of my peers, I embraced it as a badge of survival. I have never understood the fear of appearing nor growing older. Over the years my beard became completely white. On my head, only my temples have ever greyed.
Strangely, my beard is now regaining color, perhaps due to dietary changes?
I am befuddled by the many women in my life who choose to comment on their dislike of my beard? I often wonder what would happen if I turned the tables and commented disapprovingly about their chosen hairstyles?
My mother once urged me to dye my beard. Not because she thought I would look younger, as other women suggest, but because she “didn’t like the thought of anyone thinking she was old enough to have such an old looking son!!!”
I am more than happy to embrace my release from the family clan. Thanks for that heads up about Saturn in the 4th House… again Astrology reveals synchronicity!
Sounds like the women in your life are thinking about how they feel and not how you feel. Sometimes releasing the relationship is a life saver. There is a book by Christiane Northrup called “How to Dodge Energy Vampires” You might find it useful. Best wishes for your Second Saturn Return.
My father was around 30 years old when I was born. At the age of 58 he ended up with pancreatic cancer. It seemingly showed up out of nowhere. I began to start studying astrology a little deeper and was fascinated by the fact that died when I just reached 27. His second Saturn return, and I was entering my first Saturn return. So interesting. I ended up meeting a woman that changed my life soon after. Although we broke up, that was a game changer because I wanted more out of life, and she showed me what life could be if I were to get my financial and career situation in order. I truly hope I do not pass during my second saturn return. Then again, he was a smoker and held a lot of anger inside him for years. I am sure the cancer manifested years prior. It is so hard to detect. A few other famous people died around that age due to cancer. So interesting. Unfortunately, saturn reminded me how painful and much of an obstacle my family is and that my riches lie with strangers from other lands.Thank you for the article.
It is so common for children to be born to their parents during the parents’ First Saturn Return. It’s less common in my experience for them to die when the child is having their first Saturn Return. But Saturn is linked with limits and mortality, development and maturation, responsibility, and being a grown-up. There is something so Saturnian about all of these life cycle events and the generations. It’s a blessing to recognize where the riches lie, and to seek them there rather than returning repeatedly to the dry well. From the sound of your comment, I do not have the feeling that dying is what you are likely to experience during your Second Saturn Return. I hope that your Second Saturn Return brings you life transformational experiences as did your first. Many blessings.
Dear Dr. Tsafrir,
I’ve been reading your posts and comments for some hours now, and I found they have made a very sad and stressful morning (one of many so far) much lighter. Thank you for that.
If you can spare the time, I would love to read any thoughts you may have on those born in early 1961, who are – like me – experiencing a second Saturn return coupled with the Jupiter/Saturn (+ Pluto!) conjunction that joins their natal Jupiter/Saturn conjunction.
For some reason, there is not much material published (on astro websites) about this specific – astrologically so interesting – cohort.
I was born in late March of 1961. Interestingly enough, my first Saturn return was incredibly – and deceptively – “smooth “. It started with a huge professional success… that I then failed to make the most of. That was the huge, HUGE mistake I made; I know that (and have known it for many years). It did take me on another professional journey, though, that turned out to be highly successful and creative – yet it also turned out to be the wrong choice for me. The first mistake (related to the first career choice) – or failure to act – was a fatal one.
However, the first Saturn return in itself was, as I said, smooth sailing.
Now, of course, I am reaping the fruits of my many omissions to act.
But there is nothing I can do now. (This statement – as the omission that I keep mentioning – may make me sound like a very passive person. I am not – quite the opposite. But I have suffered greatly by the avoidance personality disorder, brought on by many different factors in my early life. One CAN be active AND avoidant, apparently. :))
Anyway, when I say “there is nothing I can do now” it simply means that I have no material means to abandon what I have been doing for the past 30 years, professionally – although I may be forced to, because Covid-19 has had a great impact on my sources of work and money. (The problem is, if I cannot work anymore in this profession – which an bring a lot of public praise but not much money – I’ll be destitute.)
I wrote all this about me just to offer something of my personal experience, “in return” for any thoughts you – or someone reading this wonderful blog – may have on us, the lucky early-61-oners in 2020. :))
Thank you for your time and kind attention. It really is a pleasure to read your gentle and warm voice.
All the best.
I am so glad that the blog lightened your mood. That makes me happy. I imagine that the description of your first Saturn Return and what has unfolded since then will resonate with other readers. Thanks for taking the time to write about it. Having your Second Saturn Return coincide with the line up of the Capricorn planets would, I imagine, make the already potent time of the Second Saturn Return even more potentially transformative. I imagine that it would offer even more of an opportunity for restructuring and for envisioning what you would like to manifest in the third act as you join the tribe of the elders. I would say that it has the potential to be everything that we typically associate with the Second Saturn Return, but on steroids. In addition to the usual Saturn themes, you are adding Pluto with all of that intensity, obsessiveness and depth as well as issues related to powerlessness and empowerment, and Jupiter, the planet of expansion and Spiritual exploration and focus and potentially excess. These energies are huge and at play collectively as we see structures collapsing and everything being called into question. Having your Saturn Return at the same time makes it all particularly up close and personal. Wishing you all the best during this exciting and challenging passage.
Thank you so very much. 🙂
Hi Dr. Tsafrir,
Thank you so much for the information. I guess my 2nd Saturn return has begun, in a sense, although a calculator says it will actually start in Feb. of 2021. I don’t know all the intricacies of figuring that out, but Saturn is in Aquarius in my chart. I live on family land but am no longer surrounded by family—everyone has died or moved away. This situation no longer serves me but I am terrified of leaving, afraid of never feeling at home somewhere else, worried about the birds and plants and creatures who also make their home here & what will happen to them, and I don’t know where to go. My relationship to this piece of earth has defined my life for a number of years now. I lost my mother here when I was s child, lost an older sister 5 years later, came home to heal from substance abuse in my 30s and lost my father shortly afterwards. The last remaining family member, my sister, moved away 10 years ago and sold (me) out to neighbors out of a bad dream. They have created a toxic environment with drugs and guns and very different sensibilities. I have had to become hard and harsh to be able to stay here. Just lately I am having terrible anxiety at night about my safety. I wonder if Saturn isn’t just sick of my waffling, and is going to force me to make the decision I’ve dreaded for years.
Hi Trudy, Usually the theme music of a major transit like the Second Saturn Return is heard long before the precise date of the actual conjunction. I am about to get to work on a blog post where the theme is
“What if this darkness
is not the darkness of the tomb,
but the darkness of the womb?”
That is from a speech by Sikh activist Valerie Kaur on the night after the November 2016 election. It springs to mind regarding the situation that you described. I am sending you blessings for rebirth.
Thanks for this insightful and, as you hinted, brave post. You write, “I have no idea how Astrology works, but empirically I observe that it does…” Yeah, me, too. And, frankly, I could say the exact same thing about the computer I’m using or the car I’m about to get into. All useful tools.
My second Saturn return begins tomorrow and, honestly, I can’t wait. So much shifting has already happened in the last two or three years, and I’m feeling like the “me” I am (or am becoming) is a nice comfortable set of clothes I’ve owned for years rather than an outfit that doesn’t quite fit, or that I’ve put on because I’m supposed to.
I don’t know what’s ahead, but I’ll walk straight into it, eyes forward. I trust the universe…which is just another way of saying I trust myself.
Such an uplifting comment. Thank you.
Hello Dr.Tsasfrir
I can only believe that I came across your article as I asked the universe to help guide me to someone who can possible offer some guidance. Who would you recommend I contact to get a reading? Would like some idea of what awaits my husband in his 2nd Saturn return. He has Saturn in Aquarius in his natal chart and Saturn is currently showing a preview and my husbands work life is constant source iof stress. He turned 57 on Feb 10 in 2020. I’m 53 and going thru my lunar stuff but generally I’m good. My worry is him. So many pretenders and thought it would be best to ask you for someone you would go to? We are in the midst of a global pandemic, rioting in the streets.. More crazy days ahead? Thank you in advance.
Katherine
One of the best readings I ever had was with John Marchesella. Here is his website: http://www.astrojohn.com/bio.html
I think he would be particularly good for your husband because he loves to talk about the influence of Saturn!
The crazy rioting and unrest is very likely related to the Pluto -Saturn conjunction that formed earlier in the year. Whenever it forms there has always been global unrest and/or wars.
as an astrologer myself, i can tell you that in addition to the pluto-saturn conjunction, much is to blame on the dwarf planet eris discovered in 2005 and only now gaining some spotlight due to 2020 events reflecting eris’ signature style. she has been in a square (tense aspect) to the conjunction the whole time, and now joined by mars. google the mythology of the greek goddess eris, or the roman goddess equivalent “discordia” and you’ll be hard-pressed to disagree.
and dr. tsafrir, i’m very glad to have found you. just signed up for your email list. 🙂
I completely agree about Eris. Steven Forrest just did a webinar about her role in the current global situation. May a new more loving, just, and peaceful world be born out of this collapse.
I just entered my 2nd Saturn return in January, with my natal Saturn in Aquarius. My work life has been hell in the last 2 years. These coming 3 years terrifies me so I am grateful for your positive perspective .
I decided to leave the financial security and yet emotional upheaval of my 32 years place of work. It’s very scary but necessary.
I feel like the child in the wilderness of the unknown
When I was early on in my training as a psychiatrist/therapist, one supervisor said to me that sometimes people confuse anxiety and excitement. It can be important not to mistake one for another. It does sound scary and also like it potentially opens up so many possibilities and adventure. I wish you all the best.
Thanks for sharing, Myriam. Interesting. This summer will mark 35 years full-time for me with the same employer and I, too, and feeling that a shift may be coming, though I’m blessed to say that my work life is fine.
And the “child in the wilderness” phrase struck me, too. I just now came back from a 3-hour hike here in Sedona. I felt pretty bad at the start of it (been fighting off something), but was feeling much better during the hike. Now that I’m back home, I’m coughing again.
I think maybe a “child in the wilderness” is exactly what I need to be right now. Thank you for that insight.
I love your comments, my sentiments also!🦋
I’m currently experiencing my 1st Saturn return. My Saturn is in Capricorn in the 3rd house. To be quite frank: Saturn has been an absolute asshole so far but it has also granted some rewards after a lot of pain and suffering.
My Saturn return clearly signified it’s arrival when I started to lose my tooth fillings. A short time later, I went to see an orthodontist who diagnosed me with a skeletal open bite which means nothing less than double surgery. My jaw will be “chiseled out” and repositioned. The surgery will change my whole facial profile, my smile, the shape of my lips and for some people, it even changes the shape of their nose. The good thing: I will be rewarded with a healthy and beautiful smile and improve my appearance. I also separated from my boyfriend. It was a very unhealthy relationship, I still need time to heal and am not ready for a new relationship and yet I do long so deeply for a soulmate (Where are you?). Saturns reward: I know now exactly what I truly want and need in a relationship in order to be fulfilled. I suffer from depression and anxiety attacks, too because I fear that I have given away my talents and that it’s simply too late. My mood changes between hope and absolute despair and Saturn feels like a very heavy burden that lays upon me. Saturn granted me another gift: I lost most of my past unfounded fears because I realized that most people have very similar fears. We are all together in this. Never again will I let fears determine my actions and decisions or stop me from things which I wanna do. It has already cost me enough precious opportunities. Currently, I’m changing my job and plan to leave my home country since my country is in a deep crisis and I no longer feel that I belong here. In four years Pluto will hit my 4th house and I can already feel that this step will be unavoidable…
Thank you for this message. It’s so interesting, isn’t it, that the archetypal energy of Saturn is linked with the teeth. This is just an aside given my experience as a holistic physician: when people get structural dental work done, like getting braces, or any other intervention that repositions the jaw and adjusts the bony structure of the face, it can disturb the cranial nerves, which can result in immune dysfunction. If a person gets any sort of treatment like this, it is prudent to seek the assistance of a cranial osteopath, who can direct their interventions to mitigate any untoward effects. Many blessings on this phase of your journey.
Thank you. I’ll consider the help of an cranial osteopath. but I don’t know when my surgery will take place. This winter or next spring is likely… I’m not afraid. The most important thing I’ve learned during my Saturn return is that I didn’t trust my inner voice enough… Out of pure fear, I didn’t speak my truth (Saturn in 3rd house), even though my gut feeling was alarmed. I e.g. dated a man who was perfect on paper, my friends loved him, but my inner voice said that something was off. I ignored it because I thought: “Ha, you’re just imagining that, because you are oversensitive. C’mon, Shosanna! Pull yourself together and give him a chance”. I’ll never do that again. I have an Aquarius Northnode in the 4th house and during my Saturn return I realized that it is healthier for me to choose my partner intuitively, and also to stand by someone who does not meet the expectations of others, who may be, yes, unconventional, but who is right for me.
What a wonderful affirming realization and gift of your Saturn Return!
I’m almost done with my first Saturn return now. I had another exciting insight about the connection between Saturn and diseases that I would like to share here. Besides the teeth, Saturn is also closely related to diseases of the bones (e.g. osteoporosis), depression, anxiety and panic. I’ve struggled with PCO and adult acne for years. For years, physicians gave me hormones and told me that the cause of my disease is unknown. I did not give up and visited a sports medicine doctor and naturopath in April and May this year. Both did blood tests for vitamins and minerals. It turned out that I have a massive vitamin D3 deficiency (D3 is actually not a vitamin, but a hormone. It is important for the bones and a deficiency can trigger osteoporosis and depression, among other things. Sounds very Saturnian, non?) and an iodine deficiency (iodine is needed for the production of hormones ). (In Europe, D3 is not added to food.) Since I’ve started to take nutritional supplements and cured my deficiency, my acne has healed, the depression has gone, and for the first time in 15 years I have a normal menstrual period without taking additional hormones. My teeth are also almost ready for surgery according to my orthodontists. In my case, 2020 couldn’t have been better.
That is so wonderful! Thank you for sharing this. I imagine it will also be instructive to others who may not be aware of the connection between Saturn and the teeth and the bones. It’s also nice to anticipate, that since your first Saturn Return has brought so many blessings and discoveries, that your Second Saturn Return will likely carry the same energy. Many blessings to you on the Solstice and for the New Year.
Hi Judy,
Thank you for such an enlightening article. I amalmost 54 and my Second Saturn Return is not due for 3 to 4 more years. But at this time I am living again situations that I remember where the most important catalysts of change and “havoc” during my First Saturn Return.
It is like a deja-vu! I can see how Life is positioning all the pieces in a chess match again. A chess match in which I had no way out but Out! In my first Saturn Return I moved away to a distant place, quit a career, started a new life completely. I have been restless and scared watching how things and events have been falling into place completely out of my control gearing towards the same situation as in my First Saturn Return, not knowing what was happening.
It has been thanks to your article that I have been able to understand what is going on. It has helped me grounding me at this time knowing what is coming in my near future. Specially, it has giving me a reason of why everything is happening again. I had already have an idea of how my next chapter was going to be. But now, everything is not what I expected. But at least I know, this is also a rite of passage, another one! So…be it!
Life…goes on. I just hope, this time I will do better.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
What a nice acknowledgment! Thank you. I am so happy that it was helpful. There is another extremely important and less talked about cycle that is called “The Progressed Lunar Return” It always precedes the Saturn Return by a 3-5 years, a sort of emotional preparation for the Saturn Return. You are currently in the thick of it! Here is a piece about it that I think is quite well done. http://theinnerwheel.com/2011/08/06/spiral-up-or-down-the-second-progressed-lunar-return/
Thank you sooo much for your information. I knew something was going on! Because, like I said, right now everything feels like a Deja-Vu leading up to the same outcome exactly at my Second Saturn Return.
Thank you, Judy for this excellent discussion. I turn 57 this coming February 2020, and I am already feeling the effects, I believe, of my Second Saturn Return. Truth told, at the moment, already much has been swept away in my life, and yes, I spend much of my time doing nothing… and sleeping. It subjectively feels as though my reality has no further need for me, in any way, shape or form. How I shall reinvent myself I honestly do not know at this moment. It feels as though our current generation of Millennials and GenZ have already far superseded me at everything, and done much better at the artistic things I’ve always loved… and trained for. Anything I might contribute now seems very piddling and amateurish.
It’s hard to feel like that. Its my belief that the world needs each of our gifts. No matter how modest. Especially now.
Thanks for the article, Judy. I am truly feeling the burden of my life lately and I seem to have made all the classic mistakes. Facing financial uncertainty, and faith challenged much, I do hope to find my path of least resistance where inner guidance and power rise to propel me onward into greater revelations and awakening. My Second Saturn return January 2020 is also conjunct with Pluto! Vibrationally this is an awesome time filled with possibility and I have no idea which path I am on, really. At my highest vibrational self, I sense that everything is just as it is supposed to be but at lower levels, my fear is validated and I sense doom. I am a Capricorn Goat of the highest order, never willing to accept what is, always seeing what should be and struggling against the Status Quo. Lack of security always played such a large role in my life and it seems I may just have lived a tragic life of failure to cooperate. Maybe I am about to become something much more acceptable or possibly I am going down as an example of what NOT TO BE. Just venting because I sense you have some insight also.
Wow, certainly a very powerful time for you. I was wondering if you ever heard of Sandra Ingerman. She is a Shamanic teacher and is offering a course that begins this evening about increasing your spiritual light at this time on the planet when there is so much need for healing. It is offered through Sounds True. It might be a wonderful support to navigate this time of so much intensity. https://www.soundstrue.com/store/sandra-ingerman-5563.html
Judy, thank you for this post…much appreciated! I entered my 2nd return yesterday, with both Saturn and Jupiter in the second house. I am in a place of restarting my copywriting business and/or my Reiki practice from a period of flailing through CPTSD…flying without a $$$ net and yet feeling in my core that I can survive this if I use the tools and opportunities I have gained. The worst thing is the social consequences of my flailing – broken relationships and credibility. It is indeed a scary time.
Judy, what a really great article! As a perpetual student of astrology, I understand that Saturn has a tendency to operate differently for everyone. So much depends upon house and sign placement as well as aspects it makes to other planets. With that said, Saturn has always been a thorn in my side. I have Saturn rx in Pisces in my 10th house opposing my Pluto/Uranus conjuction in my 4th. Boundaries have been an issue for me in terms of me restraining myself, but also not letting others ride roughshod over me. I’ve had bosses treat me terribly as well as husbands, boyfriends, and friends. So I do understand the lesson of having boundaries and respecting others boundaries.
I am 53 and will have my 2nd Saturn return in roughly 5 years and I still color my hair, but I have began to wonder when to stop coloring it. Neptune is currently transiting over my 10th house making a career feel even more nebulous. I wonder if having boundaries with others will be easier or harder with Neptune transiting my 10th house. Do you have any thoughts about how I can work with my Saturn in the 10th as Neptune is also transiting the 10th? Neptune has moved off my Saturn by a 3 degree orb and will not pass back over it so I am thankful the waning aspect.
I am currently working on a fiction novel and I hope I can complete it and get it published through a well known publisher. Maybe this will be a good use of transiting Neptune through my 10th house and my natal Saturn in Pisces placement. Also, I am thinking about going back to school and getting my re-certification in hypnotherapy.
Wishing the happiest of holidays!
Hi Mara. I enjoyed your comment. That does sound like a challenging placement of Saturn. Whenever I see Saturn in Pisces I think that there is something particularly important for the native to feel aligned spiritually. Of course this is true for everyone, but with Saturn in Pisces, it is maybe more of a challenge and also has the potential to be a gift, like in the Chironic sense, that the wound is the source of the gift. Saturn in the 10th house is really a strong placement for Saturn. With the opposition to Pluto/Uranus I think about the tension between the traditional and the innovative and the transformation of structures, ie someone who could be a paradigm shifter. One way that I think about Neptune transits to Saturn is the possibility of manifesting your vision, like the concept of “creative visualization.” Its possible to bring imagination into form. Publishing your novel sounds like a great use of the transit. Also, just a word about hair coloring. I started to color mine again! I like better how I look with my short hair dark instead of faded brown. It’s good to feel free to choose. Many blessings to you for 2019!
Hi Mara, thank you so much for your comment. I couldn’t believe it when I read about the positions of Saturn, Uranus and Pluto in your chart. Mines opposed the same way too! I never knew of that opposition being as important. I am also 53 and I can feel how things are aligning in my life for my own 2nd Saturn Return. I just hope this time I will make things easier for me and not ask of me as much as I did in my first one. Kindness starts with ourselves. Thank you for your comment and enlightenment.
Happy Holidays!
Wow, I had no idea that I’m in the final month of my second arrival, Saturn in Capricorn. Makes sense though. I’ve thought about letting hair grey, I left my tech career to become an artist, returning to college, my father died in the first month of Saturn’s return. I thought dad dying was instigating all this change, and here it’s Saturn’s return! Amazing!
It seems like such a powerful time for you! Many blessings on this new season of your life.
Judy, thanks for your writing. I like that you say you know nothing about astrology… That seems to be the intriguing thing about it! And one day, at the right time it hits you smack bang! And then another piece of the puzzle fits. Not that the whole picture is seen. My 1st Saturn return was disastrous. So I am quite fearful of the 2nd, about 18 months away. I was taken to a mental hospital and sedated so I felt I never really saw the 1st one through. I have Neptune midheaven, and I started “seeing” stuff and couldn’t stop it.
My husband is in his 2nd and had a stroke leaving him paralyzed on the left. So Saturn is scary to me. I am trying to prepare for my 2nd… but overcoming the fear is the biggest issue.
I hope other people have an easier journey. I have not been a conformist ever and yet Saturn has not had much mercy on me thus far. But as Dorey says, just keep swimming 🙂
Given all that you describe, I can understand why you would be scared. Saturn also can be linked with fear. But I do believe that so much can be achieved with consciousness. So if you approach it with an attitude of surrender and willingness to be guided, which should be available to you with the midheaven Neptune, I imagine that you might have a very different experience. I am sending you many blessings on this time of transition.
You began letting your hair go grey at 57? I started doing that at 40! 😝
I’ll be coming up to my second Saturn Return in about 3-4 years so Saturn can’t reprimand me on my vanity. I’ve changed a lot of my behaviors during my 40’s and let go of most of my established “beliefs” at the same time. It wasnt easy, so I’m hoping Saturn has a smile for me when he returns to Pisces.
Many blessings to you on this important transition. It sounds like you are already ahead of the game.
I’m nearing the turning point of my second Saturn return. It’s taken me all the way down financially tore my heart to shreds left me to Waller in myself.
With the universes promise to build me back up with the strength and power to show the world I can offer myself worth and display what I was ment to be. For now I am patient I can feel it coming in heart soul and mind. Born
7/24/59 1:30 AM Pittsburgh PA
Many blessings for your Saturn Return, my Pittsburgh sister. May it be exactly as you describe.
Pittsburgh has a special place in my heart. It was where I was born. My parents lived there all of my adult life, so I always returned to visit them Its a wonderful city.
Thank you for writing.
Thank you for this! I am in my second Saturn return and going through an excruciating separation from my current job. My next one seems to be on the horizon, but, the separation from my current position is unlike anything I’ve experienced in my 35+ year career! I’m researching second Saturn returns online tonight, to help me navigate the rapids. Thank you!
You are welcome. It can be illuminating to look back at your first Saturn Return and to remember what was going on for you then. Very often there are repetitive themes and lessons. I wish you all the best!
Hi!
I am commenting because I just realized that my father will be going through his second Saturn return when my younger brother and I go through our first.
Should this have any significance for us?
Its actually not an uncommon phenomena, as many people have their first children in their late 20’s. The Saturn Returns mark developmental transitions for all three of you, and thus portends a change in the dynamics of the family. Each of you will be in some way feeling like it is a time of endings and beginnings, each of you will be feeling some pressure to let go of all of that which has outlived its usefulness, to figure out what is working and what is not. That may also involve aspects of your relationships with each other. Its definitely a time of huge change for each of you, and change is often stressful, often accompanied by loss and grief, as we let go of old habits and structures that are not working and outmoded. On the other hand, each of you could potentially feel like in some way you are coming into your own, and feel greater confidence and personal empowerment and that may shift the interpersonal dynamics. It would be wonderful if you would write again in a few years and let us all know how you did experience it. Thanks for asking the question. I am sure it will be meaningful to many.
My father died during my first Saturn return. Saturn did a little dance for joy between signs around the time my grand-daughter was born in 2010 – She also has Saturn in Libra. But my daughter disappeared from my life during the second return and refused communication since. I loved her so much but must not have learned the right lessons.
Are Saturn return consequences forever? Because I’m finding it hard to find much to live for unless there’s hope. I’ve lived my life for my responsibilities.
What a painful situation! No, I don’t think that there is anything about the events occurring during Saturn Returns that are written in stone. Do not lose hope. Ask for Divine assistance and guidance and focus on your blessings. Hopefully your daughter will return to you.
Hi,
If one has Saturn transiting natal Neptune, when do the effects lessen? After it passes the exact point?
Thanks..
Yes, typically the effect is felt as the planet approaches and is at its maximum as it exactly joins the other planet, and then starts to wane as it moves further away.
Thank you.
Thanks for that information! I’m waiting for my first Saturn Return conjunct my natal moon in 4th house also neptune.. My mother wiil have hes second return conjunct her ascendant and jupiter. I’m also waiting for pluto to conjunct my moon and I’m very scared 🙁 Last year I deamed about the exact date that my mother will die and it was 13.11.2017 She has many health issues, so do I. I have Rahu and mars in the 6th house. The last 4-5 years my health went very bad and it doesn’t seem that it will ever be ok again 🙁 But with everything I’m going trough, I’m most affraid that I can lose my mom sbe also has rahu and uto in 8th house and moon in 6th.. Sorry for my bad english. Can you say something positive about are saturn returns? Thank you! God bless you!
Pluto Moon is hard. At least it was for me. There is a need for radical self care at this time, and a lot of surrender and asking for guidance. Also a gratitude practice can help. There is a wonderful on-line course by James Baraz about awakening joy. https://www.awakeningjoy.info/teacher.htm. Everything that happens is an opportunity to develop our consciousness. Many blessings.
Thank you!
Can I relax about something bad happening to my mom? 🙁
Prediction is not possible in my opinion. All of us are vulnerable all the time. Try not to borrow trouble through worry. Enjoy all the blessings.
Thank you!
God bless!
I’m 54, & have been lucky enough to not have to work for the last decade or so, but am updating my old IT skillset into web development, working toward full time employment situation in the next 6 months; aq sun, leo moon, gem rising in case that has any particular effect. I was wondering how to *plan* for my second saturn return, peaking in Jan 2022, as I was also planning on putting down roots again in the next few years, maybe with a hobby farm or as part of an ecovillage, and once I do, I don’t think I want to be uprooted (I have roots in both MI & AZ & Ontario). Any particular planning advice or tips or visions?
Follow your excitement. What makes you feel enlivened.
Thank you for sharing your decision to let your hair go gray. I made the same decision a couple of years ago and have gotten a lot of “feedback” about risks of looking older from well-meaning family and friends. But, I am older and it’s ok. I am completely gray now and am happy with my decision. I am loving my second Saturn return! I turned 59 in May. Two years ago, I moved to Portland, Oregon, bought a beautiful home, and started a new job. I feel like I have shed my old skin and am healing the wounds of many difficult years. Leaving my old life and starting a new chapter has not been without its growing pains including heart issues (my Saturn is in the 5th house), weight issues, struggles to develop new relationships, etc. but I feel these challenges have occurred as part of my soul’s journey into inner healing. I spend much more time in nature, am working on mindful living, and am relearning the art of listening to my inner truth. This Saturn return has been a lot easier than the first one!
Addendum: I would also like to extend my thanks for your bravery in discussing astrological issues. I also work in mental health and have been confronted with contempt on more than one occasion for my interest. Actually, I often ‘secretly’ use astrological precepts, with good effect, in helping my patients on their own healing journey.
Thank you for writing and sharing. It sounds like you are creating a great deal of meaning for yourself, which is so wonderful. Thank you as well for your kind words about my courage. It does take courage. I see so much so differently than the consensus culture. It can be hard at times to feel like I am coming from such a different place about so many things and think that the way our culture and society is at the moment, is such a disaster for the planet and all living creatures. I am praying for global awakening.
Thank you for you remarks about using astrology with your clients. It is good to know someone in the mental health field has decided to keep an open mind and observant eyes toward working WITH the rhythms of the spheres.
I am going through 2nd Saturn return with exact conjunction to natal Saturn at 2 degrees Capricorn next Jan-Feb, in my 4th house. I’m already experiencing unemployment, depression, anxiety, and problems getting along with my siblings. Any words of advice/encouragement?
Saturn Returns are not for the faint hearted, but can be opportunities for manifesting the fruits of your labors in many domains. Perhaps think about how you would like this time to be, and let go of all that has out lived it’s usefulness. There is cosmic support for that approach. Many blessings.
Wow. So this is what has been going on. I just turned 59, the end of March and shortly after that I had what I would call a complete break-down. The kind where my close friends had to basically pick me up off the floor and put me in therapy. Loss of my long-term partner back in the late summer of 2015, changes in jobs, loss of a beloved pet, and finally health challenges all crescendo’ed on one weekend. So about about 6 weeks into therapy, I am finding myself going threw everything I own and deciding whether or not to keep it. I am throwing a lot of stuff out, donating it, and clearing space, literally and in my psyche as well. I am not sure what is coming, but I am thinking more calmly about the future. Acceptance? I think back to 1988 when I was in my first return. I was on the cusp of ending a longterm relationship at that time. Much upheaval but it was all for the best. So, I have no idea what to expect and I wonder how this will all turn out.
Many blessings on this powerful part of your soul’s journey. It sounds like you are making the most of it.
I’m so glad I stumbled into this article! I’m 58 and will be 59 in January. My Saturn is at 2 degrees Capricorn in the 6th house, and I normally work with it by being health-conscious-eating a plant-based diet, regular exercise, yoga, etc. However, even with the return nearly 6 months away (it will be early January, right before my birthday-oh joy!) I’m already experiencing health issues–a recent IBS diagnosis (though I suspected that one, and was relieved to finally know what caused my tendency to express emotion through my stomach) and most recently, raging infections in both big toes after nail surgery issues (I won’t go into any more detail here, I promise). My first Saturn return was hell, but I was young and pretended to sail through it. Saturn square Saturn 7 years later was actually rewarding, as I built my astrology and tarot business. Like a lot of folks here, I had an abusive childhood and suffered through the deaths of several family members. That sort of trauma stays in the body. Yikes! Well, dammit, I’m still alive.
Sorry to hear of all these trials. May it all turn into blessing and be for the good in ways we cannot fathom from where we stand now.
Thank you so much for writing this! I recently turned 59 and realized I am in my 2nd Saturn return. The first one brought a divorce, a cross-country move and, after some significant emotional upsets, a much better life. Now, in the past year I’ve lost 3 men who I loved: my first husband, my first love (we had recently reconnected and starting a relationship when he died suddenly), and my ex-father-in-law. However the losses are always balanced with positives – after being an unpublished writer forever, my very first book is due out in a week. It helped so much to hear you say you are beginning public speaking because I’ve been asked to do that to promote my book and am frankly terrified. But I say, bring it on, Saturn! If not now, when?
Beautiful! An inspiring comment. Thank you! What has been helping me with public speaking is Toastmasters. I had heard of it, but did not realize how great it is. I think it depends on who is in the group, of course, but the structure is brilliant and it may help you feel more comfortable promoting your book. Blessings on this great achievement!
Thank you so much for your support. I will look into Toastmasters.
Going thru 2nd Saturn return now. It already returned in sag H1, will retrograde over its natal position and then, after going direct later this year, go over it’s natal position for the last time.
Lots of ideas about getting away from where I live (and the rat race) and moving to a slower place, even in the countryside if possible, but not sure how I’d make the money I’d need to live (even if I continue to live a simple, scaled down life). The resources or opportunities just don’t seem available (yet?).
Also, life here in the matrix is becoming all so clear and increasingly oppressive. World events are increasingly turning worse and are so depressing (not what I’d imagined things would be when I was younger). What to do? There seems to be only one place to turn for peace … inside thru meditation. Something I’ve known for a long time, but getting tweaked as we all are by where things are going on this planet has made it clear there’s nowhere else to turn. It feels like a strong re-orientation and re-comittment to going inside is in the works.
It is a most extraordinary unprecedented time of massive change and crisis on the planet. Simultaneously I do believe that a radical paradigm shift is occurring and there is a increased consciousness that we are all one with each other and the earth. Hopefully enough people will realize that before its too late. Thank you for writing. Its really so very interesting to hear all the different ways this major life transition is experienced.
Hello, you must be a similar age to me. I’m going through my 2nd return, and the 2nd pass will be in July and the final in early October. It has been hard – also because Uranus is sitting at the very bottom of my chart opposite the MC, wanting to explode everything. But Saturn is urging caution. Has been going on like this for ages. I want to escape the rat race but there are problems – it doesn’t feel right to abandon co-workers is the main one (my Saturn is in the 11th and I feel a lot of responsibility there), the other is that I need to earn $$ and I won’t find a replacement other working casually for years (which might be ok if the work is there). I feel like I’ve been to-ing and fro-ing forever, unable to decide to jump but desperately wanting to. I don’t know what is good for me, and if I try to be true to myself and honour my need to split, I feel like I am not treating others well, which isn’t like me – hence I feel in a real bind.
Thank you Judy and everyone else, it has been interesting to read of other people’s experiences.
I have Saturn in Sagittarius and I’m going through my second return which should end (thank goodness) Dec 18, 2017. On my first Saturn return my father died and on my second return my mother died. I have really had a tough return this second time because I feel like I want to transform my life and it is a struggle. Have you heard of something called the Saturn “Obscure Period”? It is when Saturn contacts the ascendant by transit and descends through the first three houses according to famed astrologer Grant Lewi. An astrologer I contacted said that I have to go through this Obscure Period for the next 3 years (after my Saturn Return ends) because my first three houses are very large. Do you have any insight on this? Thank you!
Thank you so much for writing. I am sorry to hear of your losses and how challenging things have been. I have never heard of the Obscure Period. I am fascinated to learn about this phenomena and plan to investigate. It has particular personal relevance for me at the moment, because Saturn is transiting my 12th house and will cross my Ascendant in December 2018. I am going to study up on the Obscure Period. Its my experience that whenever Saturn crosses an angle, that there is a real change in the life. Not an internal shift, but some thing that manifests creating a big difference in the life, such as a change in relationship status, or a move or a new job. Something significant. When it comes to Saturn and the first house, I think about things having to do with consolidation of something about identity and gravitas. But we will see. Right now I am in the stage of Saturn in the 12th which feels like a time of dissolving and endings.
I really enjoyed your information on 2nd Saturn Return, I understand it now. I should be approaching my 2nd SR when I turn 58 in June 2017. My childhood was abusive in everyway by my father, left home at 15, pregnant at 16, little or no help, managed to climb corporate ladder and quite successful on my own level. I am now going into real estate, just got my license and soon will be attending training, new career, in the meantime freelancing for income. My oldest daughter has issues with me, I was not a great mother at all at 17, I am feeling that a volcano will be erupting soon. I will deal with it as I always have been. Thank you for helping me understand the phase I am in.
Thank you for sharing about your life. I am so glad that the post was meaningful to you. May this new chapter be filled with blessings.
Thanks for your insight. I am just weeks away from turning 57 and feel that this second Saturn return is upon me. I let my hair go white when I was 55 and embraced the ‘crone’ phase of my life by moving to a small town, buying my first house, and slowing my life down to a pace that works for me as a highly sensitive, highly intuitive, extreme introvert. I teach writing online now and work out of my home. I think with my first Saturn return, I didn’t really heed its call to the extent I should have. Now, I know I cannot ignore my health or my mortality and I must DO the creative things I want to do to live my mission in this lifetime. No more wasting time. I appreciate your honesty here. I am looking to do much the same thing in my life. Time to get down and get real. Blessings to you on your journey.
Beautiful! Everything feels intensified to me by the shortness of the time that is left. I feel like I am finally in the moment and more capable than ever before of loving what is. Many blessings to you.
I just turned 56 last week. In the last 5 years I have had illness, abandonment (with an affair on his part, just to make it special) I closed the business that was my childhood dream 20 years to the month after I opened it. Neurological shenanigans make movement more of a challenge than it used to be. That said, I will be graduating college with my first degree in June, I have purged and purged and have my belongings down to a 10 x 10 room (and art studio space) and my Social Security back-pay will be enough to buy a tiny house (like, on wheels, so I can take it wherever I want) and I will move out of the house I have rented for 20 years. I cried about it all for a while, but now I am excited. I bundled up that big, white, wedding dress and gave it to my friend who makes quilts. She’s going to use some of it in a quilt for me, because I love the symbolism of taking it apart and repurposing it, whatever “it” may be. I am hoping to accomplish these things by my second return, so that my next cycle can be like Monty Python: And now for something completely different!” Oh, and I also let my hair go silver, and I wear it in a french-braided mohawk-I have always wanted to shave my head, but was too afraid to try it. I LOVE it.
And I love what you wrote! Its really an inspiration. Many blessings on this new leg of the journey.
Judy, what a divine find first thing this morning. I met a new companion/life partner interest who is 58. I am an astrological reader and looked at both our charts and the multiple connections to the exact degrees are surprisingly uplifting as I’ve been single for over 13 years. My life’s works include a degree in psychology, but I was tutored spiritually in my twenties and discovered an innate gift of communication with those who passed. It was there since childhood, but without guidance I had know clue what to do with it. Now at age 53, I’ve managed to merge my design ability and spirit guidance to touch lives deeply, which was always the intention. I’ve used astrology to help psychologists know their patients at a much deep level, more quickly. It was profound work. So Kudos to you for taking two schools of wisdom and helping the world. Few are able to create a new way and break out of an established box, although I have hope more will do so.
Thank you, Salvatore. There are certainly blessings that come with maturity and it seems like you are experiencing that and helping others find their way. Many blessings on your journey.
Another 58’er here! Saturn Return in Jan., along w/ Jup Return and Mars Return, too. Feel a lot inside, hard to explain, a pressure to move on from things, but not a way to do it. I make a major move in 12, across country from West to the East. Hated it and moved South. Okay, but not finding the “right” employment. Haven’t settled in a home yet either. Roots. It’s so easy for me to “start over again and again” as an Aries rising. I could move again to maybe get more of what I need. I have a partner whose medical needs dictate where we live, too. How to juggle all of the balls in the air is crazy. Maybe my Return is about flowering where I am, not pulling up roots again.
Well, in terms of making use of the Second Saturn Return to position yourself to prepare for the last third of your life, it does seem like reflection is in order in terms of what do you envision for yourself? How would you like things to be? It can be useful to look to the first Saturn Return at age 28-29 and think about what was going on then and how did it unfold, and is that something that you want to carry forward, or is something new called for at this time. Many blessings for this time of transition.
I’m glad when it is Dec 20th 2016. I survived a very harsh reality called my life (at least until the 2nd Saturn return), and I attribute that solely to my Leo sun.
Well this is fascinating, I will be 58 in March. I was a homeless kid by 15 1/2. when I was 29 my wife divorced me and my best friend was murdered. After that I married into a Spanish Catholic family. I’m Scottish and not Catholic, and they give every opportunity to point that out… Extremely insulated racist. So now I’m lamenting my age in the lack of family. My wife is a workaholic and very much deep conditioning about how special her bloodline is.
I’m financially sound, but the loneliness is driving me in to find Jesus-Buddha-peace and stillness in the Eckhart Tolle sense.
I live in the big city in keep telling myself to move to a small town, where in my mind I might finally find a community or family that I feel apart of…
I am also coming out of some chronic illness caused by early childhood physical abuse. Been vegetarian since I was homeless at 15 1/2 but ironically the Paleo diet seems to be helping the inflammation in my digestion.
I feel like my first Saturn return started at 15 1/2. my mother lied about me trying to commit suicide and got me committed to get me out of her life. My brother try committing suicide when I was eight and she pointed at me the next day and said I would be next.
I ran through the sliding glass store to get away from my father who hit me over the head with Number eight iron cast skillet. Ironically the moniker of being suicidal has followed me through my unloving family and the community I was raised in.
So this theme of being alone and ostracized seems to follow me through my life. But now soon to be 58 instead of cultivating friendships I find myself turning with into connect ala Rumi… The inner friend.
It’s a beautiful service you have here thank you.Lee 19° Pisces son-0° Aries moon-and Pisces rising. My Saturn is in the 10th house, my Sagittarius is in the ninth House.
I have four planets in the first house: Mars Mercury Moon and earth.
Dear Lee,
I am deeply touched by your story and only want to tell you one very important fact: You are not alone in your suffering. My story is not exactly the same as yours, but the suffering I have lived through has been extreme. I have used it for my spiritual growth. My 59th birthday is tomorrow.
I like your idea to move to a small town (just be careful about insular small towns where people are suspicious of newcomers) — Boston has some nice neighborhoods — Newton, Cambridge, where people from all over the world live in tolerance and harmony — educated worldly people, tend to have more of an open mind. Where ever you may go, hold yourself in the highest regard.
Best,
N
My life was quite similar, very difficult childhood and teen years. We made it this far. I will be turning 58 in June 2017.
Thank you for your observations. We learn and grow and comprehend our individual journeys and some of us learn that yes, these are individual journeys that are not regulated by any group, religion or political party. It’s difficult, but you need to stand up on your own two legs, afterall
So true. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
This is a great blog post! Im 57 and reaching 58 and really feel this one. Been through the ‘chronic illness’ thing and healed it, it taught me everything about the vital need for a deeper and wiser holistic understanding of the human being.
As a musician, poet, and creative artist solely concerned with the spiritual welfare of the modern human, this Saturn return is, like you, forcing me to stretch into areas I am uncomfortable in, but because death itself has begun waving at me from a distance the imperative to serve others has changed from optional to vital…Uncomfortable times…
Thanks for the helpful blog..
Kavi
Kavi, thank you. I loved what you wrote about death waving at you from a distance. I really feel that too, and it’s very different than I ever felt before and it’s so intense and poignant. Many things that used to feel optional do not anymore. Yes.
be well, thanks for the reply x
Thanks for this! I’m 58 and almost looking forward to my 2nd SR in a couple of months. When the first one hit, I knew just enough about astrology to be dangerous! Thought it was “a sign” to plunge into some serious religiosity, even though my natal Saturn is in Sagittarius in the 12th house, and following a creed or doctrine could cause me a lot of problems (and it did!). Interestingly, I abandoned all that about 15 years later. I wonder if the halfway mark between returns is the point where any rash decisions you made at the time of the return play themselves out. Turning 50 meant all kinds of unwelcome medical diagnoses. Nothing terribly awful, just Type II diabetes and side issues such as mini-strokes, etc. It’s given me the opportunity to keep more of an open mind and work on “doing better” in the time remaining to me. Not sure what this second return will bring to me, but I do know that in the last decade or so, I’ve begun to review my entire childhood and see it very clearly from the perspective of my late parents. For a long time, I thought my life quest was to be as different from them as possible. The “family mythology” prevailed. Now I’m able to see that they were “just ordinary folks,” and shockingly, so am I! I probably won’t conquer the world or be remembered by succeeding generations as someone extraordinary. And finally, I can feel at peace with that.
I love your comment and the self acceptance and acceptance of others that it reflects. The blessing of being older is that sometimes we are also wiser. That feels to me like a valuable compensation for the challenges of the body. Many blessings on your second Saturn Return.
Fascinating. My 2nd SR in the 4th house ended last year, and I am now in psychotherapy and on disability. I moved three times while Saturn was in Scorpio and have Saturn SD at Sco 26. Whew! I survived it all intact.
My first Saturn return started in ’86. Moved across the country to NYC for Grad School after 5 years of post-undergrad floating. Spent the next 15 years pursuing a career in my chosen field. Just as small successes built into something substantial – Wham! I got thrust into caregiving – first for a friend in Los Angeles, then back to a small town to aid family . Now, at 57 with two chronic (but manageable) and expensive illnesses, I’m as broke as I was at 20 and so exhausted I really don’t have the resources nor energy to deal with a second return. While I’m Triple Aquarian with Aries rising, having Saturn in Capricorn with Mars in Taurus has worn me out.
It sounds like it has been at times very challenging. For myself, I try and understand the lessons in all of it. What is my soul trying to learn? Its a way of making lemonade out of lemons. I hope that you can find a way to have a different sort of experience with the Second Saturn Return than the first. Consciousness and intention are so determining of our experience. Many blessings to you.
Me too, I’m 58. I suggest reading The Medical Medium Secrets Behind Chronic and Mysterious Illness, it has changed my life. Many blessings to you!
What part of that book was so useful to you?
Wow, the whole book. I’ve been a physician assistant for 21 years, allopathic medicine just doesn’t get chronic illness. We give our patients toxic costly pharmaceuticals, no real cure. Talk about a 2nd Saturn return, I want to change jobs and become a holistic health coach, my current job is not fulfilling my purpose. Loved your info on the Saturn return!
I see. I was wondering if it was specific recommendations or just the whole paradigm shift. I am very much in agreement with the need for a complete shift in the way we approach health and illness. Thank you for writing and so glad that you enjoyed the post.
That’s a great book… really helping me!
my 1st return of saturn happened around 27 and seemed to linger a long long time. at that time i was doubting everything, if i should keep dying my hair or go natural, if i was living my truth. it was a very lonely phase, as i had to let go of a relationship that wasnt rewarding. all of this was so hard, i was also thinking about my future more, and went to music school, but was so disheartened it was just like high school. im finding that every year even though im vain, things gets better.they really do, im no longer a insecure 20 something but about to be 35 this year.
i do find it interesting that when return of Saturn happen people either cope ,or they find ways to kill themselves with drugs or suicide. unfortunately last year i had a really beautiful friend overdose which makes me sad. its always the most tortured people that die early in life.
on a lighter note…….i wish you a great 2nd return of Saturn, and hope it goes smooth.
thank u for this article!
You are welcome. Though the transit is often challenging, many come out the other side older and wiser and in a much more authentic and aligned place. It really can be hard though, no doubt about that.
Beautiful article Judy. thanks for putting it out there.
I applaud your success to step out of shyness and also the courage to write about astrology. Celebrating my 58th this Saturday and treated myself to a reading today. With my son mini-launched to freshman year at college and parents settled in their new retirement digs, what an opportunity for the current authentic me to emerge.
With Jupiter having played a prominent role much of my life (gotta do it big!), Jupiter has just gone retrograde and will stay there the rest of my life… so unlike you, I’ll be speaking out less in this next phase!
Btw, I have also reoriented my nourishment habits. I like to say that every other meal I have, I am not eating for me but rather for my microbiome. ha!
Thank you Sarah for this comment. There are so many changes/endings at this time in my life with my kids growing up and launching, that it was helpful to me to read about these changes in your life framed as opportunities for your current authentic self to emerge. Sometimes I can lose sight of the opportunity it provides and can feel more in touch with the loss.
That’s interesting about your big Jupiter. Your micro biome is blessed to have you feeding it!
Many blessings for this next phase of your adventure.
Judy, what a great article. Thank you. Some kind of synchronicity must have been at work when I came across your website. After reading what you wrote, I checked online and found Saturn made an exact 2nd return to my natal Saturn last week. Ding – the penny dropped! It explains why things have felt so restrictive and difficult of late. And like you have said – there is a need to purge oneself of relationships and situations that no longer serve a purpose. This happened to me about a month ago and was extremely traumatic at the time.
During my first Saturn return I left a long term relationship, went back into higher education, completely changed my life and who I associated with. I feel I am being challenged to do the same this time, particularly now that my son has left home and I no longer have to keep a home for him.
I have 3rd house Saturn in Sagg squaring natal retrograde Mercury in Virgo – which is all being activated at the moment. It’s funny even though things feel so awful at the moment, just knowing there is a reason for it, makes it a little bit easier to bear.
I am so happy, Judi, that this resonated with you. It’s a powerful transit, that is for sure. And I agree, it’s so helpful to have a way of framing things which gives perspective.
This coming year transiting Saturn will make a series of squares with Neptune. There is a tension between creating and dissolving structures in our lives. It’s a great time to dedicate oneself to spiritual practice in a more regular way. Saturn is the practice/habit piece and Neptune the Spirit. Blessings on this nextphase of your adventure.
Thanks for your reply.
Endings are difficult for scorpio energy. but for every ending there is also a begining, a hard concept for a sco saturn.
My guess is your sat in scorpio is what brought you to psychotherapy. Kali dstroys but she also brings forth life….again and again….and again…like our souls. Bodies and “things” have an expiration date-but not our soul’s journey.
Thanks again for this blog.
-suzanne
from down under 🙂
Thanks for your wisdom. Yes, those of us with powerful Scorpionic energy in our chart have lives characterized by many chapters. I also have a Venus and Pluto conjunct in the 8th square Saturn and the nodes. Saturn is on my North node and also rules my ascendent. Saturn cycles effect me deeply.
Wonderful that you are in Australia! That sounds like an adventure.
Hello, I’m glad I found your article. I am 57 with Saturn in Sagittarius in the 11th house and had a rather difficult first Saturn return. I am somewhat apprehensive of the one coming up in late 2016 and for a long time in 2017. In my late twenties my long term relationship ended in betrayal (and some friendships ended too, related to the break-up). I found that split extremely hard to accept for many years, and I have never had a sustained relationship since. I also moved. But it did lead me to focus on my vocation, which has given me great rewards – I have 5 planets in 10th house. I have read that if you resisted the change in your late 20s it will be even harder in your late 50s – I am really hoping that is not true. Also the nature of the return must be affected by the aspects to Saturn natally – mine has no tight aspects except an inconjunct to the Moon and a sextile to the North Node/MC. So I think it just runs rampant, a potential downer on everything, or at least a very healthy super-ego. Saturn on Saturn gave me a lesson alright, as Saturn is not that integrated into my chart.
What do you think of the idea that those of us in our late 50s have had Pluto cross this Saturn since our first return, nothing could be tougher than that could it?
It is interesting to me to read you are now brave enough to speak about astrology, and inspiring. I well understand this stigma and usually keep my interest hidden, despite my own belief that it is a very useful tool in understanding people – this is very Saturn in Sagittarius, to be fearful of one’s beliefs, and in my case fearful of what society thinks (in 11th).
Thank you for writing this poignant comment. I really think that the Second Saturn Return can be what you make it. There is nothing predestined in my book. I believe that it has everything to do with your consciousness and how you choose to make use of the available energies. Your first Saturn Return was really hard, and sounds like it involved a lot of disillusionment, but that is also something that contributes to greater clarity and maturity. It may be that you now will take another major shift in terms of maturation, but I don’t think it has to be about betrayal or abandonment. It can take another form. I also do not buy that interpretation of a relatively unaspected Saturn. Saturn can have so many manifestations. It does not have to be a downer. It could make you particularly aligned with universal laws and really enhance your spiritual development. My Saturn is at 29 Scorpio conjunct my north node at 0 Sagg. So it feels like my Saturn is both Scorpionic and Sagittarian, and like yours, its in the 11th house. One of my teachers, Steven Forrest, said that planet or points in the 11th house come to fruition later in life. It’s generally an indicator of a late-bloomer placement. Saturn itself is related to growing up and the elder. For me the 11th house Saturn placement has manifested in part as a challenge to feel a sense a belonging to a group or community. My Second Saturn Return is newly over, and I am beginning to feel the gifts. I feel more empowered and authorized to give myself more authentically to the world. I hope that you will be blessed to experience every transit, no matter how challenging and painful, as a way to grow, evolve and become most fully yourself.
Thank you Janet – I do agree that Saturn does not have to be a downer, that was too negative a description – its discipline and soberness have a positive side. And it is heartening to hear you say you have gained from the experience of your second Saturn return (though being a Scorpio I want to know about the worst of it before realising the best). I do however believe in the nature of unaspected planets as I describe – have experienced too many examples not to. One of my closest friends has an unaspected Jupiter in the 11th and boy is it expansive! So many friends, so many generous friends, too many friends to cope with, a phenomenon at an odd remove from other aspects of her life that are more difficult. And curiously so different to my restrictive Saturn in the 11th. It is hard to describe how I see my unaspected Saturn operating but like a super-ego is accurate enough – lots of internal ‘shoulds’, as you expressed it. Again this is not all negative, it does give me a well-honed critical mind.
G’day from downunder-
I contributed to this blog – quite a while ago whilst I was still experiencing my second saturn return @ 7 55 scorpio in the 5th.
Like my first in 1983, losing my mother @ age 53 and a boyfriend @ 30, my second return I also experienced in SR 2 a series of losses (through death and divorce ) My solar return for my 59th year SR Saturn in 11th) brought the end of a 14 year marriage (saturn rules my seventh) and the death of a long time friend (over 35 years) as well as my precious dog (10 years)
I mentioned then on this blog that I began again to grow my own vegatables and herbs in my backyard and it was very theraputic.
I returned to a monthy regime of accupuncture and pilatus.
I had to also step back and let my grown sons (41 and 30) grow up 🙂
Now at 61, I decided to fly again (after an 11 year hiatus) and I am currently in Australia – it was a very long haul from the southeast coast of the US, but it allowed me a different perspective and distance – and a six week break.
I will be 62 years old on March 31-and finally allowing myself to “be” without all the baggage, somewhat different from the first saturn return where I was still raising children and dealing with everyone elses issues – and the pain of losses of loved ones. Different chapter, expanded awarness.
As aforementoned the SR (especially the second) can be as tough as the first in terms of events-however it is our experience and attitude that can bring the awarness and maturity. It does take work, but I finally realized I am not so bad after all 🙂
suzanne
Thank you, Suzanne, for writing and the update. It’s very inspiring for me to read about your Saturn Return journeys, and that you now find yourself in a place that sounds like it feels pretty good, and certainly represents a great deal of growth and wisdom.
My exact Second Saturn Return is past now. (My Saturn is at 29 Scorpio in the 11th) I feel an awareness of mortality and time like never before. This is a time of so many endings for me, and I am not yet clear about the next phase and really what I want. I am hoping that by the time I am 61, I will feel more certain about direction for my next chapter. There is something gestating, but it’s a very long pregnancy.
My Saturn return is coming up December 1st. I have found in the past year I have had to cut people from my life for being disloyal to me. I realize now that they were just holding me back from finding happiness. I’m also at the end of my teaching career. I need to fulfill 25 years with the school district, and I’m almost there! It all seems to be coming together. In my Saturn return chart, it shows Saturn conjunct the Sun in the 7th house. Could that possibly mean a marriage?
It’s not uncommon at during the Saturn Returns to find that things change and who was a good match for you during one phase may no longer be right for you. I would say that Saturn in the 7th could be a marriage indicator. Saturn is associated with structures and I think of traditions. The 7th house is the house of marriage and partnership. The conjunction with the Sun does not make me think about marriage as much as it does about children and legacy leaving. But maybe a partnership would be your gift to life.
This is very nice. Thanks for sharing. I’m 32 and had my first Saturn Return a few years ago in Libra. The first day I just felt like I wanted to fly. It was so strange I felt that my life flashed before me and I wanted change. Saturn Return was a smooth time. I was shown lots of opportunities for things I took for granted. The struggle came after my Saturn Return. I felt that there are more things I need to learn. My Saturn Return taught me not to be afraid. I have another 26 years I don’t know what to expect. If I’m lucky, I’ll have another one.
Its good not to be afraid. Some transits are hard but all can help us mature and evolve, especially Saturn!
Dear Judy,
It is so comforting to read your blog, “hear” your very distinctive/kind voice. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and grace.
Me, too. I am experiencing my 2nd and as my natal Saturn sits atop my Scorpio Moon, it has been mostly about dredging up past wounds and releasing what stands between me and loving (completely) what is. I am feeling free and alive and grateful in ways I never thought possible.
Should you need assistance in your work, please let me know. I would be most honored to be of service, to you, to others.
Mary
What a great Saturn Return task to more completely love what is. How that would transform this next 29 year period! I am so happy that the post resonated with you. Thanks for letting me know. And thank you for your kind offer.
Say the word (er, type it anyhow) and I’ll be there with bells. Somerville is my current home … big love to you, m2
Hello, I am a 58 year old Aquarius and the last 8 years have not been the greatest for me. On my first Saturn return I bought a home that I later found was the reason for many health problems. Mold, asbestos and lead was what I struggled with for 30 years, unknowingly for most of those years. I was afraid to make a change. Through it all I began the healing process. I was on my death bed, I thought, 8 years ago but through strict diet I am still here. Last fall I decided to leave my past behind including the house. So now I am in college 2 more semesters until I finish my dietetics degree. So far since I have been here exactly all of my grades have been A,s which I found hard to believe that I could to so well!! My saturn in sag in the 6th house will arrive in a few months. I am more optimistic than I probably ever have been. I am ready for Saturn and wonder what he has to teach me now. I have learned so much in such a short time that will help me help others. It is never too late!
Wow, what a journey you have been on! It seems like you have transmuted your own challenges into gold, with becoming a healer yourself. Saturn is a teacher, and in the 6th house and Sagg, in your work you will be able to be authoritative about what you have learned about your own health through the environmental exposure in your home, the changes you made in your diet and your course of study. Many blessings for this new cycle.
I was lying in bed last night, doing a very specific type of life review. I was looking for moments when I felt I was in the flow of life and letting the Higher Self lead. It was shocking to see how few moments came up as examples. I’m 59. I did not know anything about 2nd saturn return until recently but must say, for me, it has been deeply true that I am reviewing my life. I look at directions I’ve gone in, decisions I’ve made toward this or that vocation, relationships, etc. and see that I’ve most often chosen without my full awareness engaged. I’ve been most often led by the agenda of others around me or some mental abstract I myself have created, apart from awareness at a more spiritual level. This is a very painful review time but I feel quite compelled to look deeply and clearly. There is something paradoxically weakening and strengthening in this experience.
Its really amazing isn’t it? I am very much in the throes of it as well, and it’s not easy. I am finding it painful too. I feel so aware of time and the consequences of my choices, and a real feeling of pressure to figure out what I want to create in this next phase. I don’t know what is next for me. I am living with the not knowing and trying to surrender to the faith that it will reveal itself in time.
Yes, aware of choices and consequences and yes, surrendering. I don’t know if you have ever heard of Human Design but it’s helping. My profile is Generator 6/3 and learning what that means is what is helping me navigate what’s happening now in my life.
I am familiar with Human Design, though not deeply. It did not really resonate. But its great that its a model that is helping you to novigate. We need to draw upon all resources that are helpful. Many blessings to you on your journey, fellow Saturn Returner.
To be honest, HD did not resonate with me either at first. In fact, it came across my path at least a half dozen times before I got a yes to really notice it.
I will have to investigate further! Thanks for writing.
Grey hair is a sign of copper deficiency. Up your mineral intake especially magnesium and copper levels.
Thanks for your article. I’m 58 and Saturn has touched my natal Saturn in the first house. Now it’s on its return in the twelfth house, conjunct my north node that is conjunct the Ascendant. In November 2015 I will get the full Saturn return. My life right now is in full change mode; I have to move from where I’m living (got the message yesterday) and I am also on the lookout for a new career. Without going into details it feels like my old life is being pulled away from underneath me. Very uncomfortable. And yet I have moments where something else comes through; a sudden feeling of youth, of vigor and a surprising zest for life. I do believe my life will change for the better and having Sagittarius Ascendant I guess I’m moving from the need for security (Sun in Cap) to taking new leaps into the unknown. I have to say though, that I have taken quite a few leaps before, but something is different this time. I can feel both the fear and the urge to go forward and truly express all that I am. And then I have a big dream: moving to the US from Europe where I now live. This I have had as a dream and felt as a true potential for many years. So maybe this uprooting I’m experiencing now is nevessary in order to make that happen. Thanks again for your post, it is a solace for me in this very intense time.
I am so happy that this was meaningful to you. My Saturn is also conjunct my north node. Wow, with your ascendent there as well, that makes it really such a heavy hitter. It sounds like you are responding to all of it with so much consciousness and faith that it is bound to be a very positive time of transformation for you. It can be such a liberation, and a realization of our highest potential. Especially on your north node and conjunct the Ascendent. Its all about your dharma. Many blessings to you on your journey.
I really got a lot out of this posting and also the commentary that follows it. Currently my husband and I are both experiencing our second Saturn return so that’s been interesting. Additionally our grown son has recently moved in to save more money and he is in the very center of his first Saturn return. There is a lot of intensity as a result and not all of it is easy to balance but I feel we are growing closer, as well as growing individually. My Saturn is in the 8th house and the first return was primarily an utter nightmare of unrelenting Big Stuff. Some of this had to do with inevitable emotional and psychic fallout related to my family of origin but a lot of it related to issues and situations I really needed to accept and focus upon in order to build a relatively healthy and healing adulthood. This article helped me have a couple of significant a-ha moments which are quite significant and, thus, liberating as well as “character building”. I thank you for that!
I am so happy that it was useful to you. There are many parent/child pairs where the parents experience their Second Saturn Return as the child experiences their first, because its not uncommon for people to become parents around the time of the first Saturn Return. It can be an expression of the maturational process and a profound developmental transition, which goes on to importantly define the middle years. In a fundamental way you say goodbye to your identity as child when you become a parent. It must be really interesting to have all three of you in deep engagement with Saturn at the same time. Many blessings to your family in this powerful time.
Interesting article and comments. I’m an Aquarian with Saturn in Sag in the 4th (Virgo rising), also 57 so it won’t be that long before I’m into my second Saturn Return. So much affects how we experience our Returns, not only our natal charts, but the major transiting aspects at the time. Transiting Saturn was conjunct transiting Uranus at my first Saturn Return. This time around transiting Saturn will be trine transiting Uranus, and I’m choosing to look forward to it. I’ve really felt a shift already with Saturn in the early degrees of Sag, though that means it’s already getting within orb of conjuncting my IC so I’m experiencing that influence, too. Last time around at this same spot, Saturn in early Sag, I got a new job in the technology field that paid substantially more than I had previously been making in the technology field, and then I stayed with the same company for 14 years (Saturn is about long-term). A couple years after getting that job, at my first Saturn Return, I got a major promotion with a lot more responsibility and increased pay. With Saturn in early Sag again, um … I just got a new job in the technology field that pays substantially more than I have been previously making (since 2008 due the Great Recession). Deja vu. With any luck this will be long-term as well. Yes, I’m planning to continue in my career for 10-14 more years, knock on wood. I can’t imagine a better way to mentor and contribute/serve (this is with a non-profit) while also maintaining my independence and self-sufficiency.
Thanks for sharing. Yes, the Saturn return can bring many blessings. Also many people seem to start to feel its influence when transiting Saturn goes into the sign that there Saturn is in natally. Its sounds like you are in a good Saturn Uranian place.
Hi , Your comment about deciding to let your hair go grey may be a common trend for females experiencing their 2nd Saturn return. I just read another article on Saturn returns and the woman writer was also letting her hair go grey. I am coming to my return this December and stopped dying my hair a year ago. I`ve been coloring my hair since I was a teenager.
Wishing you and everyone a great day!
Sandy
Grey hair and 2nd saturn return.
I just turned 61.
Since October 2012 I have:
1. Changed my diet (grow my own veggies)
2. 45 minute cardio every morning
3. Let hair grey naturally
I stopped dying my hair which is now streaked with grey/silver. throughout. Instead of covering it up , I use a silver shampoo to bring out the highlights.
At 21 I “frosted” my hair -Now 40 years later it’s natural. I am using more organics today. If you must “color” use henna.
Three times a week I scalp message prior to shampoo- with cold pressed extra virgin coconut oil, rosemary and lavender essential oils.
As we age we also have thinning. The scalp message helps stimulate and moisturize the scalp. I no longer need conditioner.
My hair is very long (past my waist) and curly. I refuse to cut it . At work it’s worn in a chignon-off hours I leave it down.
The grey gives me a professional look by day, and by night……:-)
Not that saturn return # 2 in scorpio was easy:) but I have thus far emerged and embraced the goddess energy within/without.
I’ve been told by long term friends, who knew me during saturn return # 1, that I look as good, if not better.
Go grey/silver
suzanne
What a wonderful post. I love the sound of how your hair looks! It sounds so beautiful. I have very short hair. I stopped coloring it for a year and then I felt like coloring it again. I felt bored with it. I use an organic color. I like the idea, though, of letting it grow long and not coloring it. Embracing the goddess energy within and without is where it’s at! I love that. Christiane Northrup just wrote a new book, “Goddesses Never Age.” I agree with most of the medical advice in it. But what I like most is her emphasis on the life of the spirit and feeling energetic and vibrant until the very end.
I am also 57 going into my second return. Looking back at what I went through for the first one . . . Based on what my last Saturn return was about . . . Ok. . . then it would be about a relationship- (healthier than before ’cause I’ve worked on myself and am now capable of so much more), a cutting edge design position with recognition, benefits and stock options, that will support me in my life’s work (purpose), which was artwork/design; followed by healing (from a brian injury at birth) that lead to an abrupt change – was consciousness-like a sudden awakening. All over a period of about four years.
I question if all this can truly be poured into another time around. I can hardly imagine going through all that even once.
Only now with a supportive network, so the breakdown that follows can be filled with healing relationships and guidance.
I have spent the last 20 years recovering from the first return.
Including 1000 hours of vipassana meditation, and wonderful clairvoyant training.
I really don’t want to say “bring it on” . . . but this or something better.
Aho and many blessings for this new phase of your journey.
So interesting. I just found this post and enjoyed your reflections and those of others here. My 2nd Saturn Return won’t be exact until the end of 2016, but I’ve definitely been feeling it. I have Sun in Virgo (2nd house) square Saturn in Sag, plus Mercury Venus & Pluto in early Sag so I’m getting those squares as well. I have to admit to being envious of my older friends on one end who are retiring now with plenty of money and on the other end my younger coworkers who have lots of energy and choices in front of them! I’m in a new-ish career and enjoy my work but struggle to have enough energy – can I keep this up another 10 years? My partner is 12 years older than me and by the time I can retire he will be elderly. Anyway, I have lots to work through so I can enjoy my life now, with all that I have in me/in my life and all that I will never have, while planning for the future.
Thank you for writing. It’s been my experience that once Saturn goes into the natal sign, that you begin to feel the energy of the return, no matter what the degree. It sounds like a powerful time of transformation in store for you, with all those planets in Sagg. Many blessings for this remarkable leg of your journey.
Thank you, Judy, for your article! I so appreciate hearing about others making this transit. My sun is in Scorpio so I just finished a period when Saturn was affecting that aspect of my chart. My Saturn is at 23 degrees of Sagittarius (3rd House) and though Saturn is now in Sag, the return won’t be exact for me until the beginning of 2017. That said, I can already anticipate some of the upheavals that I experienced during my first Saturn Returns. When I was 29, I left my home, my job and my marriage. I traveled to Mexico for 6 weeks and wound up staying in Latin America for 14 months. At the end of that period, I met the man who would one day become the father of my children, though we are no longer together.
Now, my kids are nearly grown, my youngest the only one still at home. I am longing to pull out my backpack as I mourn the ending of another relationship with a man I still love but who feels he cannot sustain what we once shared. I admit some fear about the upheaval and uncertainty that lies ahead, at the same time that I am also able to look back on my first Saturn Returns as a pivotal time in my life. At 57, I hope there are still doors open to me, new experiences to enjoy and more love to give and receive.
So beautiful, Deb. Thank you. I realize that the Second Saturn Return, which now for me is exact, was working its magic long before it reached exactitude. I think that once it enters the sign of your Saturn, that you begin to feel it. So that would be now for you, as Saturn has crossed into Sagg. Have you seen the movie “Wild”? It was wonderful. She puts on her back pack and hikes the Pacific Crest Trail as a way of dealing with the grief of losing her mother. I imagine that you will find your next steps, and that there is a whole new chapter waiting for you. Many blessings on your journey.
I just turned 60. I’m a Libran with Sagittarius rising and the sun in the ninth house. Three years ago I packed everything and went travelling with a small backpack. I have loved it. The best thing I could have done. It empowered me.But this year I have been in a boat, in a new relationship, hoping to do the same but things haven’t turned out so well. I have been constantly trying to make up my mind if to leave or not. I lost that wonderful feeling of empowerment. Tonight after reading about the second Saturn return, I finally made up my mind. This is not for me. I’m packing my backpack and go. Return to my independent, free and happy lifestyle. Thank you for showing me the way.
I also have the Sun in Libra in the 9th house, and though I do not have a Sagg Ascendant, my North node is in Sagg and I have 5 planets in the 9th house. I understand the need and longing for freedom. Thank you so much for taking the time to write and to tell me that the post has made a difference for you. It made my day. Truly. It sometimes feels risky to write about Astrology. There is a fear of judgement and and a worry that I will be considered flaky, but I know how meaningful and helpful it is to me, and I want to share it.
Hello!! This is my first Saturn return next year, what things do you recommend me for Saturn in Sagittarius, I love learning things, I have many knowledge and degrees on social studies, anthropology, and I’m into holistic sciences, herbology, meditation and spirituality, on my Jupiter 2nd return last years I got my first serious jobs, but I don’t think they fulfill me at my best, I don’t know if I should apply on a teaching job at a school, or even write a book hehe, I know these things will be shown to me as Sagittarius Saturn enters but I just wana start doing stuff!!
This is an interesting question. The Saturn Return in any sign raises questions about maturity and stepping into your own authority more deeply. In Saggitarius, it is particularly about what are your beliefs. The polarity of Saggitarius is Gemini. Gemini gathers multiple perspectives and is very open to many things. I think Saturn in Sagg is asking you to commit to a point of view. And it cannot be based upon the opinions of others. It has to be your own. So I would recommend that you figure out how you can best tune into your own guidance, and listen to yourself about what is authentically your point of view and live and make decisions from that place. Sagg is very much about authenticity and living your truth.
hello my name is jason and this is my first saturn return on this december, and im very afraid cause i know that i havent harvested any good, not because i couldnt but i didnt have the opportunity, like i had to leave college some years ago because my parents splitted, basically i was left alone and started seeking jobs on my own, with no degree or anything, you know unstable jobs here and there, now i just turned 26 (im from the very very last degrees of saturn in saggitarius from late 1988, when capricorn had already entered saturn but went retrograde… anyway), my mother left and i had to start renting places on my own, i only have a cat and i havent think of relationships, im too busy worried about my life, i want children lol, but i know im too young, i practice a lot of spirituality, ive been learning since the last degrees of pluto in sagg, i became more philisophical and spiritual, stuff I applied during the first degrees of the reality check point of capricorn pluto, then with neptune on pisces my life became a freakin roaller coaster, all alone, no family, no friends, no college, no real job, i literally went crazy, and i really fear my first saturn return… an old man told me it is gona reach its important points at around 2017, because im 28 degrees saturn in sagg, so the only thing that might help me is what i have had learned during the last years about my saturn in sagg, is to force my own beliefs, that what i believe is the only thing that matters, i have learned many philosophies and practices, im pretty much saggitarian saturnian if that makes sense hehe, maybe im not, who am i to say it, what should i do, what advices can you provide?!? thank u so much me and my cat
I am sorry to hear about how hard things have been. The only thing that I can recommend is impeccable self care and connecting with nature. All my best.
hey jason…
m a saggitarian n i was born with saturn in saggitarius too…
believe me life is a roller coaster ride for us… when things go out of hand they become so bad that u cant even do anything about them.. u always end up explorining ur spirituality..which is the only cool path i have found… every other thing is tough.. but spiritualism..it comes easy…its natural…
i wish u very good luck! as saturn has again entered our house…phew…i hope it brings good…
Thanks for a clear overview. I had my exact 2nd saturn return yesterday and it was an ordeal but I finally am ‘out of the closet’ now as a Radical Forgiveness Facilitator and spiritual coach… something my family would never take seriously and I was for the longest time shy of showing in public. My Sun conj Saturn in house ten and Capricorn rising… So true, there is no more hiding and no more wasting time. This is who I am… I did my first public ceremony in my hometown, claiming my authority… I had to face again this old, old fear of rejection – and I did it… 🙂
This is very inspiring!! I think its a beautiful public expression of your true convictions and how you want to show up in the world. It becomes increasingly clear to me with each passing day that we cannot base our feeling about ourselves on the approbation or rejection/criticism of others. The exact same action can garner applause or boos and often does. I also have Capricorn rising. I think that gives our Saturn Returns an even more special significance. According to Maurice Fernandez, the ascendent is our growing edge, who we are growing into being in this incarnation. The sign on the cusp of the 12 is who we were. This has felt true to my own observations. So expressing Saturn in a creative and generative way is particularly challenging and also meaningful, I believe. Thanks for taking the time to write. I am happy for you!
I am 62 and will turn 63 in Nov 2015 (sun in Sag) and passed through my second Saturn return unknowingly. Can I still be influenced by it? In my first Saturn return, I started graduate school just as I was turning 28 years and received my Masters in Social Work at age 30. Several months later, I obtained a job that started a 30-year career, but not directly in the field of social work. I am now feeling drawn to that field again, even though I retired three years ago. Am I trying to work out something I started in my first Saturn return? I also have Saturn in my 12th house and am wondering if I am just struggling with the Loss of no longer working…so many influences!
It’s really hard for me to comment; its as you said, these things are so multifactorial. But it makes sense to me that what you experienced during your first Saturn return would in some way have expression again at the Second Saturn Return, whether or not you were conscious of it. Whatever the cosmic influences, I can relate to a feeling of loss connected to no longer working, and why should you not return to something that you cared about at the age of 30. I find that very understandable. I feel like many things I loved at 30 I still love today, and that we may busy ourselves with something during one phase of our lives, and then its another season, and we return to something that we have not thought about in a long time. I say go for it. It sounds like it could be very satisfying. And you have so much more wisdom at 60 than 30. So much to offer.
Thank you for this! I was definitely led here tonight. I turned 58 in March and Saturn was retrograde Sag in my 1st house in my natal chart. My first return was very traumatic so needless to say I’ve been searching for answers that resonate – and your post has helped.
Your comment makes me very happy. I am delighted that the post was useful and meaningful to you. Often it seems to me, that with increased consciousness, the transits can be worked with and their energy harnessed in such a way that they are experienced as a blessing. May this Second Saturn Return bring you many blessings.
Hi I read your comment about how traumatic your first Saturn return was. Im infatuated to know if possible, because I also have Saturn in first house Sagittarius and was wondering what to expect in the next year or so. Thank you.
I was born with retrograde Saturn (Sagittarius, third house) opposed Mercury (IX, Gemini), now I am 57 , and I have no words to define what happened lately. I quit working with a company after 20 years with them and I started my own business though I had no money and at that time everyone around me thought that I was crazy. Now business is doing good and what I achieved during the last 3 years is far better then what I did during the rest of my life. And as I approach the exact date of the return I have a new challenge : a health challenge, and still people around me think that I will not make it, but I am sure I will and that I am on the wright path.
This is wonderful. Saturn in Sagg. The courage of your convictions. I love hearing stories like this: when everyone thinks that you are crazy and yet you persist, are determined and it works out well. I am happy for you. Good luck with your health challenge.
I am 57 years old, and I had a business for five years, that although financially was sort of okay, made me a slave to it. I closed it against everyone’s advise, just like you, and interestingly, started a new business that has gone great so far and I no longer have to work 24 x 7. I have Saturn in Sagittarius 14 degrees retrograde in my natal chart in the second house. I am curious what my second return is bringing since I am extremely happy right now with my life in general and my finances.
It’s admirable that you had the courage to make the change against all the voices telling you it was a bad idea. Bravo! I would be interested to know if there are any echoes now of your first Saturn return. Any themes that are recurring at this time. Its wonderful that you feel happy. Thank you for writing and sharing.
Hi, it is me again (Adel), I wanted to tell everybody that I am winning the battle against my sickness and that the poeple around me that were not convinced of my choice changed their opinion and approve my choice 🙂
That’s wonderful. I am so happy for you. I am increasingly convinced that we cannot base our behavior on what is approved or what is condemned by others. We need to follow our own convictions about things and some will like it and some will not. But that is not what counts.
Hi Judy- Developmental pressure is a good way to describe the Saturn return experience. I am in the midst of my 2nd return and I feel every key word Saturn represents. I like another phrase you said, “claim my authority” and I think I’ll apply the words “claim my ___” to the other Saturn keywords (…maturity, wisdom, harvest…).
Last year, my son went through is 1st return hardly noticed by him and I attributed it to his sun in Capricorn…perhaps his affinity to Saturn in innate? Also, my dad will approach his 3rd Saturn return, first conjunction Jan 2015 and I’m interested in how it will manifest for him.
Thanks for the article…PS…go for the grey, you can always dye it again, but you might be pleasantly surprised with your new look!
Thanks for writing. I appreciate it very much when readers respond to astrology posts. Your remark about your son is interesting. One could imagine that he might have been even more impacted, with Saturn ruling his Sun. But no, that is not how it played out for him. Very little has been written about the third Saturn return. But with the extension of the life span, more and more people will experience it. It would be a worthwhile phenomena to study. I am really liking the look of the silver hair sprinkled throughout the dark. I think it looks great. I feel like coloring it all of these years was an unnecessary waste of time and money. Now its been maybe 6 months or so since I wrote that post, and the moment of my exact return draws closer, though it is still a year away.(September 2015) Things are really shifting both internally and externally and its actually quite exciting. It is so meaningful to weather these transits consciously. I find that having a context which universalizes the experience is helpful, and it also makes it possible to set an intention to harness the energy.
Thank you for this interesting and self-disclosing article, Judy. I had heard of the second Saturn return before but had completely forgotten about it. And I turned 58 in May this year! I have been trying to find any parallels between now and when I turned 28/29 and I am really not sure. The only thing that comes to mind is that I had an interest in acting then, didn’t pursue it, and I am pursuing it now. I have studied acting in recent years and performed in a couple of short plays. Apparently Saturn was in Sagittarius at the time of my birth. I am not sure what that says and would be interested in any ideas. Thank you again, Mimi
Hi Mimi.
Thank you for writing. It’s particularly meaningful to read the piece as you are now 58. When I think about Sagittarius, one word that immediately springs to mind is authenticity. I would imagine that there is someway that in returning to acting you are accessing a part of your true self that you have not attended to in many years. I imagine that you are aligning with the truth about who you are. Sagittarius is also not afraid to be seen. With your Saturn return, you are allowing yourself to be seen again in that particular artistic way. You are owning something about who you are in the world. That is what comes to my mind.
I am a medical student from india. I am currently taking my USMLE exams and I hope to be doing psychiatry residency by next year. I am 28 and my saturn return starts on 2nd november. The real reason I want to do psychiatry is because it is at cross roads of metaphysics, astrology, meditation, philosophy- all of which I have spent considerable time studying and well meditating. The only thing that allowed me to go on and not quit medical school ( not that I had an option to quit) was being somehow able to find a sync between psychiatry and basically everything else I have gained from science of religion and philosophy. So I hope since my saturn happens to be one that allows me to find a productive and practical outlet to all that I have inside and getting a psychiatry residency would be a significant step towards it. Saturn is hard core reality and the fear that comes with it. It denotes the inescapable truths we have to come to terms with by the repetitive cycles of karma. The more aware we are the earlier we snap out or rather learn the lesson saturn is showing us. So I view saturn return as kind of a summit where everything we need to learn comes to us in a rush. If we are prepared to deal with it we learn and expand or else we feel the brunt of it all. Then again a lot depends on the state of saturn in the birth chart because we all have our journeys at different stages and what we feel is a cumulative whole of many lives of conditioning, ignorance, desires and tendencies.
Thank you for writing. I love your comment, it’s very well stated and deeply insightful. The profession of psychiatry would be very blessed to have such a thoughtful young person as yourself join us. I hope that you get a good residency that you really like. I don’t think that you will find that many of your colleagues will have much interest or openness to astrology. Meditation on the other hand is becoming much more mainstream. The mind body connection is being acknowledged, but there is still very little integration of Spirit. I wish you all the best at this important time in your life.
Thank you for your wishes. It means a lot to me. About astrology it immediately feels like submitting to predestination as opposed to self effort for the layman. This thought stems basically from not being aware of astrology beyond the daily zodiac in the newspaper. Of course there is a lot more to it.
About meditation I see an irony of sorts. True meditation isnt about mind at all. Its a state of “no mind” and all that remains is the witness. What most people conceive of meditation is relaxation which isnt bad at all.
You are most welcome. I think you are exactly right on all counts. There are so many misconceptions. Your comment about meditation is particularly interesting to me. What is embraced and valued is a by product that manifests in time and space rather than valuing what is more at its essence.
Dear Rishabh,
I suppose you are the same person who wrote the article, ‘And I made it to medical college’. Well I have read the article some 25 times. I read it when I am so depressed. I can really identify my character in that story. Only a little bit difference.No actually a great difference. I am going to write jipmer mbbs entrance on june 8. I don’t know what will happen. I knew you would take psychatry. The way you talked about life, your experiences ,your beliefs , I knew that. All the best for your future.
I don’t know about mine.I feel lot of pressure and am really depressed. I always wanted to write to you after reading your article.That’s why I am doing the same.
Dear Pooja
Thank you. Yes I am the same person who wrote that article years ago. I am glad it helps you when you are sad. Welcome uncertainty as a reality of life with open arms and you’ll gradually find it invigorating, not depressing. Easier said than done but well worth the effort. Good luck in all your endeavors.
Hi Rishabh,
Its good to read the things you write.
Hope you get what you wish in life.
Judy well written article of the second Saturn Return. Thank you. I just turned 60 on March 31 (I am one of those lucky cardinal signs who have had nothing but fun-fun-fun the last three years.)
My first return at 29 in fall 1983-1984(natal sat in scorpio/5th) was the loss of three key people in my life, my boyfriend and uncle and my mother) all within 6 months. My mother was only 53, my boyfriend 30.
I was a mother to a 10 year old -so I had no choice but to keep moving) Later remarried (bad choice) had another son as Saturn was in the last decante of Scorpio
Fast forward:
At age 57 after a 10 year marriage my dear husband sent me an email wanting a divorce. Betrayal Saturn entered scorpio just prior to our settlement agreement.
My oldest son moved back in with me, my second son who was born in 1985 (Saturn in scorpio) is now navigating the relationship/family- waters during HIS Sat return (with my help) I changed my diet, lost 15 lbs, my hair is almost completely grey.
I started an edible container garden with fresh veggies and herbs on my patio in back yard. Each day I prune and eat.
There are regrets, but the wisdom I have gleaned the past thirty years has assisted me.
Saturn returns?
Keep moving 🙂
suzanne
Hi Judy
It’s really great to see writers making the connection between physical but also emotional and mental health. I can’t remember exactly who said it but it goes something like this, “If you believe astrology is about the stars above your head, then you’ll be lost forever.”
Thank you for the great write up!!
This is a wonderful post, and thanks! Right about age fifty-nine-sixty, thats exactly what happened for me. I felt an intense pressure to change where I lived, what I was doing, and it all happened rather dramatically. But it was good, and as you said, there was a sense of great relief.
I am curious, were you aware of the Second Saturn return before reading the post? Its great to get feedback. Thanks so much for taking the time to write.
No, I wasn’t aware of it, at least not on that timeline. I was vaguely aware of some theory that every seven years we supposedly reach a crisis point in our lives for change, but that would have put a change due at 56 or 63, and in any case, it wasn’t something I thought about much. But after I read your article it all made sense, because I also recall having a really hard time around age 28-9,
Thank you for responding. Was the hard time at 29 in any way similar to the hard time at 59? Sometimes the themes experienced at 29 offer themselves again to be revisited or reworked. I feel like what is happening for me now during this on ramp to the Second Saturn Return echoes what was going on in my late 20’s. The new phases have a similar feel, though decades apart.
That’s an excellent question! I’m not sure….I don’t see really obvious similarities, other than that both resulted in moving (physically) from one place to another, and both of those moves resulted in my being in places that were more conducive to “who I am” and self-expression/development. I guess that’s a fairly compelling similarity, now that I think about it :)!
It’s just that sort of thing that I meant. For me, in 1986 I was just moving to Boston for my residency in psychiatry at age 29, and this whole time has been my development and evolution professionally as a conventional psychiatrist/psychoanalyst to becoming ultimately interested in something much less mainstream and much more holistic. I have begun to think about and approach my work differently, with much greater inclusion of the spiritual aspect of our lives. I feel like this next chapter will be about developing myself in that direction. And I feel the same sort of excitement that I did at 29 about to embark on a new phase.
Judy, you have written clearly and helpfully about astrology. Please continue to use your articulate voice to help us understand and honor the context of what astrology has to offer. And, bravo! for sharing your fears with us so openly. I feel supported in my own version of how my fear comes up and am drawing inspiration to do as I am led despite them.
Thank you, Janet, for taking the time to comment and I am so glad that you felt supported by what I wrote. All of us on are such a remarkable journey.