Transiting Saturn square natal Saturn at age 52

[carolinayellowdog]

Hey,

I've seen personal astrological posts sink like a stone here, so am a bit reluctant to post. But this one isn't personal exactly since it involves a transit that hits everyone at around the same age. Sometime tomorrow it becomes exact for me, and while I've dreaded it all year it doesn't seem to be negative at all so far. Hoping someone else here has experienced it, I'll describe my experience and ask for others to share or comment.

This was especially worrisome to me because I have a natal Moon-Saturn opposition at the m.c./i.c., and Saturn squared the Moon first before squaring its natal position. The main life transition at the moment is that I'm selling a house and buying another, which involves downsizing in preparation for retirement. Seems like a perfect fit according to the descriptions I've read of this transit.

But another aspect of the description has hit home in a bizarrely exact way. This transit is supposed to evoke soul-searching about an issue that somehow relates to events of seven years ago. I've been working on a book, and my last one was published in the summer of 1998, so all I expected was more authorial angst or perhaps new opportunities. But the transit turned out a bit more precise than that; last week I was interviewed for a TV documentary on the subject of that 1998 book. Since I hadn't devoted a lot of thought to the topic in recent years, preparing for this interview evoked a careful reevaluation of the subject matter of the book, what I now think about it, etc.

Can anyone comment on this transit in terms of its significance in the life cycle? Jupiter trine natal Jupiter is coming along right behind it next month, and Pluto trine natal Pluto is phasing in and out all year, so my sense of this Saturn/Saturn square is that perhaps the other planetary influences prevent it from manifesting as stressfully as it might.

OR, something gawdawful might be in store in the next few days...

CYD

[Trillo]

1. I'll comment.

You might find the cycle understanding you are seeking in house placement transposed over natal Saturn. What I mean by this is to visualize or write down on a paper chart, or if software allows it, a Saturn on ascendant equal house chart. Each 90 degrees of transit travel will be seen at the four angles, the opposition at the descendant, etc. When viewed this way, you'll find that the last quadrant, represented by the last Saturn square Saturn, is found at the MC, or the beginning of the 10th house. Isn't that "career" in the noontime external world?

Perhaps further understanding can be asked to yourself what you were experiencing when you were 22 or thereabouts, and how that time period might be similar in someways to your current situation; albeit with the realization that now you are older, wiser, and more experienced.

Another way of viewing the cyclicality might be that you have disciplined yourself well, faced life's various saturnine challenges in a constructive way, therefore you aren't experiencing its more negative, extreme side. There may be some sense here that life's second cycle of transiting Saturn aspects will be easier simply because you've learned from the first cycle represented by the time period from birth to the first Saturn return. Been there, done that.

As far as Jupiter and Pluto are concerned, I think you're right, other factors can certainly attenuate if there is some kind of reasonable orb of influence. Viewing Saturn in a vacuum, there appears to be a cyclical way in which the various transiting aspects to a natal point evolve, when viewed for simplicity's sake, absent apparent retrograde motion, and when limiting that view to hard, ninety degree angles, conjunction to square to opposition, followed by a symmetrical return to conjunction by passing first through the final square: then Saturn can seem overwhelming in the literature. This last square before return to conjunction is preceded by a Saturn trine Saturn, which sequential order is reversed in the other hemispheric division or symmetrical mirror image. This becomes a way to conceive that the last square before return might be easier than the first square afterward.

Another "seven" observation: this square, prior to the second return, is the 7th set of 90-degree points transiting Saturn makes to natal Saturn, the 8th would be your second Saturn return. Feelin' the Twilight Zone yet?

[carolinayellowdog]

2. Much obliged!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. At 22 I was embarking on my career, and now I'm preparing for retirement, so there is a clear parallel. Both passes of Saturn square Saturn coincide approximately with Saturn crossing the ascendant, which seems to signify building a new foundation more than withdrawal from the world (although some texts talk about it in terms of the latter.)

My guess is that allegedly stressful Saturn transits are much less so for people who have been preparing for the changes they represent. Why Dubya managed to stay in the WH (by hook or crook) under his second Saturn return remains a mystery, however, since he hasn't done any growing up in office as far we can see.

[Trillo]

3. Bush's Saturn return was quintile transiting Jupiter.

There's also a quintile 'subdivision' of that aspect with transiting Sun and natal Mars (solitary will to keep on keeping on).

He's got a staff of thousands running interference or working for him. Situations aren't necessarily as they're presented to the public. Manipulated Media. Neptunian influence in 25th harmonic, though its not exact.

(This is not comprehensive)

[Chemical Bill]

4. People have to make friends with Saturn.

Since Saturn deals with issues surrounding getting older, you almost have to make friends with Saturn in order to live. Have you met your ambitions? Or accepted not meeting them? Do you know when to work, and when to play? Do you know how you come across to the world? Do you care? Are you able to meet your obligations, both to others and to yourself? If you can answer yes to these questions, then you have made friends with Saturn, and I wouldn't expect this transit to be harsh.

I just had Saturn opposite my 00Aq24 Moon. Shit happens, but if you aren't afraid of work you have no reason to fear a Saturn transit.

Bill

[carolinayellowdog]

5. Saturn turned out to be friendly to me

Hey,

Thanks. Now that it is almost one degree past the square, I think it is safe to say that the major event of the period was entirely positive. A very eminent scholar who had agreed to read some of my ms. late last year finally got around to it and send a detailed and extremely encouraging report on Saturday. All his advice was helpful, and a lot of work will be involved in shaping the project according to his suggestions.

Every one of your questions above was relevant to the situation, BTW.

CYD