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I recently turned 29, which, according to my birth chart, that means the universe gifted me my first Saturn return during a quarantine. For the uninitiated, Saturn return happens when the planet returns to the placement it was in when you were born. It happens every 28 or 29 years and generally involves life throwing a platter of obstacles your way, challenging you to grow up. And for others like me who are “lucky” enough have Saturn in Aquarius, you can expect to work through these always-tricky issues as you’re living through a pandemic. Cool, cool, cool.
As a general note, while your personal Saturn return will probably take place over a year to a year and a half, Saturn stays in a given sign for about two and a half years. As for Saturn’s current transit, it moved from Capricorn into Aquarius on March 21, and will stay there until March 7, 2023 (aside from a retrograde backpedal into Capricorn from July 1 to December 17, 2020). To learn if your chart has Saturn in Aquarius (and you can, thus, expect a Saturn return during quarantine), consult your birth chart, a Saturn return calculator, or an astrologer for a reading.
If you have Saturn in Aquarius, know that now, during quarantine, is an especially poignant time for your to be going through your Saturn return.
And if you do, in fact, have Saturn in Aquarius in your chart, know that now, during quarantine, is an especially poignant time for your to be going through your Saturn return. Intellectual, innovative, and independent Aquarians have rebellious and progressive energy that is so forward-thinking, they often live in their future. So the current time-to-grow-up challenge for Saturn in Aquarius is in noting how individual powers can connect rather than divide or isolate us so we can communally thrive.
“With Saturn in Aquarius, you’ll be asked to be the leader of this generation, to formulate new concepts of what it means to be part of humanity, and to be allies and friends to one another without discrimination and separation,” says Jennifer Freed, PhD, psychological astrologer and author of Use Your Planets Wisely. So, you know, no pressure.
That’s great to know on a macro level, but perhaps you’d like some actionable tips you can turn to for surviving your Saturn return happening during quarantine. To that end, Dr. Freed has four helpful ideas.
Is your Saturn in Aquarius? If so, bookmark these 4 tips to survive your Saturn return during quarantine:
1. Don’t fight against your new responsibilities
According to Dr. Freed, those who try to resist the challenges of their Saturn return tend to have a rougher go of it down the line. Refusal to grow can lead you in a direction that will only build on current pain points in your life, so use the current transit of Saturn in Aquarius during quarantine as inspiration to embrace change and blossom.
2. Don’t go back to old habits that don’t serve you
Though texting your ex or engaging in any other activity that brings you back to a past comfort is tempting right now when little feels within control, resist that urge, if possible. Now’s a time to learn how to adapt effectively, and as a member of a world that will look largely different than it did before the pandemic. So, especially now, revisiting old habits that don’t serve will set you back from your future potential.
If you interact with your past, be mindful of the choices you made originally, and why things ended up as they did. Saturn in Aquarius is forward-thinking and ready for revolution, so it can be helpful to identify how you got to where you are.
3. Prioritize yourself—you won’t be able to help others if you don’t
Check in without yourself frequently, and learn how to say no when you can.
“The only way to get through any Saturn period is to have an unwavering commitment to your self care.” —Jennifer Freed, PhD, psychological astrologer
“There’s this whole work-object mythology that the harder you work and the harder you give, the more noble you are,” Dr. Freed says. “And that’s one of the absolute lies of our generation that leads to ill health, bad immunity, and so on. The only way to get through any Saturn period is to have an unwavering commitment to your self care. If you have that, everything else will go well, even the hard times.”
4. Adopt practices that are good for you in the long-term
Many coping mechanisms can help us navigate times of crisis, but not all of them are beneficial for you. So take stock of your strategies for distraction and self-soothing, and if something is a vice, replace it with a habit that nourishes you and your sense of well-being—even if it takes time to see and feel positive results.
“The longer you postpone doing good things for yourself, the harder it is to implement them,” says Dr. Freed. “The entire point of Saturn is maturity, and maturity means delaying gratification in favor of things that are really good for you and others.”
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