On Saturn Returns, Saturn Retrogrades, and time
Let's talk about Big Daddy Saturn.
Yesterday, daddy Saturn entered the microwave. For the most part, this won’t affect our day-to-day lives that much as Saturn moves quite slowly and doesn’t affect us as personally as Mercury and Venus, however those of us going through our Saturn Returns may feel this retrograde quite potently, so I thought it would be a good idea for us to sit down and talk about Saturn a little bit.
All about Saturn
Astronomically, Saturn is the 7th planet in our solar system that can be quickly identified by the various rings made of ice, rock, and dust that surround it. The planet has 146 moons in its orbit and is the second largest planet in our solar system.
Astrologically, daddy Saturn is the planet of responsibility, boundaries, time, delayed gratification, and karma. He’s certainly not many people’s favourite planet because his energy is quite stern, but he brings about necessary change to ensure we’re taking our lives seriously and doing things properly, rather than just winging it all the time.
For the mythology buffs out there, Saturn is the last planet in the solar system that was discovered without the use of a telescope and has been known to us plebs on Earth since ancient times. He was named after the Roman God of agriculture and the sowing of seeds, whose Greek counterpart is Cronus, who is also the God of agriculture, and the father of Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, and all the other big names.
Saturn rules both Capricorn and Aquarius in traditional astrology, whereas in modern astrology, he only rules over Capricorn (I prefer traditional astrology, so that’s what I’m sticking with here just FYI). Saturn owns the 10th house of career, vocation, and public image in the birth chart, but as with every other planet, he doesn’t always reside there. The house that Saturn is in within your personal birth chart is usually the area in life you’re generally a late bloomer in. If he’s in your 6th house, it may take you a bit longer to find a daily routine to suit your health and wellbeing needs, and if he’s in your 3rd house, it may take you a bit longer to strengthen your communication skills.
If Saturn was a person, their favourite genre of music would be shoegaze; they’d read thought-provoking books about history, psychology, sociology, and mythology; they’d dress in a darker colour palette with a blend of vintage and high-quality pieces they’ve collected over the years and wear until they’ve completely fallen apart, and their mornings would consist of strong coffee, potentially a cigarette, and some quality alone time before they venture out into the world.
They’d have a dry sense of humour and be well-versed in internet trends but wouldn’t make this an obvious fact about themselves. They wouldn’t wear a watch, but they’d always be thinking about time – how much of it they have left, when they need to be somewhere, and what they can squeeze into a minute, an hour, or a day. They’re never usually the centre of attention, but they know how to captivate an audience. They do a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes to make both themselves and the people around them better, but usually don’t tell anyone about it. Saturn is unassuming, but really a powerful force that everyone should be aware of.
As I mentioned earlier, Saturn rules both Capricorn and Aquarius and on the surface, both signs seem like they’re very different. However, when you delve deeper, you’ll quickly notice they have a lot of similarities. Capricorns and Aquarians are both hard workers, the former will just do the work with themselves in mind, while the latter will do the work with the world in mind. They’re both quite individualistic, Capricorns do a lot of things themselves because they find it hard to trust other people to a good job, whereas an Aquarius will do things themselves because it can take a while for others to understand their vision; they then generally have to start things on their own and people eventually get on board down the line.
Put a Capricorn and an Aquarius in a room and eventually, you’ll start to notice just how similar they are to each other, because their energies are on the same wavelength. They’ve observed the world, lived very rich lives, and may have even become jaded by similar things, but their approach to change is just a bit different. A Capricorn will take it upon themselves to initiate change from inside the places that are causing the chaos, while an Aquarius prefers to stay where they are, share their ideas with the collective, and build a united front to attack the chaos head on.
A rundown on the Saturn Return
It takes roughly three years for Saturn to move through each zodiac sign, which means it takes about 27 – 30 years for Saturn to do a full trip around your birth chart. When daddy Saturn eventually comes back into the sign it was living in when you were born, your Saturn Return begins. Saturn entered Pisces on March 8, 2023. This is when those of us with their natal Saturn in Pisces began either our first, second, or third Saturn Returns.
Your first Saturn Return happens around the age of 27 and wraps up just after you turn 30. This is a period of time where the decisions you’ve made in your first 30 years of life become much more prominent in your mind, and you start to reflect on how you came to where you are now. If you did a few dodgy things in your late teens and early 20’s, those things may come back to haunt you, but if you’ve been working hard and just pursuing everything you’ve wanted to pursue, you may end up seeing all your hard work finally pay off.
Your second Saturn Return occurs around the age of 60 and is usually when you’re starting to think about where you want to see yourself in the future. Retirement is usually on a lot of people’s minds, and you may start to think about downsizing to live a quieter life or spend more time with your hobbies to feel fulfilled.
Your third Saturn Return happens around the age of 90 and look, if you make it that far then I applaud you. We are living a lot longer after all, and your third Saturn Return isn’t something everybody gets to experience, so if you do get there, I’m sure it’s a euphoric feeling.
Now, I know most of us here are all in our 20’s or 30’s, so we’re going to focus on our first Saturn Return because either you’re experiencing it as we speak, you’ve been through it and are still navigating the aftermath, or it’s coming up quick and you want to know whether it’s going to be as scary as everyone says it will be.
Those of us who have already been through their Saturn Return will have their natal Saturn in either Aquarius or Capricorn:
If your natal Saturn is in Capricorn, your Saturn Return occurred between December 2017 to December 2020.
If your natal Saturn is in Aquarius, your Saturn Return began in December 2020 and ended in March 2023.
Now, if your natal Saturn is in Pisces guess what – your Saturn Return started on March 8, 2023, and you’re smack bang in the middle of it! Welcome to the club.
Experiencing your Saturn Return in Pisces
My natal Saturn is in Pisces, which means I’m going through my first Saturn Return too and it has been eye-opening!
It’s really not until you experience your first Saturn Return that you realise what all of your hard work has been leading up to. Saturn is the planet of delayed gratification, and your first Saturn Return will potentially deliver the long-overdue reward you’ve been searching for whatever area of your life your Saturn Return is occurring in.
If your Saturn Return is happening in your 9th house, you may finally be venturing overseas for the first time after thinking about it for decades. If it’s happening in your 11th house, you may finally feel like you’ve found your people, and if it’s happening in your 12th house, you may finally discover how to break a subconscious pattern you’ve been trying to shake off for years.
I’ve also found that your Saturn return brings with it reminders of where you’ve been, the people you’ve met, and how you’ve all evolved since then. It shows you the fruits of your labours, whether they’re ripe and ready to be devoured, or have gone rotten because you didn’t pay enough attention to them.
Now, your Saturn Return will encourage you to reflect on your life, think about the lessons you’ve learned, and pinpoint what you should do to live the life you want to be living in the future. It’s also important to note that Pisces is an extremely nostalgic sign, so having your Saturn Return in Pisces, means the nostalgia will intense and it’ll slap you across the face when you least expect it to.
After chatting with other people who are currently going through their Saturn Returns, it’s become abundantly clear that we’ve all started to think about the things that brings us joy, and I don’t just mean what puts a smile on our face, I mean what actually makes our inner child giddy with excitement. We’ve started listening to the music we grew up on, rewatching our favourite childhood TV shows (I’m talking things like Friends, One Piece, and Sex And The City, not like The Wiggles and the Teletubbies), and we’ve started dressing like the people we idolised as kids because now we’re adults who can buy whatever we want (and the trends that were huge in the late 90s and early 2000s have rolled around again).
It's been a wild time so far, and if Saturn has interacted with any of our natal planets during its first year and a half stay in Pisces, then things would have been even more wild.
We’re at the halfway point now and I think now, everyone experiencing their Saturn Return would’ve no doubt discovered something about themselves that they probably always knew was there but didn’t acknowledge until now.
I would also love to know how many other people are finally just throwing in the towel when it comes to doing what the world expects of you and are instead choosing to just do what you love doing no matter what other people have to say about it.
Adding Saturn Retrograde into the mix
Now, with Saturn in the microwave, he’s slowed down a bit and is retracing his steps back to 12 degrees of Pisces. If you have any planets between 12 and 19 degrees of Pisces, Virgo, Sagittarius, or Gemini, Saturn will be throwing you a few curveballs.
Of course, anyone who also has planets between 12 and 19 degrees of Capricorn, Scorpio, Taurus, and Cancer will get a curveball or two as well, except it may not be as intense as the others (unless daddy Saturn is getting involved with your North Node or Chiron, then god-fucking-speed my friend!).
Everything that’s happened between mid-March and now will be revisited during this retrograde, so take any feedback on board, re-adjust whatever doesn’t feel right, and reflect on the last few months to see if there’s anything you want to be doing differently. Then, when the retrograde ends on November 16, you can start planning how you can implement those changes and make your life feel more like the life you actually want for yourself.
I know this was a lot, but honestly the main thing to take away from this is that despite his bad reputation, Saturn is really here to ensure we’re taking responsibility for ourselves and our own lives, instead of bending to the whims of people who really don’t give a shit about your safety and wellbeing. Saturn wants you to be happy, he just knows that it won’t come to you on a silver platter. You have to put in the work and remember that not everything worth having comes easy.