Feel My Saturn Angst!

A Neon Saturn from Cassini - source: NASA/JPL/Caltech 

Yes, hear my (Saturn) angst is going to be a common cry this week. Saturn went into the 29th degree of Virgo back on July 7th (maybe the 6th, smudge due to local time zones...) and ever since then the sense of 'oh, I have to do this...I need to do THAT' has for many of us been something of an issue.

Of course the opposite has been true to - polarities, polarities, polarities, people! So while some have been running around like banshees, others have been feeling really stuck - for whatever reason, they are just unable to get much forward motion.

There's a third version of this Saturn/29 Virgo thing - and by the by, it's the Virgo part which adds the 'get it done' theme. Virgo's core keywords are "health-work-service" ... in short, any kind of thing which needs to be done simply because it will improve the overall process or situation, not that there's any particular or distinct reward involved.

At least not yet. Particularly with Saturn involved, there's a whole 'earning' vibe in the mix. Gratification for what you do now should be EXPECTED to be postponed - but that doesn't mean it isn't in the works, inching towards you like...well, I was going to say like ooze down a pipe, but that doesn't sound very gratifying.

Point is, those who do now, who make the effort now - even if you think you're being ineffectual - that's you dealing with your personal karma. Which by any other name yes, goes by Saturn in Virgo. At least at the moment. Wherever Saturn is in your chart, whatever part of your chart it's transiting through, via sign, house, aspect and all the rest of the astrological tra-la, that tells us where you are going through the process of earning at the moment. 

And that doesn't mean just earning money, though certainly that's the way most people think about it. Goodwill, support, understanding...you could be earning qualifications, earning an opportunity through honing your skills or improving on your product...you could be dealing with realities which you haven't paid attention to which either haven't taken you where you wanted to go or which have ended up undermining you....

...there are a whole oodle of ways this 'earning' thing can function.

Which brings us back to that third version of the Saturn in the last degree of Virgo thing I mentioned. For those who have EARNED it, now comes the reward. It may be a payoff. It may be a vacation. (Have you noticed how many people are off traveling right now? Sheesh - it's some sort of virutal Exodus!)

And then there is that OTHER sort of Saturn earning...the earning of the bad news. We won't linger there, but Saturn is absolutely the timing mechanism by which those chickens come home to roost when you've done the naughty-naughty thing.

Any time any symbol is positioned at 29 degrees (of any sign) we feel a sense of urgency. That would be why 29 degrees of every sign is known as the 'critical degree' of that sign!

But don't take that word 'critical' as a life-or-death matter. That isn't generally not. What it does mean is that though the thing may be urgent, it also may just be cumulative. Or you may be feeling it in a particularly 'critical' manner, thinking 'oh my goodness - what happens if this doesn't get done?' when many nothing at all will really happen. Or you just might get a heavy sigh from someone or a 'could you hurry it up?' 

With the sign being Virgo (about all we do on a daily basis) even the most mundane of daily doings will seem more hectic, more frazzling and with this being about Saturn, a symbol which can denote earning (the opening of opportunity) OR limitations (not having enough)...we can simply feel exhausted. Or put upon. Or overburdened. Whether we are or aren't may be the issue but doesn't really have to be the issue; the real issue is feeling that way.

Having a reputation as a degree which involves mental evaluation, 29 Virgo asks us whether we are willing to risk, or whether we prefer to stick to the tried-and-true. You may be inclined towards one end or another of this dynamic, and that's fine - just remember that Virgo is all about getting the job done. And that means the BIG job - the job of providing yourself with a place in this world and a means of taking care of yourself in every sense implied. And if that means get the work on the car done, so be it. If that means go to the doctor, that's important.

Part of Virgo is learning to prioritize. It's not just an art, it's a necessity in this life. Yet because prioritizing often runs counter to pleasure...well, you know what that means. It means many of us don't properly prioritize learning to prioritize!

With Panacea and asteroid Lilith right behind Saturn's current postion, we can choose to know we are supported and that all is actually well (Panacea), we can choose to be haunted or bedeviled by that we refuse to deal with in our own personality or world (Lilith) or we can acknolwedge that we have just been through a hard period (both symbols together) and that now....however hard it seems...it's time to begin moving on.

Because Saturn is about to leave the lower half of the natural horoscope (symbolized by the first six signs: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo and Virgo) and move from the private/personal into the worldly/public arena which opens with the world of interactions with others, negotiations, and our reputation (which we may have neglected focusing on during the past 14 years while Saturn was traversing the personal signs)...this can also be a time when things suddenly come into focus and you realize that you can't just have it whatever way you have wanted to have it - that there's a big world out there and you need to be part of it.

Or even more part of it. Or maybe part of it on a different level.

As Saturn actually enters Libra later this month we will certainly revisit this subject. In the meantime, know that there's likely to be a bit of feeling screwed in too tightly from now until the 21st when that shift actually happens.

Coping is good. Being realistic, an excellent mantra.

Whatever you do, don't just abandon common sense. All will be well if you can just bear with and take one step at a time.

As a friend of mine has said to me many (many!) times...baby steps...we're just going to do baby steps here...!

Yes, even Saturn honors that 'baby steps' thing. 


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