Saturn Retrograde

  The biggest news of the week is with determined Saturn turning stationary retrograde earlier today in the sign of Libra. That in and of itself is important, but the other factor is that we have just ended our three-week "free pass" of all the planets being 'direct' in the cosmos! Think of the planets as energy - the "what" that is going on and the sign of the zodiac it is moving through is like a state of mind and determines "how" this planetary energy gets expressed while moving through this sign. This is appropos for everyone and becomes even more personal when you know where that territory is in your natal horoscope.

   Now, as Saturn wends his way back from 17 degrees Libra and 14 minutes to 10 Libra 24 minutes, we get to re-focus and work on bringing balance and harmony back into our career and professional lives. That may sound like I just said something fairly par-for-the-course, but it's a lot more important than it sounds. The transpersonal planets, Jupiter and Saturn, and the outer planets Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, all stop and re-wind in this retrograde direction for a few to several months each year;sometimes it feels like agony waiting for a situation to change or for the changes we need to come our way.

   Just a reminder here... the planets don't actually stop and turn around in direction when becoming retrograde or going direct. This has to do with our perspective here on planet Earth and the different rates of speed each planet takes in it's orbit around the Sun. From where we are, at different times of  the year, it appears that the planet is stopping and then backing up when this happens. The way we think of this in astrology is that we are re-covering, re-doing or re-directing that planet's energy back over territory it just moved through - it's symbolic of what needs to happen or be re-worked!

   In Saturn's case, it's all about focusing on your efforts to achieve something out in the world, particularly in your professional life. What is it you have been trying to do? Is there a project you had hoped to get off the ground, or a relationship you were trying to build on, since mid October of 2010... and now find yourself stalled? This is the time, another thing under Saturn's ruler-ship, to work hard to tweak, re-do, or re-focus your determination. Then, when Saturn goes direct again on June 13th, he will move forward over this re-worked territory, leaving this area on September 14th and moving more steadily forward. Think of the next nine months as time for gestation, growth and taking care of the baby you want to have be born healthy and ready to be seen out in the world in several months! In other words, slow down and focus (that word again...) your thoughts, resources and elbow-grease on what you want to achieve.

  Saturn in Libra can be exceptionally good for building strong relationships, as long as we put the time in and are realistic in our abilities, using our resources wisely and somewhat conservatively. Saturn likes to maintain the status quo, or at least, not throw out the baby with the bath water. The little progress you made is important for new construction to be added to - it's like building a house from the ground up - you want the foundation to be solid and the frame to withstand the test of time. You now have the time to make sure your relationships are strong and supportive and work for everyone involved. It wouldn't be wise to push your personal agenda during this time without engaging the support of those key people also affected.

  We are at the Last Quarter Moon phase when the energy of the relationship between the Sun and the Moon is waning, not increasing. This is often a challenging time, as we have to tighten our belts and look at how things have progressed since the New Moon, which I will remind you was in Capricorn (Saturn's natural ruler-ship) back on January 4th. Ask yourself, am I happy with the way things are going... what needs more work... or what can I do to make things better? This is the time to follow through on our efforts until the next New Moon in Aquarius, on February 2nd, when innovations, new connections and group or humanitarian concerns become the focus of our solar energy.  Until then...

  Remember to keep your head in the stars and your feet on the ground!