Lord Shani (Saturn) wills station retrograde on Thursday, April 6 at 1:06:24 AM EDT (5:06:24 AM UTC. He’s slowing down now, and all day I’ve had the Star Wars Imperial March stuck in my head. 🙂 Then I wrote this blog post and somehow lost it all and had to come back and do it again. Thanks Shani for teaching me to have fortitude and to be more careful and patient. That’s the gift of Shani, and when he’s retrograde… well, he’s stronger but his energy is somewhat skewed, so his “gifts” can make even more of an impact as in “the pressure and fire that forge the diamond soul” (Steven Arroyo).
The ~week before and after the actual station of Saturn can be a time of intense mood shifts, financial concerns, apprehension, and unease. We might expect to hear of some shocking or dramatic announcement in the news. There might be some seismic and meteorological events, explosions, attacks, and mishaps. During the next week as Saturn stations and starts moving backward, we will especially benefit from added mindfulness and spiritual practices for centering and grounding, including conscious breathing.
Saturn will be retrograde until August 25. This cycle of Saturn is a perfect opportunity for strengthening our determination in the face of obstacles and frustrations. Saturn signifies the principle of reality check, limits, boundaries, and consequences. Unbalanced, his essence can be contracting, fearful, anxious, depressed, or blocked. When balanced, Saturn is the epitome of reform, conservation, organization, and practical achievement. Ultimately, Saturn is the divine servant whose hard knocks are meant to reveal the truth about the divine play of consciousness.
On a mundane level, Saturn is the significator of the economy, laboring classes, disease, anxiety, misfortune, and sorrow; during its retrograde period, all these significations can be highlighted. Until late November, Saturn is transiting in the danger zone of the nakshatra gandanta between the Scorpio and Sagittarius constellations, which I already wrote about extensively last January. This is a definitely a difficult year for the world during this transit.
An astrologer has to analyze multiple factors to understand how the Saturn retrograde cycle will influence a mundane or natal horoscope. One of many techniques that I like to work with comes from a classical Indian astrology work called Sanketa Nidhi, in which Saturn retrograde mostly affects the sign ninth from it, which would be Leo, and then as of June 21 (when Saturn moves back in sidereal Scorpio), it would be Cancer. Wherever these signs fall by house (bhava) in a mundane or natal chart may indicate where we have to overcome insecurity, face the consequences of unresolved matters, be practical, work smarter, establish new priorities, and transform our ambitions.
In addition to the houses being activated, the signs will also be activated. Leo relates to personal power; creativity; politics and politicians; world leaders; stock markets; entertainment, entertainers, sports figures, and places of amusement and recreation. In the case of Cancer, issues revolve around security; domestic life; women and families; real estate and land development; fishing industry; waterways; agriculture; food production and distribution; nourishment; and charitable organizations.
