Understanding Saturn in Your Birth Chart

A deep dive into my favorite planet.

I hope everyone had a nice holiday! It was definitely a weird one for me, with the Mars-Neptune square and the Mercury retrograde. Everyone in my family ended up getting sick except for me, so we didn’t really do anything. But I definitely needed that full week of rest, because it allowed me to come up with so many ideas for this newsletter. 

Since it is still Capricorn season though, and we’re about to have a pile up of planets in this sign, with Mars moving into Capricorn today, Mercury moving into Capricorn on January 14, and Venus following on January 23, I thought it would be the perfect time to do a deep dive on Saturn. Saturn is the planet that rules both Capricorn and Aquarius, so we are currently moving through back to back Saturnian zodiac seasons. These next few weeks are a time of taking stock of our long term goals, as well as who and what we want to commit to moving forward. 

Before we get into it, I have an announcement! My book, Trust Your Timing, is finally coming out in the U.S. on January 23. You can preorder it wherever books are sold. I am also doing a book signing event in New York City at P&T Knitwear, a super cool bookstore on the Lower East Side, on January 30. Tickets can be purchased here. It’s a $5 entry fee, which can go towards the purchase of a book or a coffee, drink, snack at their cafe. I hope to see you there!

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Okay, on to Saturn.

Saturn is the easiest planet for me to talk about, because what it represents is so tangible. It’s the planet of implementing long lasting structures and turning ideas into concrete reality. There tends to be a lot of misconceptions surrounding Saturn though, so I wanted to address exactly what Saturn’s placement in your birth chart means. I will have to do a future newsletter on Saturn transits too, so stay tuned for that. 

When you’re understanding what Saturn means for you personally, you will want to take note of what house it falls in your birth chart. I prioritize the house placement over the sign placement, because Saturn remains in a sign for 2.5-3 years, so everyone of the same age group will have Saturn in the same sign. 

There are two sides to Saturn. First, Saturn is a planet that presents challenges, obstacles, and recurring hard lessons. The house in which it falls in your chart can be an area of your life where you’re super self critical, and internal fears often hold you back from taking action. You may beat yourself up over minor imperfections there and have this idea that everything needs to be a set way before you can progress. It’s like that saying about how perfectionism leads to procrastination and paralysis. An underlying feeling of not being good enough in that part of your life (represented by Saturn’s house placement) that is constantly holding you back. For instance, for anyone who has Saturn in the 10th house, you may find it really hard to take career risks. You could be scared to pursue the life calling that you really want, because you might be scared of what other people will think of you. Following a career path that is already deemed to be “acceptable” may be what your initial instinct tells you to do, until your Saturn return or another Saturn cycle comes along and gets you to reevaluate that part of your life. 

The house in which Saturn is placed in your chart is also an area where you crave structure and like to feel secure. You feel the best when you’re following a set of rules, and you may often look to other people for direction there, rather than being your own authority. I have Saturn in my 7th house, and I had a really hard time speaking up about what I wanted when dating. I would just go along with what the other person wanted and hoped that they would keep liking me. I would always turn to my friends for their advice on someone I was seeing or what I should reply back when texting, rather than trusting my own instincts. 

In addition, there is a sense of duty that comes with Saturn, and you may end up taking on responsibilities and trying to fix things that aren’t necessarily your problem. To give another example, for people with Saturn in the 4th house, you may feel like you’re responsible for your family, and you may want to stick close to home. From a young age, you may have been the caretaker of your siblings or even if your parents. Over time though, you could come to realize that you can’t let your family hold you back from living your own life. 

The good news is that over the course of your life you eventually learn how to move past these self imposed restrictions, as you step into greater confidence and become an authority on the topics surrounding the house in your chart in which Saturn is placed. There is so much wisdom to be gained from your Saturn placement and the tough challenges it presents, and you basically need those challenges in order to gain a mastery over that part of your life. Saturn is the planet of time, so your Saturn placement usually goes from to being your biggest obstacle to becoming your greatest strength as you get older. 

It’s also important to look at what houses are ruled by Capricorn and Aquarius in your chart. Even if your Saturn is placed in a different sign, like Pisces for instance, the Capricorn and Aquarius ruled houses may be areas where you feel similar fears or self defeating patterns come up. So when you’re reading the below, not only check the house in which Saturn is placed in your chart, but also note the whole sign houses ruled by Aquarius and Capricorn.

In the above diagram, you can see this person’s natal Saturn is in Aries, their 11th house. However, Saturn rules their 8th (Capricorn) and 9th (Aquarius) houses, and also their MC angle. So they may also want to check out the definition of Saturn in the 8th/9th/10th. That’s a lot of Saturn!

If you have any planets exactly conjunct, square, or opposite to Saturn in your birth chart, all of what I said above may influence how you express that planet in your life. For instance, Saturn conjunct the moon may mean that there are restrictions in opening up emotionally, or you may have tough lessons regarding the relationship you have with your family, or more specifically your mother. Meanwhile, Saturn square your Venus will be felt similarly to having Saturn in the 7th house. 

Below are key themes of both challenges and advantages that come with each Saturn placement. Keep in mind that not all of the points will apply to you, so take what resonates and leave the rest. 

Saturn in the 1st house: feeling uncomfortable in your own skin or unsure of what you want for yourself, being hyper critical of your appearance or having numerous health problems especially when you were younger, looking to other people for direction on who you should be or how you should act, thinking it’s your responsibility to take on other people’s problems, hard to be spontaneous or confident in what you have to say and offer, over time you’re learning how to build greater self love and confidence and speak with more authority, you’re becoming more comfortable being your full, authentic self

Saturn in the 2nd house: having a scarcity mindset surrounding money, aspiring to be wealthy but at the same time being scared that it will all be taken away suddenly, not having confidence in the skills you bring to work and having difficultly in recognizing your value, facing difficulty at work in standing up for yourself and asking to be paid a certain amount, may be overall uncertain of what you’re meant to do career wise, you have the potential to work for yourself or start your own business, but you may not be sure of what exactly that looks like until later on in life, you’re also learning to be more generous with your money and trusting that abundance will come

Saturn in the 3rd house: afraid to voice your opinions for fear of upsetting people, possibly shy when meeting new people (especially when younger), or not having a ton of confidence in your writing or speaking abilities, you may have had learning disabilities as a child, or there’s a tendency to overthink everything, you may get scared about people criticizing what you have to say, may also have siblings that are a lot older than you or the relationship with your siblings isn’t super close, you’re learning how to develop your communication skills and think more creatively, you also have a natural skill in doing more long form written, spoken, or visual content, and you’re learning how to apply your knowledge to practical tasks or projects at work

Saturn in the 4th house: having to take on a lot of responsibilities at home from an early age, like taking care of siblings or feeling more mature than your own parents, can also signify having literally older parents than your peers, there may be a fear of separating from the family unit and chasing your own dreams, or you may feel like your family was very critical of you or didn’t show you a lot of love and support, you’re searching for a place where you belong and you’re working to lay down your own roots and develop a healthier home life for yourself as an adult 

Saturn in the 5th house: scared to fully be yourself or always feeling like your creative skills aren’t good enough, you may also be hesitant to show any type of creative work publicly for fear of being criticized by people, experiencing low self esteem when dating or feeling awkward in expressing love and affection, may also be hesitant to have kids, not want them at all, or you become a parent when you’re older, on the other hand it could be the opposite where you end up taking on a lot of responsibilities surrounding children, overall, you’re learning how to be more comfortable showing off your unique gifts and being less scared of rejection, you could end up becoming a relationship expert or creating something that stands the test of time too

Saturn in the 6th house: not knowing when to chill out at work and delegate tasks, having difficulty achieving a healthy work-life balance, you may put a ton of pressure on yourself to perform well at work, and you might have constant stress surrounding your job or relationships with your coworkers, on the other hand, you may struggle to find what career path is the best fit, and over time you may come to realize that you need to be doing work that serves other people somehow, in addition, you may run into frequent health problems or even chronic illness, or you could not value taking care of your body and exercising until you’re a little older, you’re learning how to find deeper meaning in your work and also making your physical health a bigger priority 

Saturn in the 7th house: having anxiety surrounding romantic relationships, seeing dating as difficult and scary, can’t just relax and go with the flow when meeting new people, may feel kind of awkward when you’re just one-on-one with people, you could feel like you’re the chronically single friend, and it may take you a while to find the right partner and have more confidence when dating and in relationships, you could also be very critical of the people closest to you or it’s hard to open up and show your true personality especially around people you’re romantically attracted to, you’re realizing that you have more power than you think in relationships to decide who you do and don’t want in your life, you don’t need someone to pick you and you’re becoming more confident in making these types of relationship decisions

Saturn in the 8th house: facing mental health struggles or having a deep fear of not being in control, you might be scared to experience loss or you could have anxiety surrounding finances and never having enough money for yourself, you may also be hesitant to go deeper in relationships and fully share more of your life with someone, you’re learning how to better understand your own behaviors and becoming more self aware of undermining patterns you keep engaging in, financial success may come more as you get older, and you could also become an expert on mental health matters or gain necessary experience in areas that involves intimacy, trauma, or grief in order to help other people who have gone through something similar

Saturn in the 9th house: being closed off or very critical of other beliefs, or maybe you’re not that sure of what you believe in, there may have been a religion or ideology that was forced on you growing up, and you could struggle to find what type of spirituality or religion resonates with you the most as an adult, you may take education super seriously, but this can hold you back sometimes, because you may think that you need a ton of degrees or certifications before you can take action in your field of interest, when that’s not always the case, you may struggle with never feeling smart enough, or you could be hesitant to share writing or engage in public speaking, you may find greater success in these areas as you get older, as well as becoming more open to other cultures and spiritualities 

Saturn in the 10th house: finding it hard to take risks in your career or being scared to pursue your dream job, you may struggle to understand what your dream job would even look like, you may also put a lot of pressure on yourself to succeed at work  and do everything perfectly, you could fear criticism at work too and be scared to show up publicly, either online or in your career, over time you’re learning to become an authority in your specific career niche, and more major career recognition will come as you grow older, you’re also learning to trust your own instincts when it comes to making big work decisions 

Saturn in the 11th house: seeing friendships as a serious responsibility, having fewer friendships or you’re mainly friends with people you have known for years, you could feel uncomfortable in group settings and social events, and there may be a fear or not being accepted by other people, on the other hand, you may look to other people too much for direction, or you could hold yourself back in dreaming big for your future, over time, you’re learning how to be more outgoing, as well as more of a group leader, you’re realizing that you’re not actually an outsider no matter how much you may think that to be the case

Saturn in the 12th house: having a tendency to isolate yourself, or you may not feel connected to anything bigger than yourself, you may reject spirituality, especially when you’re younger, or you could take on a victim mindset often, on the other hand, you may be overly compassionate to others, giving all of your energy away to other people and their problems, or you may struggle with self sabotaging mindsets and behaviors that you know aren’t serving you, you could also have addiction related issues or mental health struggles, overall, you’re learning to find deeper meaning in your life and could end up being very drawn to a spiritual practice, like astrology for instance, and you’re working to release yourself from self defeating patterns. 

As I final note, I want to share that this is why the Saturn return, as well as the Saturn squares and oppositions that happen in 7 year increments are so important to keep track of. These Saturn transits amplify the underlying meaning of your natal Saturn placement, and urge you to address all of the ways in which you have been holding yourself back there. So anyone around the ages of 7, 14, 28/29, 35/36, 42/43, 50, 57, 64, etc may be currently feeling the hard lessons of their Saturn placement.