Squares to Saturn + Symbolic Substitution as a Astro-Remediation Technique
As we face down multiple Saturn transits this week, what’s the next practical micro-step you can take toward making your dream a reality?
From November 22 - 27th (Wed-Mon), the Sun, Mars and Ceres are taking us out of Scorpio’s lair… leaving it basically empty until Venus enters Scorpio on December 4th.
As I mentioned in last week’s post, all three immediately slam into Saturn in Pisces as soon as they enter Sagittarius. Therefore, Saturnian themes dominate this week, through the weekend, up until around the time of the Full Moon at 4 degrees Gemini on November 27th.
A series of Saturn squares could mean encountering:
…rejection and a whole lot of “no”; challenges with authority figures and “rules,” or red tape of all kinds; religious and spiritual disagreements; increased awareness (and anxiety) of time passing (and aging processes); unavoidable tough decisions and confrontations; obstacles and speed bumps that require patience; limited resources or capacity forcing compromises and prioritizing; commitments and responsibilities that necessitate closing the door on certain opportunities; redefining, reassessing; the need for focused, tedious work; a discouraging uphill battle; facing the consequences of prior choices and actions; depressive, melancholy tendencies and low vitality; various types of “separations” (such as parting ways with someone or contending with the distance of space or time); acute clarity around a difficult matter.
Saturn transits always sound like such a good time, right?!
I’m feeling into these approaching squares in multiple ways. For example, my remaining parent has been deep in the process of will and estate planning throughout Scorpio Season (very apropo). The Saturn squares likely signify more critical decisions around this process.
In the last few weeks I’ve noticed my 15-year-old dog’s health continue to decline further and we are headed to the vet tomorrow (Nov 23rd) as the Sun squares Saturn, to finally get blood work done and find out if there’s any underlying issues.
As I mentioned before, however, Saturn’s practical and pragmatic approach could also appear as bringing beneficial and welcome tangible form and function to a new reality that has suddenly appeared or been seeded throughout the eclipse shake-up and Scorpio Season.
It may manifest as a commitment to press forward with what was initiated earlier in this lunation cycle.
The clarity and decisiveness these multiple squares may bring could be harsh, yes, but also could bring distinct relief.
Both Sag and Pisces are signs of dreams and dreamers, ruled by Jupiter (who’s currently in earthy Taurus).
As we face down multiple Saturn transits this week, what’s the next practical micro-step you can take toward making your dream a reality?
How might we lean into the best of Saturn by cultivating integrity, endurance, patience, and grounded wisdom?
(or, especially if you have thanksgiving plans with family this weekend, how might working with Saturn’s boundaries be helpful?)
That brings me to the next thing I want to talk about which is…
Symbolic Substitution: An Astro-Remedial Technique
As astrological magic has increased in popularity in recent years, so too, has the concept of astrological remediation.
A book on this topic that I find myself returning to repeatedly, is titled Astrological Remediation: A Guide for the Modern Practitioner, by Andrea L. Gehrz (2012).
Gehrz defines astrological remediation as “the use of any method necessary to heal and soothe existing problems, as indicated within the chart. This includes problems that have existed from birth, or have come in through the moving vibrations of the traveling planets.”
Astrological remediation can be very magical in nature - such as using a specially consecrated talisman to protect oneself from the worst effects of challenging transits or difficult natal placements.
But astrological remediation can also be very practical in a mundane kind of way.
For example, you notice a big Mars transit on the horizon?
Perhaps you schedule a week of intense work-outs to channel that energy that wants to move through the body.
Or maybe you set an intention to work with Mars-ruled cayenne pepper throughout that period, calling on the wisdom of the plant to help you navigate all that energetic heat - as I just did:
Gehrz calls this strategy of astrological remediation, symbolic substitution:
“Symbolic substitution allows energetic neutralization, deflection, transfer, absorption, etc., to happen through worldly activities that naturally satisfy the soul-needs. Certain un-channeled needs might cause unwanted behaviors or physical symptoms…. part of the process is to find activities and outlets into which the problem-causing vibrations can most gloriously be channeled. By finding an apt place to pour one’s abundant energies or honour one’s constricted vibes, we create a veritable landscape upon which to become a more centered, productive, and happy version of ourselves.”
“[…] The basic premise behind symbolic substitution is the substitution of hard planetary energies with easier or more fruitful expressions of the vibrations. We might best approach this topic with a metaphor. Suppose there is a river that is gushing strongly right into the foundation of our house. This will of course deteriorate the structure under which we live.
Symbolic substitution would be the act of re-routing this river so that its inherent power can do some good work in our life, as opposed to causing stress and strain. While it might require a bit of effort and time to re-route the river, the benefit in the end will be obvious.” (~Astrological Remediation: A guide for the Modern Practitioner, by Andrea L. Gehrz)
To encourage productive brainstorming on how you might use symbolic substitution to remediate the potentially unwanted effects of these Saturn squares (if you so desire), I’m going to share a couple of my recent experiments.
One of them I already wrote about - i.e., the “44 days of Instagram posts” that I challenged myself to do during Venus’ retrograde journey in Leo to intentionally channel the energy of a transit that has previously been extremely difficult for me.
I was rather apprehensive as we neared the recent lunar eclipse in Taurus on October 28th/29th combined with a Mars-Mercury conjunction in Scorpio opposing Jupiter. It looked quite combustible.
As we neared this powerful weekend I received a course promo from Carolyn Elliot’s husband via her email list.
Something I admire about Carolyn - and I guess her husband here too - is their ability to take various truths of occult studies, wisdom traditions, and basic self-development strategies, and make them extra spicy and sexy.
We probably all know that behavioral change and habit formation often starts with committing to one micro-step after another; micro enough that you’ll follow through. Gradually those micro steps build momentum and lead to significant behavioral change (potentially).
In their discussion of magick and manifestation and strengthening the power of one’s will, they expressed the importance of following through on commitments in this way:
This one mistake is all-too-easy to slip into, and it kills your chance of getting the results you want: Violating the Integrity of Your Word.
Magick is essentially a conversation with The Universe, with the Gods, with your Holy Guardian Angel -- with whatever-it is-you-want-to-call-it that's greater than you and makes all things possible.
Whenever you say you are going to do something and you don’t... you start to look kinda shady in the eyes of these greater forces, and that - straight up - weakens your magickal influence with said forces.
The importance of this cannot be overstated: Your Word is the most powerful tool for manifestation and results magick. When you Violate the Integrity of Your Word, the spell you are casting is:
“My Word is not my Truth. What I say I want to do or that I will do has no bearing on what I *actually* want or will."At its deepest level, violating one's own Word is a form of self-deception and self-abuse... and makes it damn hard for the forces of the universe to know what you're actually asking for. So, an important question arises: "How do I stop casting the spell of broken promises to myself?" ~ David Lovewell and Rory Matthews for True North
I’ve been neck-deep in self-development literature and strategies for years, but the languaging here was like a gut punch (probably harsh for some, but I loved it).
“Oh my god, I don’t want to violate the integrity of my word,” I thought to myself.
“I don’t want to lose the trust of the Universe for future collaboration projects!”
Now getting back to the Mars-Mercury conjunction in Scorpio I was anticipating during upcoming the eclipse weekend…
Mars is willpower and action, Mercury is words, and Scorpio is the space where powerful magical workings occur (also a place where concepts such as “trust” and the “violation of trust” are extremely resonant).
Mercury and Mars were conjoining while opposite Jupiter, which is associated with faith, belief, manifestation, and big truths.
The promo email continued:
Imagine the power of knowing “If I say I will create or achieve this, it will happen. Because it always does.”
Can you feel the unstoppable force, the raging bonfire of Will within that self-belief? You stoke the inferno of your Will when your Word unwaveringly aligns with your innermost Truth.
[…] The point is, you must give your Word to things - even if they are just small tasks - that you're certain you can and will do... and then f*in' do them. In this way, your words cease to be empty gushes of bullshit; they become prophetic statements directing reality.
Magic = Inner Truth -> Will -> Word -> Action -> External Truth
Take a moment right now to choose one simple, tiny thing that you know that you can and will do today. ~ David Lovewell and Rory Matthews for True North
In addition to the transits I wanted to work with intentionally, I have a natal chart that vibrates strongly with all of the word choices used in this promo email.
I was like, DAMN.
I must honour the integrity of my Word - always and forever!
And, leaning into the transit at hand, redirecting the vibrations of Mars, Mercury and Jupiter, I began intentionally using some of this language framing to set a daily goal that I would absolutely follow through on.
See, Mars and Mercury conjoining in Scorpio has the potential to be very conflict prone, reactionary, and cruel with words. It could also have been expressed as intrusive, boundary-breaking communication.
I did not want this.
In addition to setting daily goals and promising myself that I would not violate (Mars) the integrity of my word (Mercury), I did some brainstorming on the foundational symbolism of Mars and Mercury to devise an additional plan of remedial symbolic substitution.
While Mercury is the communicator and the language artist, Mars is sharp and aggressive by nature.
Mars cuts, it breaks, it severs, it separates, it pokes, it punctures, it penetrates, it intrudes.
That weekend (the weekend of October 28/29th, 2023), these kinds of headlines appeared…
While this could also be seen through the lens of the eclipse that weekend (i.e., the Moon, traditionally a representation of “the people”, being eclipsed and in the dark), this is also an expression of the symbolism of Mars and Mercury combining in the very worst kind of way.
No one can know for sure why and how life on earth symbolically resonates with the movements of the planets - or which one comes first and which one is the reflection or the effect… or are they a simultaneous synchronistic unfolding, as above so below? I do believe, however, that the astrology of any moment has the potential to influence a human-caused situation or tendency, and amplify or exacerbate it at least.
I have been thinking a great deal of how astrological remediation could be practiced on a broader scale as I lean more and more into our potential for agency under the transiting skies and opportunities for collaboration with the cosmos (like, astrological remediation strategies for activism?!). I hope to write more on this in the future.
On a personal level, I decided to intentionally direct the incoming energy by spending Sunday morning cutting with scissors (Mars) words (Mercury) out of old magazines and gluing them on a background to make a type of vision board for myself and the world (Jupiter loves visioning the future and bringing smaller pieces together to form the big picture).
There were other symbolic redirects I engaged with that weekend too, but they are too deeply Scorpionic to share publicly :)
So did it work?
Of course I will never know what would have happened if I had not made all these intentional plans for symbolic substitution, but honestly, I had a wonderful, spiritually rejuvenating weekend (October 28/29th).
Who knows, maybe without any intentional effort what would have naturally unfolded would have been just perfect as well. But, in this case, I had the time and space to step into more agency and it felt empowering to work with the cosmos this way.
Other ideas I came up with for this transit that I didn’t get to try, included: making homemade red botanical writing ink with something like raspberries; sewing words onto cloth with a needle; getting a word-based tattoo; and using powerful words in protection spells.
So, what about these upcoming Saturn Squares?
The Sun perfects its square to Saturn in the early AM (AST) on November 23rd, Mars perfects its square to Saturn on November 25th, and Ceres (the archetypal mother) squares Saturn on November 27th.
For Mars-Saturn hard aspects, for example, Andrea Gehrz suggests physical outlets or treatments (like acupuncture) to address the heat and energy of Mars that can feel constricted and blocked by Saturn, in order to avoid chronic inflammatory problems and tight muscles. Gehrz also suggests “angry and dark, yet soothing music,” intentional tedious work of one’s choosing (if possible), and running a marathon.
There’s so many possibilities.
Aside from dealing with what is already on route for me (such as taking my anxious senior dog to get blood work), I’m seriously considering what my personal answers might be to the questions I posed at the beginning of this post:
As we face down multiple Saturn transits this week, what’s the next practical micro-step you can take toward making your dream a reality?
How might we lean into the best of Saturn by cultivating integrity, endurance, patience, and grounded wisdom?
What about you?