Saturn Through the Twelfth House
Whenever a Saturn transit occurs it will be related to the natal placement of the planet, the 10th house, and the ruler of the 10th with accompanying aspects. With each transit, an individual is ideally getting closer to realization of her life's goals. The hardships occur to delete whatever is blocking this passage, although the defenses have been necessary thus far.
The transit of the 12th house of the wheel is especially important in preparation for a rebirth as Saturn crosses the ascendant, the driver of our lives, and a new cycle of worldy achievement begins. The 12th house is the infinite karmic closet holding everything -- past, present, and future. Saturn here brings hidden factors into reality so the individual can confront the deep problems and remove the obstacles impeding progress. Sometimes these complications seem like they're of cosmic proportion. Loss, tragedy, sorrow, weakness, inertia, helplessness, and a general feeling of being overwhelmed often arrive as the result of Saturn's presence here. Age old complexes can surface, old wounds, and unnamable feelings. One can be at a loss not knowing what to do. Waiting and suffering continue, while the magic rescue fails to come. Saturn is famous for relentlessness.
Years ago I lived in an apartment complex with others in a family-like situation. My downstairs neighbor was the first to get the transit. She was an Aquarius rising with a Moon-Saturn conjunction in Sagittarius in the 10th. Sure enough, her mother died. She was devastated. Afterward, however, she emerged with a new feeling that the presence of her mother prevented...Moon-Saturn blocking the joy of Sagittarius. The release of the sorrow was necessary in the cosmic 12th house way in order to go on to her detached Aquarius incarnation, with her birds and her independence.
The next one to get it was another downstairs gal with Capricorn rising and Saturn in Cancer in the 7th house of marriage. She was given away by her mother at birth believing she couldn't care for the infant. The other siblings remained, the tragedy of her life. Her search was for a partner to give her the lost security. Through the transit she drank heavily, cried incessantly, and pleaded with everyone to relieve her sorrow to no avail. After the tears dried and Saturn moved along, her new husband arrived. As far as I know, they are still together.
Then came my turn. Aries rising with Saturn in Leo. My Leo husband died after 25 years together while Saturn was in Aries marking the start of my solo life as an independent artist. I was in completely unknown territory, alone, and terrified. He was a noisy man and when he died my world suddenly became dead silent. That's when the psychotic episode arrived. I started hearing all the refrigerators in the aparment building in a hum I could barely endure. I'd get home and at first everything was fine, then the humming would start and I couldn't escape. No exit is often part of the 12th transit. Fortunately this didn't last long. I recovered my normal hearing and then it came time to move. But this is where it got interesting. I moved to another apartment in late spring and when the heat arrived, a hum came with it that was 100 times worse than the original one. Only this one was REAL. The huge industrial air conditioning units, unbeknownst to me when I moved in, were right above my bedroom. Reality? Saturn was just out of my 12th and in my 1st. I moved to the 2nd floor. I was in the war zone for the next couple of years, and Saturn in Aries through the 12th had mobilized me in the most basic of trainings I'd ever known heretofore. This was a taste of my new life of survival alone and it worked. I'm alive.
Not all people have the challenges others do when Saturn transits the 12th, but the experiences can be overwhelming, unfamiliar, and without resolution until the blocks to the beginning of the next 30 year cycle are dismantled, and building with a new potency can commence. Saturn removes ego defenses that have been in place for a long time and leaves the person vulnerable until the new structure is gradually built in the 1st quadrant. The frightening part can be the confusion since these blocks, themselves, are often unknown until Saturn arrives, and sometimes one never knows. The malaise can be unidentifiable and some people despair of ever finding direction again, but we continue and the cycle starts once more with all the new complications in tow.
posted by jm at 2:28 PM
38 Comments:
Ooh, you're talking about my favorite planet, that crusty old teacher of mine. I've got nothing in the 12th, but what you're describing here--
Loss, tragedy, sorrow, weakness, inertia, helplessness, and a general feeling of being overwhelmed often arrive as the result of Saturn's presence here.
--is very much akin to what I've been going through in varying degrees in the last few months. Astro tells me I've got Neptune squaring my Sun, hence the "temporarily paralyzed" they're ascribing to my "forecast." Saturn isn't anywhere near my 12th house, though Mars is transiting the 12th in Taurus. Hmm.
Oh I see... Saturn entered my 12th shortly before I bought my house. That was a transformative period in no small degree. That's when I felt like my life was finally taking off after sitting on the runway for an eternity.
Given Saturn's placement in my chart, will his transits have a different effect on me than they do on others? Am I... *gasp* teacher's pet? :o)
Given Saturn's placement in my chart, will his transits have a different effect on me than they do on others? Am I... *gasp* teacher's pet? :o)
You are so funny. And so astrological.
Mars in the 12th is a mini despair and helplessness crossing. It will pass easily. The 12th house Saturn kind doesn't. You know it when you got it.
Because of the placement in each chart, Saturn will have a different effect on everyone. So this is the way to learn astrology best. Observe your own transits and those of the people you know and can track. The famous don't teach well because we aren't seeing enough of their actual lives. Almost, I think, but just shy.
Saturn in the 1st natally is like the self defense zone I described(just added) in my own experience. It's after the overwhelming part is over (believe it or not), and the person is ready to build survival skills and perfect self-defense throughout the lifetime. They get better as time goes on. All the Saturn transits will center around this task. The building of a solid well defended body and personality that are adept at survival.
That's reassuring about Mars. So, then, 2028 is when Saturn will enter my 12th. I'll be about 65 then, and we shall see, eh? :o)
By then you'll be an expert. No problem.
All of our sorrow is unnamed really, and Saturn in the 12th brings this recognition. In the other places we pin it on this and that which doesn't work. By the time Saturn gets to the 12th, the futility is apparent. There really is no solution but we get up and try again.
The difference in transits is that some people are more comfortable with sorrow. And untainted happiness comes with it. You see this in Pisces.
Collectively.
The lengthy Saturn-Neptune was about this with the NN and Uranus in Pisces. This is all drawing to a close. The 29 Pisces stuck in Iraq syndrome is the centerpiece of this inertia and confusion.
Saturn was in Leo the last few years making theater out of it with the quincunx to the Pisces placements.
But Saturn in Virgo soon will oppose the Pisces and make the loss clear with ideas and even tasks arriving to work our way out of it.
It will square the Sagittarius too, tying it together for a new spiritual go round.
But Saturn in Virgo soon will oppose the Pisces and make the loss clear with ideas and even tasks arriving to work our way out of it.
I'm seeing this already. The cover story of the August issue of Utne is "The Ugly Americans," featuring Deadeye Dick, The Mad Cowboy, and Dr. Aspartame.
It's all about America's loss of stature and prestige in the world, and that's finally coming to the forefront, as you say.
Oh yeah, by 2028 maybe I will have learned a thing or two about astrology. ;o)
Saturn would have been in my 12th house between the ages of 1 and 5 years. Actually, it wasn't bad at all. I enjoyed that part of my life. We were poor, but I didn't know that back then.
For me, I think the period corresponding to Saturn in very late Scorpio through very early Sagittarius was more challenging than any other period. I suppose that could be attributed to the first square of Saturn to Pluto.
The Ugly Americans
This is nothing new. People think this is some dramatic deciding moment in American history, and of course, it's not. Far from it. Things have been much much worse. The days of the labor struggles are hard to imagine now, and they won't come back for a long time. The dust bowl days, depression, etc. Things are all right here at present. You can't see until it becomes history in retrospect.
That's one of the problems. Nothing that bad to mobilize against and people are unfocused. Iraq? Small in the big picture. Try the Civil War. They are always the worst and that's what Iraq is going through and needs. Our Civil war changed us.
The difference now is that the people seem to be realizing that their behavior can be corrected on some level. The useless of blaming the Bush administration is apparent. Politicians in general. It's just not fixing the problems. Many are still in this mode, but many are also rerouting from the whole dynamic and taking it upon themselves to try and do something.
Americans are a mixture like they alwys were, but most of the world is fond of the country. We should live up to that reputation and probably we will. We seem to be taking more resonsibility. In the young especially which isn't being publicized, but it's happening.
The reason, kad, is because you are a Pisces rising and more comfortable with the energy. It's unique in each case.
The ones who put more stock in a strict reality have more trouble. Pisces rising is very fluid and fexible and can adjust to the sensations.
For me, I think the period corresponding to Saturn in very late Scorpio through very early Sagittarius was more challenging than any other period.
This is great info. Thank you. It verifies my emerging theory about the major transition between Scorpio and Sagittarius.
The 8th house transit of Saturn is often difficult too, and so is the other water house, the 4th. It depends on how we deal with our feelings as Saturn makes them real in each of these houses. Different in every person and every time around.
"The reason, kad, is because you are a Pisces rising and more comfortable with the energy. It's unique in each case."
I was just now wondering about that, the possibility of the rising sign affecting the mix. Very interesting!
Another thing of course is your moon joop in the 12th and all of that bouyancy and optimism.
The mix is what is unique and so fascinating. these generalizations are just that, although some of it is operative on some level in everyone. We all handle it differently.
The ASC is very important in this case because of the Saturn cycle starting at square one again, the 12th passage being the preparation. Clearing the decks.
Pisces is amorphous and mutable, making for great adjustment talent.
Oh, so...does that average out to a normal early childhood? LOL
I could be considered buoyant, at that age. Of course, later, I started wondering, "What's wrong with everyone?!? My gosh, I'm surrounded by neurotic people!"
You do seem like an entity somewhat related to normal. Probably your childhood was the same.:-)
Did they think you were normal?
What's wrong with everyone?!? My gosh, I'm surrounded by neurotic people!"
You were correct.
Now, the next time around, Saturn through the 12th again, I was in a new job, making good money. I met my best friend (another Moon-Jupiter conjunction person -- but in Leo!!! Right opposite to my Moon-Jupiter conjunction).
One day, he gave me a modem so that I could get e-mail and browse message boards.
I leapt right into debating some fundamentalists, who were acting superior and judgmental of minority groups. (I thought it was outrageous. I had never encountered them before, and I was quite shocked by their idea of spirituality, etc. I guess I lived a sheltered life, being a native New Yorker and all.) And I got a bunch of new friends as a result.
Another thing to keep in mind is that sometimes astrology doesn't work at all. Some things defy all the guidelines. It can be amazing how much. But usually it applies.
Oh, those memories are getting my solar plexus engine revved up. Heheh. Rrrr.
My first Saturn pass through the 12th found me in India and it was a good time in many ways, not like the 2nd. But memory is selective.
For those who have hard 12th house transits the knowledge that it can often bring suffering is a comfort.
We know this can't be predicted.
"Some things defy all the guidelines."
Maybe it's like that nature/nurture mix. Many traits are X percentage this, and Y percentage the other.
Also, sometimes I think astrological effects in the solar system are stronger in certain periods. I wonder if they'll be particularly strong around 2012 or so, based on the idea that increasing solar activity might be fueling them.
"You do seem like an entity somewhat related to normal."
Normal what, I have yet to find out! :-) "Some what", yes.
There are many variables.
For example, the only universal you can really apply to the 12th house transit is the dissolving of ego boundaries previously used. How this feels will be unique in each case.
Then many don't share the inner turmoil, if it's there, and some make a Shakesperean tragedy out of it.
I think it's more nature, since the nurture represents the person herself and her destiny. She will attract the nurture according to the nature.
Astrology is probably a constant but our relationship with it is flexible. Some don't want to use the graph and it won't work for them. It can work like a good machine for those who do. And both ways work just as well.
"Did they think you were normal?"
People around me? I think so at that age. But they could have been projecting.
I think they started worrying when I became a moody teenager. Hormones, you know.
"the dissolving of ego boundaries previously used."
With the Moon and Jupiter there, in Aquarius, maybe I'm used to expanding past normal bounds. At least psychologically. I don't think Pisces rising would object to that.
Fortunately normal has a broad band which keeps stretching as aberrations continue. When is the right time to confine or subdue?:)
I use astrology loosely and I don't try to fit into most of the transits. Like the way I didn't know the ASC of RU.
I use the major transits as guidelines.
With the Moon and Jupiter there, in Aquarius, maybe I'm used to expanding past normal bounds. At least psychologically. I don't think Pisces rising would object to that.
Absolutely.
Moon jupiter allows for expression of the feelings, although not necessarily to others. Moon Pluto will hold them in for power and use like dammed water for hydroelectric energy.
Moon Saturn will repress and wait for the right time to express.
Dear JM, thanks for this. Saturn's almost through my 12th now and frankly, it's been pretty rough. Actually it's been about three or four years of challenging times, since the current 12th house transit was preceded by my first Saturn return.
Old dreads and terrors of being unable to fend for myself, or being burdened with way too much responsibility for looking after my parents and family affairs (I'm the eldest, and expect little to no help from my much younger brother) have all paraded themselves before me during this 12th house Saturn transit. And it is, frankly, somewhat hysterical and ridiculous, given my parents are still able to look after myself - God keep them so - and busy looking after their own aged mothers.
But the irrational terror of being overwhelmed by responsibility, and the possibility of being trapped in a caretaker role is vast (as is my Virgo-rising self-reproach at the sheer selfishness of such feelings).
Also, having enjoyed comparative freedom in the States from 1998-2006 (having entered the US on a Fulbright scholarship), the 12th house transit of Saturn has also brought me back to Cyprus to serve my two-year home requirement. A place I have always tried to escape from, but which, if I am fair, has given me good things as well as a multitude of restrictions and challenges.
I know the overall experience of Saturn's present transit is making me stronger. And it's letting me confront fears even when I don't necessarily have solutions to them, yet. It's teaching me my limits, and encouraging me to learn humility and - to varying degrees - self-acceptance where I see plainly how much fear, selfishness, inertia, and distaste for self-sacrifice is a part of me.
But I'd really like to be creative again. I haven't felt anything - no aching need to express myself -for so long. Maybe, Saturn's transit through my Leo 12th has temporarily poured ashes on my creative fire. It's certainly dampened my ambition to virtually nothing.
Also, my once-devout Christian life has been swept away for good. And while I still believe in God, I have no idea where I'm at, in a religious sense. My sense of the divine had a lot to do with my creative drive, so, again, much that I looked to for motivation and guidance is MIA.
Still, all in all, not a bad set of achievements for dear old Saturn. The planet gets a lot done in the space of rather a short time. And I guess it'll be for the best, in retrospect.
Perhaps, once Saturn goes over my ascendant, I can start moving beyond the heartbreak and being able to take more charge of my life. I don't expect things to get easier, just a little less painful - maybe? I know there's work galore just waiting to be done. But that's very likely a good thing.
Thanks again for the article, JM. Much appreciated.
*sheepish clarification*
In my last post, I said: "And it is, frankly, somewhat hysterical and ridiculous, given my parents are still able to look after myself - God keep them so - and busy looking after their own aged mothers."
I meant, my parents are still able to look after "themselves." Heh. Perhaps the inadvertent slip is yet another indication of my struggle to own my 32 years, grow up, take responsibility, and not be so pathetic. Oy!
regarding feelings and aspects - moon pluto holds them in for power and uses them like dammed water for hydroelectric energy - precisely JM !
i have used the dammed up emotional energy for a career ( pluto in the 10 th) as a luthier - an acoustic guitar builder - and that emotional intensity was channeled thru the virgo sun into a pursuit of perfection in my craft. the saturn neptune pass has actually had sort of the feel of a 12 th house saturn transit - loosening and dissolving some of the boundries of the moon pluto tension and revealing some of the hidden vulnerabilities tied up in that dam. the lesson of saturn neptune (and it seems the 12 th house generally) is that i just have to suffer without effort to defend myself in any way and allow whatever is coming thru to have its way with me - to surrender.
a mirror - your reflections serve as mirror - thanks !
"luthier" Now there's a word you don't see every day. :o)
And I quite agree: Raging U is indeed a very clear mirror for most, if not all, of us.
JM. Hats off too you. You are sublimely eloquent as to naming the unnamables. I am at the end of my Saturn's passage through my 12th house, and you have been the first one I've read that made me go "That's it!!!"
During these past two years I have cried like never before, at the drop of a hat.(It was sparked by a crappy love affair, then to my family problems, and finally my own worst fears).Saturn in Leo. It was complete emotional purging. There really was no exit to my depression, so I just decided to ride it out and see where it takes me. Then one day, I had the 'merging with the One" C.G.Jung writes about all the time. This overwhelming sublime feeling of connectedness with the universe, total, but short-lived ego annihilation. I cried from pure joy.
I am back to my human self but 10 times more spiritually richer (I was a skeptical agnostic). I tells ya: for me, Pluto has nothing on Saturn! And I thank him for it.
OMG. So much here in these comments.
Pluto has nothing on Saturn! And I thank him for it.
I think you're right. Be back in a minute to respond to everything. I am so enriched.
I feel like investigating the strength of Saturn in our lives even more than ever.
I am so moved by the honesty.
This verifies why I like astrology so much. The friend we're always searching for.
Ninth.
or being burdened with way too much responsibility for looking after my parents and family affairs
And it is, frankly, somewhat hysterical and ridiculous.
No it's not. It's the story of your life, this battle with responsibility. SN in the 10th, Moon at 29 Capricorn, Saturn in Cancer. next I'm going to do the SN in Capricorn which will be a good time to look at this. Oh, and also, a mutual reception between the Moon and Saturn. Huge family karma and good possibilities of working it out.
But the irrational terror of being overwhelmed by responsibility
Not irrational. You already are overwhelmed. The 12th house transit feels like it magnifies it, but the basis of the fear is real. The Saturn always triggers your Saturn in Cancer and the family karma. It's identifying the vastness of it now, related to ancient patterns in the line, but after Saturn moves into Virgo practical solutions will start to come. In the 12th we have to get the full feeling of what we have ahead of us without doing until the time comes. One of the hard parts, the inertia you talk about. The imprisonment. But this provides the motivation to really do the job. The time to really grapple with it will be when Saturn transits your 4th. You can even prepare now.
The more we give into the sensations of this transit, the better our chances of renewal, it seems to me. It's hard for us to get into do-nothing mode, and this society will eventually have to recognize the need for this. People miss their own opportunities for growth by staying too busy.
Your creativity will return in a big way. If your family is opposed to this choice, you'll have to work it out and do it anyway. Moon at 29 in the 5th house of creativity. Sun-Jupiter; expansive creativity, especially in Pisces. Jupiter rules the 5th house of creativity. You were meant to be an artist. Partnership is part of the deal.
The challenge is between creativity and usefulness with Leo in the 12th, Virgo rising. But here is the fascinating part. The 29 Moon in the 5th is very important. It conjuncts Mars which is just in the 6th house, the Virgo house of useful work. Here's a big part of the solution. The tie-in.
I agree that the weight of family responsibility is a problem, but as you come to grips with it, it will provide the depth of emotion to fuel feeling in your creative work. More and more as time goes on.
One very important thing to look at is Pluto leaving your 4th house after many years there. The underlying grip has been demolished probably more than you know and you just have to become conscious of it. And guess what? Pluto will be spending years and years in your 5th house of creativity next!
You simply can't lose.
One of my favorite images is that of the guitar maker, don. My dream profession, dream human being. I'm a professional musician and I used to play guitar, but now it's piano. Hand made guitars are prized precious commodities to a musician. From hand to hand.
When I'm stressed I just think of loving hands in the worshop crafting elegant instruments, although I heard the glue is potent!
Isn't that great, joe, for the word lovers here??
"luthier".
the lesson of saturn neptune (and it seems the 12 th house generally) is that i just have to suffer without effort to defend myself
Beautifully stated. Perfect.
I'm going to do an entry on Moon-Pluto. I've got some new ideas as a result of these enlightening conversations.
I'm tickled. A guitar builder. What a fantastic use of Virgo.
Elena.
You described it perfectly, and in so few words!
During these past two years I have cried like never before, at the drop of a hat.
I've seen this so often, which makes me think it's a confrontation with all our sorrow, from ancient memory onward, maybe even the future. Maybe crying over the future now frees us to enjoy it more and accept the natural disappointments as they come.
I am back to my human self but 10 times more spiritually richer (I was a skeptical agnostic).
This is amazing.
Thank you for these stories. I was hoping to hear some good ones, but these have surpassed my expectations. The best thing is how you've given in to the process. Sometimes people don't, it seems, and probably shortchange their real joy. Sorrow is the prelude.
I will definitely pursue this dominance of Saturn idea, especially as the Capricorn years are almost here.
Hello,
First of all, I want to thank you for your original post, and for all those who commented; this has brought me some relief, as I'm in the throes of my Saturn in Twelfth passage, experiencing my share of deep emotional unpleasantries, to put it mildly. Oh, it's been hell, mostly self-inflicted, however. Besieged by fears and insecurities. Like Elena, I've been crying at the drop of a hat... The recent end of a twelve year relationship has been triggering old abandonment issues. Still too "in it" for a clear assessment of the final effects, but trying to keep my head above the river of tears. I just wish I had an antidote. I'm a school teacher on Summer vacation, and am wondering how I'll deal with the crying when the urge hits me in front of the kiddies. Of course, there's been much happiness too. The handful of friends have been a great blessing, and my creative life (am currently at work on a second book) gives me confidence. Discipline is a little hard to come by, though. With all the changes, there's been tenderness too...
When Saturn crosses my ascendant (18 Virgo) it will conjunct my Virgo Sun (15 degrees) and oppose Pisces Moon (13) on the ascendant. Squaring an 11 degree Sag. Neptune on the third house. I pray for strength above all things... and for my book to be finished!
Thank you once again.
Miriam
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