I had been explaining to my kids a little about Saturn transits before this happened. This was prompted by a series of problems that I have been encountering in the last week, the worst of which occurred on my birthday on Friday. Saturn was almost exactly on my Sun, along with the New Moon (and the opposition from Uranus). That one I am not even going to touch, but suffice it to say, it was a very humbling (“character building”) experience. Actually, I was using a simple example in my conversation about Saturn transits, in an effort to point out that little things that go wrong might be thought of as learning experiences. One of my brake lights hadn’t been working for at least a month, and I kept meaning to get a new bulb, but never got around to it, probably because I had never changed one before. On Monday, I was rear-ended, and discovered in the process that the other brake light had also burnt. So, I finally got my new bulbs and put them in, discovering that it really was a very simple thing to do, and if I had done it earlier I probably wouldn’t have been rear-ended. I was using this as a little example–the things that go wrong under a Saturn transit are often things that could have been prevented if they had been managed properly in the first place. Mercury retrograde doesn’t help either.

One of my daughters had brought up a memory some years ago when I was putting gas in my car on a sunny spring day, and the roof above me suddenly began to leak melted snow only on me, and directly on me, as I was pumping gas. This wasn’t a little leak, either. It was an intense shower. That was something that I couldn’t prevent, and it was just so random that it was hilarious, but it was one of many little things in a series of events at the time that made me feel like things just weren’t going my way (and Saturn was square my Sun at the time).

Under heavy Saturn transits, you can almost feel singled out, especially when seemingly random or weird unfortunate things happen to you, one after another. I remember during the last square of Saturn to my Sun (and Moon), my car’s battery kept dying on me in the winter. I was thinking it was because of the extremely cold winter we had been having, although I never had problems with starting my car in previous winters. I was on my way to a job interview (and this was only because I had been working on contract for a company who were delaying payments to contract workers for months, and I decided I would look for a short-term job in the meantime), when my car died, right at a busy intersection. It was the coldest day of the winter, and we can get some real doozies when it comes to cold winter days here in Montreal. I didn’t have a cel at the time, and discovered I had forgotten to put my wallet back into my purse, so didn’t think I had money. The corner store wouldn’t let me use their phone, directing me to a pay phone instead, and I stood on the corner of the street crying with my car dead in the intersection, and not one person stopped to help me. I did find a quarter after rummaging through my car (getting honked like crazy), and called the police, which was all I could think of at the time. They never arrived. Finally I walked in the blistering cold to the nearest gas station (which wasn’t very near).

I eventually found out that my car’s battery was slowly being drained by the bulb in my trunk. My trunk latch had broken and I hadn’t fixed it. This was after my car didn’t start a couple weeks after the battery and alternator had been changed, and it just didn’t make sense.

While I usually find strangers helpful, absolutely nobody was helping me out this time. This makes me think that it had something to do with my attitude. I had been feeling rather down on my luck and somewhat helpless before this happened, and instead of actively flagging people down, I was just standing there crying. The extreme cold may have had something to do with why nobody stopped to help, mind you.

This brings me to what really defines Saturn transits, and that is attitude. In my experience, during Jupiter transits, little problems that occur are barely noticed, but they’re still occurring. We’re pretty much taking things in stride because of a buoyant mood, or a feeling that we can “take on” pretty much anything. During Saturn transits, I do find that there are more mechanical breakdowns than usual in my life, but I feel that I dwell on, or worry about, things that go wrong.

During Saturn transits, we tend to feel problems more acutely. Life seems to slow down and things don’t seem to be moving fast enough for us. Progress is slow. The beginning of a Saturn transit (and they often, but not always, last for many months) is usually more difficult, because it’s a time of adaptation. We feel our age, notice flaws, dwell on our shortcomings, are more sensitive to criticism and lack of support, and worry about our future. Working on these things is really the answer to our problems, and we can even find some joy in doing so.

Those of us with personal planets in, or concentrated in, the last decanate (20 to 30 degrees) of Virgo, Pisces, Gemini, and Sagittarius have been and will be experiencing a hard Saturn transit now and into 2010. We also have hard Uranus transits happening. We’ve gone through hard Pluto transits recently as well, and I have to say it–it’s been challenging. It’s hard for many of us to catch our breath. For myself, Pluto has been in hard aspect to my Sun, Moon, (Uranus, Pluto, and Chiron), Midheaven, and Ascendant, and there really hasn’t been a “break”. It’s been years now. Mind you, for the squares of Pluto to my Sun and Moon, I also had Pluto trine my Venus and Jupiter, and I think that was helpful. Looking forward, I don’t see much of anything major in the form of supportive, harmonious transits. I see lots of oppositions, squares, and quincunxes. It’s an onslaught in a sense–certainly not all “bad” but trying.

I do know quite a few people with concentrations of planets in the later degrees of the mutable signs who are in a real state of flux, and I would love to hear your experiences!

This aspect was first exact in November 2008 and February 2009, and will occur again in April and July 2010. Essentially, we’re in the middle of it. This September’s aspect occurred at 24 degrees 43 Virgo and the same degree of Pisces. Last November, it occurred at 18 Virgo 58 and the same degree of Pisces. In February, it occurred at 20 Virgo 39 and the same degree of Pisces. In April 2010, it will occur at 28 Virgo 46 and 28 Pisces 46. Finally, in July 2010, it will occur at 0 Libra 25 and 0 Aries 25.

For those of you who can remember back to 1988, Saturn and Uranus were conjunct in late Sagittarius and early Capricorn, square to this Saturn-Uranus opposition. Themes will be similar to the ones experienced then. Obviously life experiences and other transits and influences mean experiences will be far from identical!

This September’s Saturn-Uranus opposition is right on my Sun, the last two were on my natal Pluto, and April’s opposition will be directly on my Moon. While I am certainly feeling these transits, I also feel that the Saturn-Uranus conflict is an integral part of my nature itself, because both planets are very strong in my natal chart. The Saturn part of me is often holding on to attitudes, behaviors, things, and people not only to feel secure and safe, but also because I value that which I have built, and that which I have invested myself into, whether it’s time, energy, heart, or whatever else (or all). I value things that last, and that grow slowly but surely–things that require hard work and effort, and things that don’t come easily to me. Some will say that people with strong Saturn in their charts gravitate towards the more difficult path, whether or not they are choosing to do so consciously, and I understand that implicitly. After a hard Saturn transit has passed, many of us feel more grounded and able to rely on ourselves. It doesn’t always feel good while it’s happening, because we’re not “winning” without a heck of a lot of effort. But what we do “win” or gain is something we’ve truly accomplished on our own, and it is more valuable to us as a result. And yet, sticking to the tried and true can keep us in a rut, living with difficulty because we can’t foresee a better way to live, or don’t feel confident enough (or deserving enough) to go after it.

And then there is Uranus, and its energy is to stir up the pot. With Uranus, stagnation is seen as an enemy. If we’re stuck in a rut and can’t seem to find a way out, Uranus is there to pull us out of it. Changes Uranus brings can be exciting and invigorating, yet destabilizing and disorienting, at least at first. We experience impatience with life as it is, with the same old routine, with responsibilities that we once embraced, or with commitments that we have made.

When powerful Uranus transits occur, we experience strong urges to break free from our routine and to express ourselves in a freer manner. Conditions and responsibilities that we previously tolerated or even enjoyed are now seen as overwhelming and restrictive. Inner changes and struggles are insistent, and if the outer world and the people around us are not changing along with us, or at the same accelerated rate, (which is more than likely!), we could feel extremely restless and tied down. We are likely to question our lives as they have been, and wonder if there is a whole lot more for us “somewhere out there”. While Uranus encourages us to break free from limitations, sometimes we can jump to decisions that we might later regret. With a Uranus transit prominent, we may be listening to a bruised or misbehaving ego, and we are prone to ignoring our deepest emotions. As a result we may sever ties that later leave us wanting. It is especially important to be aware of this “blind spot”. However, we can’t ignore the need for change. Embracing the need to change existing circumstances is important, while keeping ourselves aware of extremes of feeling and behavior is equally important. With Uranus, we seek freedom, but if we don’t listen to our hearts and rebel blindly, we will not be free!

Throw Saturn into the equation (and Saturn has to be in the equation right now, no matter what triggered point is involved) and there can be tremendous indecision and ambivalence. Saturn is pulling us in a completely different direction (the opposite one!). On a positive note, the extremes of potential Uranian behavior might be mitigated by this tug from Saturn, but the down side is that resistance to change is a much greater potential, and resistance can only create more chaos than is necessary.

Neptune is adding even more confusion and ambivalence to the mix. Neptune quincunx Saturn is an energy that often leads to procrastination, and procrastination is just another form of resistance to change. Guilt is also playing a big role in our struggle. From the Uranian point of view, we might fear we are avoiding important responsibilities because we don’t feel equipped to handle them, or that we are ignoring our more compassionate and fair ideals in our efforts to break free from the past, and guilt can thus nag at us. From the Saturnine point of view, we might fear we are neglecting to consider more humane and idealistic factors in our efforts to make others accountable, in our efforts to keep the status quo, or in our efforts to hold onto our past, which can also lead to vague feelings of guilt.

The truth is, we probably know, or have a fair idea of, the changes that need to be made to an existing structure in our lives, whether that’s a relationship, a business, a job, a domestic arrangement, an attitude, and so forth. Either we have to let it go and leave it behind, or completely redesign it. Throwing away responsibilities or commitments that truly no longer serve their purpose is one possibility. But Saturn is here to remind us that throwing away certain responsibilities will not lead us on a path to true freedom, and that without rules and responsibilities, there is pure chaos.

If Saturn is conjuncting your personal planet, you are more likely to give up on, or be forced to give up on, something that has previously made you feel secure, but that has been draining you or holding you back. For the time being, you may be re-learning how to go it alone, take care of yourself, and meet your responsibilities without much help from the outside. It might seem that changes are happening to you and you must adapt to them by restructuring your life. On the other hand, if Uranus is conjuncting your personal planet, it may seem that you are more the instigator of change as opposed to feeling that changes are happening to you, and that roadblocks to your progress seem to be coming from the outside, from people or circumstances. Something is stirred inside of you that needs attention. Saturn is reminding you, through opposition or disapproval from others, that you have responsibilities to your past that need to be managed. When Saturn is on your personal planet, there may be a feeling that “it’s me against the world”, while with Uranus on a personal planet, you might be feeling “it’s me against my past”.

If this opposition is affecting our relationships, with Saturn on our planets in Virgo, we might be projecting an attitude that others are not living up to our standards, and we might even have a list of things they are not doing correctly; and with Uranus on our Pisces planets we might be sending the message to others that we are tired of trying to live up to their standards, and we now want to be accepted for who we are. Saturn in Virgo might be saying, if you love me, you would be showing it through honoring my code; while Uranus in Pisces might be saying, if you love me, you would be allowing me to be free to explore what works for me. In July 2010, Saturn will be in Libra opposing Uranus in Aries. Saturn on our Libra personal planets may be projecting the attitude that others are not taking the partnership and commitment to one another seriously enough; while Uranus on our Aries personal planets may be sending out the message that we value our independence and should be able to express it without penalty. Both sides have valid “arguments”, and the key is flexibility and consideration of  the needs of both parties, and somehow coming to an agreement.