Whatever Saturn Touches...

Varied Perspectives on the Influence of the Ringed Planet

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[Excerpted from So, What Am I Doing Here Anyway?]

As anyone familiar with my earlier books and articles knows, I’ve long had a particular fascination with the ringed planet Saturn. For various reasons I feel there are nuances to its impact and meaning in horoscopes that are often overlooked, and which can provide an especially critical key toward understanding not just someone’s personality but the unfoldment (and pace) of their destiny over time as well. In this essay I’ll offer a few ways of approaching those nuances by means of some simple phrases that serve as jumping-off points for broader reflections. Simple guidelines like these can sometimes provide an especially effective way of acquiring quick insights into planetary or zodiacal influences—and that strikes me as especially true in the case of the ringed planet. With that said, here is a brief list of some Saturnian influences to bear in mind.

1. Whatever Saturn touches in your chart can show what you have to work especially hard for. By contrast, Jupiter aspects in the horoscope—especially trines, conjunctions, and sextiles—show where things tend to come relatively easy for you, where doors are opened up with much less effort. On the other hand, Saturn makes you work hard for whatever you get, to where it almost feels like having to use a crowbar to pry open those same doors Jupiter flung wide open. In close aspect to Venus, for instance, one may feel one has to work hard for satisfaction in love, social relationships, or possibly even money. In connection with Mars, Saturn may make you feel you have to work hard to develop courage, assertiveness, physical strength, or sometimes sexuality. Individuals with strong Saturn/ Mercury contacts can be quite profound and brilliant, intellectually (Einstein had the conjunction, Isaac Newton had the square), but realizing that potential can feel like a long, hard journey, involving a great deal of thought or research over time.

2. Whatever Saturn touches in your chart may have a “late bloomer” quality. Simply put, one of the silver linings to Saturn aspects is that whatever areas they touch tend to unfold their fuller potentials either later in life or after considerable struggle and hard work. Precisely because of that element of struggle, however, those areas can sometimes become areas of personal mastery, in which you reap the rewards of that hard work. An example of this was my client born with Saturn closely conjunct her MC. Throughout her 20s, 30s and early 40s she struggled to get several businesses off the ground, but most of them ended in disappointment. She kept at it, though, and finally achieved great success in her 50s! A far more negative example of the late-bloomer dynamic was Adolf Hitler, who was born with Saturn in the 10th house squaring his Mars and Venus in the 7th, and went from being a failed artist and jailed dissident to a powerful military leader—and a psychopathic one at that. Clearly, the fact that one’s horoscope reveals late-bloomer potentials doesn’t in itself guarantee how well one is going to express those energies! Saturn/Moon contacts can indicate emotional blockages or frustrations early in life, especially in the ability to give or receive nurturing, but at its best this can over time transform into a far healthier sense of emotional openness. Consider my client born with a tight Saturn/Moon conjunction who went from feeling emotionally starved by her parents in childhood to working hard at becoming a model parent in adulthood herself. It was a factor of “compensation”; she consciously chose to turn things around and not to see her own child subjected to the same privations she experienced.

3. Whatever Saturn touches in your chart shows where you can have a capacity for discipline and tenacity. Along similar lines, Saturn aspects often give a considerable “work ethic” in whatever areas it targets, where one generally exhibits greater tenacity and endurance than in other areas. Fred Astaire had Saturn/Neptune opposition and worked countless long hours to master the art of dancing (Neptune ruling both the feet and dancing). A friend of mine with an exact Saturn/Mars trine has long displayed a degree of physical endurance when it comes to exercise and yoga that practically leaves me speechless. Similarly, I’ve seen individuals with Saturn/Sun aspects who display an enormous capacity for discipline and work when it comes to professional ambition and leadership, like famed football quarterback Tom Brady, born with the conjunction. Individuals born with Saturn/Mercury aspects tend to have greater persistence and focus when it comes to activities like writing, research, and deep thought.

4. Whatever Saturn touches in the chart shows what you are driven to crystallize. As the symbol of physicality par excellence, close aspects Saturn can reveal where you’re compelled to bring something into tangible reality. I’ve come across many sculptors and architects born with prominent Saturn/Venus aspects who had a talent for materializing subtle ideas into tangible form. As mentioned previously, architect Frank Lloyd Wright had the opposition, while sculptor, architect and artist Michelangelo had the square. Normally, Neptune governs subtle or even ethereal impulses and feelings, so when touched by Saturn there can be an ability for bringing these into physical manifestation. Mozart was born with Saturn opposite Neptune and had a nearly supernatural talent for “drawing down” nearly angelic musical compositions into our world. In a very different vein, Thomas Edison was born with the conjunction between these planets and crystallized dreams of a more technological sort. Writers with strong Saturn/Mercury aspects can be driven to crystallize ideas, such as J.R.R. Tolkien or Isaac Newton.

Along related lines, I’m fascinated by how many leading figures in the arts were born with Saturn/Moon conjunctions: Miles Davis, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, and William Burroughs, as some examples. What explains that? Here as well, a possible explanation is that the Moon—not unlike Neptune—symbolizes relatively non-tangible phenomena like emotions, so what better tool for an artistic figure to help bring those into form than a Saturn/Moon alignment? This principle may also help explain why so many ultra-rich figures have been born with strong Saturn/Venus contacts; for example, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates have the conjunction, Mark Zuckerberg has the opposition, while Oprah Winfrey was born with the square. It makes perfect sense, really, when you consider that Saturn not only confers great tenacity and discipline in areas of moneymaking but a strong impulse to crystallize wealth (along with the pleasures it brings). Which brings me to our next point…

5. Whatever Saturn touches in your chart may be where you attain—or even seek—a degree of authority or status in the world. I remember a conversation with one of the first astrologers I consulted in my youth, when I asked where he thought I could be most successful in life. To my great surprise, he immediately checked to see what my closest Saturn aspects were. It’s not hard to unpack the reasoning there, I now realize. Precisely because it is the planet of materiality, whatever Saturn touches can indicate where you may be most driven to achieve worldly recognition or status. Is it Neptune? Then maybe the arts, imagination, or spirituality. Or is it Jupiter? Then perhaps religion, spirituality, politics, travel. Mercury? Intellectual work, teaching, writing, even business. Pluto? Psychology, the occult, power dynamics. Mars? Courage, athletics, the military, sometime even sexuality. Perhaps that latter one may help shed light on why so many icons of beauty or sexuality in our culture were born with strong Saturn-Mars contacts. Consider this list: Marilyn Monroe, Claudia Schiffer, Nicki Minaj, Julia Roberts, Margot Robbie, Ariana Grande, Brooke Shields, Penelope Cruz, Jessica Biel, Khloe Kardashian, Zoe Kravitz, Rihanna, and Emily Ratajkowski, among others. Whereas Venus tends to be more concerned with pure beauty or ordinary allurement, Mars tends to be about intense animal attraction or overt sexuality. As a result, Saturn in contact with Mars could indicate a potential for being a role model or “authority” in areas of sexual areas, or even tantra. On the other hand, a more prosaic (and unsettling) explanation for this astro-signature could be the fact that many attractive women experience great difficulties or frustrations confronting male aggression in response to their attractiveness, which may compel them to develop aggression or even anger as a result. In a case of Marilyn Monroe, her Saturn-Mars square likely helped explain her early instances of sexual exploitation and abuse (no doubt amplified by her Scorpio Saturn at the focal point of a t-square in her 4th house).

6. Whatever Saturn touches—especially by hard aspect—indicates where you may experience loss or even rejection. Where is Saturn in your chart, by aspect, sign, or house? This can be where you have to deal with a dramatic amount of loss. In the case of Saturn-Venus, this may involve romance, social acceptance, or money. In the case of the Moon, that may involve women, the mother, or the home and family. With the Sun, it may involve your reputation and public personae, or even the early loss of a parent; with Mercury, it can involve criticism or setbacks over one’s intelligence or academic efforts. However, due to the “late bloomer” effect mentioned earlier, this can sometimes boomerang in surprising ways. After all, Saturn may indeed taketh but it can turn around and giveth quite generously as well, with previous losses setting the stage for later advancements, a “build back better” sort of dynamic. In the case of someone with Saturn in the 2nd house, for instance, that could manifest as losing a fortune but winding up coming back and making even greater fortunes later on. In the case of a Saturn-Venus person, they may feel wounded in love early on but wind up finding a deeper, more durable love later in life.

7. Whatever Saturn touches in your chart shows where a key karmic challenge in life will be. The whole chart is likely “karmic,” in a sense, but Saturn seems to indicate a particularly concentrated symbol of karmic lessons in this lifetime. For instance, someone with Saturn-square-Mars is certainly forced to learn important lessons about the proper measure of anger, assertiveness or sexuality in this lifetime, whereas someone born with a prominent Saturn-Venus connection is learning lessons about love and the proper balance between selfishness and unselfishness. Saturn-Mercury invariably has to do with the lessons about right thought, communication skills, and choosing words carefully, whereas someone with a strong Saturn-Moon conjunction may be dealing with issues and nurturing—though that may also involve a key area for potential for grounding and emotional growth. After all, “karmic” doesn’t necessarily mean bad! It may simply show where a soul has set up challenges in connection with longer-range goals one has set for oneself in this life—but where one may ultimately succeed with flying colors. Consider martial artist Bruce Lee, born with a Saturn opposition Mars; he experienced dramatic setbacks and defeats earlier in his career, yet through sheer discipline managed to return to form and become arguably the most famous exemplar of martial arts in contemporary times.

8. Whatever Saturn touches in your chart can indicate where you may lack confidence—at least initially. Whereas Jupiter aspects tend to instill a degree of confidence in whatever areas it touches, sometimes to the point of hubris, areas closely affected by Saturn tend to have an element of insecurity about them, even to the point of fearing failure. Yet it’s for that very reason that the native will often compensate by trying even harder to succeed in those areas. Consider my client with an almost exact Saturn-square-Mercury who claimed to feel“stupid” early in life then wound up obtaining eight different college degrees! Similarly, someone with Saturn in Capricorn may well struggle with concerns over their reputation and status early in life, then wind up working their way up through the ranks into positions of respectability or leadership.

9. Whatever Saturn touches in your chart can become an area of obsessive concern for you. Normally, Pluto is the planet associated by astrologers with “obsession,” but Saturn confers its own form of obsessiveness—with a subtle difference. Precisely because it does set up major challenges or problems in life, whatever it touches can show where you’re forced to focus your attention that much more intensely. Were you born with Saturn closely aspecting your Sun? Then you may well be extremely focused on obtaining respect or worldly recognition and respect. Does Saturn closely aspect your Mercury? You may find yourself obsessed with acquiring knowledge or recognition for your intellect. Do you have a close Saturn-Uranus aspect? Then you may well be deeply concerned with finding freedom during your life, as was the case for Bob Dylan, born with a close Saturn-Moon-Uranus conjunction.

10. Whatever Saturn touches in your chart says much about your connection to older people. Finally, what sort of relationships do you enjoy with individuals older than yourself? The quality of your Saturn can provide important clues to that. Saturn-Sun tells you a great deal about your relation with authority figures or parents, with the quality of that connection being shown by the specific aspect. A close square between Saturn and the Sun will lead to quite a different experience than a trine or a sextile! (Curiously enough, conjunctions in such cases can go either way, positively or negatively, depending on supporting aspects from the rest of the chart, or the maturity of the native.) Saturn-Neptune or Saturn/Venus aspects can point to the quality of your connections to those in the film, music, or fashion industries, among others. Ernest Hemingway had a Saturn-Mercury trine, and throughout his life enjoyed an exceptional relationship with older writers and editors like James Joyce and Ezra Pound.

Ray Grasse is a writer, astrologer, and photographer living in the American Midwest. He is author of ten books, including So, What Am I Doing Here, Anyway?, The Waking Dream, and In the Company of Gods. His websites are www.raygrasse.com and www.raygrassephotography.com.