To quote the New York Times: ‘Saturn has been doing a lot of returning lately’ – largely in the form of song. From Kacey Musgraves’ song Deeper Well (“my Saturn has returned; when I turned twenty-seven, everything started to change”) to SZA’s single Saturn and Ariana Grande’s Saturn Returns Interlude, the planet and its symbolism of a rebirth of sorts has been in the pop culture spotlight. But what does the idea of a Saturn return mean for you? Emerging astrologer Clare Wilson, who shared the major astrological events for the rest of the year here, shares her guide to the phenomenon.

What is a Saturn return?

In ancient astrology, Saturn is the planet furthest away from earth that can still be viewed by the naked eye (without a telescope). It acts as a gatekeeper, out on the periphery of what’s perceivable. Saturn signifies responsibility, ageing, patience, discipline, time, boundaries, restriction, structure, limitation, maturity, reality checks, isolation, melancholy and even depression. Its malefic (read: harmful) quality is simply that it’s a planet that says ‘no’. 

“Saturn brings us obstacles and limitations both internal and external, forcing us to confront what must be done and thereby teaching the lessons of patience and discipline. Although the planet reveals obstacles, its energy is also key to building solid foundations.” – Astrologer Austin Coppock 

When you look at your birth/natal chart, what you’re seeing is a two dimensional version of a 3D snapshot of the sky the moment you were born. 

Your first Saturn return happens when Saturn literally returns to the place it was in your birth chart for the first time since you were born – it takes 29.5 years to round the zodiac, staying in each sign for roughly 2.5 years. 

You can pull up your birth chart in many ways, but I recommend using one of these birth chart calculators: Whole sign house birth chart calculator astrocafe, or Chani Nicholas birth chart calculator (requires email address). Then look for the Saturn icon (it looks a little like a lowercase h, with a line through the top): ♄

When does it happen, and how long does it last?

Typically between the ages of 27-30. Your second Saturn return occurs in your late 50s, and the third in your late 80s. It lasts roughly three years. 

Will it be a bad or good experience?

This depends on a number of factors specific to your unique birth chart. And to get a little philosophical about the concepts of good and bad (which can be helpful to use when looking to simplify complex systems), ultimately time will tell whether a “bad” or “good” subjective experience of a Saturn return really bears out. With the benefit of hindsight, I’ve certainly found that what I’ve experienced as “bad” turned out to be “good”, or at least helpful in the long run. 

This is a very Saturnian lesson to learn, because it requires time to fully metabolise its lessons. Saturn is archetypally a ‘father time’ figure, or ‘daddy time’ if you prefer.

“There is no fast and easy method of making a friend of Saturn…But if one persists, it is possible to extract the gold, and in the end one may find, if the effort is made, that Saturn has a sense of humour after all - when we have become subtle enough to understand his irony.” – Saturn: A new look at an old devil, by Liz Greene

Saturn returns have become a little notorious for being tricky times in people's lives, because as a general rule, Saturn has a way of challenging us to ‘adult up’. 

However, it’s important that we avoid fearing astrology – because it’s ultimately just a reflection of what we’re already going through. With Saturn returns, we can become more conscious of the ageing process, more concerned with achieving certain goals, or even more depressed or deflated. The ‘27 club’ is a tragically Saturnian concept. We often need and seek out therapy of some form during a Saturn return. 

“...Saturn also teaches the virtues of patience, discipline, endurance and duty, and shows us how to maintain glacial calm in even the worst conditions.” – Astrologer Austin Coppock on Saturn

Even without knowledge of astrology, the period of our lives between the ages of 27 and 30 is often recognised as a period of ‘growing up’. And yet it’s a relatively new thing for us to talk frankly about mental health struggles, which is why I think understanding the concept of a Saturn return can be really helpful. 

Everyone goes through a Saturn return, but the sign and house of our Saturn flavours it differently. Because Saturn takes roughly three years to transit each sign, there’s a Saturnian cohort within three years of our birth that we’re a part of. Currently Saturn returns are affecting the Saturn in Pisces cohort. 

If you’re well versed in the zodiac signs, a helpful way to understand the nature of a planet – in this case Saturn – is to look at what signs Saturn rules/is at home in, and what signs Saturn it in. In Hellenistic astrology, Saturn rules the zodiac signs of Capricorn and Aquarius, and is exalted in Libra. Saturn is in its detriment in the signs of Cancer and Leo and is ‘fallen’ in Aries. 

Leo is ruled by the Sun and Cancer is ruled by the Moon - these are the luminaries of the cosmos. So for Saturn to not be comfortable in either of these signs speaks to the Saturnian preference for darkness over light, and also for complexity over simplicity. The sun shines everyday. Sure clouds sometimes cover it, but it’s always shining. Saturn is further away, its iconic rings are the most extensive and complex ring system of any planet in the Solar System. It is a Taskmaster. But when we meet it with discipline and a willingness to work, when we embody the qualities of Saturn and use these qualities to get things done, it can be surprisingly empowering. 

My Saturn return

My first Saturn return occurred between December 2017 and December 2020. My natal Saturn – is in Capricorn in the fourth whole sign house, and it shares this house with multiple other planets and points. 

I have a night chart, which makes Saturn particularly tough. But because Saturn is at home in Capricorn, this is somewhat mitigated. The fourth house contains themes of family, parents, home, foundations and ancestry, so a Saturn return in this house asked me to unearth and face themes of family and the past. Is it any wonder that this was when I began work in earnest on a solo show about the death of my twin sister?

A line that shook me at the time of my return was: “No matter how cute you are, you too will get old and die.” – Saturn in Capricorn Horoscopes, Chani Nicholas.

During my Saturn return, I:

• moved back to New Zealand from Scotland after five years abroad 

• Struggled to find a home in Auckland, staying with various relatives and viewing many flats before finally finding somewhere 

• Dealt with a variety of complex family things including the death of my maternal grandmother

• Underwent the most intensive therapy I’d ever had

• Started working on a performance project about the untimely death of my twin sister, which included conducting extensive interviews with my parents

• Experienced the first big covid lockdown alone as my flatmates all went home

My Saturn return was a mixed bag, and I certainly was called to grow up and face some stuff I’d been avoiding. A fair amount of what I went through was connected to themes of family, home and ancestry. 

The other theme that came up during my Saturn return was being alone. I had a birthday alone, I was in lockdown alone, and experientially I went through some big revelatory stuff alone. Saturn can have an isolating quality, which is part of why Saturn returns can feel tough. And some of the aloneness was hard, but a lot of it was a relief. 

“Saturn symbolises a psychic process as well as a quality or kind of experience. He is not merely a representative of pain, restriction, and discipline; he is also a symbol of the psychic process, natural to all human beings, by which an individual may utilise the experiences of pain, restriction, and discipline as a means for greater consciousness and fulfilment.” – Saturn: A new look at an old devil, by Liz Greene

I remember writing during my Saturn return, “When you slow down, everything catches up with you”. A lot caught up with me during my Saturn return. I felt like I was being forced to do mandatory internal homework. I was in the process of maturation. 

I’d often envied friends who were older than me, especially once they were in their 30s, for their ability to say no to things they didn’t want. My Saturn return was when I learnt how to set those boundaries. 

Saturn forced me to parse through my life and identify what was essential, and what was unnecessary. This is a Capricornian Saturn experience, a sign it’s strong in. Each sign in astrology brings a different style, so my particular Saturn return will look different to a Saturn return in Pisces, for example. 

Ways to get to know your natal Saturn

If you haven’t had your Saturn return yet, there are many ways you can understand how it might go for you, which I’ve outlined below, but please don’t get too caught up in the internet wormholes.

If you’ve had your first return, it can be really enlightening to look back to that period of your life through the lens of Saturn. Here are some ways to understand your natal Saturn (the Saturn in your birth chart):

1. What zodiac sign is Saturn in?

2. Which house is Saturn in?‍

Here’s a simple outline of the themes of the different houses to help you understand what themes might come up for you from Chani Nicholas

3. Are there any other planets in the same house as Saturn? These will have some effect on how Saturn shows up for you, think of other planets in the same sign as flatmates who live together

4. Were you born when the Sun was below the horizon or above the horizon? (Day or night)

If you were born with the Sun below the horizon, Saturn can be a bit more challenging for you. 

If you were born with the Sun above the horizon, Saturn can be a bit more constructive for you.

Saturn and art/fashion

Intriguingly, the zodiac sign that Saturn is in can show up in the arts. There’s a fantastic deep dive podcast episode about Saturn’s relationship to styles of music and the Saturn returns of musicians:

“The archetypes of each sign that Saturn enters and the planets that have essential dignity in those signs really show up in the themes and the sounds of the music in that particular era.” – Lindsey Turner, Saturn Returns and Music Eras, The Astrology Podcast

When Saturn transited the signs it rules, Capricorn and Aquarius (2017 - 2023), we saw especially tight fitting/restrictive clothing styles, and even face masks. Now that it’s in Pisces, we’re seeing a lot more flowy dreamy looks, looser fitting pants etc, but also impossible to achieve/fantasy looks – for example Kim K with the world's tiniest waist at the Met Gala. I think there’s a lot more to explore regarding Saturn's influence on trends in beauty and fashion.

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A Saturn return is a type of portal. It can absolutely challenge us, but through this challenge, it can also help us to develop an internal strength and capacity for disciplined work that will serve us for a long time. Saturn wants to teach us this. It wants to remind us that life is short. It wants us to face our shadows so that we can use them as compost to nourish the next phase of our lives. 

The first Saturn return initiates us into adulthood, into our first wrinkles, our first grey hairs. It’s also a temporary process. Your Saturn return will end, I promise. 

If you’re heading towards your first Saturn return, I invite you to be pro ageing. Let yourself dance with this process. Find ways to be kind to yourself. 

And if you’re past your first Saturn return, or heading towards a second or third, look back at that period of your life from ages 27 - 30. If it bore fruit, celebrate that! If it was challenging, celebrate that you got through it.

Saturn wants us to learn how to sustain ourselves and our lives, and more broadly, how to sustain life. The sustenance of life includes the recognition of death as part of life's process. 

To wrap up, here’s a beautiful quote from Alice Sparkly Kat’s article titled ‘An Etymology of Saturn’: “Saturn questions, from the golden age to modern utopia to present day climate change, are always questions of sustainability.”