Saturn in Libra: The Coming Cardinal Crisis

On 29th October 2009 at precisely 17hrs 09 GMT, Saturn enters the sign of Libra. Saturn is one of the most important planets for consideration in both mundane astrology (the astrology of world affairs) and natal astrology (person-centred astrology) so its entry into a new sign is of great significance.

Saturn takes roughly twenty-nine years to orbit the sun, and therefore to circle the zodiac, and it spends approximately two and a half years in each of the twelve signs. Saturn previously transited Libra from September 1980 to December 1982, with a brief run between May and August of 1983. So if you were born during those periods you are about to experience your first Saturn Return – an occasion that marks the astrological coming of age. If, on the other hand, you were born between November 1950 and October 1953 you are on the threshold of your second Saturn Return and were you to have been born between October 1921 – September 1924 poised for your third. Of which more later…

Until Uranus was discovered in 1781, Saturn was thought to be the outermost planet in the solar system. Since there was no other planet beyond Saturn astrologers deemed it to have great power over human affairs: you could not go beyond the limits of Saturn, or else. For thousands of years, Saturn has been synonymous with law and order, rules and regulations and those things that are unchangeable and unchanging: Saturn represents our internal morality. It is he-who-must-be-obeyed, the policeman indoors. In more mystical terms, Saturn is synonymous with the process of karma – the law of cause and effect. In psychological terms, Jungian terms, Saturn represents the shadow – those things we fear and believe are flawed within ourselves which must be overcome in order to be whole.

To be frank, Saturn isn’t much fun; he is to be endured and ultimately to be thanked for all those dreary lessons he’s forced us to learn. If all the planets were at a party, you wouldn’t want Saturn supervising the drinks and the games: he’d be the guy standing guard in the corner reminding you that if you overindulge you’ll pay for it the next day; he might even put in a call to the Noise Abatement Society. But fun he is not.

While Saturn is our cross to bear, he does work better in some signs than others, and Libra is one of them. Saturn is said to be exalted in Libra: it acquires a certain grace. Libra’s qualities of fairness and justice soften Saturn’s intransigence. Saturn is more merciful in this Venus-ruled sign. While looking back at the events of the last Saturn-in-Libra period (1980-1983) gives us some idea of what is to come, because of the relative positions of the other planets – most notably Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto – each Saturn cycle is unique. Indeed, this time round, with Pluto in early Capricorn and Jupiter and Uranus in Aries, these next couple of years could be momentous in terms of wars, alliances, peace-treaties and societal changes.

Synchronicity is a fascinating thing. As I began this article, one of the hottest issues being debated in the UK was the treatment of women-of-a-certain-age by the media: many loved, admired and experienced female presenters were being forcibly ejected from their premium-time perches and replaced by younger models. Saturn has much to do with the elderly and it may be that its passage through Libra will bring about a change in the perception of age and ageing, thus reversing the ageism trend that has been rearing its ugly head in the latter degrees of Saturn in Virgo. The beauty of age could be said to be quintessentially Saturn in Libra.