I get the most out of my astrological predictive transit program by consulting it when there is a significant event happening in my life. Right now, transitting Saturn (planet of discipline and restriction) is in Scorpio in my 7th house, aspecting my natal Chiron in Capricorn in the 9th house.  Chiron is known as the “wounded healer.” It represents our deepest wound, and our efforts to heal the wound.  Chiron points to where we have healing powers as the result of our own deep spiritual wounds. We may over-compensate in these areas of life.  I was able to use astrology to discover what my lesson was during a challenging time.

Saturn is associated with restriction and limitation. Saturn brings structure and meaning to our world, it reminds us of our boundaries, our responsibilities, and our commitments. It brings definition to our lives. Saturn makes us aware of the need for self-control and of boundaries and our limits. Saturn is often associated with our fathers or father/authority figures. In childhood, the discipline, rules, and regulations imposed on us were not always pleasant, but they helped us to understand the world around us. Similarly, Saturn’s lessons actually help us to grow.  In the chart, the position of Saturn by sign and house reveals our own limitations, fears, and sense of responsibility. Saturn brings definition, and often limitation, to the planets it aspects. I find this of note as the “father figure” lessons I am learning now are with a friend a generation younger rather than older.  The text for the interpretation reads:

This transit is strongest (within 2 degrees) from  Jan 13, 13 to Mar 27, 13, no exact; and  Oct 4, 13 to Nov 7, 13, exact on Oct 22, 13.  The planetary energies flow together, open into new possibilities, new connections.  Your psyche is subject to a stressful and potentially vitalizing time, as the very structure of your life is subject to painful realizations, leading to great changes in your self-concept. At this time also, difficulties with authority figures may emerge, or your relationship with your father may challenging, or the way you live your life in relation to the structure of society itself may be coming to a point where changes that have been in the works for some time are ready to burst forth into your conscious awareness. There may be old wounds with your father, or with the parental care and discipline you received in early childhood, that re-emerge at this time, hopefully for purposes of healing these issues and the potentially debilitating effects that they may have on your life. At this time also, the self-concept that you have had up to now may be changing, leading to a renewed sense of your own healing potential. Through a slow concentrated effort you may begin to connect with a higher purpose in the work that you do at this time, especially if this work involves helping people to heal in some way, and to grow in their own understanding of who they really are.

I originally wrote this in February, and two months out of the transit, not only can I see it’s been accurate, I can see the lessons to be learned have been right on.  The first 10 degrees found me parting from a friendship and entering into a love relationship.  Adam at Cafe Astrology writes: Significant relationships with others are the focus when Saturn transits the seventh house. Saturn motivates us to do “spring cleaning” in the areas of life he touches, and one-to-one relationships will need to be considered and understood. Initially we feel frustrated. This is a time we need to define, understand, and crystallize our significant relationships. If you already have a partner, this is a time when any issues surrounding compromise, flexibility, and the ability to give your heart to your partner will surface. Frustration can take the form of feeling criticized and “examined” in this area of life. By the end of the transit, however, you will have learned much about commitment and compromise.  If involved in a casual love relationship, when Saturn transits the seventh, a pressure emerges concerning the need for evaluating one’s commitments. Often this transit corresponds with an urge (or pressure) to make a commitment. Healthy partnerships can be the outcome of this partnership, whether they are new ones or strengthened existing partnerships. Relationships are seen now as serious. Partners are no longer simply fun or mirrors of our ego. Responsibilities to partners, the need to compromise, and the realities of the needs of others, become clear. We are forced to begin seeing others as individuals, and to improve the manner in which we relate to and with others. Depending on the person’s age and life circumstances, “significant partnerships” can mean partnerships with loved ones, business partnerships, and even deep friendships. For example, when Saturn transited (the author’s) seventh house when I was a young teenager, I began to view my casual friendships as superficial and unsatisfying and eventually developed a deep friendship with a girl that was to last some time. Essentially, quantity (in the relationship department) was replaced with quality, and this process involved time, soul-searching, frustration, and eventual fulfillment. — Andrea’s note: this has been my exact experience and illumination during this transit.

Saturn takes about 28-29 years to come full circle. Saturn’s effect is to crystallize, to ground, and to solidify. Generally, the effect of Saturn transiting a house is felt in a more pronounced way in the first part of its transit through the house, as well as when it forms aspects to natal planets. Toward the end of the house, the native tends to have gained increased understanding—experience, if you will—with the effects. Saturn’s movement by transit through the houses acts to aid us to learn to depend on ourselves in different areas of life. At first, we generally encounter feelings of being thwarted or unsupported by the outside world in the particular areas of life that are ruled by the house. By the end of the house transit, we will have learned to look within ourselves for support.

In general, as Saturn passes through the fire houses (the first, fifth, and ninth), we deal with self-confidence issues and how these issues have affected our lives and our productivity. Through the earth houses (the second, sixth, and tenth), we confront issues of self-worth and effectiveness. Through the air houses (the third, seventh, and eleventh), we evaluate our relationships with others and how much (or how little) we can depend on these, as well as our mental outlook. Through the water houses (the fourth, eighth, and twelfth), we re-evaluate our inner stores of faith, our connection with the past, and our psychological workings.

Saturn makes us accountable for ourselves wherever it touches. Each house governs specific areas of our lives, and of our personalities, and transits of Saturn will bring these areas up for “inspection”, re-organization, and restructure.

If you’d like your own 3 month predictive astrology report to see where Saturn or other planets might be affecting you (and when you may expect it to end) it’s just $22.