What Do You Know About Your Saturn Return?

Whatever your age, Saturn is a molder of character through hard work, discipline, rigor, and devotion

Saturn moved into the sign of Pisces last week, an event that may have elicited lengthy text threads among your friends because, for some of you, your Saturn return has just begun. The much-feared Saturn return. What’s all the fuss about? Well, if you were born between January 1994 and April 1996 (or between late May and June 1993*), you have Saturn in Pisces which means that Saturn just returned to where it was in the zodiac when you were born. It’s an opportunity for massive personal growth in a short period. But whether or not you're in your Saturn return right now, Saturn as a planet and a metaphor has a great deal to teach all of us about development in the Quarterlife years.

I’m not an astrologer, but my mother is, so I grew up around a lot of this language and was introduced to the ideas pretty early. I’ve soaked up a lot of the information from her and other brilliant astrologers over the years, and I can say that the language of metaphor, myth, and soul that runs through the work has had a positive impact on my life. And, for what it’s worth, I don’t think you need to be “into” astrology to explore the work that Saturn expects of us. Ultimately, astrology is just another language to frame the universal aspects of being alive. Like mythology, which renders certain elements of the human journey into Gods and mythic battles, astrology mirrors the same through planets and the zodiac. Our individual stories are part of the universal stories. “As above, so below.”

Saturn is The Great Maturer. A “Saturnian person” is a person who is disciplined and focused, has strong boundaries, high integrity, and doesn’t tolerate bullshit or drama. The benefit of having that kind of person in your life can be that they help you to step into your own strengths and deepest character just by being around. Since they don’t look kindly on sloppy behavior, one look or word from them might help snap you out of nonsense that’s not serving you. Personally, though intimidating at times, good Saturn energy helps me to feel safe. You can trust a healthy Saturnian person, and when you win their respect, it means the world.

But in truth, there’s not a lot of Saturn energy reflected in culture these days. We more often get shaming or confused looks for sloppy behavior, so it’s no wonder that so many Quarterlifers long for genuine Saturnian support from their elders.

When it’s for our own development, we want to understand what the expectations are and seek to reach them. We long for true mentorship and for someone to provide an introduction to the deep teachings of life, even if it means really hard work along the way. We want someone to believe in what is possible for our lives. Quarterlifers get some of this in school and at work from time to time, but for the most part, academia and the corporate world aren’t actually invested in the molding of character. They’re invested in entirely different bottom lines. So a yawning gap exists in cultural education around character development. As a result, this extremely common desire that many Quarterlifers have for clear guidance and instruction goes unfulfilled. It’s no wonder that many Quarterlifers end up seeking discipline and structure through the military or the nunnery or cults.

I’ve always imagined Saturn as Mr. Miyagi, the teacher from The Karate Kid (circa 1984). You know, “Wax on. Wax off.” Through what appears to be painfully mundane tasks, Mr. Miyagi teaches his student about the potential to transcend previously felt limitations. Mr. Miyagi introduces his student to a truly soulful life through repetition and discipline, through boredom and commitment—not through adrenaline or drugs or anything overtly mystical. It is through Mr. Miyagi’s boundaries, high expectations, faith in his student, and strict, no-nonsense assignments that he conveys the beauty of existence. His teachings, however rigid, are always imbued with love and respect. In fact, the love and respect are what make the boundaries and tasks so powerful. Mr. Miyagi is never abusive. Never. At times, his expectations might seem like “too much”, or his rigor too demanding. He might seem to not understand what his student is asking for, or not be aware of how painfully dull the work is. But he knows. He’s been there before. He’s doing everything he can to properly mentor and mature his pupil. Because getting to the desired ends demands a lot.

Saturn knows what is possible for each person. This teacher is the inner part of each of us that knows the potential for our lives if we just apply ourselves; if we just take the risk that no one else around us believes is worth taking. Saturn knows what we can accomplish if we try. But it never promises that it will be easy.

To be sure, Saturn has a shadow side as well, the cruel demands of high expectations, of shame, of addiction, and of monotonous struggle without a soulful goal. It can be very confusing for a Quarterlifer with few positive Saturnian figures in their life to know how to distinguish what are the high demands of a healthy teacher, parent, or mentor, and what is fundamentally abusive behavior. Which is why seeking to develop a strong relationship with our own inner Saturn is so valuable.

If I’d added astrological footnotes to the chapters of my book, Saturn would figure prominently in the work of Chapter 6—to Separate—and would be the patron saint of Chapter 8, all about Building the life that we want. Building one’s own life takes remarkable devotion and dedication. It means enduring boredom and exhaustion and facing a great number of fears to overcome our own laziness and our own immaturity. We know what is possible for our lives somewhere in our chests. Saturn can help us get there.

Saturn is the energy that says “get back on the bike and try again.” It’s never cruel, but it doesn’t fall for tears or a temper tantrum. Saturn says: I know you can do this; I believe in you; try again, and again, and again. That’s when the magic happens. When you wouldn’t have thought it possible, suddenly there is growth, success, love, bounty, and celebration. Suddenly, you can ride the bike and are soaring down the road. If Saturn hadn’t been so fierce and certain, you’d have never gotten there.

And so, the years of the Saturn return can usher in extraordinary growth. Wherever Pisces is in your chart, there is transiting Saturn, and if you were born in the aforementioned years, so is your natal Saturn. During a Saturn return, the energy is doubled up and intensified.

What I tell clients about the Saturn return is this: it can either be a wormhole that propels you forward in time and towards your best life, like flying down the road on your two-speed. Or it can be a black hole that sucks you down; the rigidity is just too painful, the tasks too overwhelming, and the Saturian teacher to whom you devoted yourself was more abuser than mentor.

There’s no question, Saturn will work you during these years of life. But it’s handing you an invitation: show up and grow up. It’s saying, let’s make your dreams real, let’s get you into therapy, let’s face your monsters, let’s learn [insert goal here] and practice it again, and again, and again.

Because if you do, if you find the courage to create the life you want and love yourself in the process, you may find that you have launched forward far beyond where you expected you’d be two years from now. You’ll be blown away that it worked. It worked, it worked, it worked.

xo, Satya

P.S.

• I’m starting an eight-week seminar on Carl Jung’s Red Book this Friday! We’ll be exploring all things depth psychology, individuation, crisis, and transformation. Discounts and scholarships are always available.

• I was recently interviewed on the Joseph Campbell Foundation podcast, The Podcast With a Thousand Faces. I loved our conversation about supporting healthy masculinity, what a gender-free Hero’s Journey would look like, and so much more.

• I opened up my calendar again this year for one-on-one consultations.

• If you loved my book, Quarterlife, I’d love your review on Goodreads and or Amazon. Thank you, thank you.

• Tell me what’s happening in your life! I’m about to kick off a monthly “Dear Satya” edition of this newsletter with your questions on Quarterlife, stability and meaning, and everything in between. Tell me what you’re struggling through. Send me your questions. Just reply to this email.

*Thank you, Chani Nicholas, for this precise math!