The first cycle of Saturn through the natal chart, during the first twenty-nine years or so of life, is primarily based upon reaction to past conditioning, karma, parental influences, and social pressures. During that period of life, one is usually rather unconscious of who and what one is in a fundamental way. But then, at the first Saturn return, it often seems like an old debt is being discharged and many old karmic patterns and obligations are rather suddenly removed. At that time, one can experience a profoundly complex state of being; for there is simultaneously a feeling of unalterable limitation in one’s life structure and a feeling of inner freedom that in some cases is accompanied by exhilaration and inspiring joy. The sense of limitation arises from the fact that one becomes aware to a greater extent than ever before of what one’s destiny is and therefore what one has to do from here on out. No longer are there seemingly endless opportunities and alternatives; you now know that you’ve made your experiments and lived out your youthful illusions, but that from now on you have to work at fulfilling your role in a vast drama, even if you have no idea how you have come to be assigned the part you’re now playing. Your responsibilities to yourself and to others are now seen with sharpened clarity, and perhaps some of these responsibilities feel heavy and confining. But, at the same time, you can experience a profound inner freedom resulting from the realization that you are no longer bound by old obligations, fears, and inner restrictions. This feeling of unlimited inner freedom is also based on a clearer understanding of your real needs, capabilities, and creative potentialities. If you are the kind of person who has been waiting during your youth for the time when you could really find yourself and begin to express yourself with assurance and marked influence, your waiting is over. Now is the time to act, to work, and to live in the present with acceptance of your destiny and joy in the knowledge that your path is now clear. This transition period doesnt happen all at once; in fact, it may take place over a period of two to two and a half years surrounding the date of the Saturn return. But if you always felt thwarted in childhood and adolescence, feeling perhaps that you were just serving time and having to endure things that were neither fulfilling nor controllable, you could at this time mobilize your energies with great power, ambition, and even a sense of relief that your waiting is over and that now you can begin to mold your own life with some degree of awareness. As Grant Lewi put it in Astrology for the Millions, you stand freed, when this transit is past, of many erstwhile inner restrictions. You will have swept your nature clean of dead wood and cleared the decks for action that now proceeds less impeded by internal complexes and personal difficulties. You will, in short, have matured-'put away childish things’- and you will be ready to take your place in the world as an adult.
Saturn’s transit of his own place is the most important point at which free will operates in the life, untrammeled and as free of circumstances as it ever will be. You will not stand so free again. The choices you make are yours: make them wisely, for here it is that your free will in a very real sense forges your fate for a long time to come, if not indeed for the rest of your life.
Hence, if one confronts the first Saturn return with great courage and honesty, then during Saturn’s second 29-year cycle one is more conscious, more able to initiate action without being inhibited by fear and anxiety, and more capable of taking responsibility for oneself and one’s experiences. If one successfully tunes in on his or her true destiny as an individual soul during this period, one can thereafter live more in the present, with the greater patience gained from having submitted to his or her inner law with full awareness and acceptance. During this time, one’s potential for worldly success and authority are often consolidated in some direct way, and one is given specific insights about the role one is to play in the world from that point on. Saturn’s natal house and the natal house which is ruled by Saturn are usually areas of life that are further defined with deepened understanding at this time. And there are usually noticeable physical changes, as would be expected since Saturn has such an affinity for material existence. Not only are there often physical signs of age manifesting as health problems that make one realize his or her physical limitations, but also the individual’s center of gravity (Saturn!) shifts in such a way that one begins to notice that he has a deeper reservoir of energy available to him. The person’s general energy level may be noticeably less than when he was in his early or mid-twenties, but the energy available now is more concentrated, not so scattered, and it is a more reliable and steady sort of energy flow. The center of gravity shifts from the head, neck, and chest areas to the pelvis and abdomen. What was just in the person’s head before becomes a more integral part of the entire body, i.e., of his real life experience. Hence, the person finds that he doesn’t need to use so much energy as when he was younger. The energy is naturally conserved and steadied, and it is up to the individual person to learn how to live with and utilize this new mode of energy flow.
Astrology, Karma & Transformation: The Inner Dimensions of the Birth Chart [Paperback]. Stephen Arroyo. STEPHEN ARROYO’s eight books have made him one of the best-selling authors of modern astrology books worldwide.
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