natal chart
How Will Saturn Return Impact Your Life?
Saturn return is typically a momentous, but intense time in everyone’s life. This significant astrological event occurs when the planet Saturn returns to the same position it occupied at the time of your birth, typically around the ages of 29, 58, and for some, 88.
It is the completion of a planetary cycle that marks a time of profound personal and spiritual growth, reinvention, and transformation. It’s a time when we may face challenges that force us to confront our deepest fears, limitations, and long-term plans, often pushing us toward greater self-awareness, personal growth, and spiritual maturity.
Known as the “taskmaster” of the zodiac, Saturn represents structure, discipline, responsibility, and life lessons. During a Saturn return, we are faced with the need to take stock of our lives, reevaluate our goals, and solidify our sense of purpose and direction.
Vettius Valens, a renowned astrologer of the ancient Greco-Roman era (c. 120 – c. 175 AD) whose work has greatly influenced modern interpretations of Saturn’s cycles, wrote in his Anthologies, “Saturn delays and restricts, but through patience and perseverance the soul achieves its growth and understanding.”
Any karmic lesson that you have not yet learned, any necessary life challenge that you have not faced, anything that you have avoided, denied or neglected is likely to surface at this time, demanding reconciliation, reevaluation or reckoning, whether you like it or not.
That is why I often tell my clients during a reading, “Learn this lesson and learn it now, while there is still time.” Avoidance, denial, procrastination, and self-deception will not save you from Saturn’s return bringing it right back to your door. In fact, it will only make it much worse and more difficult to resolve.
Our Saturn returns typically occur in three distinct phases during our lifetime, with approximate age ranges based on Saturn’s orbital cycle of about 29.5 years. Each Saturn return serves as a powerful milestone, helping you to develop a more authentic, grounded, and resilient sense of self as you move through the various phases of life.
The Unconventional Energies Of Venus In Aquarius
The planet Venus is currently in Aquarius until March 11, bringing a unique and somewhat unconventional energy to our relationships, aesthetic preferences, and personal values.
Venus is all about love, romance, beauty, and what we hold dear in our hearts. When she teams up with Aquarius, a sign known for fresh ideas and unapologetic uniqueness, we get a cool mix that shakes up how we view our relationships and chase after what really matters to us. Aquarius is known for its forward-thinking, innovative, and sometimes rebellious nature.
When Venus enters Aquarius territory, it takes love and beauty to a whole new level of thinking big and caring about the world and each other. This mix challenges us to think outside the box and not just stick to what everyone expects when it comes to love and life.
Venus in Aquarius invites us to look at love, beauty and connection in a new light. It’s a call to be true to ourselves, to embrace diversity, and to dream of a future where love isn’t limited by old-fashioned rules. With Venus in Aquarius, the possibilities for love are endless, encouraging us to dive deep into the adventure and approach life with an open mind.
Make The Most Of Your Next Saturn Return
Saturn can be a very challenging, difficult planetary influence because of the astrological phenomenon known as Saturn Return, which occurs every 27 to 30 years, which is the duration of its orbit around the Sun back to the same place in the galaxy where it was at the time of our birth. It literally returns to the same zodiac sign, degree, and house.
The three Saturn Return in our lifetime occurs around the ages of 27 to 31; 56 to 60, and 84 to 90. Although it is possible to estimate your dates using an online calculator, it may be best to have it calculated by an experienced astrologer.
This major astrological aspect is not to be taken lightly. Saturn Return is associated with major life transitions and personal upheaval. Such as relationship breakups, divorce, relocations, health challenges, and major career, business, or lifestyle changes.
It is a highly self-reflective time when we must contemplate our path, evaluate the choices we have made thus far, and carefully consider what is no longer serving us. People often get sober, get divorced, get married, change jobs, or decide to have children during this time.
Saturn Return exposes our dysfunctional habits and past mistakes, and we gain a new perspective on our life. If we carefully work through these challenges and redefine ourselves on a deeper level, we are empowered to move into a new and improved next chapter of our life.
My first Saturn return included personal growth and healing work brought on by two dysfunctional relationships.
The first was a crush I had on an older boy when I was 11 years old. I have since been shown that I have shared several past lives with him. This time he wanted nothing to do with me, because I was just the “weird psychic kid.”
There Is More To Astrology Than Horoscopes!
Astrology is an ancient, complex metaphysical tradition that originated over 4000 years ago in Mesopotamia. Yes, indeed! Old Babylonia was its birthplace, not Harry Potter’s Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Neither was it concocted by an enterprising editor of some trendy newspaper or magazine.
Actually, the first horoscope in the modern press is credited to the British astrologer Richard Harold Naylor who wrote a horoscope for the newly born Princess Margaret, titled What The Stars Foretell For The New Princess. It was published three days after her birth on August 24, 1930 in the Sunday Express weekly newspaper. It was so popular with readers that he was asked to write more horoscopes for the publication.
The sun sign astrology we see in modern day horoscopes was not originally intended for the individual, but it has become a useful gateway to entice people into a deeper exploration of astrology. Nothing wrong with a little ‘cheese for the mice,’ as long as we bear in mind that true astrology does not exclusively revolve around our birth sun sign.
Our sun sign is only one letter of the astrological alphabet, albeit a highly significant letter. The other planets in our natal chart do view our sun as the center of things, but the cosmos and our individual lives contain so much more.
The layered complexity of a nativity, a client’s individual birth story crystallized in an exact moment of time and place, is a story as rich as the history that birthed it. Ancient Babylonia carried the first seeds of the western, tropical system of astrology that many of us practice today.
Empower Yourself With Astrological Intention
Astrology is to me like a metaphysical best friend. It is a way to reflect in the mirror and expand my personal growth. By applying it daily over the past decade my life has become more mindful, and miraculous. I’ve also noticed that challenging astrological aspects, such as squares and oppositions, have become easier for me to deal with.
An astrological square is considered one of the more adverse aspects in a chart. This placement is when two planets are separated by three zodiac signs and therefore positioned at a 90-degree angle in the chart at the time of birth. This creates competing tension between the energies of these two planets which neither can win, forcing them to compromise and somehow meet each other halfway.
An astrological opposition is another extremely challenging aspect in a chart. This placement happens when two planets are exactly opposite each other in the zodiac at 180 degrees apart. This means these two planets are in opposing signs and as far apart as they can possibly be on the astrological wheel. Their unique energies are therefore polar opposite, causing conflict, drama, and power clashes.
I keep track of these events in my chart because I incorporate daily astrological intentions in my life as part of my spiritual routine. My practice is to map out each day’s relevant transits and to then meditate on the significant aspects. I also pray for assistance where needed, such as with the significant squares and oppositions in my daily chart. Then, I go about my day.
Spirit Is Like A Lifeguard
I used to work in a Wisconsin tourist town in the early 90s, holding down two full-time jobs to pay my way through college. One of my employee benefits was a free admission pass to all the city’s water parks and other tourist attractions. I rarely had a day off, but whenever I did, I would relish splashing around in those lazy rivers and wave pools with childlike enthusiasm!
A popular feature at my favorite water park was a towering waterslide. At the top sat a lifeguard who would give the go-ahead for you to safely start sliding down, after the slider in front of you had cleared enough distance.
Our spirit guides are kind of like those water park lifeguards.
I remember doing a reading for myself around New Year’s Day 2016, regarding my wishes and goals for the future. I wanted my midlife crisis to be over after my divorce, and I craved to immerse myself full-time in my spiritual work to gain respect and personal fulfillment.
Seven years later, I’m still working on some of those 2016 resolutions, but I have meanwhile realized that Spirit has held me back from achieving these goals earlier in my life, as I had karmic obstacles blocking my progress.
I used to be in a loveless marriage that was a karmic ball and chain around my ankle. For example, when I faced a major health challenge years ago, all my ex could focus on was the economic loss, since I wasn’t able to work at the time. I recall someone in an online support group asking him, “Don’t you love your wife? Then support her!”
Dating Guidelines For Astrological Compatibility
As a professional astrologer, I’m often asked by clients if their zodiac sign is compatible with someone they are interested in, or currently dating. For this purpose, I have developed over the years through study and experience some simple, yet essential guidelines for astrological romance.
If you are in search of your soulmate, consider the following cosmic guidelines:
Never Date A Neighbor
Rarely are we compatible with the sun signs preceding or following our own sign in the zodiac, even though they flow into one another. Exceptions to this guideline are the Fire and Earth signs: Aries with Taurus, Leo with Virgo, and Sagittarius with Capricorn, but only if the fire sign partner has distinct personality traits of the divine feminine and the earth sign partner tends more towards the divine masculine.
Opposites Rarely Attract
Traditional astrology books on compatibility suggest seeking out the sun sign opposite to your own sign, but in my experience these differences can often be dealbreakers in this day and age. While we want variety and choice in a relationship, I find most people are rarely truly attracted to the signs opposite theirs.