How Will Saturn Return Affect Your Life?

The age of approximately 28 to 32 years is known as our “Saturn return.” Spiritually it is an exceptionally profound time for everyone. Astrologically it is when Saturn returns to the exact same placement it was at when we were born. Any lesson you have not learned, any challenge you have not faced, anything you have been in denial about will come forward in you life around this time, like it or not. This is why I tell people, “learn the lesson and learn it fast.”  Avoidance, addictions and denial will not save you from your Saturn return. In fact, it will make it quite worse.

he Saturn return is like a final exam. If you haven’t been studying all semester, it can be terrifying and overwhelming. However, even if you have been studying, it will still be challenging and you may realize there were things you missed, or forgot to study.

It’s true that our culture sees the age of twenty-one as the time of becoming an adult — but not for astrologers. For us it’s twenty-eight ~ Elizabeth Spring

Many people face their addictions during this time period in their lives. Many people get divorced, or fix broken marriages or relationships during this time. Often people will shed their skins, change careers, and transform their lives. Often earth shattering events happen that rock people’s world and can even change their old views. The people around you will either prove to be healthy and supportive, or they may become people you need to say goodbye to for good.

I have a client who made the decision during her Saturn return to have a third child with her alcoholic husband, instead of taking the opportunity to leave him. Thus she cast the her own future, and that of her children, in stone. She now deeply regrets this decision, as her adult children are now all suffering with addiction. She was given the opportunity to have a career during the time of her Saturn return, but turned it down. This career would have helped her to get out of her marriage, and free her and her children from the hell they were trapped in.

She now spends her days watching her children suffering with the same addiction as her husband, and watching her grandchildren living in the same turmoil she kept her children in. Her guilt is all-consuming. The stress of constantly bailing her children out, and co-parenting her grandchildren, has taken a deep toll on her emotional and physical health.

Another client decided to get out of a marriage when she turned 29, after she found her husband cheating. She has since married someone else and is very happy. Today, she cannot understand why she stayed in such an unhealthy marriage for so long.

I also have a client who was betrayed by many family members and parted ways with them, after realizing the betrayals had actually been going on her whole adult life, and coming to the realization they would never end. Denial had kept her from seeing that they had been hurting her all along.

The Saturn Return is a right of passage, a necessary bridge we must cross in the path of life (no matter how tumultuous the journey) that leads, ultimately, to your next stage of life. It is a harsh wake-up call for those who have not done their heavy lifting, so-to-speak.  ~ Vanessa Wright

Another client took the opportunity during the time of his Saturn return to broke of his engagement to a women he did not love, but his parents wanted him to marry. He comes from a culture where arranged marriages and parental influence in marriages are still practiced. He was in love with someone else, and finally married her. Unfortunately, his family disowned him. But he lives every day with a woman he loves and their two beautiful children

There is also the client who had idealized her sister, thinking she was the pretty one and the smart one, only to realize on her 29th birthday that her sister was quite unhealthy and had many dark secrets. Her sister had slept with her boyfriend during this time. My client finally allowed herself to see her sister for who she really was. She started to remember things about her sister she had kept locked in her subconscious. She is now married to a wonderful man who has not and will not ever meet her sister.

One client had a serious addiction to marijuana. Shortly after turning 31, he was arrested for driving under the influence. Because of this, he lost his job and his parents refused to pay for his bail. He was forced into a re-hab begrudgingly, but now is sober and happily married.

If you are under the age of 28, it is good to face life’s challenges now. Try to accomplish your dreams. Listen to your inner guidance. Let go of things that are not serving you. It makes your Saturn return much less painful and chaotic. It also helps to only have to face a few things during that time, rather than many all at once. Know that even though the Saturn return can be very traumatic and often requires letting go of something we are attached to, that release will always, inevitably bring with it happiness and an emotional lightness.