Saturn's Arrival in My Sun Sign

 

June 23, 2006

 

http://cainer.com/ericfrancis/june23.html

 

Hey there, Eric.

 

My name is Maura and I was born in September 1967, in the Bronx. I have just read that Saturn will be entering Virgo, which it hasn't done in approximately 30 years, and will stay there through 2007. I also have Saturn retrograde in my fourth house in Aries. I have not had many successes in many areas of my life and though I am learning to be more on top of things and take better care of myself, I am wondering about Saturn's arrival in my Sun sign and if I am about to embark on another set of trials...

 

Thanks. Best to you all!

 

Maura

 

 

Dear Maura:

 

It's good to think ahead, and Saturn rewards a measure of careful planning, but we have not yet passed the peak of Saturn in Leo. This only began 11 months ago, and will last another 15 or so months more -- through Sept. 1, 2007. Before Saturn goes into Virgo, it will form three oppositions to Neptune in Aquarius, which is really the main event where Saturn in Leo is concerned.

 

Last summer, I covered in two articles, pre-Hurricane Katrina, the issue of levees breaking when Saturn is in Leo, as well as many other facets of that placement. Here they are, part one and part two.

 

Arwynne O'Neill, one of the editors of this page, has also written a historical compendium on the Saturn-Neptune opposition called Heavy Water.

 

With that detail out of the way, let's speak briefly about Saturn in one's own sign, and Saturn in Virgo.

 

Many astrologers would agree that there's at least one gospel truth in our craft: living well with astrology, or living well in general, is learning to be friends with Saturn. We can all pity the fools who are not, who refuse to be, or who don't know better. People, in essence, who have not taken over as their own parents, and thus give the job to everyone else. This is the classic Saturn issue.

 

And when Saturn comes home to your sign, we can presume you've reached the point in your growth where it's time to update your files in this respect. "Coming to terms with yourself" is the best key phrase I've ever heard for Saturn visiting one's own sign, which is to say, transiting one's Sun and also any personal planets you may have accompanying the Sun (Venus and Mercury are always near the Sun) -- as well as any other planets you may have near the Sun.

 

Since you're born in the 1960s, we know you have the Sun near Uranus and Pluto, which were conjunct in Virgo from about 1963 through 1969. Checking your chart, you also have Venus, Ceres, Juno and Mercury near the Sun, for a total of seven top-level planets in Virgo and whatever minor planets turn up -- but seven is plenty for the purposes of this discussion. Then they range from the 1st degree of Virgo to the 28th degree of Virgo, so you will have one long Saturn transit the entire time Saturn is in this sign.

 

The thing is, you are not new to transits to this stellium, and you have plenty going on right now. Since 1995, Pluto has been squaring all these planets and has one more to go (Mercury); and since 2003, Uranus has been opposing them, and has five more to go. There are quite a few people with clusters in the mutable signs who have been getting nothing but Chiron, Pluto and Uranus transits. So you're not alone, but your chart is fairly strong (though your major mutable planets are only in Virgo -- some have them spread into three or four signs, which adds to the whole effect).

 

So, by the time Saturn gets to Virgo, you will be in something like your 12th year of transits to your stellium, including from Uranus, Pluto, Chiron (twice, once from Virgo in 1994-1995, and again from Sagittarius in 1999-2001). If you have not got the hang of it by then, you probably won't ever.

 

If you're curious about the nature of this stellium -- as opposed to a transit -- let's check in with it when Chiron went over it in 1994-1995. That WAS a transit, but the thing about Chiron transits is that they reveal as close to the 'true nature' of the natal position as anything does. This was a before and after time in your life. In the meantime, there was a transition.

 

What do you remember?

 

Once you do that, identify the subjects, themes, people, and energetic qualities that surfaced (I am avoiding the use of the word 'issues'). These are the basic resident energies of that stellium.

 

Personally, I would say Saturn transiting these planets comes down to this. You are obviously a uniquely gifted and talented person. There is no way you could not be, with that Virgo stellium.

 

Further, your astrology makes you a personal representative of the astrology of the 1960s, one of the most revolutionary times in modern history. There is just one really simple question that Saturn is going to ask, in my opinion: What are you doing with all that potential?

 

As for Saturn Rx in the 4th house -- that tells me you need to get over some emotional insecurity or hesitation about what you do, and why you do it. What kind of progress have you made getting over any such feelings, if you have them?

 

You don't need to wait till 2007 to answer these questions. The information has been coming fast and furious, for a long, long time -- and Saturn conjunct all that stuff is like a final exam to make sure that you've been living your chart up till that point. If you have been, the opportunities for growth in the world, and within yourself, will be truly incredible.