A Candle for Saturn
Yesterday was an exceptionally difficult day for managing my emotions.
As an Astrologer, I use an archetypal language to try to describe this feeling. “Saturn conjoined my moon for the last time for another 30 years.” That’s pretty significant. This has been a long time culminating (I know what I did there, I said what I said).
Saturn moving into the same house as my Moon (at 23° Aquarius), coincided with my Saturn Return, and all of that happened during this Saturn-Uranus Square, which has been a major focal point for the collective. Its been one of the most pivotal times of my life, as one (namely an Astrologer) would expect. I wasn’t an Astrologer when I started this chapter of my life, in fact, I was terrified to even talk to people about having this information because I had internalized a stigma. Now, I utilize these tools to describe a whole different way of seeing the universe. As Saturn separates from my natal Moon, I feel these waves of moral self-judgement subside. I made it through the arctic freeze of Saturn transiting through my 9th House!
Saturn reached Aquarius in March of 2020. Now, do I need to assume nobody knows what happened March of 2020? This was when we were confined to our homes for the first time. “Two weeks!” they said. At the time, there wasn’t much of a debate but this was where the debate began of ‘restriction versus freedom’.
That was just Saturn dipping his toes into Aquarius, as the planet moved back to Capricorn in retrograde motion through December 2020. Until that time (from July-December 2020) Saturn was bidding his final farewell to the ambitious and structural sign of Capricorn.
Things really started to get interesting the second time Saturn entered into Aquarius. Uranus was at 7° of Taurus, in retrograde motion on December 18, 2020 (when Saturn re-entered Aquarius). Uranus turned direct, right as Saturn moved into the 3° orb of a square with Uranus.
The Squares of Saturn & Uranus
The planets were engaged in an exact square sometime between the 17th and 18th of February 2021 at about 17° of their respective signs.
Saturn in Aquarius turned retrograde on 24th of May 2021, after having advanced in degrees relative to Uranus (a slower moving, outer planet).
By Mid-June (2021), Saturn returned back to 13° (in retrograde motion), where the pair locked in another exact square.
Uranus began retrograding by the end of August 2021, and entered into another exact square with Saturn in Aquarius by December 2021 (at around 11°).
In June 2022, Saturn turned retrograde again after a period of time in direct motion, and Uranus began the retrograde cycle by the end of August 2022 (after having also turned direct for a period of time after the squares of 2021).
October 1–12 of 2022 both planets were at 18° of their respective signs, but it actually wasn’t an exact square to the minute, both planets were retrograding, which seems worth mentioning. This was the final meeting of the two gods in the dueling arena.
Restriction Versus Freedom
The major theme of Saturn Square to Uranus is restriction versus freedom.
In his book The Archetypal Universe, (released in 2018, so two years before this pandemic), Renn Butler writs of Saturn and Uranus,
“Responsible and balanced freedom, careful and cautious change, incremental openings and awakenings, pattern of facing problems and finding solutions in succession, the liberating side of structure and routine. — Tendencies toward one-sided extremism, tension between one’s fear-based and adventurous impulses, rude awakenings and loss of freedom, unexpected problems, disruptions, or delays, forgotten ideals.”
He also includes particular quotes for a square between these two, including:
“Its better to light a candle than to curse the darkness” — Eleanor Roosevelt
By now, this description of Saturn-Uranus has subconsciously been applied to some part of your life. Its relateable. I can certainly spot the theme in my life. Saturn has absolutely shown me what it means to be disciplined, mature, and to allow time to run its course. However, the next few tricks have been held up Uranus’s sleeve (I know what I did there, I said what I said). This planet is deviously disruptive. Uranus is associated with rebellion, revelations, and shocking change. Often said to be a “higher frequency of the Mercurial energy”, who better to one up Saturn at his own game with one really long con? Will you be the person turning the table on someone else, or will your story contain within it a climactic plot twist?
I have a feeling we will find out this New Moon approaching. On January 21st or 22nd, the Moon will ingress into Aquarius. In modern astrology, Uranus is the ruler of Aquarius, while in traditional astrology, it is Saturn. Even as someone that mostly studies Hellenistic Astrology (in terms of source texts), I have to give this one to Uranus. Not only will the New Moon take place the very day that Sun ingresses Aquarius, it also will be just days after Mercury turns direct, and the Sun conjoins Pluto. All this says that there is a big message coming in. It may be unpleasant or it could be exciting, but its coming in hot and, in fact, probably changes or strengthens some commitments we’ve made.
Saturn (again, the traditional ruler of Aquarius) and Venus will be closing in on a conjunction during this New Moon as well. This event will occur at 24° of Aquarius, and, as I mentioned in the beginning, my moon sits within 1° of that conjunction. I look forward to whatever this means for me in terms of devotion. When I see Saturn and Venus together, I think of stability in terms of love, friendship, and creativity. I think I will finally sense some of the Venusian softening after this long and cold quest for maturity with Saturn.
Originally written in Collective Journaling at The Stoa
