Saturn in Aries: Where Are You Taking Disciplined Action?

On May 24th, Saturn moves into the zodiac sign Aries, after spending two years in Pisces.

This is a major shift into bolder, more assertive energy.  In our natal charts, Saturn reflects where we have work to do.  It symbolizes an area of life where we experience challenges if we don’t apply conscious effort. Below, you will read more about Saturn’s influence through each of the 12 houses.  Your job is to locate where the transiting Saturn falls in your natal chart now. 

To do this, look at the perimeter of the wheel and locate where Aries is.  Does Aries rule the first house or the sixth?  Is it intercepted between two signs within a house?  Or does it rule two house cusps?  Once you know this information, you can see exactly where Saturn’s presence in Aries is affecting you.  Then you will know where you must work harder, apply more self-discipline, be responsible, and use your courage (Aries) to act on your morals (Saturn).

The symbol of Saturn looks like a lower-case h with a horizontal line going through the top vertical line of the h. If you would like more information on the nature of Saturn before you read this blog, consider reading The Nature of Saturn.

Saturn’s Influence Through the 12 Houses

First House: Self, identity, sense of style, how we make first impressions and express ourselves to the world.  Saturn’s passage through the first house can initiate a period of growing up – of recognizing who we’ve become and who we are no longer.  Saturn’s influence here may cause you to take a mature look at yourself and the world around you.  You may feel like retreating, spending time alone, and distancing yourself from others.  This is because you are re-evaluating your goals, and you need time with yourself to figure out what your true needs are.  If you want to begin working on anything at this time, let it be yourself.  Self-improvement is favorable now.

Second House: Our sense of worthiness, self-confidence, and self-esteem.  The way we act to attract wealth.  Do we wait to respond or do we initiate?  Saturn in the second house shows where there may be delays or obstacles in receiving money or resources.  It resembles where we might have to work harder or wait longer.  Thus, it requires our patience and tenacity.  We are directed to take responsible actions that secure our finances and be resourceful.  As Saturn passes through the second house, it is essential that you get clear on your values and what is truly worth expending your energy on.  Ask yourself, do my material possessions reflect my personal values and what I actually need today?

Third House: How we communicate with the world.  How we learn and share our messages with others.  The way our mind works.  If Saturn is transiting your third house, you may face challenges related to communication. This could mean feeling unheard, struggling to express yourself clearly, or being misunderstood.  This is a valuable time to reflect on how your messages are being received. Consider whether you could benefit from taking a class in writing, public speaking, or marketing.  Perhaps it's time to enroll in a course, read a book, or even apply for a teaching role. Whether you're the one delivering the message, receiving it, or both, Saturn’s presence invites you to strengthen your intellect and improve your communication skills.

Fourth House: Roots, family, upbringing, psychological development, and imprinting.  Here, we turn inward to the realm of our emotions.  We ask ourselves if our beliefs and values benefit the person we’ve become today.  We may have to detach from family members or behaviors that no longer serve us.  We must take an honest look at what took place in our early years that shaped who we are now, and what we believe about ourselves.  We may have to heal old wounds as they resurface to remind us that we never let go, forgave, or took the time to free ourselves from shame, guilt, or blame when we were young.  Saturn’s passage through the fourth house is a time to assess your emotional life.  How healthy are you, really?  How have you been fooling yourself?  Pretending that the behaviors and beliefs you carry are really benefiting you?  The best advice at this time is to recognize and release limiting beliefs so they don’t continue ruling your life and dictating your outer circumstances. 

Fifth House: Play, pleasure, fun.  Here is where we come to recharge our batteries and feel good.  This is why love, romance, and dating fall into this house, as well as children.  Children remind us how to be creative and authentic – another message of the fifth house.  If Saturn is passing through your fifth house, you need disciplined creative effort, dedicated self-expression, and persistence in sharing your signature with the world.  Do you paint?  Write?  Teach?  Well then, you are called now to log a lot of extra hours in pursuit of extracting your God given talents, so there is no doubt the world understands what YOU are all about.  

Sixth House: Duties and responsibilities.  Physical health and animals.  Being of service and dedicating yourself selflessly to a worthy cause.  These are all the activities that make up the sixth house.  Saturn here reflects a need to focus on your health, your daily responsibilities, those mundane chores that help make your life (and your body) move along smoothly.  Maybe it’s time to change your diet.  Maybe it’s time to start a new exercise program.  Maybe you adopt a pet or decide to volunteer at a women’s shelter.  This house also refers to mentorship, so you may find yourself in the role of mentoring others, or you may decide to enlist a mentor for yourself.  The point with Saturn in the sixth house is that you show up to serve in some way, and that you take better care of your body. 

Seventh House: Marriage.  One-on-one partnerships.  Long commitments held over time.  This house is a relationship house.  Its advice is to commit to someone and see the growth that comes gradually.  Sometimes we go through trying periods in our relationships that test us and ask us to have patience, tolerance, and acceptance.  Other times, we find that life is asking us to go in new directions to honor our values and principles that no longer match those of our partner.  With Saturn passing through your seventh house, your task is to honestly assess the health and vitality of your relationships.  Are you being challenged in a good way?  In a way that will ultimately help YOU grow?  Or are you feeling restricted, stuck, and limited, bumping up against obstacles that you see no way through?  Honest self-assessment is crucial with any Saturn placement.  Whether you decide to stay in a relationship or leave, you may feel distance – either emotional or physical – from your partner at this time.  It is natural to feel alone even if you are living in the same house.  So, bump up your own self-care practices to rely less on your partner for emotional support and understanding now.  It may just be a phase that will make you emotionally stronger in the long run, or it may be a turning point that precedes an ending.

Eighth House: Intimacy, psychological depth, merging, death, personal transformation, and shared finances.  With Saturn passing through your eighth house, you may be called to do deep psychological work – similar to the fourth house – but this work deals more with your spouse and your intimate relationships.  It’s about sex and all the ways we get triggered in our close partnerships.  It’s also about death (metaphorically and literally).  You may experience someone passing away, which can be the trigger for counseling and psychological support.  Or you may find that something occurs internally that causes you to shift identities.  An example is: you get married and now you’re a husband or a wife, or you have a child and now you are a mother or father, or your parents pass away and now you feel like an orphan.  The eighth house is where we come to terms with life’s changes and hardships and where we find the inner strength to rise above setbacks and losses.  We grow stronger and wiser here.  This is why the eighth house reflects shamanism.  When we traverse our deepest wounds with grace and acceptance, we become the wise elders of our society.  Saturn’s presence in the eighth house asks you not to fear the darkness but to stay present for it.  If you experience loss, identity shifts, or simply marital stress, know that these challenges are only here to make you stronger.  And that... this too shall pass.

Ninth House: Travel, higher education, law, publishing, spiritual expansion through life experience, and acting on faith (rather than logic).  Saturn’s presence here may cause you to embark on a journey to gain knowledge.  Specifically, subject matter that aims to expand your current level of consciousness.  It is more likely that if you do travel, it is for training or schooling rather than simply a vacation.  You are working to refine your skills and figure out how to make your mark with the knowledge you have received.  At the same time, you are staying open-minded to new insights and teachings as they arise.  Because Saturn can cause delays, you may experience a few setbacks in completing a program or finishing a degree, but do not take any obstacles as reasons to give up.  Saturn is the planet that tests our perseverance the most, so whether you have writer’s block, or you can’t get anyone to publish your book, or you keep running into challenges with your coursework, do not let that stop you from forging ahead.   

Tenth House: Public image, career, leaving a legacy.  Saturn’s passage through the tenth house can be a time of great achievement.  If you have been working hard and developing your skills, now is the time the world sees evidence of your work.  You may be rewarded publicly for your efforts.  The saying, “With great power comes great responsibility,” fits perfectly here.  Because as you reach a new plateau in your vocation, new tasks will be placed on your shoulders.  If you have not been living dutifully, morally, or in alignment with your goals, however, you may find this time bears the negative consequences of your previous actions.   

Eleventh house: Groups, friends, networks, hopes, dreams, and future visions.  This is the area of life where our presence amongst people makes a difference.  And thus, with Saturn here, you are called to engage more with groups and organizations that align with your visions.  Instead of standing out as a leader (as you may have with Saturn’s passage through the tenth house), now it’s time to immerse yourself in a group environment to share your dreams and support others in achieving theirs.  Some people experience the fruition of their hopes and dreams, while others experience this period as a wake-up call that their previous dreams have not come true - or they've changed - and new ones have not been created in their place.  Thus, it’s important to establish a new vision now or create steps that will lead you to your original vision.  Group members can help you just as you can help them, so be willing - not resistant - to taking on new tasks that benefit the whole and not just yourself.

Twelfth House: Spirituality, meditation, hidden material, the unconscious mind, isolation, and loss.  If there is one thing the twelfth house teaches us, it is detachment.  Here you are learning to accept what is no longer.  To reconnect with a higher power and see yourself as more than an ego with desires.  This is not a time to start new projects or launch new ventures, but to reflect, meditate, and go inward.  It’s about honoring your accomplishments and the path that led you to where you are.  Even if things did not go well, you are simply the observer at this phase, not the judge.  If you need a fresh start, this is the perfect time to clear the decks and make yourself into the person you want to be going forward.  All of this is inner work; it’s about reprogramming your conscious mind to wipe out all the old, worn-out, unhelpful unconscious behaviors.  You may find you have sleep disturbances or extremely vivid dreams now.  This is an excellent time to keep a dream journal and review the dominant messages coming from your unconscious mind.  It is often that fears and troublesome emotions reveal themselves repeatedly in our dreams when it is time to heal and release old wounds.