Saturn in Aquarius

by James Kelleher January 01, 2023

Saturn in Aquarius

January 17, 2023 - March 29, 2025

On January 17, 2023, Saturn will leave Capricorn and enter the sign of Aquarius. Saturn’s change of signs is a big deal in astrology. This transit of Saturn will have a powerful impact on our world, shaping world trends and events, and also challenging each one of us, individually, to improve and strengthen ourselves in some area of life.

Vedic astrology is called Jyotish, which means light, in Sanskrit. It is a science that sheds its light on our lives and the world around us with the purpose of helping us understand our individual and collective life experiences more clearly. One of the most fundamental principles of Jyotish is that everything in our phenomenal world is always changing. Nothing stays the same. This is acted out on the celestial stage by the infinite combinations and permutations of the planets, solar systems, galaxies and even the entire universe. Everything is constantly changing.

One of the ways we track change in Jyotish is through noticing how the planets move through each of the signs of the zodiac. For example, the Moon takes about 2 to 2.5 days to transit through a sign. Since it moves so quickly, its influence is more fleeting. It symbolizes all of the subtle warps and woofs of ordinary life, and gives us a way of understanding the highly changeable subjective feelings of individuals and the masses. The Moon can also trigger more significant events in our world, but it needs the help of the bigger, slower planets in order to catalyze major changes.

Saturn, on the other hand, is much slower and much larger than the Moon. It takes an average of 2.5 years to transit through a sign. Since classical Jyotish does not recognize or use Uranus, Pluto, and Nepturn, Saturn is the slowest and most influential of all the 9 planets. It’s like a whale, big and slow, but when it moves, it has a great capacity for creating waves. If you have ever been in a small boat, next to a surfacing whale, you will know what I mean. You could easily get swamped if the whale makes a move too close to you. It’s a memorable and awe-inspiring experience. It immediately reminds you of the immense and raw power of nature, as well as how small and insignificant you are in comparison.

Like a great blue whale, Saturn makes big astrological waves when it leaves a sign and when it enters a new sign. For example, Saturn entered Capricorn on January 23, 2020. It stays in Capricorn until January 17, 2023. I call this transit the Pandemic Transit. If you look at the month previous to this change of signs, you will notice that the Chinese made the announcement about the Corona Virus at that time. That gave everyone a heads up that a new challenge was on the way. As Saturn began its transit through Capricorn, the world prepared itself for the impact of the coming pandemic. By March of 2020, at least in the USA, social distancing and sheltering in place had set in, and life had changed for all of us.

As with all Saturn transits, the beginning of the Pandemic Transit presented us with a challenge characterized by a sense of discomfort and limitation in certain areas of life, and then the remainder of the transit tested whether or not we could take responsibility, get organized, and make the effort that was necessary to improve the situation. With Saturn, it's all about taking responsibility and making an effort. Some countries did a better job at this than others, but now that we have reached the end of the transit, international travel has come back, the fear has settled down, and, in spite of the new and more contagious strains of the virus, the majority of people are going about their lives in a more normal way.

Now Saturn is about to move again. It will enter Aquarius on January 17, 2023 and will continue there until March 29, 2025. This will bring a new set of challenges for the world. Although I don’t expect that Saturn in Aquarius will be as dramatic and difficult as the Pandemic Transit, there will be a variety of new areas of life that will be affected.

First, Saturn will be transiting Aquarius, a sign where it gains great strength. That means that in some ways, Saturn will produce its best side. Aquarius is a sign connected with the masses, collectives, organizations, groups of nations, and society in general. Saturn in Aquarius challenges us to gather together to manage world politics and trade. For example, the last time that Saturn transited Aquarius, from November of 1993 to February of 1996, the World Trade Organization was established.

Aquarius is also a sign of warfare. In the past Saturn transit of Aquarius, on February 9, 1994, NATO launched air strikes in Sarajevo. The Bosnian War had been going on since 1992, when Saturn was in Capricorn. NATO stepped in, at the request of the United Nations. NATO issued an ultimatum to the Bosnian Serbs that ultimately brought about a cease fire.

One can’t help but notice the similarity to the war in Ukraine. It also started when Saturn was in Capricorn. So far, it has had the effect of strengthening NATO, and NATO has been supporting Ukraine in its war efforts. When Saturn transits, Aquarius, it will further increase NATO’s desire to take action.

Of course, the dynamics of the War in Ukraine is different from that of the Bosnian war, in that the aggressor, Russia, is a nuclear Superpower. NATO has to be much more careful with its ultimatums this time around. Nevertheless, Saturn in Aquarius will strengthen their resolve. It is also interesting to note that in 1994, NATO’s chart was passing through the Rahu major period and the Sub Period of Jupiter. Now, NATO’s chart is passing through Jupiter Major period and Rahu Sub period. The same two planets (in reverse order) ruling the major and sub periods, and the same transit of Saturn in Aquarius, reinforces a similar trend. Regardless of whether NATO actually steps into the conflict directly, its support of Ukraine and involvement in the war will only increase. I will talk more about this in my World Predictions 2023 presentation.

On the individual level, each of us will feel the influence of Saturn in Aquarius in our own way. Remember, Saturn often starts out with a challenge and that can sometimes take the form of discomfort in some area of life. If that happens for you, don’t be discouraged or surprised. Saturn is like the physics teacher in the high school that you attended. On the first day of class he puts on a very serious face and scares everyone by giving them a big dose of homework. He has a reputation that precedes him, and all of the students are worried on the first day of class. In a serious and unsympathetic voice, he tells them that they will all be expected to do three hours of homework a night, and that if they don’t do the work, they will fail the class. He scares them into working hard. Most of the class gets the message and does the work. A few weeks into the class, they have adjusted, and they even learn to love the class. By the end of the class, they are proud of themselves for working so hard and accomplishing so much. Five years later, they look back and say that the physics teacher was their favorite teacher in high school, and that he changed their life. That’s like Saturn, pay attention to the first part of the transit, don’t be afraid if there is a feeling of limitation or obstruction. Instead, use it as a pointer and as incentive to work slowly but surely on improving that area of life.

On the other hand, not all Saturn transits are difficult, especially if you are the kind of person who tends to be organized, responsible, and a hard worker. Relax, Saturn is always somewhere in your chart. You have never had a moment in your life when Saturn wasn’t transiting some house in your horoscope. So, without even realizing it, Saturn has been shaping your life, guiding you in just the right direction.

Contrary to popular belief, Saturn is not a negative planet, beaming evil cosmic rays at you and creating misery in your life. On the contrary, it is a faithful teacher, who has only your best interests at heart, helping you to learn the most important lessons in your life. In the end, if you pay attention to Saturn’s teaching, and if you make an effort, you will look back on your life and realize that the best of all your astrological teachers was Saturn.

Here is a brief description of how the transit of Saturn in Aquarius might affect you, based on the house Saturn is transiting in your horoscope. Remember, we use a different zodiac in Vedic astrology, so you have to look at the birth date ranges for each of the Sun signs carefully. If you happen to know your Vedic Moon sign, Lagna (Ascendant) sign or Arudha Lagna sign, then you can read the results for those signs as well. If you happen to know all of those signs, you could potentially read the predictions given for four signs. That may seem confusing, but each of the descriptions reflects a different angle on the transit of Saturn, and will tend to manifest in its own way.

Vedic Sun Signs

Apr 14 - May 14 (Aries) During this transit, Saturn will be passing through your eleventh house. This is a time to reassess and reevaluate your long-term goals. Think carefully about what you want to achieve in the next 30 years. Write it down. Make a plan and start working towards it. Now is not the time to sprint towards the finish line, but rather, it is the time to try to find a slow, steady pace, that you can actually enjoy doing over a long period of time. During this period, you might be called to participate more fully in your group, team, or community. This is also a good time for taking on management or organizational responsibilities within teams or groups. It also promotes the exercise of intelligent boundary setting with respect to friends, relatives, and coworkers. If you take the opportunity to clarify your boundaries with others during this period, you will clean up and strengthen your experience with individuals and groups.

May 15 - Jun 14 (Taurus). Saturn will be passing through your tenth house, the house of career. This is a great time to take on more responsibility at work. If you work hard towards your career goals now, you will strengthen your career prospects by the time the transit is done, in March of 2025. For some people, this transit will bring a culmination of career efforts from the past, and allow you to reap the rewards of your hard work. On the other hand, this is also a good time for reassessing your current employment. If it is working for you then keep it and improve it, but if it isn’t, this is a good time to consider a change. Normally, Saturn’s transit here will create an improvement in the career, one way or the other. If you are retired or simply don’t intend to work in a job, then this transit will still get you working on, and managing personal projects.

Jun 15 - Jul 15 (Gemini) Aquarius is the ninth house in your horoscope. Saturn’s transit here will support and promote education if you are so inclined. Spirituality, religion or metaphysics might attract your attention now. This is also a time that can increase travel, but it works best for travel that is connected with work, such as business travel, or personal travel that involves some practical agenda. This is also a good time for managing the education of children, and raising the level of responsibility children are expected to exert in that area. It’s also a time when your mother can benefit from making an effort with her health routines, and when you can be off assistance to either of your parents in some way. This transit is generally good for organizing your finances, with respect to long term accumulation of wealth.

Jul 16 - Aug 16 (Cancer) During this period, Saturn will be transiting through your eighth house. If you are married or if you are in a business partnership, the transit will challenge you to solidify joint or shared finances through becoming more thrifty, organized, and practicing better money management. This transit sometimes causes a change, or a redefining of career. Since the eighth house is a house of change and transformation, the period might also be one that includes a major shift or change in some department of life. For example, this is a great period to do an overhaul on your career goals. It is not uncommon to go to a funeral or two during this transit as well.

Aug 17 - Sep 16 (Leo) During this transit, Saturn will be passing through your seventh house, the house of partnerships, agreements, contracts, business, and marriage. This is a boundary setting transit. Your motto during this time should be, “Good fences make good neighbors.” Through artful use of using boundaries in conjunction with clear communication and negotiation, your relationships with others will become more clear, useful, respectful, purposeful, and even more loving. This is the time to let other people know what you need and expect in your relationship with them, so that you can both freely choose either to stay together or to exit the relationship. For good relationships, including friends, relatives, and romantic, this can be a period for simply renegotiating and recommitting to your agreements, leading to a strengthening of the relationship. For some people this period might bring marriage, a child, a new partnership in business, or some other relationship that involves increased commitment. For others, it can be associated with increased stress in one to one relationships, leading to separation. Whether this is a positive or a negative outcome, completely depends on the mutual willingness of you and the other person to commit to the relationship and work out your mutual agreement. In any case, this is a period when other people will expect more of you, and sometimes challenge your boundaries. For some, this can even be a period of taking care of another person who depends on you for their well-being. Even in this case, it is important for you to set clear boundaries so that you give yourself time to decompress. Remember, you can’t be good for someone else, unless you are rested, and healthy.

Sep 17 - Oct 16 (Virgo) During this period, Saturn will be transiting your sixth house, the house of work and health. Saturn is the planet of work, so it naturally makes you work harder now. This is a time when your efforts in your employment, or with any other practical project, can help you make real progress. On the other hand, this is also a health transit. At the beginning of this transit, it is common to feel some sort of physical discomfort, and to sense an inner voice, telling you that it is time to make more effort to improve your health. Do not ignore that voice! This transit will provide you with one of the best opportunities to improve your health, but only if you an make effort. Now is the time to get on your health program by creating new disciplines, and reinforcing existing habits of diet and exercise. On the other hand, sometimes the increased demands of work make it difficult to attend to routines of health. So, it might be a good idea to plan out each week and schedule your time carefully, so that you have time for both exercise and work.

Oct 17 - Nov 15 (Libra) Saturn will be passing through your fifth house during this period. The fifth house signifies children, education, creativity and can also be associated with romance. Regarding children, this is a time when there might be a need to clarify or increase boundaries, as well as to expect your child to step up and take more responsibility. If you are a student, then this is a time to put your nose to the grindstone. If you do, you will do well in school. As far as romance goes, this period can give you a desire for more commitment. When Jupiter transits Aries, from April 21, 2023 – May 1, 2024, both Saturn and Jupiter will be supporting the area of relationships, so that section of the Saturn transit might support or improve an existing relationship or bring a new on. On the creative level, this is a time to practice your creative skills and techniques or to learn new creative skills. Saturn might not be a creative planet, but it is definitely essential for your ability to ground and actualize your creative inspirations. It’s the planet that allows you to learn and master the skill that make it possible to bring your creative vision into the concrete world.

Nov 16 - Dec 15 (Scorpio) During this period, Saturn will be passing through your fourth house, the house of your mother, home, vehicle, and general happiness. If your mother needs any assistance during this period, this would be a likely time to find yourself pitching in and going into responsible-child mode. Probably the most common outcome of Saturn in the fourth house, is to feel a desire to either change your residence or to bring the existing residence up to speed by doing fixes or improvements. In either case, you will feel a need to stabilize and improve your environment. For some people, this might be a time when you focus on your car. However, Saturn is a very practical and thrifty planet. Times are tight and cars are expensive right now. If you purchase a car now, then you will probably purchase a car that has some practical purpose or that you use for work. This is a better time for buying a used car or fixing an old car, rather than getting a new one. Regarding happiness, I have good news and bad news. And this part applies to Saturn’s transit in every house. The good news is, Saturn will give you anything you work for. The bad news is that you have to work for everything Saturn touches. Saturn definitely gives you the ability to be happy during this transit, but you need to realize that you want to be happy, write it down, figure out a plan to be happy, and then work at it. Let me know how that goes.

Dec 16 - Jan 13 (Sagittarius) During this period, Saturn will be transiting through your third house. This is a time when you will be challenged to get organized and focus on communication and information. It’s a time when you will probably find yourself concentrating on various types of information and trying to get it organized. Some people go to school and study hard during this transit. Others write books or teach classes. The idea is that by giving and/or receiving information, and doing it in a way that includes making effort and taking responsibility, you will make real headway in your life. One universal effect of the transit will be to challenge you to be patient, polite, and persistent in the way you communicate with other people. This is a time when you are being challenged to up your game when communicating with others by thinking about how your style of communications impacts other people. Dramatic outbursts, flamboyant declarations, clever comebacks, and sarcastic remarks, have no place during this period. Saturn is polite, humble, patient and caring. This is a time to be less clever and more attentive when you are talking or writing to others so that your words don’t come back to haunt you. If you do this, it will clean up your relationships with other people and change your life.

Jan 14 - Feb 12 (Capricorn) Saturn is now moving through your second house, the house of money and food. It is quite common to begin the transit with a feeling like it is time to get your finances organized and under control. If you make an effort to do this during the transit, then you will definitely strengthen your financial position before Saturn leaves Aquarius in March of 2025. Saturn is prudent and conservative, so the idea is to spend less, save more, work hard, and use credit cards only sparingly. The same thing goes for the area of food. This is a great time to clean up your diet. Take a hard look at what you eat and how you eat. Saturn is the planet of effort, discipline, and habits. Make a food plan. If you don’t have any concept of how you should eat in order to be healthy, then you need to do some research and figure it out. Once you are clear about what you should eat and what you should not eat, then you need to get on it. Making effort in the area of food will evoke a very positive response from Saturn. For example, for those who are overweight, this is one of the best transits to lose weight. But if you try to do this through purging, fasting, eating only carrots, or any other extreme diet, Saturn will teach you the error of your ways the hard way. Saturn always represents the moderate and conservative path. When it comes to food you need a diet that isn’t a diet, but rather, an intelligent plan for eating that includes whole foods, balance, and mindful preparation. Bon Appetit!

Feb 13 - Mar 13 (Aquarius) During Saturn’s transit of Aquarius, it will be passing through your first house. This transit can be a period for taking personal responsibility for yourself. In the past three years Saturn has been in your twelfth house, where it tended to make you feel like your best laid plans were taking a circuitous route. During this transit, you will begin to feel like your plans are easier to implement and that they more frequently hit their intended mark. On another level, this is a time for taking responsibility for, and working on, your career, physical body, personal emotions, or your public image, depending on whether you are reading the results based on the position of your Sun sign (that’s the default prediction) Ascendant sign, Moon sign, or Arudha Lagna Sign respectively. As Saturn passes over one of these lagnas, it challenges you to make an effort, usually by making you feel a little uncomfortable at first, with regards to the things signified by that lagna. The discomfort is there to get you to work on that area of life. Once you start to work on it, it will improve. The Sun represents the career, so if you are reading the results based on your birth date, Saturn will challenge you to work extra hard in your career. If your ascendant in your natal chart is Aquarius, then this is a great time to work on your physical body. It will also bring out the organizer and manager within you. If Aquarius is your Moon sign, then the transit affects personal emotions and feelings and challenges you to work hard, but also presents the need to carve out time to decompress and tend to your personal needs. If your Arudha lagna is Aquarius, then the transit might make you feel like you need to work on your public image, usually by making efforts in your career.

Mar 14 - Apr 13 (Pisces) Saturn is passing through your twelfth house during its transit of Aquarius. The twelfth house represents introspection, reflection, meditation, and spiritual freedom. Here, Saturn encourages you to make efforts related to your inner journey. Saturn’s favorite trick, in this regard, is to make some of your plans seem like they are getting side tracked, or to just make you feel like your life is uncertain in some way. The whole point of this feeling is to get you to address the feeling of uncertainty. Most people do that by going to their psychologist, taking a yoga class, or better yet, learning to meditate. These things are designed to help you address uncertainty and internal angst, by teaching you to look within and let go of the need to be in control. Saturn rules disciplines and routines, so this is a good time to develop healthy routines, like meditation and regular introspection, that are focused on your internal state. If you make effort in this department during Saturn’s transit of Aquarius, you will make serious inroads in the area of spiritual development. Why would you want to do that, when you have so many more important things to do with your time? Well, let’s see. Internal well-being maybe? A sense of being happy for no reason, that doesn’t go away two weeks after you buy that great house, and then have to get back to your high-stress job in the salt mines? That house won’t make you happy, but meditation can if you work at it. Really! So why don’t more people meditate regularly? It produces deep rest, releases stress, improves health, and produces a deep sense of well-being that allows you to enjoy everything in your life more fully. The answer is, I haven’t got a clue. It’s truly one of life’s great mysteries! If you are smart, you won’t be mysterious during this transit, you’ll just ask yourself the question, Who am I? and then carve out some time to look inside and figure it out.