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What Is A Saturn Return?

Much like the dreaded Mercury Retrograde, you may have heard whispers of something called the Saturn Return, so what does it mean and how will it affect you?

A Saturn Return is when Saturn returns to the exact same point it was at when you were born (which you can find in your Natal Chart, the House it is in will also give you further insights). As it takes approximately 29.5 years for it to perform a full orbit, and it returns to a sign every 27-29 years, this coincides right around the time when you may be going through some major life, philosophical, and existential questions as you begin to say goodbye to your 20s and hello to your 30s. A second Return will happen when we’re in our lates 50s and 80s but these are often much less drastic as you will have already experienced it.

Transitioning into your 30s often represents a pivotal time in people’s lives and is only intensified by your Saturn Return. As it takes about three years for a Saturn transit through a Zodiac Sign, your Saturn Return is said to last the whole 3 years it is in that sign, usually being particularly powerful around the time it is exactly conjunct (aligned) with your Natal Saturn. Read our Beginner’s Guide To Astrology for more information on the planets.

You can expect to experience some deep transformations and a feeling of foundations literally crumbling at your feet as the world as you knew it, and your own perceptions of yourself, seemingly fall apart. This is good. It creates space for that which was not solidly built on lasting ground to be swept away and create space for your authentic self. You can really define your values in life during this time and put into perspective what does, or doesn’t, matter to you.

Things that used to bring you joy or were a big part of your identity may no longer resonate. Your ideals may shift and your perceptions of what is a truly vibrant way of living may be completely redefined. Basically, you will be experiencing your astrological coming-of-age.

This is a wonderfully fertile time for exploring the depths of your being and discovering what it is that gives you an honest and deep contentment. What lights you up from the inside out, how is your authentic self waiting to come out from the shadows and filter in through the cracks you are creating? Embrace it all. Learn and un-learn everything you previously thought you knew. Expand, contract, then expand again, and feel all the feels. Allow yourself plenty of time to experiment, play, rest, and come home back to yourself. Above all, be gentle and patient with yourself, people are more energetically sensitive than others and so you may be more affected. Or you may sail through completely easy breezy untouched, that’s fine too.

Once you are out of your Saturn Return you should feel more at ease and in your body than ever before, a true reflective embodiment of your soul’s essence in its purity. You could find greater clarity, direction, purpose, and meaning in your life and journey. However, we are still always in constant flux and so the work of evolution is by no means over once you’ve completed your Saturn Return!

To truly maximise the potential of your Saturn Return, you can spend more time in contemplation, meditation, and exploration of your inner self. Journal, pull some Tarot Cards, take up Kundalini Yoga, spend more time in nature, heal past wounds, and create your own nourishing rituals that best serve you. It’s a time of rich growth and one that can bear abundantly ripe fruits for the taking if you surrender, go with the flow of the Universe, and allow what is supposed to come up to come up.

For the last couple of years from December 19th 2017 - December 17th 2020, Saturn has been in the Earth sign Capricorn. This means that anyone who was born between February 13th 1988 and February 6th 1991 congratulations, you made it through your first Saturn Return. In December 2020, just a couple of days before the Winter Solstice and Great Conjunction which hold a whole host of their own energies, not least 2 weeks after a Solar Eclipse, Saturn will exit Capricorn and enter into the Air sign of Aquarius. Many say this marks the official beginning of the Age of Aquarius and a new dawn of technological, social, and spiritual advancements.

And so, anyone who was born between the years of 1991-1993, congratulations, your ride is about to start (if you were born outside of these dates you can check out your Saturn Return here).

Read on for more information!

Saturn Return In Capricorn

I had my Saturn Return in Capricorn, and while I didn’t know it at the time, I certainly felt it! I only learnt what a Saturn Return was at the beginning of 2020 (thanks to my foray into astrology with the beautiful Magic of I Astrological Planner), and immediately SO many things clicked for me. Check out my post on The 30 Most Important Life Lessons I Learnt Before Age 30 for some more insight!

Saturn and Capricorn are both a planet and Zodiac Sign of hard work and tough love, and they’re certainly going out with a bang this year! Saturn also represents government, authority, rules, regulations, and organisation. It’s known as the Grandfather of the Zodiac, and traditionally as a “malefic” planet because of its tendency to slow things down and stall them. While this may not be the most fun, it is at times absolutely necessary for moving forward on lasting, stable ground. This is also reflected in 2020 being a numerological year 4 which represents foundations. Capricorn is the natural domicile (home) of Saturn and as such also governs order, stability, responsibilities, duty, and order. Together, these two amplify the other’s characteristics. These last few years may have had you buckling down on reshaping what you thought you wanted out of a profession and looking more towards a vocation instead and starting to build the framework for a truly durable and stable future by planting the seeds for what you want out of life.

Generally, those with Saturn in Capricorn are said to be very goals-orientated and you may be obsessed with success to a detriment. Your Return will remind you that the end does not always justify the means. If your ambition has stalled, you could finally find your career calling now. Both represent father figures as well, so if you have any unhealed wounds in this department, now could be the time they come up to the surface again, and an even better time for dealing with them.

If your Return has already passed and you feel like you didn’t fully use it to your advantage, be careful of not getting stuck in a rut or depression- there’s always time for personal and spiritual growth!

As we come out of Saturn in Capricorn, you may feel a sense of lightness and completeness in your vision for where you are heading, or at the very least greater clarity on what is truly important to you, even if this still feels like a distant pipe dream.

Saturn Return In Aquarius

Those born between February 6th 1991 and May 21st 1993, almost the last of the Millennials, are currently experiencing their first Saturn Return. Saturn enters Aquarius on December 17th, even though it had actually already entered Aquarius on March 21st 2020 before regressing back out for a few months, so its energy may have begun to be felt back then, especially after the July 2020 New Moon. For this reason, it’s important to calculate your Saturn Sign properly. It will completely exit Aquarius on March 7th 2023.

If you are experiencing your first Return, unless you were born very close to the beginning period, the energy shift could be but a distant whisper, a shallow build that will slowly get louder and louder as it approaches your Natal Saturn and can become a deafening roar for some on or around their 30th birthday. As it is mythologically known as the God of Time, this is also why you may experience a sudden existential pre-midlife crisis as you wonder how the years have flown by and what have you done with them? Pleasant? No. Necessary? Perhaps. If you’ve been living in a bubble, so to speak, floating through your life as if in a daydream, mindlessly consuming a regurgitation of what society iterates you should be doing, rather than what your soul is actually calling you to do; then this could be an absolutely vital time for you to wake up and fully take the reins. Will you have all the answers once you’re out through to the other side? Again, no. But you should be one step closer, or at least having a shining beacon to work towards.

As everyone is different, and more energetically sensitive or not, and depending on what you’ve got going on in your life already, you may experience this time more deeply than others. You may feel like you’re being thrown about in a tumble drier until you emerge from your chrysalis a freshly washed and serene butterfly. You may just experience some mild panic in the days leading up to your birthday. You might feel exhilarated, as if you’re uncovering yourself for the first time, like a rosebud slowly unfurling her leaves. You may feel nothing at all. Personally, and anecdotally, I think the prospect of feeling nothing during the whole period is pretty slim, generally most people will experience some shift, just how intense and transformative that is depends on you. Either way, just know that all of it is working towards your highest good.

Those with Saturn in Aquarius are generally said to be community-orientated, although you may have struggled with this aspect in the past, now is the time to find your soul collective and forge the society you’d like to see in the world. Activist and technology-driven, you may drift towards more innovative ways of thinking and problem-solving with a focus on humanitarian aspects, such as creating charities or revolutionary apps. Saturn is also the traditional ruler of Aquarius and so will particularly influential during these next few years (we have no idea what’s going to happen after this crazy year but we sure are curious)! One thing is for sure, we can’t go on at our current rate and the time is truly upon us for a cultural reckoning. In Aquarius, it seeks to build innovative social structures and thoughtful visions for the future, focussing on the needs of the group, bringing forth system changes for the masses.

The last time Saturn was in Aquarius (1991-1993), apartheid was dismantled. Before that, it was in Aquarius from 1962-1964, just before the Civil Rights Act. Maybe this time around we will start to see real and sustainable change, and those currently experiencing their Return may be at the forefront of it.

If you’re interested in unlocking more of your astrological blueprint, check out our post on How To Interpret Your Natal Chart for more information!

Two Wander - How To Interpret Your Natal Chart

So that’s what a Saturn Return in Capricorn and Aquarius is and how it could affect you. I’m curious to know if you felt/feel anything during your Saturn Return? Let me know in the comments section below!

As work tends to be a major theme during this period, and Saturn rules longevity, never think that you’re too old for something or that it’s too late for anything, during your Saturn Return is the ideal time to take the plunge and branch out with your own business, a longterm investment, or returning back to school to study something completely new even! It wants you to imagine yourself at age 80, looking back on your life -what do you want to have accomplished? What will you regret not doing because you were afraid to take the risk?

If you’d like to discover more about what the stars have to say about your personality and potential, book yourself in for a personalised Natal Chart Reading with me and let’s uncover their secrets together!

If you’re interested in learning more about the signs and what they mean for you, check out our Cosmic Guidance: Astrology 101 Course or our Astrology Guide For Beginners.

And for monthly Astrology guidance along with other mystic magic, join me in the Spirit Subscription! ✨