Saturn Retrograde in Aquarius

 

Saturn, Lord of Karma and Tough-Love Teacher, ponderously begins his retrograde motion on June 4th, at 5.47pm EST. He will be revisiting the degrees of 25 – 18 degrees of Aquarius and only beginning forward motion again on October 23rd, 2022.

Saturn first entered Aquarius on 23 March 2020. This was a very portentous date, indicating the start of restrictions on freedom – an Aquarius quality – due to worldwide lockdowns. He travelled back into Capricorn throughout that year, only to come back into Aquarius for good in December 2020. Saturn will leave Aquarius in March 2023, and enter the watery depths of Pisces.

As we can see, Saturn has already taught many of us the important lessons of Aquarius – brother/sisterhood, freedom, equality and humanitarianism, to name just a few. Now, during retrograde, it’s as if Saturn asks us to once again, go over these lessons that we think we’ve already learnt. To review our communities, friendships, cherished ideals and visions for the future. Many of us have had to completely rework what we once thought we wanted and replace it with a new dream. We may have to do this again during his retrograde. Keep in mind that Saturn is highly dignified in Aquarius, his ancient home sign. This makes his energy easier to handle overall.

With the restrictions we’ve faced, we’ve also learnt, over time, the value of tolerance, of exploring our truth and of educating ourselves. Many of us have faced a meeting with our inner rebel, and our inner know-it-all, too. These are the shadows of Aquarius.

The retrograde journey of Saturn – the last time he will go retrograde here – offers us a final opportunity to integrate what we’ve learnt over these last few years. And, although we may chafe against restriction and want to push against the walls that may come up around us, it’s important that we sit tight and be willing to do the work.  

Because Saturn always, always has a gift to offer, once we’ve shouldered our burdens and accepted our responsibilities. After all, he is the Master Teacher. When we master the energy of Saturn, we will emerge stronger, wiser, firmer in our own authority and deeply humbled.

A month before Saturn goes Direct in October, there will be six planets retrograde, including Neptune, Jupiter, Uranus, Mercury and Pluto. September will be a remarkable renovation process, a moment of powerful and deep reflection, and a time when the entire Universe is on pause. All we can do is the inner work, which is precisely what Saturn wants of us. So, let us be ready to handle the lessons of these retrograde planets with wisdom and maturity and understand that this is just a part of the great and eternal cosmic dance.