by Eileen Nauman:
WHO IS AFFECTED BY THIS PLANET TURNING RETROGRADE?
November 22, 2005, Saturn is at 11 Leo 19 and goes retrograde at 1:00 a.m., PST.
LEO SUN SIGN PEOPLE: If you were born in the sign of Leo between July 31st through August 5th are affected by this direct turning of Saturn. The people most directly affected were born on August 2nd.
AQUARIUS SUN SIGN PEOPLE: By opposition, if you have any planets or cusps at 11 Aquarius, anyone born between January 27th through February 3rd, will be affected. The people most directly affected were born on January 30th.
NATAL DEGREES AFFECTED IN YOUR CHART
If you have any planets or cusps at the following degrees of ANY sign, you are affected: 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 Consult a professional astrologer such as Rosemarie Brown for what this will mean for you, as an individual. She can be reached via email at:
starrose@sedona.net
TRAVEL DELAYS ARE GOING TO BE HUGE
With Mercury retrograde, my advice is NOT to travel this Thanksgiving. Rather, think about next year to visit your favorite relatives on your vacation, instead. Mercury rules transportation and it is retrograde which means it's going to slow and major flight problems will ensue. With Saturn going retrograde and ruling blockages and stoppages, you can be sure that Holiday travel will become the Nightmare from Hell. So, do yourself a favor and do NOT travel this Thanksgiving. Stay home and enjoy the time with those who are nearest to you.
If you decide to travel, come prepared with a pillow, extra food and a ton of patience, because storms can settle in, diverting air traffic and halting operation big time. The whole travel industry is going into stasis and constipation with Saturn hovering around with a Mercury retrograde. Save yourself the stress and stay home.
SATURN REWARDS THOSE WHO WORK HARD...
Saturn is frequently maligned as the 'taskmaster' and pictured as Death. All things have a cycle. All things have a beginning, middle and end, and it is Saturn's thankless job to get us at each of these waves or cycles of opportunity that afford us growth and evolution if we so choose to use his energy in that expression and "form". He gives us the boundaries of life and death; from childhood, to adulthood to old age. It is said that Saturn is a contraction or contractile and associated with arthritis and osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. He rules the bones of our body. If there is necrosis, holes eaten into our bones, then Saturn is certainly involved. He rules over Calcium, one of the leading minerals that keeps our bones strong and healthy, to keep our 'frame' in good shape. The good news about Saturn is--if you work your butt off, are responsible, honest, truthful, and hard working, he will give you the rewards that you have coming to you. So, even on a Saturn retrograde time, dreams you had long thought impossible, or given up on, are suddenly handed to you out of the blue.
SATURN IN RETROGRADE MOTION
Saturn gives us an opportunity to clean up what messes we haven't had a chance to clean up during a retrograde period. Anything left undone, unattended, partially finished or not completed, will be completed during a retrograde of this mighty planet. It can literally 'sit' on us or make us feel like the whole Universe is sitting our shoulders or back during that time. But the pressure eases off and gives us 'breathing' room to catch up on things that we know need tending too--but we just haven't had the time for a myriad of reasons.
It's not unusual for Saturn, because of its large orbit about the Sun, to move over one's natal planet or position, then retrograde over it, and then come forward over it a third and final pass. This is what makes folks clench their teeth is this particular occurrence. It doesn't happen to everyone and if you're interested in finding out if you're one of 'em, you should consult with Rosemarie Brown, our core faculty astrologer here at The Medicine Garden, for details. She can be reached via email at:
starrose@sedona.net
Some folks get plain lucky and experience only ONE pass over a planet or sensitive position in their natal chart. However, having experienced both, I would rather have the three passes than the one. Why? Because if it's just one pass, then the full brunt of the lesson that we have set ourselves to learn, is gonna hit us right between the running lights. There won't be much preparation time or time to adjust to the lesson at all. Whereas, with a three-pass Saturn transit, on the first pass, you usually get an idea of WHAT it is you're going to have to learn from and grow from. The retrograde gives us the actual opportunity to work at it and slug our way through it. The final, forward (direct) pass will clean up any little details that have been laying around that we couldn't, heretofore, attend to or clean up. So, give me three passes any day!
LOOK AT IT LIKE A RIVER WITH BOUNDARIES...
During a retrograde period, Saturn may not be contracting you at all or pinching/squeezing you or forcing you to walk between two walls of some kind. Nope, it can be 'stretching' you, instead. Stretching as in making you expand your awareness, your emotions, your mental abilities or spirit outward in some way through presenting some situation that will create this 'cause and effect' choice for you. So many of us really don't know our own, personal limits, do we? We get told that we aren't smart. Or we aren't creative. Or, because you're a female, you can't do this or that. And on and on. The can't's, won't's, shouldn't's all get thrown out the window on a Saturn retrograde particularly if you're suppose to stretch your wings and fly instead of running on the ground like a turkey.
Saturn, in this particular situation, demands you to open your wings of your own limitation as you perceive it, and flow outward and upward and push beyond what you thought you were capable of, what you thought you could achieve or create. Saturn retrograde can help us become aware of our real river banks of the self, if you will, in this period. It can also rip off the blind film that covers our eyes and help us see and perceive more deeply into people, situations and events. This is called the gaining of wisdom. For, Saturn rules over wisdom. It is, however, wisdom gained from hard work, experience and on-the-job-training. It is not by grace. It is earned one hard step at a time. But, when you look back at having survived the experience, you will find yourself better educated, wiser, stronger and a little more confident than previous.
Saturn can give us confidence during a retrograde if we choose to carry the responsibility or duty that is accorded us by others or events outside ourselves--or from within ourselves. In the Tarot, Saturn is often seen as the Hermit, hooded and cloaked, carrying a bright lamp that sheds light. During a retrograde, when can connect the dots between ourselves and the outer/external event, or with another person or thing that we are currently wrestling with. It can create the light in our own inner darkness and hell that we plunge ourselves into, and provide a way out, an "aha!" that was previously not seen or explored.
Saturn retrograde is our compass for the map of life we are walking upon and experiencing. If we stop railing at what life has handed us and instead, buckle down and (as the Nike commercial sez) "Just Do it!" then Saturn will not only lead us into that dark tunnel, but lead us out of it, too. Remember this, during a Saturn Retrograde: that it is always darkest before the dawn. That is Saturn. But it also gives you the 'light at the end of the tunnel'--which is when it goes stationary retrograde (and in this case, we are now in the 'shadow' of Saturn turning retrograde for three weeks before the actual turn date of 10.22.05 So this is a time of incredible awakening within ourselves or in regards to others or a situation we may find ourselves within. Be alert. Listen. Hear. For those who have Leo or Aquarius in them, this is your awakening period. Saturn is showing you the light at the end of your particular tunnel that you have been crawling through on your hands and knees.
The 'shadow' period of Saturn slowing down will be from November 1, 2005 (New Moon as well) through November 21, 2005.
Saturn creates strength in us and this is especially true during a retrograde time; strength of spirit--quite literally. We may well feel like we've got an invisible hand holding us down on the concrete and it is a painful process but we are also building strength at the same time. Saturn bestows grace on those who surrender over to a higher power (whomever you believe in). And yes, Saturn gives huge rewards for those who have run the gauntlet during the retrograde. Usually three weeks before it turns retrograde or a few days or on the day it turns retrograde, you will receive your just and due rewards or acknowledgment by your peer group.
So, you want to know how well you did under your Saturn transit? Well, if you get grace in some form as it turns retrograde, that is your answer. Everyone will get something. It might not be winning the lottery; but it can be something that money can't ever touch or buy: a strength of spirit, a deepening sense of compassion, and understanding of self, maturing and gaining wisdom about yourself, others or a particular situation. Unlike Jupiter, which gives grace won from previous lifetimes or things you have done for others in this lifetime, everything given by Saturn is **** well earned!
URANUS DIRECT ONE WEEK EARLIER AND SHADOWING SATURN
Saturn has a shadow period of three weeks. This starts November 1, 2005, just a week AFTER a major butt-kicking, take-no-prisoners Uranus decides to turn direct on a Full Moon on November 15th. Add to this chaos, Mercury going retrograde on November 13th. The energy moving with Saturn slowing down to go retrograde is complicated by Uranus, god of surprises, twists, turns, shock and trauma. This means some people are going to feel like they're on a barbecue skewer and it has stopped turning and they are hanging over the fire with no way to escape it. Getting your "face" rubbed in something is possible here. Saturn, of course, gives you exactly what you deserve--no more and no less, so for others, depending upon many aspects in your individual astrology chart, this could be a time of great success, kudos, and being admired and respected by others as well as your peers. Success can happen here because you've worked long, hard and responsibly for it, as well.