Saturn & No. 7
A guide to navigating Saturn transits while deepening your relationship with this infamous sky-daddy
We recently had the first eclipse of eclipse season (a volatile one on April 20th) and Mercury recently stationed retrograde conjunct Uranus in Taurus on April 21st. I hope everyone is doing okay!
I feel like I should acknowledge this important, current astrology, but actually what I really want to write about right now is… Saturn! This post has been growing in me for a while and now, as I cross over a personal Saturn threshold by transit, it’s time to bring together and consolidate the many Saturn-related thoughts and reflections I’ve been collecting lately.
This post is long enough to be a small guidebook for Saturn transits, but I didn’t want to fragment it into separate posts. I hope you find it useful!
This piece will be less time-sensitive than forecasting posts, and more perennial in nature since the Saturnian topics I am going to speak to will maintain their relevancy over the long-term.
Saturn is a really important planet to get to know since it governs material reality.
My hope is that regardless of your astrological background, you will walk away from reading this with new insights about this infamous sky-daddy figure!
I will focus first on the planet Saturn by exploring it through the lens of a documentary film called The Nettle Dress, while reflecting on the planet’s cyclical relationship with the number 7.
I then look at what can be expected with a Saturn transit, I dive into a few themes related to Saturn in Pisces, and finally I share some thoughts on what I believe is an often overlooked experience of Saturnian natal placements.
Feel free to scroll down to what interests you most!
[Note: due to the length of this essay it may be cut off by your email provider. Click here to read the full post on Substack.]
Saturn & No. 7
It was last summer when I came across this beautiful short trailer for the documentary film The Nettle Dress, and ever since then I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to share and write about this pristinely stunning example of Saturn through an astrological lens.
It’s just over 2 minutes long.
I highly recommend watching it before reading further, if you can! For just 2 minutes, let yourself sink deeply into the narrative, the background music, and the accompanying visuals. To do this, is to commune with the energy and archetype of Saturn, whose essence is captured so beautifully by this clip:
Watching this gives me chills. I’ve re-watched it multiple times during moments when I want to re-establish my connection to Saturn - one of awe and respect, rather than fear.
Now, as a plant lover, a forager, and as someone with a lifelong fascination with fibre arts who has been trying to establish a nettle patch (unsuccessfully) for the past 3 years, I’m obviously rather vulnerable to being particularly entranced by this film.
However, I think its energetic and emotional potency would be accessible to most people watching it.
If the topic felt distant for you, here’s a partial transcript of the narrative that I want to unpack in this exploration of Saturn:
It’s like the history of the last 7 years, crystalized into this material. 7 summers, 7 seasons of nettle, 7 winters of spinning. During the whole process of doing this, my dad died. I was sitting by his bedside spinning nettle… …and then Alex being ill and her dying… inadvertently all that going into the thread. Cloth made that way, must be magical somehow. It’s going to protect you. The love that you’ve put into the cloth can be worn. …It’s like the nettles gave me this gift. I was being transformed by the nettle, rather than the other way around. ~Allan Brown
As soon as I heard the first two sentences, I knew I was hearing Saturn.
I’ll explain why…
Saturn makes a complete orbit around the Sun in about 29.4 Earth years.
Every planetary cycle can be mapped either using its exact point of origin in the sky, or by using its direct contact with another planet as the beginning of the cycle (i.e., a conjunction between two different planets at the same degree).
Within this cycle, within the time and space a planet travels in order to return to the cycle’s origin point, the planet will encounter several critical geometric angles in its journey. These 90 degree segments divide the cycle into four quarters.
A full rotation is 360 degrees. Let’s say the cycle begins at 0 degrees. If we use the moon cycle as an example, 0 degrees would be the birthplace of the new moon (where the Sun and Moon conjoin).
When the Moon is 90 degrees from its point of origin (a point which is typically equated with wherever the Sun is), it is forming the aspect relationship of a square with the Sun - i.e., the first quarter moon.
Another 90 degrees later and the moon is at a 180 degree opposition with the Sun. This angle appears to us as the full moon.
Yet another 90 degrees later and the moon has completed 3/4s of its cycle. This phase is called the last, or third quarter, moon.
One more 90 degree journey and the moon has arrived back home, back to the heart of the Sun where its cycle is birthed anew - a phase which we experience as the new moon.
A new-moon-to-new-moon cycle is 29.5 days.
A Saturn cycle is 29.4 years.
They may travel at very different speeds, but both a moon cycle and a Saturn cycle, like all cycles, can be divided into four quarters and tracked using 1) the waxing square, 2) the opposition, 3) the waning square, and 4) “the return,” as key landmarks in time and space.
If we divide a Saturn cycle of 29.4 years by its four quarters, we will arrive at each of these critical cosmic landmarks about every 7.35 years.
Seven is a Saturnian number.
It’s like the history of the last 7 years, crystalized into this material.
7 summers, 7 seasons of nettle, 7 winters of spinning.
~Allan Brown
Saturn is the planet of hard work and commitment, determination and patient perseverance, cause and effect.
Therefore, every seven years we will experience the natural outcomes of our accumulated investments of time, energy, resources and skill development. Harsh consequences and reality checks, as well as fulfilling rewards, satisfying completions and well-earned graduations; all are delivered by Saturn at every seven year landmark.
Allan Brown was rewarded for his patient perseverance with the satisfaction of completing his goal of making a dress made of nettle fibre after a long and difficult, yet profoundly transformative, journey.
Saturn is the planet of time and material reality, ruling over all of the physical limitations that time and material reality together, invoke. Saturn governs over the Earth’s transient nature that necessitates processes of decay, deterioration, and death.
However, simultaneously, Saturn rules over long-term investments that withstand the test of time and survive challenges in order to leave a legacy that lives far beyond the lifespan of its maker or its original form.
Therefore, every seven years we will receive reminders that we are aging, that we are moving through time as mortal beings with a fixed lifespan - and so is everyone else around us. We will feel increased urgency to invest our time, energy and money in something long-lasting. We may feel the call to make some type of important contribution to society (or our family or community) that will outlive us.
The launch site for the Nettle Dress documentary reads:
Textile artist Allan Brown spends seven years making a dress by hand just from the fibre of locally foraged stinging nettles. This is ‘hedgerow couture’, the greenest of slow fashion and also his medicine. It’s how he survives the death of his wife and finds a beautiful way to honour her.
Not only did his wife Alex die during the seven years of fibre spinning and dress-making, but Allan’s father died as well. As Allan observed, all of this love and grief inadvertently went into the thread as he sat spinning next to their bedsides.
Allan reflects: “On some levels, it feels like it’s been a process of weaving a shroud, because it was totally there to absorb the loss and the grief.” (source)
In response to watching the completed The Nettle Dress documentary (one of the culminating outcomes of this journey), Sir. Mark Rylance wrote that the film was “extremely beautiful and helpful for anyone suffering loss or grief.”
Film reviewer Jon Wilks observes:
“there’s an exquisite pain and beauty in the realisation, somewhere along the line, that this dress – all that love and longing this man has experienced, brought together in one simple robe – is being made for his daughter, Oonagh. It’s hard not to be moved by the sight of this young woman, clearly the spit of her mother, wandering through Limekiln Woods in a dress made by her grieving father from the natural materials growing beneath her feet.”
Both the dress and Alex will live on through Allan’s daughter, Oonagh.
Jon Wilks continues:
“The footprint we leave behind us is made up of the memories and stories we create while we are here. And that, ultimately, is enough.”
As the planet of time and material reality, Saturn’s seven-year chapters will also, in some way, involve a reviewing and a renewing of our relationship to the world of tangible, touchable, physical things.
The film trailer opens with this incredibly Saturnian line: “It’s like the history of the last 7 years, crystalized into this material.”
To crystalize something is to give something shape and form. To crystalize a plan is to take random ideas and turn them into a clear, organized, and fixed directive or agenda. To crystalize something intangible, is to make it tangible. To crystalize history (a product of time), is to turn it into a physical summation via a biography, a memorializing statue, or perhaps, by making a dress made out of nettle:
“There is alchemy at work here, the turning of base metal into gold, ideas of capturing memories, places and seasons into every woven thread. The Nettle Dress becomes a ‘totemic object’ with deep connection to place, and both personal and human history.” ~Film Kickstarter page
To “crystalize” is a classic Saturnian verb and keyword, because it describes exactly what Saturn loves to do - to make clear and solid that which is uncertain, confusing, and intangible.
Saturn is the planet that teaches us to be good stewards and guardians of the resources that we have been entrusted with.
Therefore, every seven years we will be invited to reassess the ways in which we care for, utilize, and share, the resources that we carry within, the assets and resources we own, and those that we have access to.
Allan’s journey to create cloth out of nettle fibre (and eventually a nettle dress) was largely motivated by concerns around the need for sustainable and environmentally friendly textiles. Questions that catalyzed his seven-year journey included:
“Would it be possible to make wearable cloth by hand, from freely available local plants? …Can nettle fibre play a role in helping us develop more sustainable ways of making clothes?”
…This undertaking is a deep expression of the ‘Fibreshed’ movement, towards a more sustainable textile production, using fibres, dyes and labour all sourced from and connected to one place. ~Kickstarter
Saturn is the planet of self-sufficiency, resilience, independence and integrity. It is the planet that symbolizes the individual capacity to stand strong alone, or to swim upstream and stay the course while resisting the mainstream current when life requires this of you.
Therefore, every seven years we will encounter pivotal situations or chronological culminations that stretch and strengthen our capacity to be solitary and resourceful, to be an outsider, a loner, to say a big life-changing “no” or “enough”, to separate from a source of easy comfort, or to bid a grief-filled goodbye to someone or something.
Allan’s Brown seven-year journey has been marked by themes of self-sufficiency, adjusting to be alone, and persisting with the slow craft of creating nettle fibre in a world of fast fashion. I would suspect that with the launch of his documentary film, he’s in an interesting transition between chapters.
It is worth noting that nettles themselves are like Saturnian outsiders. Maligned and despised for their invasive nature and the stinging rash they create on bare skin, their many gifts are often overlooked.
Allan calls nettles “‘the fibres of the landless’, free to those willing to put in the effort’” - they are the outsider plant for people on the outside. Ubiquitous in many parts of the world and shunned as a noxious weed, they offer their gifts to anyone ready to put in the Saturnian effort.
Saturn is the planet of protective boundaries and walls that keep us safe and separate from threats in our environments. Saturn, as the furthest planet in the sky that we can see with our naked eye, orbits the Sun as the guardian at the outer limits of visible space.
Therefore, every seven years we will be prompted to inspect our boundaries (energetic, emotional, and physical), repair and fortify any areas of weakness, and perhaps remove walls where they are no longer necessary.
Clothing, is a type of protective boundary between your body and the world.
In the film trailer, Allan states:
“Cloth made that way, must be magical somehow. It’s going to protect you. The love that you’ve put into the cloth can be worn.”
This is a really beautiful part of the narrative arch, where Allan offers the fruits of his labour (crafted while sitting by the beds of his dying father and wife) as a protective garment for his daughter who has lost her mother.
Also: nettle, as a living plant, is a plant that represents protective boundaries. Come too close, and you may walk away with a hot rash. It is called “stinging nettle” for good reason, after all.
Allan’s instagram handle is @hedgerow.couture, and hedgerow couture is what he calls the work he does.
While couture describes designing and sewing fashionable clothing, the word “hedgerow” describes a living fence of densely growing trees, shrubs and plants - which is commonly used in the U.K. to delineate a property boundary.
Saturn is a planet that symbolizes what it means to be in right relationship - honouring the true essence and autonomy of the Other, while being open to a reciprocal, respectful exchange. Saturn is exalted in the sign of Libra; this speaks to the ways in which Saturn delights in just and fair relationships with other beings.
Therefore, every seven years we will be more acutely aware of where there are imbalances in our relationships; where relationships have become extractive, hierarchical or neglected.
Even though it was Allan who appears to be transforming the nettles from a living plant to a dress, he says: “It’s like the nettles gave me this gift. I was being transformed by the nettle, rather than the other way around.”
The Kickstarter page for the film poses the question: “Am I working the Nettles, or are the Nettles working me?”
Our relationship to nature is usually hierarchical. Humans generally seek to dominate nature.
In contrast, Allan was open to a reciprocal relationship with nettle. He allowed the nettles to work on him in the midst of his grief - and he was transformed as a result.
“Cloth made that way, must be magical somehow.” ~ Allan Brown
Entering into right relationships with the material world, opens up possibilities for magic. Magic is not usually attributed to Saturn or Capricorn, the sign Saturn rules, but it is very much aligned with them both.
When we approach the material world with full acceptance of its limits, respect and honour for its essence, awe for its mysteries, and a willingness to power share, material reality gets a little… bendy, shall we say. Unimagined change and transformation becomes possible.
Saturn is the planet of that which is truly valuable - that which is well worth the sacrifices of time, energy, and deep tending. Saturn is the planet of no-short-cuts, the planet of slow, careful effort.
Therefore, every seven years we will be reminded of what is most valuable in our lives. We will be reminded that speeding quickly through tasks and racing towards our goals, has its risks and drawbacks, while going slow and playing the long-game will reap a successful harvest and outcome.
The film is referred to as a “hymn to the healing power of nature and slow craft.”
This is a lovely Saturnian quote from the Kickstarter page:
“Working so slowly by hand is transformative, bringing up different conceptions of time, and questions of what constitutes value when making something notionally both worthless and priceless.”
And another resonant quote from film reviewer, Jon Wilks:
The seasons pass and the inexperienced nettle weaver spins 14,400 feet of thread.
“It keeps demanding that you take the slow road,” [Allan] explains. “Each slow process fills it with intention.”
Allan’s efforts to make the nettle dress “from scratch” - beginning first with the process of spinning nettle fibre into thread by hand, and then using the traditional tool of a loom to create fabric - is quintessentially Saturnian.
Not only did the making of the dress take place on a slow 7-year Saturnian timeline, but the making of the documentary film also moved intentionally at Saturn’s pace:
“A feature documentary takes on average 6 months to edit, but it may well be less than that as we've been rough-cutting scenes as we go. But just to say we are revising our original schedule for the film.
Like the dress, it's worth taking a bit longer to make something really special - and we think it will be worth waiting for.” ~Film’s Kickstarter page
May it be widely known that projects embarked on under Saturn’s approval and guidance, are always worth waiting for!
Saturn is the planet of mastery, wisdom, and careful skill development.
Therefore, every seven years we will be reflecting on the growth and progress of the last seven years, while we receive our new lesson plan and directive to help us prepare for the next seven year phase of life school.
Saturn is the planet of discernment, clarity, and again - integrity.
Therefore, every seven years we will be gifted with additional courage to see clearly what needs to change, and we will be offered the strength to follow through with actions that will keep us in alignment with our truth and core essence (or those that bring us back into alignment).
I wonder what comes next for Allen after the completion of the dress and the launch of this beautiful documentary about his work, which seems to symbolize a powerful culmination of a seven-year journey…
Every seven years, during one of Saturn’s critical cosmic landmarks, it is common to want to reflect, consolidate, and somehow share, contribute, or have witnessed, your journey over the past seven years.
Maybe this looks like some intense writing sessions in your diary that you share with your therapist.
Or maybe this looks like making a documentary film about the profound and transformative process you embarked on while making a dress made of nettle fibre while moving through deep grief:
Last summer, while attending a wedding ceremony, I somehow got into a conversation with the pastor about the significance of the number seven. I believe it all started when one of us brought up the concept of “the seven-year itch” that happens in relationships. He joked that he used to think it meant couples started scratching themselves after seven years together.
We skimmed over the various appearances of the number seven in the Bible, and then he commented on a couple he knows who, whether you want to call it an “itch” or not, have noticed that their shared life trajectory undergoes major transitions and pivots every seven years.
I smiled and nodded - and internally winked at Saturn.
I am not by any means a numerologist (i.e., an expert of the mystical vibrational patterns of numbers), but a quick search regarding the meaning of the number seven on numerology websites, was interesting from a Saturnian perspective. For example:
Numerologists recognize the 7 as the wise sage or the spiritual seeker, which represents the quest for knowledge… The energy of the 7 is introverted and calm, wise and deeply intuitive. The number 7 is dedicated to universal truths, uncovered through personal experience and deep self-trust. It also holds a distinctly reflective quality which is restful and at peace. (~source)
In the Tarot, the seventh card of the major arcana is the Chariot, and the card that is traditionally associated with Saturn, is the World card, the twenty-first card of the major arcana:
The Chariot card is traditionally associated with the zodiac sign of Cancer, but I see Saturn in this card as well, perhaps through their shared connection to the number seven.
The Chariot asks us to really focus in on our objectives and take action toward goals with determination, dedication, and strength. The Chariot will exercise our willpower muscle. By presenting us with distractions and challenges, this card will test our capacity to commit, to hold our boundaries, and to stay the path of delayed gratification through the practice of self-discipline and courage.
In contrast, by the time we reach the twenty-first and final card of the major arcana (3 x 7), Saturn’s World card, we’ve made it. We’ve finally done the thing we were working towards when in the Chariot. The World card affirms our achievements and accomplishments by reflecting back to us themes of wholeness, fulfillment, closure and completion. We can now celebrate, reflect on our journey, and feel grateful for a job well done and for what we’ve learned along the way.
Intrigued by the association between Saturn and the number seven, I started a running list of the various ways that the number seven shows up…
The concept of the seven-year itch in relationships (known as the time-based milestone in a relationship when couples re-evaluate their partnership and either recommit to each other, or decide to separate - divorce rates are said to be higher at the seven-year mark in marriages)
There are seven visible “planets” in astrology - traditional astrology focused on these seven because they can be seen without a telescope (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn)
There are seven days of the week named after the seven traditional planets and their associated ancient deities (e.g., Sunday is the Sun’s day, Monday is the Moon’s day, Saturday is Saturn’s day, etc.)
There are seven colors in the rainbow
It is often said that all the cells in the body regenerate after seven years; thus you are a brand new you every seven years (while this is not exactly true, apparently the average age for many cells is indeed, around seven years.)
It takes seven years before a bankruptcy event is removed from one’s credit report
In Canada, you can file for bankruptcy seven years after graduating from university (this law was passed in order to prevent students from declaring bankruptcy immediately after graduating in order to get rid of student loan debt)
In the Old Testament, God’s law was that all debts were to be cancelled at the end of every seven years.
Also in the Old Testament of the Bible, God created the world in seven days and rested on the 7th day, which was henceforth dedicated to him as a holy day, reserved for rest (the number seven shows up in the Bible hundreds of times, too many to list here - e.g., Delilah cut seven locks of Samson’s hair, the walls of Jericho fell after the people had marched around them for seven days… more examples can be found here and here… theologists refer to the number seven as “a holy number that often represents completion or divine fulfilment”)
In Mecca, “Muslims walk around the around the ‘Kaaba‘ seven times in an anticlockwise direction.”
I’m sure I’m missing other number seven examples! Help me out, what other significant sevens would you add to the list?
Can you see the imprint of Saturn’s symbology in these examples?
Saturn is the planet that governs material reality, so it makes sense that its special number would show up frequently in the world and throughout history!
Navigating personal Saturn cycles & transits
Now let’s get personal!
At the beginning of this post I illustrated how the four main phases of the lunation cycle can be superimposed on to Saturn’s 29.4 year cycle:
the waxing square,
the opposition,
the waning square,
and “the return.”
Each of these four critical milestones in Saturn’s cycle take place about every 7.35 years.
Let’s start with using Saturn’s fixed placement in a birth chart as the origin point for a Saturn cycle.
Here’s what Saturn’s cycle would look like in a natal chart that has Saturn at 9 degrees Sagittarius:
Since we are working with the fixed Saturn placement in a natal chart as the origin point, it was the baby’s first breath that launched this Saturn cycle.
Counting up from zero using 7.35 years, for this chart holder and all chart holders, it means that Saturn will reach it’s critical milestones at approximately the following ages:
Age 7.35: Saturn’s waxing square
Age 14.7: the Saturn opposition
Age 22.05: Saturn’s waning square
Age 29.4: the 1st Saturn return
Age 36.75: Saturn’s waxing square
Age 44.1: the Saturn opposition
Age 51.45: Saturn’s waning square
Age 58.8: the 2nd Saturn return
Age 66.15: Saturn’s waxing square
Age 73.5: the Saturn opposition
Age 80.85: Saturn’s waning square
Age 88.2: the 3rd Saturn return
Despite these ages appearing really precise, because of Saturn’s retrograde periods you should add about one-year of wiggle room to these dates. Furthermore, because of Saturn’s retrogrades, Saturn will often perfect its aspects three times over the course of about a year.
If you want a list of more accurate dates that align with your specific Saturn placement, you can input your birth data into this nifty Saturn return calculator and get a list of dates for free.
When you reflect back on these ages that mark critical Saturnian landmarks, what do you notice in terms of some of the themes discussed above in the exploration of The Nettle Dress?
If you are familiar with your natal Saturn position by sign, house and/or aspect, you’ll gain further insight into incorporating some of these unique particularities into your reflection.
Where do you find yourself in the Saturn cycle today?
Are you at one of these important 7-year milestones? Or are you perhaps building to the Saturn opposition? Or are you completing a Saturn cycle and heading toward your first or second (or third!) Saturn return?
Saturn is currently at four degrees Pisces at the time of this writing. If you have Saturn in a mutable sign in your natal chart (Sag, Pisces, Gemini, or Virgo), then you are likely in close proximity to one of Saturn’s 7-year landmarks during the next couple years while Saturn is in Pisces.
Wherever you are in the cycle, how are you relating to the life content and decisions that were made at the cycle’s origin point - your last Saturn return?
Or the decisions and pivots that were made at the last significant 7-year mark?
The chart I used as an example above, is mine!
Born with Saturn at 9 degrees Sagittarius, I am nearing my opening waxing square. Although I won’t quite arrive there this year (Saturn stations retrograde at 7 degrees Pisces in June), with Saturn currently only 5 degrees away from reaching that exact waxing square to my natal Saturn, I’m certainly close enough to resonate with the energy of this cosmic landmark.
And thank goodness for that.
All the outer planets are big movers and shakers, but unlike the erratic or obscure or seemingly senseless earthly reflections of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto (even Jupiter transits can be rather subtle and fleeting), Saturn transits make shit happen in very concrete, obvious, and sense-making ways (I need this!).
Although the transit of a Saturn return seems to have acquired this fearsome reputation, they can be incredibly constructive - and even relatively easy for many, depending on Saturn’s placement in your birth chart. The Saturn return is by NO means guaranteed to be the most difficult transit ever (trust me, there are other transits that are way more challenging for many people).
For example, singer and actress Julie Andrews, whose films I explored in a previous post about Saturn in Pisces, was experiencing her Saturn return (in Pisces) when she had her breakthrough moment on the big screen as the leading actress in Mary Poppins (1964) and The Sound of Music (1965).
That said, my Saturn return peak in early 2016 was pretty brutal. And it makes sense that it was, given my chart’s configuration and my relationship to the archetype of Saturn at that time in my life.
I refer to 2016 as the year of my break-down. I have also called it the year of the Great Thaw (i.e., when all the frozen trauma I was dissociated and running from began to thaw and I let go of everything I had worked for).
I’m grateful for all the Saturnian deconstruction and reconstruction that has happened at a slow, slow, snail’s pace in my life over the past seven years, but I’ve built a new internal foundation and I’m ready to graduate. I’m eager to experience clear and obvious signs that I’m beginning a new chapter.
In the first section of this post, I looked at many different themes of Saturn that can emerge during a Saturn transit. I’ll offer a few more here…
During a Saturn transit, you are propelled to get off the fence.
No longer can you bide your time assessing your environment and options while you delay and avoid taking action - the time is now.
There is no more time for indecision, passivity or denial. If you’ve been weighing pros and cons of several different life paths or decisions, Saturn says, “Okay, you’ve done your due diligence with analyzing and carefully considering your choices, now pick one.”
Saturn is the planet of time, cause and effect, and the practical limitations of being mortal in this earthly realm. Whenever we make a big life decision we are acknowledging that we can’t do or have it all in this lifespan. We are choosing to invest our time, energy and resources in what is most important to us.
Saying yes to something, means saying no to something. Astrologer Diana Rose Harper has a great evergreen webinar on this topic, titled Rejection as Liberation: The Saturnian Importance of No.
Opening one door in this world of limited time, means closing the other, or leaving it unopened - forever a mystery.
Do you ever wish you could clone yourself and live multiple realities at once?
I do. All the time.
One thing I would do for sure, is dedicate one of my clones to reading all day. That way I might have a chance at getting through all the hundreds of books I want to read without putting the rest of my life on hold!
Saturn rolls his eyes at this fantasy.
Saturn is about the cold, hard facts that we only have decades available to us (not centuries of time), and thus we will need to use our core values and a realistic assessment of our resources to prioritize the items on the list of all we desire to do and have.
Those are the toughest decisions, aren’t they?
When you stand at an intersection, feeling deeply pulled toward two or more life paths that initially seem equally valuable and important… and they all involve a substantial commitment of time and energy… and choosing one or the other will take you in very different directions… forever changing your life??? Gah, so tough.
This is Saturnian territory. Saturnian decision-making.
When Saturn comes along, we can turn to Saturnian figures such as our elders and mentors for insight and advice, but ultimately we are reminded we are alone in this. No one will make this decision for us, take this action for us, or do the hard thing for us.
During a Saturn transit we remember that we have agency to act independently, to survive on our own, despite the limits and challenges we may be facing. It can be a lonely, heavy, serious time full of symbolic gravitas, but it can also be a time that we remember for years, a touchstone of courage we return to - i.e. “if I could endure and prevail during that challenging time in the past, then I can do this other hard thing that has been presented to me!”
A Saturn transit is when we pierce through the surface-level distractions, the externally-imposed expectations, and our social conditioning, to connect to our bones, our deep core structure, the truth of who we truly are. Then we make right-sized steps in alignment with our soul’s skeleton, our internal blueprint. We make adjustments until we experience a sense of inner coherence.
Saturn has an affinity with literal bones, by the way, and our skeletal system. It also has an affinity with the skin, the teeth, the gallbladder, and the spleen. Its afflictions can be chronic in nature and involve processes that are constricting, hardening (like sclerosis), obstructing and blocking (like stones), draining, tiring, cooling or drying.
Stiff joints or broken bones, for example, are Saturnian health concerns that can show up during a Saturn transit.
As Claire Gallagher writes in her book Body Astrology, during a Saturn transit you may want to take extra measures to fortify the body.
Remedial health actions during a Saturn transit could include increasing one’s nutritional intake (especially minerals and protein), making space for periods of deep rest, eating warm foods, and using resistance training while honouring the body’s limits. Ensuring the proper flow of blood and lymph would also be a protective measure against some of Saturn’s physical vulnerabilities.
One of my favourite analogies for Saturn is that of an inspector who comes to assess a house-building project at different points in its development, to make sure it is safe, secure, and all up to code.
Of course, the “house” is any life project we are engaged in cultivating (e.g., a relationship, a job, a creative dream).
When Saturn comes to visit, where are we at with the building process?
Are we at the blueprint phase? The foundation-laying chapter? The framing journey? The roof-laying stage? Or are we working on adding the final touches to the interior decor?
Saturn’s corrections or his stamp of approval, will be experienced differently depending on how far along we are in our efforts, and how off-course we may be.
If a Saturn transit arrives while we are still tweaking the blueprint, maybe it looks like a new perspective on a design feature - some small edits.
If a Saturn transit arrives when we are laying the foundation, we may be reminded that yes, we are on the right track, but we need to be patient with the slow process and not rush the very unglamorous foundation-laying that happens beneath the surface, which gets very little acknowledgement from the outside world (I feel like I have been in this phase for a long time!).
If a Saturn transit arrives when we are making the final touches to our “house,” maybe we get to celebrate with Saturn as we receive his stamp of approval - all by-laws and building codes have been satisfied! It’s safe to move in.
Or, maybe we are told that we have to dismantle or redo a portion of the building’s structure.
Or, more challengingly, maybe we are told by Saturn that we are way out of alignment and have to bulldoze the entire almost-done house and start again from scratch (big ouch).
When Saturn is around, we are asked to master something. To achieve mastery (i.e. consummate skill) in regards to something we are working on.
With Saturn now in Pisces since March 7th, 2023, where (according to your natal house) are you working toward mastering something in your life? What sort of “house,” what sort of “life-building project,” are you tackling in Pisces-land? What types of tests are you currently encountering in this area that are sharpening your skills?
I will soon shift focus and share some themes and reflections specific to Saturn in Pisces, but first I have a few real life Saturn stories that exemplify the range of experiences we might have when encountering Saturn by transit.
Saturnian story #1: “NO CATS. NO CATS. BYE.”
About a week ago, we experienced the short-term global transit of Venus in Gemini squaring Saturn in Pisces on April 14th.
It was a shitty day for sure, but knowing the transit at play added some levity as the day’s events were all very symbolically on point.
Within a few hours of waking up to sunshine and clear skies, we lost power. Assuming it would just be a short interruption in our day, we were surprised to learn it wouldn’t be back on until noon… no, wait, 5 pm… actually 9 pm.
A transformer randomly blew somewhere apparently, leaving 9000 people without power for the day. I don’t ever remember this happening before.
Meanwhile, my sister reported a visitor had parked her car in the wrong zone and she woke up to news it had been towed - a $600 fee was required to get it back. A friend shared that she was really struggling after receiving feedback regarding something she is preparing for a big event that is stretching her out of her comfort zone. Someone else in my circle was feeling at breaking point with the discouraging weight of all the unknowns regarding their future plans.
We were originally planning to drive an hour to pick my uncle up for a belated Easter dinner, but eventually this was canceled and we ended up eating dinner with our headlamps on, after cooking it on the camping stove outside.
Venus in general loves to feel comfortable, to experience pleasure, to give and receive gifts and kindness, and to celebrate with friends. Venus in Gemini in particular, wants to connect and socialize.
Saturn can often feel like a big NO, and in this case it felt like Saturn was giving a big NO to Venus; to comfort, to pleasure, to celebration, to connection. The day felt heavy, dreary, and physically uncomfortable without the everyday luxury of electricity. I could not focus on anything.
Several days earlier I had called my 73-year-old eccentric uncle (whom I’ll call Bob), to say that I’d like to help him adopt the cats he has indicated he wants (Gemini has an affinity with small animals and the number two). If he was sure he was ready, we’d drive him to the animal shelter on the way home.
My uncle Bob has taken care of cats his entire life. Generally speaking I would say he has greater attachment to cats than he does to humans.
Bob’s last remaining cat died at age 19, a year and a half ago, and he has been living alone ever since (Saturn is often reflected in older men, as well as in the act of living alone). Repeatedly, I (and others) have asked him if he wanted a new cat, and he has indicated he wants two.
Unfortunately, during his one attempt to adopt, he was rattled to discover that his local veterinary hospital no longer has an adjacent animal shelter. However, despite the careful instructions I provided, he has been too intimidated to locate the next-closest SPCA 20-minutes away. So instead, for over a year now, he has come up with multiple excuses that mostly revolve around the weather - it can’t be too hot or too cold when he goes to adopt the cats.
Knowing that he has had two cat carriers sitting in his dining room for months now, all ready to go, knowing that at least part of him really wants to have cats again, knowing that springtime was his desired season for cat-adopting, and knowing that navigating to a new animal shelter has been a key barrier, I wanted to help him get some cats for company!
Isn’t that a nice Venusian thing to want to do?
When I had called a few days prior, my uncle Bob expressed some hesitation about the weather, but seemed to rally. He had said the house was feeling quite empty and he’d be going out to get some cat food so he’d be all set for adopting the cats on Saturday.
I did a bunch of research, made a few inquiries, and printed off the profiles of available cats that he could look at ahead of time. I was excited for him to finally have four-legged company in that house again!
When I called on Friday to let him know it looked like Easter dinner was not going to happen, I immediately rushed to reassure him that we would still drive up on Saturday to help him adopt two cats. I figured he’d be worried the cat-adopting portion of the weekend would also be cancelled.
He interrupted me, shrilly exclaiming: “OH NOOO!! Please nooo!!! It’s too hot!! They will die in the car!!!”
I felt like I had whiplash.
What?
I made my best attempt to explain to him that the air conditioning in the car was very powerful and could completely regulate the air temperature despite his insistence that the passive solar heat through the windows would fry the cats. I suggested that maybe this fear about the temperature was becoming bigger than was appropriate to the situation.
It was all to no avail. His volume rose, my volume rose. He was sounding more and more panicked and I was getting extremely frustrated.
“Can we PLEASE just reschedule until next March?!”
“You want to wait ANOTHER YEAR while living in that house alone?!”
“Better be safe than sorry!!! If they don’t die right away, they may die the next day!!!”
I lost my patience. It was ridiculous to be trying to force my uncle to adopt the cats he professed to want.
“FINE BOB, FINE,” I yelled, “NO CATS. NO CATS. BYE.”
Dear reader, am I an asshole for yelling at my 73-year-old uncle and hanging up on him for having an irrational fear response and perhaps still carrying grief from the death of his last feline companion?
Perhaps, at that moment I was. Typically I am the most patient family member when interacting with my eccentric uncle Bob. But for the first time, I lost it. It took me literally a few hours to calm down from that adrenalin rush of anger and frustration!
After processing the huge somatic response I had to that phone call, I had a few important insights about myself and my relationship to my uncle. I also realized that my emotional investment in him getting cats so he wasn’t alone in the house, was a bit co-dependent. I needed him to have cats! I needed to feel less guilty about him living alone! And yet my kind Venusian offer had been rejected in a way that made me feel as though I was trying to force him to do something awful!
The Saturnian conclusion of this very Saturnian story is that I then composed a polite, formal-ish letter to uncle Bob, which I then mailed to him along with his Easter chocolates and profiles of the available cats. While reiterating the safety of an air-conditioned car ride, I affirmed his Saturnian autonomy and independent agency - he could adopt cats in a year, in five years, in ten years, or not at all.
There was no rush. The decision was up to him, and if he needed help, he could call (otherwise I don’t plan on suggesting cat adoption again, because that’s my boundary).
Saturnian story #2: A peaceful transition and a final goodbye
Earlier this year Saturn was approaching my descendant point at 26 degrees Aquarius (the place where the Sun sets and where we are in relationship with others), which would mean it would oppose my ascendant in Leo at the same time (the place where the Sun rises, a place that represents our identity in the world and the seat of our independent self-directed actions).
I didn’t know how it would show up, but I knew it would be obvious (as Saturn usually is) and I was ready.
During the few weeks while Saturn was within a degree of my descendant, a close family friend in his mid-70s died.
It was expected, and so he was able to say his goodbyes in advance. He was able to exercise some agency in determining what the final 24 hours would look like, and overall, his transition was peaceful and gentle.
It is hard to talk about astrology and things that we fear the most - like illness, accidents and death.
Because astrology is so multi-faceted with its symbolic reflections on earth (archetypally predictive, not literally predictive, as Richard Tarnas has said), I don’t think death can be precisely predicted using transits which can have such a multitude of meanings and correlations.
However, if a person lives a full lifespan, they will encounter illness and death multiple times. This is a Saturnian reality of being a mortal creature living with other mortal creatures. It’s not rare - it’s part of being human.
Although astrology cannot predict death (in my opinion), I would say it is guaranteed that if someone is experiencing significant illness, or the death of someone close to them, there will be at least one significant transit happening concurrently that will mirror this experience.
And although Saturn resonates with themes of death and endings, it won’t necessarily be a Saturn transit - I promise.
The death of my father in 2015 for example, was reflected by Jupiter and Venus both crossing my ascendant degree that week.
This makes so much sense to me for a variety of reasons, but on the surface it may seem unusual; typical interpretations of this transit would make it sound like a big celebration was about to occur. And indeed there was - my dad’s funeral was packed to overflowing with everyone wearing bright Hawaiian-themed flowered shirts in his honour and all of the speakers sounded like stand-up comedians with constant laughter and applause filling the air. (this was just one of many expressions of Jupiter-Venus I experienced at that time)
What is really interesting though, is that myself, my two sisters, and my mom (and my dad actually) all have important planets or points at 26 degrees of the fixed signs.
So when Jupiter and Venus were crossing my ascendant degree at 26 degrees Leo, Jupiter and Venus were simultaneously making squares, conjunctions, or oppositions to critical places in my family members’ charts, located at 26 degrees of Leo, Aquarius, or Scorpio.
And what is really, really interesting to me, was that this same degree area was being activated again for myself and my family members earlier this year, as we grieved the passage of a man who was friends with my dad and was like a quasi father-figure in many ways.
Except that instead of Jupiter and Venus at 26 degrees Leo (fixed fire), this time it was Saturn at 26 degrees of Aquarius; fixed air.
I’m not drawing from a large sample size here, but my experiences and observations thus far is that if Saturn does actually correlate with a final goodbye, it is likely a death that is visible on the horizon before it arrives. It is likely to be someone who is in their senior years who probably has been preparing to transition for a while.
There is nothing rushed about Saturn, nor surprising.
Understandably, the recent death of this father-like figure re-awakened a lot of grief and mixed emotions related to my dad’s death eight years ago, because of some overlapping themes and similarities. This too, felt guided by Saturn’s hand, as we had another opportunity to process and tend to the past.
There were other signs of Saturn in my life as it crossed my descendant, such as: increased clarity on my life direction, major challenges, insights into my internal blocks and barriers, and receiving prompts to get serious in certain areas and invest in some business-related structures.
However, the death of this family friend stood out to me as central to my engagement with this transit.
On the exact day of this Saturn transit, the wife of this family friend who had just died, texted me the following message out of the blue:
“Thinking of you this evening as I listen to the wind. I have an image of you standing strong in the midst of it.
You are stronger than you think!”
I’m really not sure what prompted this Saturnian message of encouragement, but it meant a lot to me, coming from a mentor-friend and elder who had just experienced a great loss.
Saturnian story #3: The boundaries and limits of a life-long commitment can set you free
Last summer I was helping to prepare for an important wedding of loved ones.
It was a rather last minute back-yard wedding; although long anticipated, the date for the ceremony was only finalized three weeks before it happened.
I was consulted on what might be an astrologically auspicious day for the ceremony. Within the eligible two-week span of time, I noted a Venus and Jupiter fire trine with the Moon in a good position - I elected the day that carried these transits.
Initially, in the 14-day forecast, the weather for this day looked perfect. But then, as we got closer, the weather forecast for the day of the ceremony steadily worsened until we were two days away and we were looking at a wild rain and wind storm for an outdoor backyard wedding!
Yikes.
Yes, it was super stressful. And yes, it was rescheduled for two days later when the weather was more ideal.
What about the Venus-Jupiter fire trine?
Well, I would say it showed up in the way that nearly all of the guests - and most importantly, the pastor - were able to respond quickly to the last-minute change and gather together to make a beautiful little wedding miracle happen.
This is one of the reasons I’m not keen on doing astrological elections. I mean, personally, I will still try to make slight scheduling adjustments to take advantage of auspicious astrology for simple things (like sending an email or booking an appointment), and certainly if I am engaging in astrological magic, I’ll time my spellwork to align with the planet I want to work with.
However, ultimately I think many big events in our lives have their own innate timing and no human interference is going to change that.
Here’s where Saturn comes in…
The groom’s natal chart features a tight Mars-Venus conjunction at 21 degrees Leo. The bride’s natal chart features an exact Moon-Pluto conjunction at 21 degrees Scorpio.
On an individual level, these noteworthy conjunctions suggest that the life journey of both the groom and the bride will involve intense plot lines, struggles and triumphs that involve themes of power, individual agency, vulnerability, connection, interdependence and independence.
In synastry, when the two charts are fit together in a bi-wheel, these two very powerful planetary duos in fixed signs (Mars-Venus and Moon-Pluto) make an exact square to each other (this is like having a life-long transit via contact with the other person).
Through their relationship with each other, as their respective conjunctions activate (and trigger) the planetary conjunction in the other, they will learn and grow so much with how they navigate power, agency, and interdependence. With a fierce configuration like this, it likely won’t be easy, but it has the potential to be transformative.
Saturn was in Aquarius at the time and as wedding preparations continued I watched it slowly move into position to oppose the groom’s Mars-Venus conjunction in Leo, and square the bride’s Moon-Pluto conjunction in Scorpio.
WHOA.
They were experiencing this significant Saturn transit both individually and as a couple at the same time… and it was going to be exact to the degree on the day of their rescheduled wedding!
WHOA.
Oh, and they were both having their Saturn return. Saturn was finishing and restarting his cycle in the groom’s 7th house of partnership, and in the bride’s 9th house of long-distance travel (her place of origin was on the other side of the world and marriage would involve a major relocation).
WHOA once again for good measure.
As wedding preparations encountered numerous challenges (including the incoming wind and rain storm), I have to say, I was watching this Saturn transit build while nervously biting my nails.
Saturn represents commitment, but he also represents endings and separations.
This transit looked like a make-or-break situation.
If they made their vows beneath Saturn’s stern gaze, they’d likely be together forever - as if their vows were energetically signed in concrete. Otherwise, the pressure would reveal cracks in the foundation and they’d go their separate ways.
Whew. It was very suspenseful.
As Saturn moved into position, creating a tense fixed-sign T-square formation with the two natal charts, the bride and groom exchanged rings and vows and were declared husband and wife!
The weather was perfect, the wedding was perfect, and everything was as it should be. It was a celebration to remember for many years to come.
The groom had a lot of anxiety leading up to the wedding (actually pretty much since his Saturn return began nearly a year earlier).
When a bunch of us went out for lunch a few days after the ceremony, you know what he was saying repeatedly as Saturn in his 7th house of partnership continued to oppose his Mars-Venus conjunction in his first house of independent action?
“I feel so free now! I feel so free!”
Freedom isn’t generally something that people think of when they think of Saturn. The concept of freedom is usually connected to planets like Jupiter or Uranus.
Saturn is often seen as the opposite of freedom - i.e., constraints, restrictions, limits, boundaries, barriers, responsibilities, duties.
I love this Saturnian story example, because it reveals another side of Saturn that isn’t typically discussed - accepting limits can be VERY freeing.
Saturn’s focused and bounded containers of commitment can set you free.
Within the boundaries of our commitments there can be - depending on what the commitment is and our degree of internal congruence with it - greater clarity, focus, safety and stability. The protective delineations of commitments grounded in our values and our truth, allow us to relax into a deeper sense of inner peace and freedom.
I focused only on the major turning points in a Saturn cycle - the conjunction, square and opposition, since they are the loudest. I do want to mention briefly that there is also the sextile and the trine aspects that form as Saturn makes his rounds. These are aspects of flow and ease, generally speaking. Support from Saturn may arrive with less challenges during these transits.
Most of what I have written so far, references Saturn cycles that use the fixed placement of Saturn in a natal chart as the origin point of the cycle. These are Saturn-Saturn cycles.
However, there are two other types of Saturn cycles you can have that initiate from two different types of origin points.
When Saturn conjoins with any of your fixed natal planets, this is the end and the beginning of a Saturn cycle that involves a relationship with that particular planet.
For example, to use my chart as a reference again, as I build toward the waxing square of my Saturn-Saturn cycle I am also currently experiencing Saturn conjoining my Jupiter (the end and the beginning of my Saturn-Jupiter cycle) while it squares my natal Moon - this is the waning square phase of my Saturn-Moon cycle.
The last time I experienced Saturn conjunct my natal Jupiter in Pisces, was in 1994 - a full Saturn cycle ago. Saturn will complete its waning square to my Moon in Gemini when it conjoins it in seven years; in the year 2030.
So, although Saturn-to-natal-Saturn cycles are really important and serve as a critical and foundational timeclock in our lives that we all experience together at about the same age, we are all living through various Saturn transits on a regular basis.
Astrologer Kelly Surtees offers a great webinar on what to expect with Saturn transiting each of your natal planets, and in this article she discusses themes of Saturn-to-Moon transits specifically.
The origin point of a Saturn cycle can also be in motion.
This is the case with the lunation cycle based on the Moon-Sun relationship in the current sky - this is why new moons (the conjunction with the Sun that restarts the lunation cycle) keep moving forward each month and landing in the next zodiac sign.
Let’s use the global Saturn-Jupiter cycle as another example:
Because the origin point of this type of Saturn cycle is the current sky’s Jupiter, the completion of this cycle is marked by the two planets coming together in a conjunction, rather than the return of Saturn to a specific, static degree point.
Because Jupiter is in motion and travels faster than Saturn, it is going to take less than 29.4 years for this Saturn-Jupiter cycle to complete; in fact it is only going to take 20 years for the two to conjoin again and restart their cycle.
The world is currently in a Saturn-Jupiter cycle that began in December 2020 at 0 degrees Aquarius, and we will close this cycle and begin another one in October 2040. In the meantime, we will all experience the four critical turning points of the Saturn-Jupiter cycle (the waxing square, the opposition, the waning square and the return) about every five years.
In summary, the origin points of a Saturn cycle can be:
a fixed and static natal Saturn in a birth chart,
another fixed and static natal planet in a birth chart that is not Saturn,
or, another planet in motion in the current sky.
More reflections on Saturn in Pisces themes
At the end of February 2023 I published a post exploring themes of Saturn in Pisces through a Christian revival experience, as well as through the life journey of Julie Andrews (who was born with Saturn in Pisces) and her breakthrough classic films that were produced and premiered during her Saturn return: Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music.
If you are looking for more on Saturn in Pisces specifically, that’s my most in depth exploration so far…
There’s also the second part of a post I published in May 2022 titled “Jupiter in Pisces: the practice of yearning & the volatilizing of our desires,” which holds a lot of relevance to Saturn’s current journey through Pisces.
However, I’ve collected a few more reflections on this transit that I want to share here, along with some Saturn in Pisces insights from other astrologers.
I always recommend reading several different interpretations of a transit, shared by different astrologers. Astrologers study the sky through unique lenses and with a big transit like Saturn entering Pisces, I think it is important to seek out various perspectives to gain a well-rounded understanding.
Steven Forrest, for example, emphasizes the spiritual side of this transit in his recent article.
Kelly Surtees looks at several different themes of Saturn in Pisces in her post, such as: the necessity of endings, healing and feeling, and environmental matters pertaining to water.
Chani Nicholas’ overview offers historical reflections on previous periods when Saturn was in Pisces, as well as a list of ideas on how to work with this transit. You can also read your horoscope on the site for a more personal interpretation of what Saturn in Pisces may mean for you, based on your rising sign.
In a recent e-newsletter Jeff Hinshaw of Cosmic Cousins provided this great list of ways that he has been noticing Saturn in Pisces showing up for students and clients thus far:
The need for greater structure (Saturn) around sleep (Pisces). Healing of insomnia, nightmares and sleeplessness. Empowering oneself through learning new practices such as Yoga Nidra, hypnosis, and guided meditation. [I would add: a greater focus and commitment to dream tracking and interpretation]
Due to health concerns, needing to cut sugar, caffeine, and alcohol out of one's diet. Saturn connects us to rules and restrictions. Pisces is connected to sweets, alcohol and drugs. Finding joy through sobriety.
Taking mental and emotional health (Pisces) more seriously (Saturn). Healing of anxiety, depression, paranoia and spiraling thoughts. Committing to a regular meditation practice. Committing to a therapist or spiritual mentor to help navigate the vastness of one's emotions.
Committing to and building a life around one's spiritual, psychic and intuitive gifts. Seeking greater training to step into one's own purpose as a space holder, healer, medium, or intuitive.
Taking poetry, music, dance, film, photography, and other artistic expressions more seriously. Publishing poetry. Committing to music & prayer as a tool for healing. Getting a degree in the Arts. Finding a structure for spiritual thoughts – releasing of oracle deck.
Responsible use of plant medicine and other drugs to help facilitate greater emotional release, ancestral healing, past-life healing, and spiritual healing. Becoming certified to facilitate these experiences.
Using one's leadership and organizational gifts to be of greater service to under-served populations: the elderly, cancer patients, hospice, the house-less, rehab, retreat centers, hospitals, places of healing.
Fully committing to the end of a karmic cycle. Making forgiveness, compassion, listening and understanding a daily practice of devotion.
~ Jeff Hinshaw (website + podcast)
I want to respond to #2, #3, and #6 above with additional reflections, because the slightly overlapping themes of drugs, addiction, psychedelics, mental health, and altered states of consciousness, is repeatedly emerging as a central theme lately, from all directions, all around me.
Using sign-based aspects, currently Saturn and Neptune in Pisces are in a water-earth sextile relationship with Uranus in Taurus. This sextile will eventually perfect by degree in the coming years.
This cosmic configuration has the potential to (continue to) amplify the innovative uses of plant medicines to treat both physical and mental health issues - psychoactive plant medicines in particular.
What exactly is a psychoactive plant though?
“Psychoactive plants are plants that people ingest in the form of simple or complex preparations in order to affect the mind or alter the state of consciousness.” (Christian, R., 2004). Psychoactivity may include sedative, stimulant, euphoric, deliriant, and hallucinogenic effects.” ~ Wikipedia
Entering altered states of consciousness is a mostly Piscean phenomenon, and by extension, psychoactive plants have an affinity with the zodiac sign of Pisces.
If you are like me, you may be surprised to learn that coffee is considered a psychoactive plant, alongside more commonly known psychoactive plants like magic mushrooms.
I found this diagram of psychoactive plants really clarifying:
Coffee, chocolate, marijuana, cocaine, morphine, magic mushrooms - they all are products made from psychoactive plants. Apparently there are several hundred plants that are known to be psychoactive.
Anna Wilcox echoes my surprise at the broad scope of what is defined as a psychoactive plant, in her article for DoubleBlind Mag:
“Many people use psychoactive plants every day without realizing it. Coffee, tea, chocolate, and tobacco are among the most popular, but there are others hidden on your spice rack or blended into trendy nutritional drinks sold at the supermarket.
[…] Most people are familiar with the rockstars of the psychoactive plant kingdom: cannabis, peyote, and shrooms. But, the world of psychoactive herbs and plants is quite vast. Some plants produce mild effects by stimulating alertness and lifting mood. Others produce more profound effects by inspiring visions and changing the reality that we experience.
Coffee is arguably the most widely consumed psychoactive substance in the world. Its main active component, caffeine, is a central nervous system stimulant… Instead of calming the nervous system, caffeine speeds things up. But, these stimulating effects do more than just keep you awake, caffeine may also improve memory and cognitive function. ~ Anna Wilcox
I’ve been working on changing my relationship to coffee lately. I’ve been trying to take breaks from drinking this psychoactive plant, and I’ve also been researching the coffee plant itself so that I can at least hold the images of the plant in my mind, while I drink it.
I don’t have a huge addiction to coffee. It’s more like a “regular addiction to coffee” (seeing as how coffee addiction is normalized), but nevertheless, I am aware of my addicted dependency on the coffee plant.
Addiction is a type of unbalanced relationship.
An extractive and greedy attitude toward powerful plants motivated by the sole desire to turn them into money, is another type of unbalanced relationship.
Earlier in this post I wrote:
Saturn is a planet that symbolizes what it means to be in right relationship - honouring the true essence and autonomy of the Other, while being open to a reciprocal, respectful exchange. Saturn is exalted in the sign of Libra; this speaks to the ways in which Saturn delights in just and fair relationships with other beings.
As discussed, in The Nettle Dress documentary, it seems to me that Allan is in right relationship with the nettle plant:
“It’s like the nettles gave me this gift. I was being transformed by the nettle, rather than the other way around… Am I working the Nettles, or are the Nettles working me?”
Whereas our relationship to nature is usually hierarchical and motivated by a desire to dominate it, Allan entered into a reciprocal relationship with the nettle plant.
One of my first posts on Substack was about what it means to be in “right relationship.” It is my observation that the concept of being in right relationship seems especially important these days in the world of plant medicines, particularly with those that have psychoactive properties.
Recently I undertook a personal research project to search up all the licensed producers of cannabis in my province and get a feel for the nature of their businesses. Cannabis was legalized in Canada in late 2018.
As I perused their (often) flashy, glamorous websites, and information on the new cannabis-centered health clinics popping up, I was reflecting on how the move from the realm of the taboo and illegal, to the realm of the acceptable and legal, has made cannabis into a bit of a celebrity plant in my opinion.
It could be said that psychedelic mushrooms (like via micro-dosing) and Ayahuasca, have a similar celebrity status right now.
As an herbalist, it made me kinda feel a bit defensive for all the other medicinal plants out there who don’t get the same attention for some reason!
This little research project made me reflect on how relating to a plant or a person as a celebrity, is another type of unbalanced relationship with a whole lot of projection. If a plant or a person is seen as having celebrity status, it is very difficult to have a respectful and reciprocal relationship with them (partially because the plant or person isn’t truly being seen).
I’ve also been thinking of how consuming a plant that is supposedly healthy can still become an addiction, and this usually is a sign that a person is no longer in right relationship with the plant.
Many of the herbalists I respect and admire, are frequently encouraging people to shift away from an allopathic perspective where a plant is approached with the extractive question: “What is this good for?”
Chamomile, for example, is an herb that can promote sleep and relaxation, but besides this gift it offers us, who is chamomile?
Who is cannabis sativa? Who is coffee arabica? Who is nicotiana tabacum?
There are many ways to begin seeking answers to these questions, but they all begin with a foundation of prioritizing right relationship with the plant.
Jai Medina writes:
There’s not one way to be ‘right’, there is only your way of moving deeply from your center, grounded in your own truth, in harmony with all that is. The concept of rightness is about bringing yourself into alignment with the flow, knowing with humility that you are no more important than any blade of grass beneath your toes.
To be right with something is to move with a loving heart guiding all your actions, like the truest compass. When you are “right” with something, you are walking in a good way, honoring the responsibility to protect and nurture the intimate relationship that protects and nurtures you, whether that relationship is with a person, a spirit, or the earth. And of course, you have to be in right relationship with yourself, too.
~Jai Medina (you can read the rest of their essay here)
As Saturn journeys through Pisces, inviting us into altered states of consciousness, asking ourselves whether we are in right relationship with the psychoactive plants we consume, would be very appropriate for this transit.
In a February podcast episode, astrologer Adam Sommer looked at this Saturn in Pisces transit through the lens of Peter Pan and Neverland.
Peter Pan, as a mischievous boy who lives in a magical land and refuses to grow up, is quite an archetypically on point Piscean character.
A few weeks later my ears perked up when I heard Anson Seabra’s song, “Peter Pan was Right,” playing on a Spotify playlist:
Here’s an excerpt from the lyrics:
…Just a lost boy in a small town // I'm the same kid but I'm grown now // Try to make it out but I don't know how // Wish that I was young, what have I become? // Now it's late night and I'm at home // So I make friends with my shadow // And I play him all my sad, sad songs // And we don't talk but he sings along like
Ooh-ooh-oh-oh // Fairytales are not the truth // What am I supposed to do?
…Days feel like a blur now // Still feel 18, but I'm burnt out // So I daydream of what I could be // If I turn back time to a storyline where // My mom read me a tale where // A couple kids, one girl and a sailor // Met a boy in green, I thought it'd be me // But I guess that dream wasn't meant to be
…And I don't care if I never land // 'Cause the distant sky's always better than // My life right now and the place I am // So for one last time, I guess Peter Pan was right // Growing up's a waste of time
What do you hear in this song?
Escapism? Melancholy? A wistful yearning for a world where dreams come true? Disillusionment with living in a harsh place of time and “reality”?
Here’s an excerpt from another of his songs, Keep your Head up Princess:
“When she was younger, she would pretend // That her bedroom was a castle, she was fairest in the land // And she got older, and it all changed // There was no time for make believe // And all the magic slipped away // Until the light and in her eyes, it was all but gone // ‘Cause all the dreams that she had, turned out to be wrong” Lyrics of “Keep Your Head Up Princes”
Both of these songs have Pisces’ fingerprints all over them!
Well, Pisces vibes + a heavy dose of Saturnian reality checks.
Then I saw a photo of him and my astro-nerd self was like, okay, he MUST have some strong Pisces placements.
I mean, check out this mystical, dreamy, melancholy-looking tour poster:
And his Youtube channel. And his Instagram page.
I am very familiar with the “Pisces look and vibe” (being a mega Pisces myself), and he is SO PISCEAN.
Many Piscean people tend to physically resemble an otherworldly elf or fairy dressed up as a human. Even if they attempt to disguise their Pisces traits, there’s a whimsical, childlike, impish element of their nature that will eventually betray them :)
28-year-old Anson Seabra, a pop singer who is reaching stardom through TikTok fame and fairytales, was born on August 25, 1994, with Saturn in Pisces opposing his Virgo Sun, Mercury and Chiron!
Anson is now in his first Saturn return. The next couple years are going to be big for him.
Anson is so Piscean in appearance and energy, I wouldn’t be surprised if he also had Pisces rising, but nevertheless, with Saturn in Pisces, his journey will be interesting to watch as the transit progresses.
Interviewer Katrina Yang writes that Anson “brings back the magic, the tastes, and the colors to a mundane, stressful yet unfulfilling life and sees people for who they are, not just the name tag or definition the world labeled them…” (~Rising Artists Blog)
When asked about his use of fairy tale imagery in his songs, Anson answered in the most Piscean way imaginable:
“The reason I use so much fairy tale imagery in my songs is because there’s something so potent about fairy tales. It’s like a form of escapism, but it’s not really an escape because the more work I do on myself (I meditate a lot), the more I live and understand who I am, the more I understand that we sort of lost touch of the magical nature of reality because it’s really magic if you really think about it.
Life itself makes no sense, there’s so much that’s unbelievable. For most people that’s been completely lost because we’ve been locked in this nine to fives, paying our bills, whatever the new Netflix movie, etc.
The reason people like fairy tales so much is because you get a taste of this otherworldliness: what if life had no shackles? What if everything is fresh and new? What if we’re kids again? I’m so fresh with that feeling and want to give other people a taste of that fresh feeling. That’s the reason I used fairy tale imageries so much in my songs.” (~Rising Artists Blog)
Oof, you can hear the Saturn in Pisces tension so clearly here: “It’s like a form of escape, but it’s not really an escape…” - because being in touch with the magical nature of reality is an essential ingredient of a fulfilling life!
(in my opinion, anyway)
Many of Anson’s songs are so sad and seemingly full of disillusionment, and yet he says he is using fairy tales to help people reconnect with magic and the feeling that accompanies the questions: what if life had no shackles? What if everything is fresh and new? What if we’re kids again?
Anson’s music and mission gets at some of the core tensions and challenges of Saturn’s journey through Pisces.
When we are young children, we have the rest of our lives ahead of us. If we are lucky, we may not have encountered serious hardship yet. It is easy to feel like anything is possible, that the future is limitless.
I have to admit, I laugh bitterly when I read childhood journal entries of what I thought I would be doing at age 37.
Soon Saturnian reality kicks in and we begin to wrestle with the limitations that come with being mortal on planet earth.
Soon our inner monologue may end up sounding like a sad Anson Seabre song:
“‘Cause all the dreams that she had, turned out to be wrong.”
“Fairytales are not the truth. What am I supposed to do?”
“Wish that I was young, what have I become?”
“Days feel like a blur now. Still feel 18, but I'm burnt out. So I daydream of what I could be if I turn back time to a storyline.”
“And I don't care if I never land, 'cause the distant sky's always better than my life right now and the place I am.”
So how do we make the best of this Saturn in Pisces transit that Anson Seabra has a lifelong relationship with?
I read Thoreau’s Walden when I was a teenager and this was one of many quotes that got highlighted:
“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”
― Henry David Thoreau
It stuck with me over the years, and I was reminded of it again when reflecting on Saturn in Pisces.
Pisces is the castle in the air. Pisces is the imaginative dreamland where anything is possible. We need Pisces, to be able to envision beyond the known, material world (like Einstein, who was born as a famous Piscean Sun).
Saturn is the foundation that we build beneath the castle we’ve dreamed up in the air.
While the risk of disillusionment is also quite high, one of the greatest potentials and possibilities of this two + year Saturn in Pisces transit, is the opportunity to use Saturn’s practical nature to build a foundation for our wildest, most magical imaginings and visions - thus making them real and manifest.
An often overlooked experience of Saturnian natal placements
When there is a strong Saturn or major Capricorn placements (the sign ruled by Saturn) located in a natal chart, the initial assumption may be that this person experiences themselves - and is experienced by others - as being noticeably serious, mature, responsible, self-sufficient, self-disciplined, practical and hardworking in that area of life.
I would say: it depends on how old they are and where they are at with their relationship to Saturn.
I’ve written about Pisces energy being naïvely childlike, but surprisingly, many people with strong Saturn and Capricorn placements can also feel like they missed the boat to adulthood - at least in regards to the life areas of the natal chart most affected. This experience is likely most prominent prior to the first Saturn return, but it can certainly continue for years beyond that.
(I’m still on the fence about whether or not people with strong placements in Aquarius, Saturn’s other sign, have similar experiences)
Areas in the natal chart where Saturn and Capricorn land (or aspect), are areas where we may feel like we were positioned several meters back from the start line in a race. They are generally areas where we have a greater tendency to experience serious struggle and challenge, as well as fear, guilt and shame (and also eventually, success and mastery).
Honestly, in regards to these Saturnian and Capricorn themed areas of life you may find yourself frequently envying other people and wondering - WHY is this SO extra hard for me while it seems easy for everyone else!
Although this isn’t always the case because every chart is unique, I have noted that many people with very strong and visible Saturn and Capricorn placements frequently have a reputation that is decidedly not Saturnian in their early years.
They may be called: irresponsible, undisciplined, undependable, wild, a party person.
Or they may be treated as if they are vulnerable, weak, dependent, immature, and childlike.
As a result, younger people with Saturn and Cap placements who carry this kind of reputation, may be completely baffled by typical interpretations of their chart.
But I believe this is often how Saturn functions.
The Greek equivalent to Saturn, is Kronos, meaning god of Time.
As I wrote about earlier, Saturn invokes a learning process that takes time. Saturn’s placement speaks to the wisdom earned through life experiences over the course of the lifespan.
What is gained or created through a Saturnian process is substantial and meaningful, but it doesn’t mean it’s easy. In fact, the first 30+ years of living with a strong Saturn placement (or many Capricorn placements) is typically quite tough.
There is often (though not always) a pervasive feeling of being “behind” in life, and feeling the urgent need to “catch up.”
Furthermore, this isn’t always just the internal critical voice of Saturn setting unreasonably high standards; oftentimes external circumstances and people reinforce a feeling that one is incapable of surviving in this cold, harsh, reality.
Several years ago I listened to a Moon to Moon podcast episode that really highlighted this experience of Saturnian natal placements in a way that wasn’t entirely intentional, but I never forgot it.
The episode is #38: Living the F**k Out of Your Chart with Danica Boyce, hosted by astrologer Britten LaRue and recorded on August 8th, 2021.
According to the interview, Danica has a very Saturn-heavy chart with numerous planets in Capricorn and Aquarius and most notably, Saturn is right on her ascendant in Scorpio. The ascendant is the place in the chart where we find a person’s “name.”
The ascendant and the first house symbolizes one’s foundational identity markers (e.g., body, appearance, name), and it’s also the seat of independent action and where we take initiative in the world (it may also describe the birth story).
If my memory serves me, I believe Britten has a Saturn-ruled Capricorn Moon - the Moon often symbolizes one’s mother figure and early life.
Here’s an relevant excerpt from the interview:
BRITTEN: You changed your instagram handle from… it was danica.child… to danica.boyce. And you maybe said something in a story, like: “because that’s my name!” And I really resonated with it too because I’ve been one of those adult people where like, my mom and stepdad had my name in their phones… as “Baby Britten.”
There was like an energetic there about me still being kinda a child, or me being like, not fully capable of providing and taking care of myself.
DANICA: Oh my god that really resonates with me. Well like I said, I never had a real job until I was 30, right. People really didn’t think I could make it. And I think that was my reputation in my family, that like, don’t leave her alone, she’ll wander off and you’ll never see her again.
[Both discuss experiences of being here while feeling like they have one foot in another world]
DANICA: Thanks for pointing that out to me, that was a real moment hey. And I was really unconscious that that was my instagram name until I had this mentor who one day was like… she really kinda bluntly was like, “I went on your instagram - why is it danica.child? What does that mean?!”
And she’s in her 60s right, so she’s like, “Why would you have a pseudonym for the internet that makes you sound like a baby?” And I was like oh my god! This was invisible to me. [My] name’s Danica Boyce.
BRITTEN: Yes, and in that moment there began to be this shift in your whole presence, and I feel like part of how to describe what that felt like, is embodiment. Like you were landing in yourself in some way, in a new way.
Neither Saturn nor Capricorn was mentioned in this part of the conversation, but when I heard this exchange I immediately thought of Danica’s Saturn on her Ascendant and Britten’s Capricorn Moon, because these shared experiences so closely reflected what I have observed in the lives of people with similar placements.
Living the fuck out of our charts, as Britten calls it, is a journey. It takes time to learn how to integrate, express and embody the fullness of our natal charts. It takes time to learn how to claim and live out our Saturn placements on our own terms.
Closer to the end of the podcast episode Britten began describing Danica’s birth chart and giving her the opportunity to respond. The conversation continued as such:
BRITTEN: When I saw your chart the first thing I thought was: Danica has had to learn to claim her Saturn… Saturn is right there at the horizon and the horizon is a point of embodiment because it is where the sky meets the earth literally… Ideally you come into owning your Saturn. So you’re like, I’m the boss. I’m going to create the structures for this to happen… And give it these ritual containers, give it these vessels and structures that feel good to me, that’s how it’s going to be. And kinda owning that you know, instead of the self-criticality that paralyzes you.
DANICA: Yea, that’s been a really, really strong, um sometimes battle for me in my life. I think it’s one of the things that I’ve often looked outside of myself most often to be like, can someone help me with this? Like I don’t know why this is such a struggle. Like, it’s so weird. And I still struggle with it sometimes but it really eased off when I realized I could make my own structures and that knowing they were arbitrary was what made me feel okay with them. Like I just chose these, I can change them if I want to. They are just one among many options and they are in my control.
So I often expand beyond the container of the time that I set for myself to do something, but since I’m just accountable to me, there doesn’t need to be any shame or disappointment or meaning about my belonging, or reliability, encoded in that anymore… It was only recently when I stopped doing things out of obligation that I became able to employ structures in an empowered way I think, instead of trying to push against them all the time.
From my distant observation online, both Britten and Danica seem to be living the fuck out of their charts and owning their Saturn!
I really love this vulnerable exchange because of the way it speaks to the full ownership and expression of Saturn being a process that we work on over time.
Born with Saturn on her ascendant with numerous Cap and Aquarius placements, typical mainstream interpretations would likely not have painted a picture of Danica as someone who used a childlike pseudonym online and deeply struggled with self-discipline and with structuring her time and creations.
The beauty of life and astrology though, is that our natal charts are not static. We get to change and grow! It is said of Saturnian people that they “age like fine wine.”
It’s also worth noting that Saturn cycles can be more significant for Saturn and Capricorn dominant people.
As promised, I took you on a journey that began with The Nettle Dress, the number seven, and an introduction to the 29.4 year Saturn cycle. I then looked more closely at personal Saturn transits, then Saturn in Pisces themes, and finally I touched on an experience that many people with strong Saturnian placements have throughout the first few decades of life (raises hand!).
It was very satisfying to finally get all these thoughts and reflections crystalized in the form of written words! I do hope that this post shifted or deepened your relationship to the infamous sky-daddy :)
It took me a long time, but I was finally able to finish reading this post. I'm obsessed with Saturn and I appreciate learning more about it. Thank you for sharing!