Monday, November 2, 2009

Tools for Saturn in Libra















© 2009 by Joyce Mason

Oct. 29, 2009 - April 7, 2010 
July 21, 2010 – Oct. 5, 2012


Astrologers consider Saturn to be exalted or best placed in Libra. When you see Saturn coming, if you cross your index fingers and hold them out in front of you as if to ward off a vampire, this article is your chance to put away the garlic, reconsider and discover some ways to make the best of Saturn’s upcoming transit through in Libra. Libra is the sign of relationships, legalities, politics, artistic refinement, “niceness,” and peace and harmony. Besides structure, discipline and testing, Saturn also brings wisdom, practicality, and order to these areas of life. I wouldn’t mind seeing a little tidying up, especially in my government and legal system. Relationships always need tinkering and tune-up. Later in this article, I’ll suggest some tools.

Who Is Most Affected

If you have planets in Libra or the other Cardinal signs in your chart (Capricorn, Aries, Cancer), you are likely to feel the Saturn in Libra cycle the most. During this time span, Saturn will form a conjunction with planets in Libra, square Capricorn and Cancer planets, and oppose those in Aries. Traditionally, these aspects can be considered “stressful.” I’d like to say that in a different way. Saturn will be nudging you to change, to break patterns that don’t work, and to establish new ones that do. Whether or not this is stressful is directly related to whether you resist your personal growth curriculum, as hinted in the sky, or if you decide to go with the flow.

My Perspective

In the High Signs series, I advocate living on the upside of the astrological signs. We can aim for the same goal with any planetary energy. Granted, getting the goodies out of every planet’s mixed bag is likely to be an evolutionary process.

You don’t just wake up one day, kiss Pluto on the lips, and expect that the enchantment will be mutual and that from now on; all your Pluto transits will be a steamy love affair. Or hug Saturn and do everything a good little boy or girl should and expect that you’ll now have the ultimate Good Cosmic Daddy each time he rounds a connection with your personal planets.

The gods must be honored, and transits are the figurative gods of change. They reflect the various aspects of the One Spirit in which we’re all joined as souls on a human journey. We need to do our inner growth homework in order, ultimately, to live on the high side of any planet’s influence. Any transit is easier once we learn to get with the program of that planetary influence and its mission to catalyze growth.

Transits happen. Our choice is to cooperate and make it easy or resist and make it hard. Transits from certain planets might not always be pleasant experiences, but when we respect them as teachers and trust the process they present, any planet’s transit ultimately is positive. It just takes the eyes to see—sometimes the eyes to see ahead to where you’re going rather than just looking at what you’re dealing with now. With time and cooperation, transits just get easier and the results better as you grow in the direction the sky is pointing you in.

Capricorn Credentials and Game Plan

I have a good relationship with Saturn. Saturn rules my Capricorn Moon, and I realized somewhere along the way that my emotional life would be miserable if I didn’t start appreciating Saturn’s positive contribution. My poor Moon is besieged with squares to the Sun, Venus and Neptune—aspects I had to learn to revision and appreciate as constant invitations to morph toward a new and more whole version of myself. The Neptune influence, in particular, makes me so sensitive; I feel that if my Moon weren’t Saturn-ruled in the solid sign of Capricorn to compensate, I’d probably have no emotional control whatsoever. I’d be out emoting on street corners and making a fool of myself.

With that personal example in mind of coming to terms with Saturn’s energy, read on thinking about how you’ll make the most of Saturn’s trip through Libra. We’ll explore some major areas of life Saturn will influence while it’s in The Scales and how you can help “massage” how these transits will influence you by using tools such as affirmations, meditation, journaling, and flower essences.

Tools of the Transit Trade

Affirmations. If you really want to reset your thinking about a planet’s influence and help it to be the most positive, given your need also to learn from it, affirmations are the way to go. Find your favorite list of Saturn key words and form affirmations based on them. Focus on those issues with Saturn that are most personal to you. Here’s an example of some I use:

Affirmations for Saturn Cycles

My urge to build is backed by Divine Resources.

I set limits and boundaries with others and myself in ways that are appropriate for me.

I like being responsible and mature: I am my own authority.

A caution on using affirmations: Most people do not use them in the most effective way. Affirmations were originally designed to include a step for acknowledging and releasing negative internal dialogue. Without this step, it’s like sweeping dirt under the rug. It’s hard to “set” the new intention for that big lump of old garbage that has not been taken out. For details on how to make your affirmations virtually foolproof, read my article, Affirmations: Part 2, Column 2.

Meditations. Add structure to your meditation whether using a guided meditation tape or Buddhist mala beads to count a simple mantra, or any type of meditation system with a format, such as Centering Prayer, a Christian contemplative type. New or just returning to meditation? I suggest starting with an article on types of meditation, discovering the category that you feel fits you best. Then search online further with that category and meditation, such as “mindfulness meditation.”

• Create your own structure by putting together a list of positive Saturnian characteristics you’d like to develop. Use them as mantras. (Stick with 3-5 to keep a simple focus.) Alternatively, you can envision yourself in your daily life operating as if you already have these qualities. This can be the opening visualization and bridge to your meditation. Examples: wise, realistic, grounded, responsible, disciplined.

• Listen to Saturn themed music when you meditate. Examples: Echoes from Saturn by Michelle Costa, Saturn Returns by Alex Theory, or the Saturn track from Holst’s The Planets. (Visit Amazon and search for Saturn under Music for more options.) What does this music evoke in you? Journal your thoughts and feelings afterwards. Within these observations lies guidance for the restructuring Saturn is asking of you now. That brings me to the next suggestion …

Journaling.  Keeping a journal is an invaluable guidebook to your own life. (Check out my article, Journals: The Sort-It Detail.) When Saturn touches our horoscopes by making a significant aspect, order is one of the hallmarks of this particular growth nudge. I like to think of Saturn as the force that helps me get my act together. Journaling indeed helps you with those sort-it details.

Flower Essences.  If you aren’t already familiar with these small-but-mighty tools for transformation, there’s no time like a Saturn cycle for an introduction! My article, FLOWER ESSENCES: Emotional First Aid, Boomer-Plus Edition  may be geared toward those born between 1946-64, but since Saturn is connected with aging, saging, and maturing, this perspective works great for anyone who wants to derive wisdom from their Saturn cycles.

If looking at flower essences by planetary influences, it is as important to consider the planet transiting Saturn is aspecting. That means there are many possible choices of flower essences. Here are some specific essences and/or articles to consider during Saturn cycles:

Plants and Planets Formulas by Desert Alchemy give you the opportunity to take its Saturn Cycles blend with the formula for any other planet in aspect to Saturn by transit: Sun, Venus, Mars, for example.

• This article also contains tips for Saturn’s aspects to specific planets: Mallow and Other Remedies for Keeping Mellow Under Saturn Cycles by Kathleen Douglas.

Sage by FES Quintessentials may be the most generic “positive Saturn” essence anyone can take during these cycles. Wisdom is the ultimate Saturn characteristic. This remedy helps us discover the inner wisdom within our life experiences. It helps us find inner contentment and life’s meaning. Who wouldn’t want a dose of that good medicine?

“Out in the World”

Whether or not Saturn is lighting up your chart in particular by its transit through Libra, it will be doing its work in the world in general. Here are some areas of influence with the kinds of changes we can anticipate:

Relationships. Relationships tend to solidify with Saturn. No long-term relationship is likely to survive without a strong Saturn link in the synastry between two people. With that in mind, Saturn in Libra tends to make people want to put their relationships into more solid form, to make commitments. At the very least, they will want to define relationships—or redefine them. Partnerships that don’t have Libra’s loving kindness or fair balance are likely to hit the rocks. They will either perish or restore themselves through the hard work of picking up the pieces to rebuild on a firmer foundation. Commitment and cooperation of both parties will be mandatory, as they are the sole reconstruction crew—add a counselor, if they use one (and it’s a good time to do so). These comments apply to all kinds of partnerships, whether business, personal, or organizational. There may also be lessons to learn and past patterns to right--the consequences of being too nice or indecisive at the expense of the quality of the partnership. In this case, a stance of “no more Mr. or Ms. Nice Guy” will benefit the relationship by pointing to the nitty-gritty issues that need to be resolved to make it work.

Aesthetics and Art. Saturn in Libra brings the desire to organize and bring order and beauty out of chaos. If you’re artistically inclined in any way, this is a great time to put your concepts into form, especially if you have planets in Libra in your chart. If you are a busy modern person whose personal space has suffered from collected “junk” for lack of time to attend to regular pick-up, Saturn will urge you to get things in order and give you an injection of Taskmaster to get it done. It’s not like a Virgo housework tizzy; it’s about creating the safe and orderly space where your creativity can cut loose. This is applicable to personal space in the most literal sense (scungy garage, yard that looks like a natural disaster struck, home office in shambles) to your inner space (a desire to clean negativity out of your energy field and invite in higher thoughts and interactions). You may find yourself wanting to redecorate and hang more pictures that reflect an oasis of beauty and inspiration in your home or office.

Legalities. Since it’s so topical to Libra, I expect there will be changes in same-sex marriage laws that reflect a fairer solution for all concerned that are motivated from upholding civil rights not religious opinion. In general, I expect clearer delineation of what the separation of church and state really means, and where it needs to evolve to support people in the 21st Century.

This goes for balancing other aspects of the relationship between the government and its citizens, such as the health care debate. (Libra loves debate! With their ability to see both sides of an issue, they can even have great arguments when talking to themselves.) While health care is a very Virgoan subject—the sign Saturn has just transited, reflecting why the issue has been stirred up of late—the crux of the matter is fairness and the intrinsic value of human life and a country’s citizens. Affordable health care is an inalienable right. I watched my sister die because of decisions she made (actually didn’t make) based on her lack of health care insurance. An estimated 22,000 Americans die annually for the same reason. [1] This is unconscionable in a supposedly progressive nation. This aspect of “government for the people and by the people” needs fixing, if we’re to hold our heads up as a “humanitarian” nation, first to our own citizens.

I expect that whatever the outcomes, we will begin to remember during the next two years that Lady Justice wears a blindfold and the Scales are balanced impartially.

Politics. In case we haven’t seen enough political scandals yet involving “unsanctioned relationships,” we may see even more, but ultimately, during this cycle, I suspect we’ll balance the way we view this “dirty laundry.” Many people around the world think Americans are completely out of touch with reality to place so much emphasis on the personal lives of politicians. It’s tragic to think of how many careers have been ruined or seriously tarnished by marital infidelity or other sexcapades among fully functioning leaders who are often, otherwise, out there “doing good.” Will we use Saturn’s maturity to separate a politician’s public and private life? Or become even tougher on offenders, insisting that private/public life be joined in holy deadlock? Perhaps we will get out of other people’s bedrooms and tend more to our own. After all, they say politics makes strange bedfellows.

Peace and Harmony. As of this writing, headlines read “Obama Peace Bid Flounders,” referring to attempts at Middle East peace negotiations. The U.S. President’s win in wartime of a Nobel Peace Prize was ironic on the cusp of Saturn in Libra. As pointed out in the New York Times editorial, The Peace Prize, U.S. President Obama has yet to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He’s a long way off from an orderly withdrawal from the Iraq, and has not yet set a strategy for Afghanistan. Still, he has denounced torture and made a good start on climate change. Less than a year in office, his commitment to make change is being noticed and encouraged—at least by the Nobel Peace Prize committee. While President Obama himself felt he did not deserve the prize, it sets a high bar for achievement in an administration that has already taken on change head-on.

There is an additional factor that comes into play. In the U.S. birth chart, Saturn is at 14 Libra. The country is coming up on a Saturn Return. [2] Saturn returns, retrogrades, and then returns again to its own place in the U.S. chart from December 2010 until August 2011. When individuals experience a Saturn Return, it is a time of forming new structures and commitments. Same with countries. In fact, when a young man or woman reaches his or her first Saturn Return at age 30, we often think of it as a time for “settling down.”

It will be fascinating to observe how things “settle down” in the area of war and peace. At least as far as President Obama is concerned, he has already gotten a large vote, if not nudge, of confidence in the Nobel Peace prize.

We can only hope that the outcome proves, once again, that Saturn is exalted—at its best—in Libra.
~~~

Photo credit: ABSTRACT SATURN | © Soldeandal... Dreamstime.com

NOTES

[1] National Coalition on Health Care

[2] There is much debate and variance among astrologers on the chart of the USA. I use the Sibley chart (named after the man who first proposed it, Ebenezer Sibley, 1751-1789). Data: 4-Jul-1776 at 5:10 pm, Philadelphia, PA.

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