The so-called “Lord of Time” is always in our lives, from assisting us in finding a useful purpose to its message that no rewards come from perfection.  It can guide us in setting up realistic goals and coordinating a timeline to reach those goals.  There are times when it initiates folks at certain ages and there are other times, usually more frequently, when we are experiencing personal Saturn cycles/initiations.   Sometimes, when I’m providing an astrology reading and a person hears they are entering a Saturn cycle, the response is met with concern, worry or on rare cases, flat out rejection or rebelliousness.  But while I encourage healthy concern, a Saturn initiation is not a disaster-in-the-making.  The initiation can be of great help to understanding our truth and identity and can keep us balanced while other initiations are being experienced.

As I’ve written before, Saturn has been viewed by many astrologers throughout the centuries as malefic/bad/negative.  But this is a reputation that rose with the ancient Greco-Roman city-states, republics and empires and then twisted into a devil-like figure by the rise of Christianity.  Saturn hasn’t always been that way.  It is an aberration of sorts and we can, as individuals have the power to call upon original intent or essence of Saturn, which is far from malefic or bad or negative.

Image of deity Enki from Wikipedia – The Original Saturn

As the Borg in Star Trek were fond of saying, “Resistance is Futile”, so it goes with Saturn.  In an initiation, I always encourage individuals to participate in it, not to ignore or fight against it.  When we do fight or ignore, the cycle or initiation tends to become even more challenging to ignore or resist.  With Saturn, this can feel like hardships in our relationships, our jobs, areas of resources and finances.  Saturn is about paying full attention to our reality and weighing it for ourselves.  A Saturn initiation is asking for complete honesty with who we are (our identity), what we are doing and what our role in life is about.

There are layers and variances to Saturn cycles depending upon what part of us is up for growth through limits and boundaries.  For regular timeline cycles (for example a Saturn Return at age 29-30 or a Saturn Opposition at age 43-44), it is ALL parts of our life that is up for us.  It is a time to show up, be honest with ourselves, challenge ourselves to have courage to see if the relationships in our life are healthy or toxic and decide upon them.  It is also a time to review our job and money situation and weigh the what works and what does not work and make a decision around the facts.  Saturn is a time to “get real” and not a time to skip around.  It is a time to look deeply at the responsibilities and obligations we have and decide what can best support that path.  Sometimes, it is about “staying the course” and other times it can be about some modifications or even a complete shedding of our jobs and divorce.  It can also be about choosing a new job and/or deciding to make marriage happen.

The other kinds of Saturn initiations are what we call in Shamanic Astrology, “personal cycles”.  These are cycles where Saturn is “transiting”, meaning in conjunction, squaring or in opposition to a person’s natal Sun, Venus, Mars, Moon, Mercury, Ascendant, etc.  Those planets and points on the astrology (or natal) chart are personal points.  When Saturn transits/aspects these points on the chart, it is a personal cycle focused in on specific part of one’s life.  For example, when Saturn is initiating a person’s past, lineage, childhood, relationship with parents, our old story and pattern, the point in question is the Moon.  Saturn on the Moon is a preparation to face the past and how we’ve created an identity around that past or put another way, who we once were but are no longer (especially as we get into our 30s, 40s and beyond).

Another example of a personal Saturn cycle can involve one’s Mercury. With this one, it has everything to do with our emerging mind (depending upon the sign/Archetype of Mercury at the time of one’s birth) and any issues around expressing one’s self with a specific sign.  Mercury is about communication, perception and the thinking processes.  It is also connected on a physical level to the brain and nervous system. As an actual example of what can take place I will use my personal experience with it.  At the moment, Saturn is in conjunction with my natal Mercury in Sagittarius (for all truth here Chiron is also squaring my natal Mercury, which can reveal fractures/wounds around communication and perception).  The last time this happened was between December of 1987 and August of 1988.  I was 16 years old and highly depressed and also a very shy and insecure teenager.  I had severe anxiety problems and would be prone to panic attacks.  It was so discomforting that it forced me out of high school prior to the Saturn-Mercury initiation beginning.

A big part of the issue I was having is that I wasn’t heard and with my quiet nature (Pisces Moon and Mars) it was challenging to even share my honest opinion in social settings.  When Saturn re-
entered my life in December of 1987, a shift happened for me along with a surge of confidence.  It is a time when I stopped resisting and studied to pass a test in order to get a high school diploma at 16.  Soon after, I applied and got my very first job working in a movie theater in Glendale, California.  I was able to face myself in ways I couldn’t before by realizing I had to make a decision with my life, especially when it came to my voice.  My depression had also ended.  Being in Sagittarius, I found some sparks of joy interacting with complete strangers and making new friends in places and haunts I’ve never been to.  I trusted my emerging intuition in what needed to happen with Saturn providing the earthy platform to decide.

Now Saturn is back where it was 29 years ago and new issues are coming up with speaking my voice and being heard, as well as having the confidence to express that voice.  I’m most certainly entering new territory in that regard including some challenges that have come up for me before but never so prominently like the neon lights of a movie theater.  Even though it has just started this month of January, I can get clues from that time I was 16 and the new social and work environment I chose to enter into.  At that time, I didn’t allow my depression to own me anymore or allow myself to be defined by my shyness or anxiety.  There is something there I can take from that period and bring to the present.  The initiation is just beginning to make itself known so any conclusions here would be supposition and guess work.  But I do see that it has much to do with the recent communication issues that occurred.  And there is Change in the air for me.

When Saturn is transiting one’s natal Ascendant, the cycle can be similar to a Saturn Return, which really does bring in great change into a person’s life.  The Ascendant or Rising Sign symbolizes, through the archetype (Sagittarius, Leo, Taurus, Scorpio, etc) their Identity Project or what they are a beginner at in this lifetime.  It is directly associated with our new storyline and what the rest of the astrology chart is supporting.  This is a progressive point in the chart, obviously and so when a Saturn cycle begins on that part of one’s chart, it has everything to do with the future.  It is a testing ground for applying your new skill set and identity.  Whatever limits and boundaries a person has placed on themselves for growth will be seen with clarity.  Clues to your life purpose will likely show up and it is a time to take responsibility for your true path, especially if this cycle occurs during or after one’s first Saturn Return at 29-30 years of age.  It’s a time to step up and apply yourself in new way (guided by the sign of the Ascendant).

Some ideas of how we can navigate a Saturn cycle is to connect with it in the night sky, even if it is cloudy.  As long as you know what area of the sky Saturn occupies, a person can meditate on it and ask for guidance.  This can be done indoors or outdoors and can involve symbols of Saturn, including building an altar for yourself.  An example of something I did a few years ago is placed something that connected me to Saturn.  As an element of earth planet with qualities of linear time, foundations, knowledge, resources and growth through limits and boundaries, I placed granite, a dollar bill and a coin, a picture of the planet and a clock.  You do not have to use these symbols, but they did help me set an intention and focus, which was to create tangible growth and significant results from for my business and my personal growth into that business.   And with a ceremony sitting at the alter and speaking my intention, while honoring Saturn, the elements and twelve mystery school (12 signs), I was able to create what I wanted.  You are free to play with this idea or do something else like a vision board, a writing exercise, simple meditation or walk a labyrinth.  The options are numerous!

NOTE: This is Saturn’s last year in Sagittarius and it will enter the sign of Capricorn in December, which is the sign most resonate with Saturnian energy.  More to say on that in a future article 🙂

As stated in the beginning of this article, I’ve written much on Saturn over the years and will continue to write about this ancient essence.  It goes back to creating order, organization, passing down knowledge, building for the long-term, present and future while truly understanding the past.  Saturn is the Lord of Time and his/her/their essence is written in ancient structures throughout the world and on almost every continent.  Saturn’s essence was violated and corrupted about 3000 years ago and modern societies have been primarily utilizing a limited and shadow-filled version of Saturn, over-reaching with control and the over-valuing of the financial bottom line.  Money has become a new god/goddess of our time and it is time for us as a culture, as a collective to do some serious re-evaluation of that Church of Wall Street.  Greater balance must be struck in serving the future generations of the Earth.   It is time to shed our soul-skins.  We all have the power to choose, to do what we must and embrace our truths.  Saturn can help with that.

– Erik Roth