Saturn Stations Retrograde

Saturday, May 9, 2020.  Saturn turns retrograde.  This week three planets turn retrograde.  The first is Saturn which turns retrograde at 1.57 ° Aquarius on May 11, followed by Venus at 21.50° Gemini on May 13 and finally Jupiter at 27.15° Capricorn on May 14. 

Let’s focus on Saturn.  Saturn is the lord of karma and rules how we structure our life.  It’s about taking personal responsibility towards achievement, accomplishment and building security in the material world.  It represents the legacy we leave on the planet.  His style is through honest and diligent hard work and effort.  He pushes us to strive towards climbing the ladder of success through hard work, focus, discipline and by making mistakes.  Mistakes are a great teacher that humbles and brings us to our knees.  Some buckle under the fear and pressure while others overcompensate and use the lessons of Saturn to grow and achieve.  His methods are often through blocks, delays, repression, oppression and depression but his ultimate goal is to make us better people by highlighting what is wrong in our life and focusing on self-improvement so that we become stronger, more accomplished and professional.  He puts pressure on us in the sign and area of life that demands our attention.  He rewards after the lessons are learned and worked through or he brings failure.  The failure usually occurs if we are not putting in the proper effort, or that which we think we need is something that no longer aids our growth.  If that’s the case then Saturn takes it away because there is a better way even if you disagree.  That’s when he causes the most pain. 

He demands honesty and doesn’t like short cuts.  He doesn’t reward those looking for the easy way out or that cheat, lie or break the law.  He always makes us initially focus on what’s wrong in order to improve the issues at hand.  He presents us with challenges and hurdles.  He’s about endings and limitations.  An old way of life has to end, break or alter in order for the structures as dictated by the sign, house or planetary aspects to improve.   

Saturn entered Aquarius at the Spring equinox and that coincided with the restrictions to our freedom and independence and the blocks put on society by instilling the new rule of law of social distancing.  Aquarius is about society and the infrastructures that keep society running smoothly.  Saturn brought out all the flaws in our society with a glaring and harsh light.  The instrument used to show us that we need a huge humanitarian shift is the Covid-10 pandemic. 

The retrograde has a lot to do with revisiting an old way of doing things.  We’ve learned that our social interaction has drastically been stifled and now we slowly and cautiously are trying to reestablish some familiar routine and structure by going back to the old ways, while being consciously aware that there are new rules that must be adapted.  Astrology is a beautiful tool for timing and giving us the weather forecast.  What is going on this week is the country trying to go back to business as usual by opening up.  The retrograde indicates that we want to go back to the old way of doing things and reopen the economy.  Saturn, along with Jupiter, rule the principle of constriction and expansion, hence they are the two planets that rule the economy and as Jupiter turns retrograde later this week these two titans will play a balancing act in trying to get the economy slowly growing again. 

This social and economic shift is going to be even more extreme as Saturn retrogrades back into the sign of Capricorn on July 1st.  The first wave of reopening is now, with an even bigger wave on July 1.  What we don’t want to do on this retrograde is to become complacent.  Just because things seem to be getting better doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be concerned any longer.  The worst thing we can do is have a false sense of security, especially if things seem to be calming down.  This brings me to the second use of this retrograde.  Saturn’s purpose is to make sure that structures and infrastructures are in place and fortified, made stronger and buttressed so that we are better prepared for a second wave once he turns direct on September 29 and more importantly re-enters Aquarius on December 17.  There’s an enormous amount of internal work that needs to done. 

Saturn in Aquarius has made us painfully aware that we need to progress to a new phase in society.  There is a revolution afoot no matter who you ask even though everyone has a distinct view on what the revolution is.  For some the revolution is about upholding the traditions of past that have been in place for centuries while for others it’s about smashing those broken traditions that don’t serve society as a whole while establishing new more innovative and progressive principles.  It’s never one or the other.  Saturn always demands a compromise. 
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What you can use Saturn for personally is to reexamine the area of your life that must be restructured in order to stay viable and relevant during the evolutionary change affecting society.  Do not become complacent.  Be a parent to yourself by taking responsibility to implement the necessary changes and restrictions so that you’re prepared in the fall and winter when you’ll have to put new plans into action.  The success of the action you take later this year is highly dependent on how you use the retrograde to restructure, re-examine, redevelop and reconsider what your long term goals are.  The practical goal for everyone should be towards trying to remain afloat by building a new daily routine.  Our daily routine keeps us in line and on track.  The train tracks need to be readjusted, realigned and newly laid down.  We know what the lessons are and now each of us has to do our homework.  It’s not easy and some have it much harder than others.  Not everything is fixable.  For many there will be great pain and suffering.  Sometimes Saturn demands a complete ending before the new beginning, and sometimes it’s about fixing and making adjustments to what’s already in place.  You have a pretty good idea of which it is in your life.  The retrograde will help you become more aware of whether you need to fix and make adjustments or completely start all over.  We have 5 months to do our homework and the final exam comes after that time.   Will your report card show that you get an A, B, C or F?  Saturn is Father Time and the clock is being reset.  Listen to your personal internal clock; rewind and reset it accordingly.