The Saturn Cycle & Saturn Return

The Saturn cycle, the Saturn return, Saturn in Aries horoscopes for the rising signs, AND what to expect based on your natal Saturn position.

Photo by SIMON LEE on Unsplash

Many of our life cycles can be traced back to Saturn and the way he moves around our chart. Have you ever heard the saying “the seven-year itch?” Well, fun fact: that saying comes from the Saturn cycle!

ps - I’m re-sharing this old (revamped) blog post in conjunction with the podcast episode I did with The Intuitive Creative! The episode is out on April 30th and this post will help break down some of what I talk about with Christina :)

If you’re at all familiar with astrology, you know that Saturn takes roughly 29.5 years to get around the zodiac, and the ages 29 and 58 are associated with the big and scary Saturn return! That said, it’s also important to pay attention to what Saturn is doing during those 29.5 years as well.

The Saturn cycle can be broken into four major sections of seven-year increments (yep, theres that seven-year piece again!) of time where the 'story' or your ‘Saturn lesson’ tends to make itself known. The cycle starts when you are born; let's say that your Saturn falls at 0° Pisces. The first notable part of this cycle takes place roughly seven years later, when Saturn gets to 0º Gemini, making a square (90º aspect) to your natal Saturn at 0º Pisces. The second part of the cycle takes place seven years after this (so, age 14) when Saturn gets to 0º Virgo, making an opposition to your natal Saturn at 0º Pisces. Seven years after that, at age 21, Saturn makes the second square to your natal Saturn when it gets to 0º Sagittarius. Lastly, at age 29.5ish, Saturn returns back to 0º Pisces, known as a Saturn Return, where it has finally completed an entire lap around your chart. This cycle can be followed every seven years for the rest of your life! (I know the math isn’t entirely exact so it can be helpful to look up these time periods on your own. I suggest astro.com for this! You also can reference older posts of mine that break down how to track transits and what the different aspects mean like this one.)

These time periods tend to be notable within the Saturn cycle because of the nature of the aspects Saturn is making to your natal Saturn. Squares and oppositions are hard aspects and tend to feel tense and uncomfortable. These aspects are challenging us in some way, usually in regards to the major lesson Saturn is trying to teach us throughout the overall cycle.

Saturn is the planet of discipline, structure, and hard work but he also governs our shame, guilt, sadness, loneliness, and time. Saturn often gets overly associated with being the strict grandpa who clings to tradition but there is so much more that Saturn can illuminate within our lives. Saturn asks us to dig deep into the trenches of our psyche and reflects to us the ways in which we are keeping ourselves small. Often this is reflected to us through our experiences. These experiences give us a tangible, external understanding of what is being reflected to us but it’s up to us to internalize it and contemplate how we can move forward.

Looking at an example… I have a client who has made major relationship shifts (marriages, divorces, etc.) during each part of the Saturn cycle. Every seven years, there is a new development involving their intimate relationships and the space that they take up within these relationships. At each point (tracing all the way back to the first Saturn opposition at age 14, they are in their 50s now) they have made major commitments and pivotal shifts that have altered the course of their life. Some of these ‘checkpoints’ involved commitments and shifts that they made but others involved shifts that were made for them. Sometimes when we are ‘ignoring’ (intentionally or not) the lesson and unable to step outside of the box we’re keeping ourselves in the planets tend to make those decisions for us. For example, if you’re in a relationship that you know you don’t want to stay in but stay anyway for the sake of stability (a very Saturn word) that person might end up cheating on you and leaving you for someone else. The decision was made for you (or the volume was just turned up on the need to leave the relationship) because you avoided making it yourself. Another example — if you’re in a job that you hate but are too scared (remember Saturn governs our fear) to leave - it’s possible the company makes some major budget cuts and your position is the first to go. Identifying and becoming aware of these patterns and these lessons that Saturn is handing us gives us the opportunity to work with him rather than against him. If you know that every major ‘check point’ has involved your relationships, your identity, your career, etc. you can get ahead of these tough times and start to honestly acknowledge the work before it’s reflected to you through your environment. Saturn tends to make these lessons more and more apparent the more you ignore them. If you are able to acknowledge your growth areas, Saturn rewards us, then these major time periods within our lives tend to be ‘easier.’ Saturn is the planet of hard work and rewards us when he sees us engaging in it.

It will also be important to look at the house that Saturn is in as well as any planets Saturn is making aspects to. In my own birth chart Saturn is making an opposition to Venus and a square to Mars. These are not easy aspects, and I know that every time Saturn is transited both of these planets will be transited too. That said, my Saturn is also making trines to both Mercury and Jupiter, which will also be transited and will help lighten the load as this is a much easier aspect. Pay attention to the story that your Saturn is creating through it’s aspects and house placements as these themes will be apparent within these major check points as well.

Look into these ages and break down the cycle for yourself. When you look back at these times of Saturn squares and oppositions, do you notice any themes that stand out? Maybe there were major lessons about money, relationships, or your career. Lean into these challenges and open yourself up to the opportunity that comes with them as much as you can.

If you find yourself in a Saturn transit like I talked about here, or maybe you have a cardinal placement (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn) that will be transited by Saturn in Aries that you want to discuss further - I offer readings for major Saturn transits! You can read more about that here!

In addition to this information on the Saturn cycle I also wanted to include some info on Saturn moving into Aries! Let’s look at where Saturn in Aries will fall in your chart based on your rising sign AND what you can expect from Saturn in Aries based on where your own natal Saturn is. This means you can read for your rising sign (as this will tell you what house is activated) and the sign that your Saturn falls in (as this will tell you what aspect Saturn in Aries is making to your natal Saturn and how it might manifest).

Aries