Part Three: If we are going to survive, thrive, and reinvent ourselves in the times of the Saturn Returns, we would be wise to admit that we have fears about our ability to be all we can be. We know our limitations and weakness, even when we pretend at times that we have outgrown these parts of ourselves.
Saturn can show up in our psyche as a crippling critic. We think: “Nothing I can do or will ever do will be good enough for this inner negative critic.” Okay, so we do have some habits, tendencies and addictions that could be tweaked or edited out, and we do need to keep giving ourselves “reality checks” about how we are doing.
This is what Saturn does—he’s the archetype of the “reality police” and if you think you have it all together, he will show you where you don’t! That’s his job. Instead of getting mad or giving up, you can decide to admit that maybe you were going just beyond “the speed limit”, the pride limit, and now you’re ready to surrender just a bit of your hubris, your pride.
So at the Saturn Return we admit where we need to do a bit more work or atonement with our Self and we move onto the Saturn Project. And if we’re going to be ambitious with reinventing ourselves at this time, we may want to remember to do it in a way in which in which we can bring “the good fruits” of our life to bear on the project—such as returning to something we already do well but doing it even better, or sharing what you know, through teaching, counseling, healing. With an attitude of reverence for the process, we develop deep Saturnian wisdom. We create a foundation that will withstand in time.
Years ago, astrologers often believed that under strong Saturn transits one can choose between exhaustion and depression---some choice! It implied that because Saturn is often about doing hard work in the real world that exhaustion is what follows---indicating as Mark Twain once said: "It is better to wear out than to rust out." It doesn’t need to be so tiring. So what are the tools needed to successfully navigate Saturnian waters?
Here are a few ideas:
1—Be Discerning. You are at a time now when you understand things you didn’t understand even last year. Use your new wisdom to make wise choices based on clarity of intention. Dream into your future and discern the path through the woods. Here is where the quotes: “Know thyself” and “Nothing in Excess” become relevant. At these times there is a necessity to pull back from the excesses of your younger years and to know what you can and cannot do.
2—Take Heart. Find ways to reach out to others and be humble enough to ask for advice. If your marriage is in trouble, ask yourself the questions: Is the relationship the true source of dissatisfaction, or is it the repository of my own misery? How much am I projecting my insecurities onto my partner, and not taking responsibility or even listening ‘with heart’?
3—Go Deeper. Superficial “all or nothing” solutions can be a quick fix and Saturn doesn’t like quick fixes. No quick decisions: instead, hold the tension of the opposites and conflicts within yourself till you see the emergence of a new idea. Then, and only then, is it time to stretch beyond your comfort zones to new places of thought and action. As was said so many years ago:
“Dig deep; the water—goodness—is down there. And as long as you keep digging it will keep bubbling up.” Marcus Antoninis
4—Take Actions: one step at a time. Saturn rewards those that act diligently and depresses those who procrastinate. Saturn prefers slow thoughtful actions rather than impulsive action. Still the impulse to act or to make a plan is exciting. It doesn’t have to be all work and no fun! Interesting too, is that in ancient texts, Saturn was ofte seen as a devil who made a hand signal that said: “All that you see, is all there is.” That’s the devil’s lie. There’s more to your life than you’ve lived up till now…keep going.
Sometimes Saturn is seen as the spirit of Father Time, passing through our lives at these transits and “Returns” in the way Scrooge experienced his encounter with the Spirits of the past, present, and future. The purpose of these visits wasn’t to give Scrooge a bad case of nerves, but to give him a second chance at life. He saw himself differently; he grieved, he tried denying and avoiding, but ultimately he acted, and propelled himself—just in time—into his new life.
Blessings on your Saturn journey! Now you have a chance again to finish what you’ve come into this life to do to the best of your ability. It won’t be perfect, but you will have tried. Thoreau summed it up well when he said: “We are constantly invited to be who we really are.” ~ And I would agree with the words of George Eliot: “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” © Elizabeth Spring Please write for permission to reprint: elizabethspring@aol.com Homepage: www.elizabethspring.com
