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Midlife is Not a Crisis
Using Astrology to Thrive in the Second Half of Life
By Virginia Bell Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC
Copyright © 2017 Virginia Bell
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-63341-046-6
CHAPTER 1
THE SATURN RETURN
Growing Up and Getting Real (Age 29)
* * *
The lesson of Saturn is that life is a lesson.
Saturn is one of those planets with a terrible reputation and even worse PR. No wonder: It's associated with reality, responsibility, seriousness, setbacks, caution, fear, limitations, and obstacles. Oh, and let's not leave out old age! Ancient astrologers referred to Saturn as the Great Malefic; it's also known as the Lord of Winter, the Taskmaster of the Universe, and the Great Teacher.
I call Saturn the "Dr. Phil" of planets; it's about getting real. Saturn is a no frills kind of guy, but it isn't bad; no planet is. Let's compare Saturn to Jupiter — a planet with great PR and terrific buzz. Jupiter has a reputation for bestowing luck, prosperity, and abundance, yet this planet isn't all it's cracked up to be. Bigger-is-better Jupiter, like certain politicians and rock stars, also rules excess and exaggeration — it's where we can't say "no."
Bottom line: Jupiter isn't all good luck and Lotto, and Saturn isn't all struggle and sacrifice. It's said that Jupiter gives us crutches, while Saturn takes them away. At some point, we need to remove the training wheels or, like Forrest Gump, throw off the braces. The gift of Saturn is that it teaches us self-discipline, self-control, good boundaries, and, above all, maturity. Not exciting or sexy qualities but absolutely necessary if we want to create anything of lasting value.
Saturn's Backstory
Saturn comes by its reputation legitimately. The planet was named after the mythic Titan, known to the Greeks as Cronus and to the Romans as Saturn, who fathered gods but also devoured his children, just like his father before him. In fact, Saturn castrated his father (Uranus, also spelled Ouranus) with his sickle, which is how he became ruler of the Universe. Saturn married his sister Rhea; together they reigned for countless ages.
It had been prophesied that one of Saturn's children would depose him. To prevent this from happening he swallowed each of his progeny immediately after Rhea gave birth. Finally, after the birth of their sixth child (Zeus/Jupiter), Rhea had had enough. Rhea had baby Zeus secretly taken away to the island of Crete to be raised by nursemaids. Rhea then wrapped a stone in swaddling clothes and gave it to Saturn; he swallowed it, believing it was the infant.
When Zeus was grown, he returned, and, with the help of his grandmother (Gaia), he poisoned his father, causing Saturn to vomit up the other five children: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon. A devastating war between these new gods (the Olympians) and the older gods (the Titans) followed, almost destroying the entire universe. Ultimately, Zeus and the Olympians won, and Saturn and his brothers (the other Titans) were imprisoned in Tartarus, a dark, forbidding region far below the earth.
Law and Order
In astrology, the planet Jupiter is associated with justice and the legal system. Saturn, on the other hand, represents those figures who enforce the law: the policeman, the drill sergeant, the principal, the mother superior, the CIA. Saturn is related to authority and our earliest encounters with it. Ultimately, Saturn teaches us to become the author of our own lives. Saturn rules structures, the external structures of society that keeps us safe (but can also confine us) as well as our skeletal system, spine, and the skin that contain us. Saturn also governs the knees, and encounters with this Great Teacher often "bring us to our knees."
He has none of the glamour associated with the outer planets and none of the humanness of the personal planets.
— Liz Greene (Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil)
We all have the planet Saturn somewhere in our chart. We can't have it surgically removed (though some celebrities have tried — you know who I mean), and we can't hold back Father Time, another name for Saturn. The sign and house where we have Saturn is where we are cautious, slow, and often stuck; it's an area that doesn't come naturally or easily. As a result, we have to work on it, which is why we often become proficient in that area. It's the little girl who takes ice skating lessons to strengthen her weak ankles and becomes an Olympic champion or the kid who stutters and ends up being a famous actor or public speaker.
The good news is that Saturn gets better with age. More good news: unlike Jupiter, Saturn doesn't shower us with gifts, but it is fair and does reward us at the end of the transit. If we work with Saturn, we will be paid accordingly — but not a penny more! Another name for Saturn is the Lord of Karma; we reap what we sow.
The Saturn Return
Everything changes at our Saturn Return; I mean everything. This is the big Kahuna, the doorway to adulthood, and to the first major adult life cycle. Once a year, the Sun comes back, or returns, to the exact position it was in when we were born; that is our Solar Return — or what is commonly called our birthday. Saturn takes approximately twenty-nine and a half years to return to its birth position. Voilà, it is our Saturn birthday, or Saturn Return. People talk about the big 3-0; it's really the big 2-9.
Something happens in our mid- to late twenties: we begin to feel the clock ticking; there is a sneaking sensation that we're running out of time, and we need to make some important decisions — like where we're going and what we plan to do with our life. It doesn't matter how important your job is (running a major corporation, bestselling author, raising a family), how much money you're making, or how many Twitter followers and Facebook friends you have. There is a part of us that remains connected to our parents and their standards — or perhaps is still rebelling against them. That doesn't negate what we've accomplished during our twenties, but on some level we are operating within the context of the family we grew up in. At our Saturn Return, it's time to discover who we are, what we believe in, and make some decisions based on our values and interests.
Saturn doesn't ask us to give up our dreams, only to make them real.
— Steven Forrest
Maybe you dream of being a rock star. You're passionate about music; you've got some serious guitar skills and a decent voice; and the band you formed in high school was a local legend. You and your buddies move to New York City, and the band gets some gigs; just enough to keep your hopes up but not enough to really take off.
By your mid-twenties, you're getting tired of sharing an apartment in the boondocks of Brooklyn with three other guys and eating cold pizza for breakfast. Over the years, you've done temp work to make extra money. One day, you're sent to a recording studio and become fascinated; the work is stimulating and the people are great. The temp job evolves into a full-time position. You've finally found your niche.
Here's another scenario: the band dissolves, your girlfriend breaks up with you, and you hit bottom. After weeks of feeling sorry for yourself, you realize that it's now or never and decide to get serious about your music. You cut back on the late nights and drinking, write a half dozen new songs that finally have some real feeling, and make a demo. Maybe, like Adam Lambert (who, in 2009 at age twenty-seven, came in second on American Idol), you audition for a reality television singing competition and your career finally takes off. Whatever you decide to undertake will involve compromise, sacrifices, and bloody hard work. That's just how Saturn operates, but at our Return, we're finally ready, willing, and humble enough to do that.
Saturn is associated with our professional life and status, so for many of us, our Saturn Return involves a career decision. That can mean discovering what we want to do; or, if we're already working in a field we love, we might take on more responsibility, get a promotion, or go into business for ourselves. Some of us may already be working in demanding and highly skilled professions, even saving lives and contributing to society. In that case we may decide to commit to a relationship or start a family.
For example, Kate Middleton and Prince William were both born in 1982 and have Saturn in Libra (they take relationships seriously). They were married in 2011 during their Saturn Return.
Other people may decide to go back to school for an advanced degree, buy a home, or volunteer for a cause they are passionate about.
By the time she was twenty-nine, Celine Dion had achieved stardom; she had made twenty-five albums and was at the top of her career. She wanted desperately to have a child but couldn't get pregnant. Finally, in 1999, during her Saturn Return, she made a difficult decision; she put her career on hold to start a family as well as to help her husband recover from cancer. She gave birth to a son in 2001. When she returned to her career, critics noted that her music had a more mature sound.
Natalie Portman was already a major star when she signed on for the role of the young ballerina in the movie Black Swan. The preparation for the role was grueling; although she had studied dance when she was younger, Portman was required to train for five to six hours a day for six months. It paid off; Natalie Portman won the Academy Award for best actress for Black Swan. She also met her husband while working on the film, the choreographer Benjamin Millepied, and became pregnant.
It doesn't matter how much potential we have; sooner or later, we must prove ourselves to the world. Whether it's a career, a family, or a role in the world, we dedicate ourselves to something that will occupy a good part of our adult life and come to define us. We can't dream forever; there comes a time when we need to grow up, take a stand, and put our dreams to the test. The Saturn Return is that time. How do we know what that will be? Around the age of twenty-seven, something begins to happen that will give us a clue.
The Progressed Lunar Return
Progressions are another predictive technique that illustrates how we develop and evolve throughout life. The progressed lunar cycle (sometimes called the Moon cycle) moves almost at the same speed as the Saturn cycle, but it takes around twenty-seven, rather than twenty-nine, years to complete. The Moon is the domain of emotion and instinct; Saturn represents reality, form, and structure.
Before we figure out what we need to do, we get a feeling, an impulse. In other words, being comes before doing; inspiration comes before action. Imagine going to a Broadway musical or an opera. Before the curtain goes up and the action begins, there is the overture. We hear the music and immediately get a sense of the story. Is it The Lion King, Les Miserables, or Hamilton? The overture tells us what to expect.
The lunar cycle that precedes the Saturn Return is our overture. If we are quiet, pay attention, and listen to our intuition, we can feel something; an impulse that's beginning to grow, a tiny melody telling us what will happen when the curtain rises. Astrologer Steven Forrest has said: "If you haven't taken the time to feel at the Lunar Return, you end up making a random choice and have a random chance of being happy. The lunar has to be gotten right; it lays the foundation inwardly and invisibly."
Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love.
— Rumi
First we dream: that happens at our lunar time; that is our inner process. We are pregnant with something; we are incubating who we will be as an adult, and it must be nurtured and protected. In the Saturn time, we bring that dream into manifestation; that is the outer process. It is then that the two come together. We are a society of multitaskers — overscheduled, overextended, and often overwhelmed. Our culture does not honor the lunar, the feminine. We don't receive a lot of support for slowing down, going inside, and listening to those subtle impulses. But that's exactly what we need to do during this lunar time — if the Saturn Return is going to be fulfilled.
The 27 Club: Road Under Construction. Slow Down. Danger Ahead
There are many examples of people who have departed either before, during, or right after their Saturn Return; so many, in fact, that there's a name for it: the 27 Club. Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and Brian Jones were all members. So was Kurt Cobain; in fact, according to his sister, he spoke about wanting to join the 27 Club, and he succeeded. Robert Downey Jr. almost became a member. Amy Winehouse was terrified that she would become a member and ultimately did.
The price of joining this exclusive club is high, but you can't put it on your Visa or Black Amex. Instead, it will cost you your life. The 27 Club, also known as the Forever Club, is reserved for those people — specifically famous rock musicians — who have died around the age of twenty-seven, often under mysterious circumstances. There are songs, a movie, books, and even websites devoted to it.
Many other musicians have died close to that age: Otis Redding (26), Hank Williams (29), and Jeff Buckley (29). In fact, Jeff Buckley was second generation; his father, musician Tim Buckley, died at twenty-eight. And it's not just musicians; there have also been poets (Rupert Brooke), artists (Jean-Michel Basquiat), and movie stars (Heath Ledger) who have joined this club. Why are the mid- to late twenties filled with so many landmines? Why are rock stars and creative people particularly vulnerable?
The Progressed Lunar Return is a time to slow down, to get in touch with our feelings, and to allow our intuition to guide us to the great task we will undertake at our Saturn Return. For most of us, this is doable. The problem arises if you're living on the fast track, running on empty, and self-medicating when you're twenty-six and twenty-seven. In that case, it's much harder to listen to your heart; and if you try, the information being filtered through a heavy haze of booze and drugs isn't likely to be reliable. In fact, following what you think is your heart could be extremely dangerous. Insecurities, fears, and doubts become exaggerated; so can the need to escape.
Many people get sober and clean up their act at their Saturn Return. Actors Bradley Cooper and Rob Lowe stopped drinking at age twenty-nine, and both have been very open about how it has changed their lives for the better. For those who have serious emotional or psychological issues, this period can be a slippery slope.
For the majority of us, the Saturn Return is a challenging but empowering period. By committing to something and following through, we learn discipline, decision making, and how to function in the world. But what if you achieved massive fame and fortune in your teens or early twenties, before you acquired those Saturn skills? What if you have access to endless drugs, sex, and fast cars, plus a team of lawyers to bail you out when trouble hits? It takes an exceptional young person with high self-esteem, good values, and a strong family not to yield to temptation. Many members of the 27 Club came from broken families with histories of alcohol or drug abuse. Once they became famous, they had handlers and hangers-on instead of positive role models.
How To Get It Right
The Moon is emotional; it feels. At the lunar time, we must tune into our Moon, our mood. Can you sense what it's asking of you? Can you hear the call, and can you respond? Saturn is practical; it wants to build something real and tangible. It asks us to take what's inside us (a dream, a vision, a goal) and manifest it in the world in a concrete way. Saturn won't do the work for us; it is up to us to take responsibility for our vision, do the heavy lifting, and see it through to the end. Bottom line: You find your mountain and then you climb it.
Saturn thrives on massive amounts of hard work. In fact, Saturn has never seen a job it didn't like.
What to Expect
Like any initiation, the Saturn Return isn't easy — if it's easy, it ain't Saturn. This is not about instant gratification; this is about long-term goals and dedication. Most likely, there will be challenges, obstacles, and setbacks. The workload can be tremendous, the road long, problems and pressures daunting. That's all part of the process.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Midlife is Not a Crisis by Virginia Bell. Copyright © 2017 Virginia Bell. Excerpted by permission of Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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