What Gifts Has Saturn Brought You?

What Gifts Has Saturn Brought You?

Monday October 5, 2009


The planet Saturn is like that rare teacher or mentor that doesn't let you rest on your laurels. Its purpose is to break us out of old patterns born of fear or social conditioning. When the slow moving Saturn enters a new house in the birth chart, the issues there become more weighty. There's often pressure to change things, but we hit walls. In a conversation with Susan Miller this morning, she said, "With a Saturn transit, we tend to dig into the old bag of tricks, and it never works! Saturn demands a completely new approach, and we soon realize, we are wasting time trying the old formula."

Saturn's signals to "stop doing that!" can be humbling, which is a close cousin to humiliation. It brings realizations that can mess with our self-image. I've had Saturn in the 7th House of One-on-One Relationships for the past couple of years. In that time, I had the jarring experience of having two people I admired give me das Boot. I thought I was a good friend, especially with one that I helped move, schlep art to galleries, taxi her dog around, cat sit and on and on. Virgo rules small animals and helping others, and the rejection made me feel resentful about being unappreciated.

But as this transit is nearing it's end, I'm realizing that Saturn's blocks have liberated me from patterns that kept me in a "subservient role." Even though I'm powerful in other areas of my life, in certain friendships, I would bend over backwards for people who gave little in return. At the same time, Saturn (in Virgo) brings more responsibilities, and for me that's meant a few more clients, and being devoted to this site (the 7th House Other can be the public, too). It's hard for me to get over "rejection," being a Cancer that takes things so very personally. But looking at the logic of Saturn, it's easy to see how it's allowed me to drop patterns that were just a waste of time.

As Saturn wraps up it's time in Virgo for 2009 (ending October 29th), we can reflect on its gifts. They show up in the life concerns of the house where Saturn has been in residence. Susan says the Great Teacher "leaves a gift by the door after he leaves." Saturn is a kind of rough liberator, as it blocks off the old escape routes, the coping patterns that are like second nature to us. I see a lot of people struggling with health issues (Virgo) that are demanding to be noticed. Many of us are finding that the stresses we're carrying are too much for the body.

Saturn shows us that our daily lives have to change, or we'll keep suffering. In Virgo, it's helped us see the value of moderation. It's shown us where we're not seeing a return on our investment, whether with friendships, or the food we're eating. And while it's not always pleasant to see the sober reality, Saturn is giving us gifts that will help us make better choices.

Where is Saturn for you right now? It's easy to find out by looking at the degrees on the birth chart. Saturn is now at 27 degrees Virgo. Look for the degrees next to each planet on the birth chart to find the location of transiting (moving) Saturn.

Martin Mistretta/ Molly Hall