Saturn in Scorpio and Your Horoscope

Jessica Adams looks at Saturn in Scorpio and your horoscope. 

Saturn enters Scorpio on Friday 5th October at 9.34pm in London. Earlier that day, Mercury enters Scorpio at 11.35am so the entire world will have a clear message that weekend – our new reality check is here.On Sunday 7th October, by the time the appearance of Mercury and Saturn in Scorpio has touched the whole planet, there is a trine between the Moon and Saturn at 2.02am. One area of your life that has not been an issue for years, will now require attention. How will it feel? Heavier. Loaded. A bigger deal in every way.

The Scorpio-ruled house of your natal chart (create your personal chart at www.astro.com if you don’t know) reveals where the lessons will come from. Use the Whole Sign house systems and you will find the same story told twice, from two angles, in your Sun Sign chart too. Any of these two house systems will work perfectly in harmony with each other. For precision prediction, I like Whole Sign houses plus your regular Sun Sign chart (as used by most pro media astrologers).

Got your personal chart by your side? Now you can compare the two stories together. Here’s a summary of Saturn in Scorpio’s impact on your Sun Sign  chart.

How Saturn Affects Your Sun Sign – Your Solar Chart
These areas of your life are where the lessons are coming from, after October 5th.  If you are starting anything new in these areas in October-November, then take your time. Research is required. People born one sign before yours may have useful advice to pass on. Saturn is all about smart strategy and comparing notes with others will help you.

ARIES Banking. Mortages. Tax. Insurance. Inheritance. Credit Cards. Investments. Leases.
TAURUS Former Partner. Current Partner. Potential Partner. Professional Rival. Personal Enemy.
GEMINI Work. Volunteering. Study. Health. Daily Routine. Lifestyle. Duty. Service.
CANCER Sons. Daughters. Godchildren. Young Relatives. The Next Generation. Children.
LEO House. Flat. Family. Household. Renovations. Neighbourhood. Homeland.
VIRGO The Internet. Telephones. Writing. Speaking. Hearing. Public Speaking. Media. Education.
LIBRA Money. Possessions. Business. House. Flat. Banks. Savings. Debt. Values.
SCORPIO Personal Appearance. Reputation. Name. Profile. Image.
SAGITTARIUS Secrets. Solitude. Sensitive Subjects. Hidden Issues.
CAPRICORN Friends. Groups. Social Life. Social Networks. Teams. Clubs. Associations.
AQUARIUS Career. Course. Volunteer Role. Employment. Profession. Business. Industry.
PISCES Travel. Publishing. Education. Foreign Cultures. Foreign Countries. Beliefs.

Learning to Live with Saturn in Scorpio
As October goes on, we will all learn to live with Saturn in Scorpio. And not only that. The North Node (familiar, repetitive situations) is also in Scorpio in late 2012. Key dates to watch include the trine from Saturn in Scorpio to Neptune in Pisces on Thursday 11th October at 3.38am, London time. The reality check you are taking about one area of your life, feeds the desire to escape in quite another. The sense of restriction or confinement you have from Saturn, works in harmony with a longing to plunge into another world, which bears no resemblance to real life. This will be one of the first things you notice about this transit. The desire to escape.

Escape Routes with Neptune in Pisces

Neptune in Pisces

By looking at the house of your natal chart where transiting Neptune passes at 0 degrees of Pisces, you can identify where you are seeking your great escape. Where is the non-reality tempting you? You can also check where Neptune is currently at work in your solar (Sun Sign) chart on this list.

Neptune is a simple symbol of other realities. He describes where you drift and float. Where you meander. Where you find a space inside yourself, or in your life, that has a hazy, dreamy quality. Like a saxophone solo. Like anaesthetic. (Both these things were big in the year Neptune was discovered). It’s only human nature to lean wistfully in the direction of an escape from the real world (in one department of your life) when quite another department of your life just became hard work.

How is your solar chart (Sun Sign horoscope) affected?

ARIES Whatever is submerged or unfathomable about yourself and your life is an escape route.
TAURUS A friend or group invites you to depart reality and plunge into something so different.
GEMINI Your career, course or voluntary role offers a delightful escape from what’s real.
CANCER Travelling, publishing, studying, writing or teaching call you with a siren song.
LEO Other people’s money, homes or possessions (perhaps the bank’s too) offer an escape.
VIRGO Your former, current or potential partner is a blissful way for you to duck reality.
LIBRA There is an aspect of your job, voluntary role or course which is so refreshingly unreal.
SCORPIO The world of children, or those born 20 years after you, offers a sublime escape.
SAGITTARIUS Your house, flat, family, household or homeland lures you into another world.
CAPRICORN Your way with words, ideas or images gives you a sparkling alternative world.
AQUARIUS Your money, house, possessions, business or flat offers such an inviting escape.
PISCES Aspects of yourself (your appearance or reputation) tempt you to depart reality.

Diary Dates
Saturn enters Scorpio on October 5th 2012 and stays there until December 23rd, 2014. It then enters Sagittarius on December 23rd 2014 and stays there until June 14th 2015. Saturn re-enters Scorpio on June 14th 2015 and stays there until its final departure on September 17th 2015.

2012 Saturn in Scorpio Aspects

The Mercury transit through Scorpio in the final quarter of 2012 needs special consideration. The planet of communication will be in the same house as Saturn – but also turning retrograde. You would expect a lot of talking, new agreement and fresh paperwork when Saturn goes into a new house of your solar and/or natal horoscope. That’s what happens when there is a reality check and concern about the future. People need to get their heads around it. To analyse. To negotiate. To question.

The issue is the risk of reversals and delays with all the talking or deal-making that’s going on, and this increases steeply when Mercury turns shadow around Friday 19th October. Mercury will then be moving through Scorpio at the same degree where he will shortly get stuck. What appears to be a done deal or a firm understanding could easily hit delays, complications or even a complete alteration when Mercury turns fully retrograde in Scorpio around Wednesday 14th November – all the way to Tuesday 27th November. 

History and astrology also tell us to wait until the Scorpio Mercury Shadow at 18 Scorpio 15 from Tuesday November 27 at 10.48pm until Monday December 10 at 12.48pm is over for the full, complete story in your life – when it passes 29 Scorpio 18.

The focus on the Scorpio-ruled house of your horoscope increases steeply on Tuesday 23rd October when the Sun enters Scorpio at 1.13am, London time. There is an immediate trine to Neptune, so again, the area of your horoscope where there is a shimmering escape route (where Neptune cruises through) becomes really prominent. The more unavoidable or inevitable something is, in the Scorpio house of your chart – the more prominent your Neptunian alternative will become. But throughout this period, remember Mercury sets up situations involving communication or travel (affecting the Scorpio house of your chart). Then he upsets them or delays them. Then they move forward, but their ‘progress’ is entirely dependent on whatever was negated or complicated previously. No wonder this entire cycle of shadow, retrograde and shadow has a reputation for creating zig-zag motion in our lives. If something is going in writing, or coming in writing, be very careful with the details.

There is a Sun-Saturn conjunction in Scorpio on Thursday 25th October at 9.32am London time. That’s going to reveal every detail of what (or whom) you must now deal with. The total solar eclipse on Tuesday 13th November takes place at 10.12pm, London time. It occurs at 21 degrees of Scorpio, so if you have heavenly bodies, points or angles at 21 degrees in your horoscope, they will also be triggered at this time.

Have a look at the asteroid Cupido (Cupid) on Thursday 15th November, Friday 16th November. He is the son of Venus and describes passion and desire in all its forms. He stands at 4 Scorpio near this time, in conjunction with Saturn at 4 Scorpio and in quincunx to Uranus at 4 Aries. To complete this remarkable picture in mid-November, look at Chiron at 4 Pisces.

If you have chart factors at 4 degrees then around Thursday 15th and Friday 16th November there will be deep passion in the mix. With Cupid, it is not always logical nor rational. And it comes suddenly. For more on Cupid you can collect my free e-book, Asteroid Astrology, right here on The Astrology Show blog.

Venus in Scorpio joins Saturn 

Venus by Theodore Chasseriau 1838 (Wikimedia Commons)

Venus, the planet of partnership skills, enters Scorpio on Thursday 22nd November at 1.19am, London time. Again, the first thing she does is trine Neptune. Every time you become aware of the unavoidable and inescapable new realities in your life, you automatically cast your eyes sideways at that shimmering vision of something quite different, elsewhere in your life. That Scorpio-ruled house of your chart is looking increasingly crucial by this stage.

Venus in Scorpio is necessary to Saturn’s journey because you cannot go through the new challenges without someone by your side, in late 2012. This person will take the path with you after November 22nd,  yet remember -

Mercury turns fully retrograde in Scorpio around Wednesday 14th November – all the way to Tuesday 27th November.

The Scorpio Mercury Shadow at 18 Scorpio 15 from Tuesday November 27 at 10.48pm until Monday December 10 at 12.48pm is the final knot that needs to unravel when it passes 29 Scorpio 18 at last and you can actually call something final, complete and fully resolved or known, from that side-by-side development when Venus went through Scorpio.

An important quincunx from Jupiter in Gemini to Saturn in Scorpio takes place on Saturday 22nd December just before Christmas. It occurs at eight degrees, so check your horoscope. The two planets will be telling two separate stories. In mythology they were father and son, so there is something resonant and powerful about that weekend, just before Christmas. The issues revolve around negative and positive thinking then. Optimism for 2013 and anxieties about it too. Yet Jupiter and Saturn are equals in astrology!

Thursday 27th December sees Saturn at 9 Scorpio sextile Pluto at 9 Capricorn, and the aspect occurs at 1.40am London time. It occurs one day before the Full Moon in Capricorn and Cancer (at 7 degrees) on Friday 28th December at 10.21am, London time.
This is then followed (deep breath!) by a Sun-Pluto conjunction at 9 Capricorn on Sunday 30th December, followed by the ingress of Mercury in Capricorn on Monday 31st December at 2.02pm, London time.

As the year ends, the TINA effect of Saturn (There Is No Alternative) aligns with the tremendous, ongoing shift in the balance of power, elsewhere in your chart. The Capricorn-ruled area of your chart is where Pluto is timing this shift. Comparing your natal (equal house) horoscope to your solar (sun sign) chart will show you two concurrent stories about the same thing.

Here’s the lowdown on your sun sign (solar) chart and Pluto’s ongoing influence. He will be around for a long time so the process of change is slow but steady. You can see how the new Saturn in Scorpio cycle and Pluto in Capricorn cycle will synch together.

Pluto in Capricorn  in December 2012

Pluto in Capricorn (Image Toni Frissell, Wikimedia Commons)

Pluto in Capricorn, the sign of the goat, will be triggered by Saturn in Scorpio towards the end of 2012. Here’s how the sextile affects your solar (Sun Sign) chart. If you want the personal angle, use your natal or birth chart, opting for either Whole Sign houses or Equal Houses, which synch well with a Sun Sign system. 

These are the life areas most affected by Pluto in Capricorn in your regular Sun Sign chart -

ARIES Career. University. Volunteering. Social Status. Profession. Ambition. Achievement.
TAURUS Travel. Publishing. Education. Academia. Religion. Belief Systems. Foreign Cultures.
GEMINI Finance. Tax. Inheritance. Investment. Banks. Mortgages. Possessions. Property.
CANCER Partner. Former Partner. Potential Partner. Professional Rival. Personal Enemy.
LEO Work. Health. Lifestyle. University. Volunteer Work. Daily Routine. Service. Duty.
VIRGO Sons. Daughters. Godchildren. Young Relatives. The Next Generation.
LIBRA House. Flat. Family. Household. Homeland. Neighbourhood.
SCORPIO Words. Ideas. The Internet. Communication. Media. Education.
SAGITTARIUS Money. Business. Possessions. The House. The Flat. Values.
CAPRICORN Image. Name. Reputation. Appearance. Identity. Public Profile.
AQUARIUS Secrets. Mysteries. The Inner World. Hidden Depths. Classified Information.
PISCES Friends. Groups. Social Media. Teams. Clubs. Societies. Social Life.

Saturn in 2013 As we go into 2013 you will be learning rapidly, not only about Saturn in Scorpio, but also about the way one totally new story in your life is developing in parallel with two more – the Pluto in Capricorn and Neptune in Pisces stories. All of these are very slow-moving as these planets also revolve slowly around your horoscope. Saturn is actually the best teacher you will ever have, never mind the astrology books or websites. You can look up the myth (Hesiod’s version is the best) or you can pore over the texts, but the best way to really understand Saturn’s process is to make notes on the first three months of his transit.

Saturn is actually a process, rather than anything else. To really ‘get’ Saturn think about the Libra-ruled area of your horoscope and consider the last two years. That’s where you’ve seen the people around you (or even the entire world) go through everything from paranoia to self-sabotage. It has made the Libra-ruled area of your life seem heavier, weightier, harder than it has been for years. Yet, the Saturn transit of Libra, like all Saturn transits, always ends with a climax, an education and a resolution.

Again, look at the natal chart (your birth chart) to see one Saturn story from the last two years or so. Then read the parallel story in your solar (sun sign) horoscope. Aries had issues with former, current and potential partners. Or enemies! Taurus learned so much about work, health, volunteering, university. Gemini faced questions about the world of children or relationships. Cancer had house, flat, family, household concerns. Leo had to front up to communication and internet realities. Virgo had money, house, flat, business and possessions to think about. Libra had herself or himself to consider – image or appearance. Scorpio had his/her inner world, solitude or secrecy to take on board. Sagittarius had to look into a group, or a friendship, or aspects of her social life. Capricorn faced career, volunteer role or student concerns. Aquarius had to look at publishing, travel, education and foreign cultures. Pisces was given a financial, business or property burden.

Reflecting on every single thing that confronted you, blocked you – and that you now feel vaguely triumphant about – will show you exactly the kind of pattern that Saturn follows. And what to expect after October 2012 as Saturn goes into his new sign.

The Saturn Myth – the God with the Scythe

Saturn and his famous scythe by Ivan Akimov (Wikimedia Commons)

The myth begins with Saturn’s confinement by his father Uranus, then turns into an act of rebellion by him (when he castrates his father and breaks free). There is temporary victory, as Saturn rules the world. This is then followed by an awful curse, as Uranus tells him that Saturn’s children will also overthrow him – instant karma. To counter this, Saturn eats every baby his wife Ops produces. Then one day Ops tricks him into swallowing a stone, and the new baby, Jupiter, is hidden. Jupiter grows up, returns as the true future ruler of the world and makes the curse come true by overthrowing his father. The irony is, Saturn finds his curse is a blessing in disguse. Taking the scythe which he originally used to castrate Uranus, his father, he ventures into the heart of Italy to use it for cutting corn and wheat – rather than violence – and he teaches the new agriculture to the people. They become rich and abundant, and Saturn becomes acclaimed as the ruler of a new Golden Age. There is a big emphasis on ageing and learning with Saturn because in the Hesiod myth he is a rebellious young man, but once his own son Jupiter has grown up, and he is older, he also hits wisdom. The other association with age and time that we have with Saturn comes from the Greek version of this god, Kronos. Linked to Chronos and chronology. Chronic and ‘chronological order’ are also Saturn key words.

From imprisonment, to liberation, through paranoia, through self-sabotage to a Golden Age. That’s Saturn. Astrology and history hold some fantastic lessons about how to manage this cycle, however. And that’s the whole point. By the time this Saturn in Scorpio cycle is over in your life, you may have potentially become an expert in an area of your world that demands you get real – and learn more.

Jessica Adams is the author of Essential Astrology for Women (HarperCollins), Astrolove (Corgi) and 2020 Vision (Viking). All books are available at Amazon and Astrolove is available as an e-book for your Kindle or computer desktop.