Saturn does his best work when he’s working on something long term. At age 29 he makes his first return to his natal position where we first realize we are now real grown ups and start taking on more responsibility. At 44, we have the mid-point of this cycle where we can evaluate how we are doing. Welcome to the Saturn Opposition part of Midlife Crisis.
At 28, I was the youngest department director in the pediatric hospital. It was a dream come true. I supervised 200 employees, an award winning program I built from scratch, and I was just beginning to date my future husband. When he proposed at age 31, people thought I was crazy for giving up my career and moving across country. But here I am at age 44, on the brink of my Saturn opposition looking back and I wouldn’t have changed a thing. My career isn’t anywhere near what I thought it was going to be; its 100% better. I even have a wonderful husband, two crazy kids, and a dog to boot. But I had to risk it all to get everything I have.
Saturn is our planet of hard earned rewards. Managing Saturn takes true wisdom and it usually affects the areas of life where we are our most vulnerable. Saturn will hold what Venus attracts. He can also protect and put up boundaries, but be careful that those boundaries don’t isolate you. Part of what we do in this transit is evaluate and make choices about what we are going to keep and what we are going to give up in order to pursue what we want in the long range.
For example, if we start to realize that we’ve sacrificed everything just to have a marriage, we might get rid of the marriage. Or if we realize we’ve rejected every blind date because of exceedingly high criteria we might loosen the rigidity. Often when we take a good hard look uncomfortable feelings come up. I’ve had clients express fear of the future, guilt that they settled for being comfortable, inadequacy, rejection, or depression. All of these feelings are normal. It’s just part of us recommitting to our path and giving ourselves some grace moving forward. When Saturn returns to its natal position at age 58, you will be glad you had a chance to check in and course-correct if needed.
Saturn oppositions require us to clarify our path and commit to our values. It requires a choice between things. And often it requires clarity and pairing down to what’s essential to success.
Transiting Saturn in the Houses
When Saturn is transiting your First House: hold onto yourself, pay attention to your physical body, learn to say no to others, set goals that are focused on you.
When Saturn is transiting your Second House: hold your money, spend less, budget.
When Saturn is transiting your Third House: hold your tongue, you might have authority problems with siblings and close friends, learn and teach, try to commute less.
When Saturn is transiting your Fourth House: go out less, mind your boundaries with your father by either being more open or saying no more often, you might have some problems with your home country’s politics, restructure your home or redecorate it.
When Saturn is transiting your Fifth House: don’t gamble, restructure your love affairs, teach your child, reexamine the discipline of your children, work on your hobbies.
When Saturn is transiting your Sixth House: keep the job you have, say no to this who serve or work for you, take care of your body, find specialists for the ailments you have.
When Saturn is transiting your Seventh House: hold onto your identity in your partnership, this can either show that your partner is in trouble or he/she is the focus, restructure your duties and roles within the marriage.
When Saturn is transiting your Eighth House: experience your loss/grief, restructure your resources to deal with your debt and taxes, do not take any loans, check on your partners finances, get your will and power of attorney in order.
When Saturn is transiting your Ninth House: hold on to your guiding principles, restructure how you celebrate your faith, start therapy, journal about your dreams, begin going back to college.
When Saturn is transiting your Tenth House: say no to fame or status, be true to your word, be mature, mind your boundaries with your mom by either being more open or say no more often with her, be mindful if promotions are just an elevation in title only.
When Saturn is transiting your Eleventh House: pair down your friends or community involvement, say no and have less responsibility within organizations.
When Saturn is transiting your Twelfth House: Saturn is in his Joy here, hold on to what makes you happy, take time for yourself, practice self-care.
Additional Resources:
Ilhan, Baris (2018) “ Saturn and Its Cohesive Powers.” Lecture, UAC. Chicago, Illinois.
Bell, Virginia (2017). “Midlife is not a crisis.” Weiser Books. Newburyport, MA.
Ruperti, Alexander (2005). Earthwalk Astrology Publishing. Santa Monica, CA.