Saturn Return: 7 Must-Do Steps For Growth 

by Aaron Weaver

If you’re anywhere from the ages of 27 to 32 and it feels like your world is crumbling at your feet, relax, it’s completely normal. You’re likely feeling the effects your first Saturn Return. In both Vedic and traditional astrology, it is documented that every 29.5 years, Saturn makes a full orbit around the sun and returns the exact place in the sky it was when you were born. 

So why, exactly, would a planet's orbit make you feel like you're getting a universal punch in the gut? 

Astrologers know Saturn as the taskmaster. It brings an energy of housecleaning, refinement, and complete reevaluation. As the planet realigns into its position when you born, all of its energies come with it. This is a time when you're forced to look at your life up to this point with brutal honesty so you can move forward with what works for you.  Dreams can be deflated, ideologies can be dropped, and foundations can be rocked, all in the name of clarity.  Major life changes from career shifts, to divorces, to marriages, to relocation are known to take place. This transit has often been viewed negatively, however it’s merely urging us to get rid of what no longer works for us so we can prepare for our next 29.5 years.

Saturn Returns are here to help us grow! 

Many people are feeling this shift with added intensity as the Earth and humanity are experiencing rapid changes. With these shifts, the individuals in Saturn Return may feel extra pressure to find something meaningful to dedicate their lives to in a world that is ever changing.  The ways of the past, of accumulation, of greed, of ego are slowly cracking as the energies of Aquarius, of love, unity, and balance try to push their way to the surface. This can be a time of great growth as well as a time of great heartache; the two are not mutually exclusive.  Saturn brings tough love, but love nonetheless. However much we open to the energies of Saturn will directly correlate with our ease or struggle in this transition.

So what can you do if you’re experiencing a particularly rough Saturn Return?

1. Take Action 

Saturn has been known to reward people who take action and depress those who procrastinate. This is the taskmaster. It’s a time to act on your intuition and move on that idea that’s been resting comfortably in the corner of your mind. The results of these actions can propel you into your next life cycle.

2. Cultivate Discipline

Last month I tried going on an antifungal diet. No grains, no sugar, no alcohol.  By third meal, I wanted to high dive off of a cliff into a canyon of brownies.  A month, and a small amount of nonjudgmental compromises later, I felt better, clearer, and healthier than I had in years.  A lot of us who lack discipline are avoiding it because we don’t know its benefits.  Experiment.  Set healthy boundaries for yourself for a day, for a week, for a month. Whatever amount of time you believe you could go without sabotaging yourself. Monitor your results. If they are positive (and they will be) then you’ll know what you’re sacrificing each time you avoid discipline.  This is a huge aspect of Saturn Return energy.

3. Be Honest

What isn’t working for you anymore? Are you holding onto something that no longer fits? Saturn Return will give us the answers to these questions even if we don’t want to look at them.  Embrace the courage to face these truths and remember that new doors are waiting to open for you as soon as you close the old ones. 

4. Be Kind to Yourself

Trying to find stability and discipline if you’ve spent most of your life avoiding it can be depressing, frustrating, and even infuriating.  Naturally, when you can’t seem to get something right, the blame tends to fall back on yourself. “What’s wrong with me?! I’ll never figure this out! I need some (insert: drinks, Facebook, mommy, etc.)!” Phrases like this can ring in our heads, creating doubt and confusion in an already tough time. You’ve been operating a certain way for your whole life and now you’re trying to shift it.  It’s not easy, but you’re trying.  Honor that. You’re engaging in the sacred act of conscious evolution.  It took 4 billion years for slime to turn into humans, give yourself a break if you don’t right your ship overnight. Be kind to yourself in this transition. 

5. Listen to Your Heart

I still have trouble with this one.  How do you know it’s your heart talking or your mind talking?  I was recently watching a TV show and the main character was faced with a particularly difficult decision.  A peer gave him this advice: “flip a coin, when it’s in the air, you’ll know which side you want to land.”  Your Higher Self always knows.  Your psyche creates a whole web of excuses, stories, and fears for you to untangle, but deep down you know.  Cultivate the courage to look at it.  And be kind to yourself if you fail.  Your intentions are on track, your conditioning needs to catch up.

6. Set Goals

I don’t like this one. I only want to do things to make me feel free and open like wild bird in an open sky and somehow goals feel like a boulder tied to my ankle.  But they make a difference. They really do.  If you don’t clearly define what you want, you won’t get any of that sweet universal assistance that comes from setting an intention.  The Saturn Return is here to jolt the drifter into choosing a path. And there’s no better way to move along a path than to set goals.

7. Let Go 

This can be a time where we’re particularly attached to our accomplishments. In fact, it’s not uncommon to start identifying ourselves completely the results of our actions. As Krishna, from the Hindu holy book, The Bhagavad Gita, says, “those who are motivated only by the desire for the fruits of action are miserable for they are constantly anxious about the results of what they do.” Let go and just do what you think is right.  Material success is no longer a valid excuse to compromise your beliefs.  While Saturn pushes us into action, it also pushes us into alignment with our values.

Copyright (c) 2008-2014. Sandra (Musser) Weaver, www.2012-spiritual-growth-prophecies.com - All rights reserved