Saturn in Sagittarius

Saturn first entered Sagittarius on Christmas of 2014, only to retrograde back into Scorpio for most of 2015.  The first Sun-Saturn conjunction in Sagittarius happened in November of 2015, beginning a cycle of aspects between the Sun and Saturn, featuring powerful connections with Neptune and Venus.

The first Sun-Saturn conjunction at 7 Sagittarius happened in exact square to Neptune at 7 Pisces. Saturn and the Sun are both approaching Neptune, making it a 3rd quarter square. The relationship between Saturn and Neptune feels integral to the process of filtering, processing, and interpreting the unfathomable amount of information that our senses are bombarded with constantly.  Since the last Saturn-Neptune conjunction in 1989, technology has dramatically altered the way humans receive information, and our brains now function differently than they ever have before in the history of human consciousness.  Over the next 10 years Saturn will grow closer to Neptune and their next series of conjunctions is epic.  In the years 2024-2026 they traverse through Pisces together, never exact conjunct, finally coming together at the Aries point, then both retrograde back into Pisces, never exact conjunct in Pisces, and then AGAIN finally exacting conjunction at the Aries point.  There hasn’t been a Saturn-Neptune conjunction this close to Zero Aries in thousands of years.  That is what we are building towards.  An era of human consciousness unlike anything the human race has ever known.

But for now, back to 2015.

The first New Moon in Sagittarius since Saturn’s ingress was upstaged by Venus in Scorpio and her dramatic trine to Neptune, a truly spotlight-grabbing move befitting the Sovereign Queen of Leo.  I cannot overstate her importance to this Sun-Saturn cycle…

 

…With every Sun-Saturn cycle, the first quarter square occurs close to Saturn station retrograde, and the third quarter square occurs close to Saturn station direct.  In this cycle, Venus squares Saturn exactly at both retrograde stations, replacing the role played by the Sun at the first and third quarter squares.

The first quarter square from the Sun in Pisces to Saturn in Sagittarius formed a T-square to Jupiter in Virgo.  Pluto was trine Jupiter and sextile the Sun. When Saturn stationed retrograde a few weeks later, Venus had literally taken the Sun’s place: square Saturn, opposite Jupiter, and sextile Pluto.  We will see something similar for the third quarter square.  But before that let’s take a look at the astonishing halfway point of this cycle- June 2nd, 2016

 

When the Sun was opposite Saturn on June 2nd, they formed a Grand Mutable Square with gas giants Jupiter and Neptune.  Jupiter had recently stationed direct and was making his third and final contacts with Neptune and the lunar nodes- separating from opposition to Neptune, and building to the third and final conjunction with the north node in Virgo.   At the exact moment of Saturn’s solar opposition, the Moon is at 17 Taurus, conjunct Mercury and in grand trine with Pluto 17 Capricorn and the north node 17 Virgo.

But once again, Venus steals the show two days later with her superior solar conjunction during the Gemini New Moon.  Sun Moon and Venus 14 Gemini, in the Grand Mutable Square with Saturn, Neptune, and Jupiter.

 

When the Sun was conjunct Saturn last November, Saturn and Neptune were exact square 7 Sagittarius to 7 Pisces.  During the Sun’s opposition to Saturn, Saturn and Neptune are exact square once again, 12 Sagittarius to 12 Pisces.

Which brings us to the current moment:  Saturn station direct T-square to the lunar nodes, in an incredible conjunction with Mars at 9 Sagittarius, the degree of fixed star Antares.  For a few nights around August 13th, the Moon, Mars, Saturn and Antares can be seen together in the evening- if you have clear skies, don’t miss it.

Back in March when Saturn stationed retrograde, Venus was in Pisces conjunct Neptune, with a sextile to Pluto in Capricorn.  Now that Saturn is stationing direct, Venus is in Virgo, opposite Neptune, with a sextile to Lilith in Scorpio.  Pluto, ruler of Scorpio, brings what we most commonly think of as destruction, elimination, annihilation.  Lilith is carries a destructive energy also (she feels at home in Scorpio) (Plutonic, Kali) destruction strictly within the context of creation- When a baby is born, no one ever considers that the pregnancy was destroyed.  I feel that Lilith’s ability to unite splits is her defining characteristic.  Just as labor “destroys” the single form of a mother carrying fetus, Lilith’s destruction creates a new unity, the bond that forms between mother and newborn.  To follow this analogy, Pluto’s destruction is like an abortion.

So, in November with Sun conjunct Saturn, the seeds were planted for our current growth cycle of increasing maturity, in the way that only Saturn can chisel maturity out of you, forcing you to choose the degree to which you will conform to the limitations of your historical era and generation, forcing you to learn about the scope of your mental/physical/social abilities, and creating scenarios that evolve karma along the Saturnian “dad issues”(family of origin/ancestral trauma, roadblocks to independence, responsibility with money/pentacles)…  In March, first Sun square Saturn, the main problems arose leading to being forced to give something up, Pluto-annihalation-style.  Something had to go.  We might have been glad to give it up but there wasn’t another choice anyway.  In June, with the grand mutable square/Sun opposite Saturn, something new had already come to blossom in the new space.  But it was a frustrating summer, due in part to Mars retrograde from Sagittarius to Scorpio.  Now, in August, Mars is in direct motion and again moving forward through Sagittarius, carrying a powerful momentum as he charges towards Saturn,  who stations direct on August 13th, square the lunar nodes, with Venus opposite Neptune conjunct the nodes.  We have had ample time to thoroughly examine the things that held us back all summer, and hopefully we have identified some of our self-delusions and self-limiting behaviors that have prevented us from exploring the full potential of this new level we’ve reached.  There are two ways that Saturn can force us to face our fears during station direct: by forcing us to face our limitations, or by daring us to transcend what we falsely believe our limitations to be, which in many cases is just as painful of a lesson.  Does it have to get worse before it gets better?  Do we know that things could be better than they are, but we’re afraid of what will happen if we allow it to get worse first?  Lilith sextile Venus on the north node is the magic wand to identify and release whatever is standing in the way of optimizing our new environment to allow for maximum flourishing of self, in a practical pentacles way as well as emotionally.

September 1st, the Sun’s third square to Saturn is lit up by the Virgo New Moon Solar Eclipse only hours before, as the Moon and Sun transit the north node, opposite Neptune on the south node, T-square to Saturn conjunct Antares.  Lilith and Juno are holding steady in their trine to Neptune, sextile the Sun.  In the days previous to the solar eclipse/Sun square Saturn, Venus moved on from her place in the T-square and entered her home sign of Libra, Mercury stationed retrograde conjunct Jupiter, and Mars transited conjunct Antares/Saturn and T-square to the lunar nodes.  These are major events for all three personal planets to have at the same time, to be followed so closely by the synchronicity of an eclipse of the Sun exactly during the third Sun-Saturn square- this will be an alarming energy shift for those who are not prepared.  It will be a breath of fresh air for those who have done the work, faced the fears, grown up a little, and are ready to move on.  This is where we will see the fruits of manifestation, for better or for worse, and the ripples will ring out throughout 2017.

 

 

The next Sun-Saturn cycle begins with their next conjunction on December 10th.  With some gray area, the ending of this cycle falls naturally on December 13th, with the Gemini Full Moon- which is the culmination of the lunar cycle that began with the Gemini New Moon during Sun opposite Saturn. We see the same familiar configuration- T-square with trine and sextile- but with different players- Chiron has taken Saturn’s place as the draw-weight of the T-square, and Uranus/Eris/Ceres redux* takes the supportive role played by Pluto in the first half of the cycle, and then by Lilith in the second half.

*Ceres transited conjunct Uranus and Eris shortly after their once-in-a-lifetime conjunction exacted in June, and she goes on into Taurus before retrograding back into Aries and joining them again- only now, all three are retrograde.

Read more about Uranus and Eris from Planet Waves

Read more about Ceres from Darkstar Astrology

I am deeply reminded of the Taurus full moon of October 2012- Sun conjunct Saturn in Scorpio, trine Chiron in Pisces and Ceres in Cancer, also aspecting Uranus and Lilith. Looking back on that full moon… that was the end of the war.  I had successfully done the work to open up all the places inside me I’d spent my whole life desperately trying to hide, and the demons had all come out, and did every bit of damage that they could… and after I had faced them down and stood my ground… they were gone.  I remember standing under the Sun, feeling Saturn behind it, feeling the full moon reflecting Saturn… and I can still feel the delirious psychic dizziness, the feeling of being surrounded by enemies and then suddenly alone.

The battle of 2016 is completely different than the battle of 2012, but I draw the comparison because this looks like it has the power to be such a full moon.  Use these charts to reflect on your experiences this year, and stay focused on what is to come.