Words for the People

Saturn in Virgo, 2007-2009: Meaning for the Sign of Sagittarius

With Saturn in your 10th House through October 29, 2009, this is the year to Manifest your life's work. Make realizing your soul mission your number one priority and reschedule the rest of your life around that central fact in 2008. This year and next year you will reap the harvest of the effort you've put into building your unique life out of the raw materials of your energy, talent and personality. This harvest time comes around once in 30 years, so don't waste a moment of it on activities and people that don't support your evolutionary imperative.

Although Saturn gets a bad rap because of his authoritarian, by-the-book, taskmaster personality, the Teacher Planet is also the force of material manifestation. In the body, Saturn symbolizes the skeletal system and the skin - these structures define where we end and the rest of the world begins; without them we wouldn't be viable human beings. So Saturn helps us define our boundaries in relation to the rest of the world and helps us do the repetitive work necessary to create lasting structures on the material plane.

Though it is commonly called the house of career, the 10th House more properly describes our life's work; the monument we are creating out of the raw material of our energy, passion and talent. With Virgo as the sign of your solar 10th House, your life's work will be connected with the Virgoan qualities of discrimination, healing, and using the mind to create practical systems and services that lead to the greater good of all.

Saturn takes about 30 years to make a complete cycle of the zodiac. Most of us experience at least two and often three complete Saturn cycles, and we experience Saturn differently during each of these cycles. Generally, the older we get, the more we can appreciate Saturn's insistence on doing things the right way, working within our limitations, minding the details and taking a structured approach to manifesting the reality we desire. The more we work with Saturn, the less we experience him as a mean old man disciplinarian and the more capable we are of working with his energy to create the structures in life that enable us to become successful on the material plane.

The best way to look at a Saturn transit is as a test of your reality structures. If the structures you currently have in place are appropriate to your life and your current evolutionary needs, then Saturn will help you build upon them to achieve success. But Saturn will also show you the weak links in your life, giving you the choice of fixing those weak points or of watching your structure tumble down under Saturn's rather relentless pressure.

Saturn in the 10th House represents the harvest, says Robert Hand in Planets in Transit:

During this time you will experience the consequences of the preparations you have been making for the last twenty to twenty-four years. If you have prepared well, the results will be excellent, but whatever is not so well prepared will be the basis of the difficulties you encounter. [...] The 10th House governs those aspects of your life that really represent your individuality as it is expressed by our unique accomplishments. At this time you have the greatest opportunity to make an impression upon the world as an individual.

To the extent you have been practicing the Saturnian virtues of self-reliance, commitment, and perseverance, you should see your efforts pay off handsomely now. The systems you have put in motion over the last twenty-one years or so will now reward you with the logical output you would expect from them. (Saturn isn't a planet that deals much in surprises; what you put in with Saturn is what you get out.) To the extent you have avoided taking responsibility, you will see your career reality reflect these gaps now. Even though you may be disappointed here and there, you really should try not to judge yourself or blame others for not getting what you wanted. The best approach is simply to connect the dots. See where you could have done better and resolve to pay more attention and do your duty the next time you have a similar opportunity.