ask jeanna: the astrological timeline of a life
beyond the saturn return
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Real talk: while I have become accustomed to sending out multiple questions in this column, it became clear that the current questions-on-deck required time to go deep and really sprawl. Today’s Q&A is a big one, with example charts and explanations of astrological aspects, and so I hope it’s a helpful resource.
Question: What are some big life transits to look out for? Saturn Return is obviously a huge one but are there other ones you can sort of think about and anticipate that are big and happen at specific points in your life?
This is such a good question, and the answer is that there are so many!
(Please note that because of the generally adult audience of this newsletter, I’ve chosen to skip major life transits from childhood, teenage, and early 20s/college years, all of which are repeated later in adulthood.)
You asked about the Saturn Return, so let’s start with that period of the late 20s.
A lot of people think that the Saturn Return starts at the age of 27. It doesn’t. But there’s something else* that happens at 27 that can make it a major turning point and that often results in folks conflating the trials of their late 20s with the Saturn Return: the nodal opposition. The nodal opposition (which will also occur ca. ages 45, 63, 81, and 99) is when the nodes of the moon are “flipped” in your chart. So right now, for example, people who have a North Node in Libra and a South Node in Aries are experiencing a nodal opposition, because the North Node is currently in Aries, and the South Node is currently in Libra.
This is a major period where, if moved through with mindfulness, we shed what we thought we wanted and honor our hunger for how our desires are changing with age. It can be disorienting, realizing that what you thought you wanted isn’t The Thing anymore. The so-called “27 Club” is sometimes attributed to the pressures of Saturn, but it’s really the astrological events that precede and set up the Saturn Return: the uncomfortable reckoning with how life isn’t, perhaps, what you want it to be, and the uncertainty and lostness that can accompany that (especially, for the club members, under the pressures of fame).
But if you’re willing to get deep with yourself, the nodal opposition — at any point in life — can be a transformative period of change where you reassess and change course.
Saturn Returns, when Saturn as a planet finally “returns” to where it was in the sky the moment you were born, first come in your late twenties ca. age 28-29, and again ca. 58-60, and one final, third time in your 80s. (People with a natal Saturn in Pisces are currently having their Saturn Return, because it’s where Saturn is in the sky right now.) These are periods of deep structural work: of finding, inheriting, and/or managing major responsibilities, and also of setting and maintaining boundaries, both with others and the self. Oftentimes, in capitalist culture, this gets talked about as being a period dedicated to career and work. And, sure. That can be true. But Saturn isn’t just the planet of responsibility; it’s about time and maturity and legacy and the question of what survives death. What is worth taking with you? What do you want to leave behind? And so Saturn Returns are about discovering, sifting through, and affirming the things you want to get serious about and really commit to.
Saturn as a planet plays a big role in grounding us and in forcing moments of evaluation. But in between those 28-29 year Return periods, Saturn is still doing stuff. In Vedic astrology, Saturn is understood to “mature” at 35 or 36 — which, incidentally, coincides with the opening Saturn square. I know that’s a technical term; stay with me.
Squares are when two planets make a harsh, friction-inducing 90* angle. Because of this, they only occur between signs that share a modality (e.g. cardinal signs can only square each other). Another way to look at it: squares occur between planets that are three signs (or 90* of the zodiac) away from each other (each sign makes up 30 degrees of the zodiac, for a full 360*).
So, for example: folks with natal Saturn in Sagittarius in their birth chart are currently undergoing their opening Saturn square, since Saturn is in Pisces (which, like Sag, is a mutable, end-of-season sign). If we look at Lady Gaga’s birth chart below, we’ll see that Saturn in the sky is “squaring” the Saturn placement she had when she was born. (Please note we do not have an accurate birth time for Lady Gaga, so I just pulled a midnight chart — the rising sign / houses are likely not accurate.)
Opening Saturn squares are a stress test of what was learned during the Saturn Return, especially around limitations, boundaries, responsibilities, and maturity. This is a period where we consider how we are handling, or managing, the responsibility we stepped into or inherited during our Saturn return. What are we doing with our one wild and precious life?
The opening Saturn square also tends to coincide with, or occur in close proximity to, the full nodal return, around the age of 36 (which will come again in your mid-50s and also ca. 72-74), which further underlines the importance of living in integrity with your purpose. This first nodal return of adulthood oftentimes shows up as a major moment for crucible, “now or never” decisions around children, marriage and committed long-term relationships, moving cities or countries, and career and livelihood. Later on, this transit invites you to return to the results of these decisions, perhaps making further major career moves in your 50s, retiring and caring for others in your 70s, and so on.
The next moment is the Saturn opposition, which comes in your early 40s (ca. 42-43) and coincides with another major life transit: the first (and, unless you’re immortal, only) Uranus opposition. Oppositions are when planets in the sky are 180* away from where they were in your birth chart; they are also, helpfully, always opposing signs — so, for example, anyone with Saturn in Virgo is currently having their Saturn opposition, since Saturn is in Pisces.
These two transits, collectively, work to create an atmosphere that has come to be known in modern times as the Midlife Crisis. How this happens: Saturn is, once again, asking you to stress test what you’ve built. How are you showing up — or not showing up — for your responsibilities? A crucial question the opposition asks is around our relationships to other people: what do you owe others, what have you promised, but also what is expected of you, and are those expectations ones you invited or ones that have been put on you by family/society?
Under the pressure of the Saturn opposition — which can feel like a playground game of tug of war — it’s easy to see how rebellious Uranus can so easily enter the chat and be like, “feeling cute, might cause trouble.” Uranus is the earthquake that reveals the weak spots in the structure of a life; whatever isn’t totally bolted down and secured tends to fall. These two planets, together, have big Yeats “the center cannot hold” energy. You see how the Midlife Crisis so easily emerges from this. Intentionality and awareness determines whether this is a period that ends with someone sifting through the rubble or having done a controlled demolition.
Your closing Saturn square comes around the age of 50, which is also when you will experience your first (and, again, likely only) Chiron return. This is a tender one. In our charts, the minor planet Chiron points to where we struggle for belonging. Chiron is often called the “wounded healer,” but that epithet is really only about the very last part of his life, where he could not heal his own mortal wound. The Chiron myth is so much more layered: he was rejected and abandoned by his parents (Zeus and the sea nymph Phylia) due to being born a centaur. He was taken in by Apollo and Artemis, who taught him healing and medicine, prophecy and poetics. Chiron was a great physician and a great astrologer who, over time, developed a reputation as a teacher and mentor. He single-handedly raised and mentored many Lost Boys of Greek mythology, including Jason, Hercules, Asclepius, and Achilles.
And so it is to these themes of abandonment and belonging, and healing and mentorship, that a Chiron Return speaks. How have we addressed our own histories (and wounds) with our natal Chiron? And how, now, can we step into the role of a teacher or mentor, and help the younger generation, and our younger selves, to move through this journey? This is about personal healing, yes, but it is also about the role of community in that healing.
From there, major transits are largely Saturn continuing its 7-year square/opposition/square/return cycle until the one-and-only Uranus return around the age of 84. Plenty of people don’t live to their Uranus return; both of my grandmothers did, while my grandfathers didn’t. But in the case that this is a transit for you and/or your loved ones, know that it brings a rebelliousness and eagerness for independence and, at its core, a reaffirmation and rediscovery of the self.
This can herald a bit of feisty recklessness in some elders, while others find a new vigor for life and even a new image. It was only after Iris Apfel’s Uranus Return that she started teaching design and textiles at the university level and signed a modeling contract with IMG. And she lived to 102! May she be an inspiration to us all!
I haven’t forgotten about Jupiter Returns!
Folks likely know about Jupiter returns, which occur roughly every 12 years, so, in adulthood, around the ages of 24, 36 (coinciding with the nodal return and opening Saturn square), 48 (on the verge of the Chiron return), 60 (also the same time as your second Saturn return), 72 (same time as a nodal opposition and Saturn opposition), 84 (same time as the Uranus return), and 96 (same time as the closing Saturn square). People with Jupiter in Taurus are in the final throes of their Jupiter Return, while folks with Jupiter in Gemini are gearing up for theirs (which starts next month).
Jupiter returns are periods of expansions, often indicative of seriously touching base re: education and intellect, adventure and new experiences, and also spirituality and belief. It is, however, a myth that Jupiter returns are “lucky” years; Jupiter is not pure, unmitigated “good.” It can be an intense period of managing a lot of things (see: the expansion part). Jupiter is also known for blowing things up (too much of a good thing) before helping you realign. If you are living outside of your integrity or values, this return will likely be rough. But Jupiter returns definitely put a premium on wisdom: acquiring it and then, as an elder, sharing it.
* = The progressed lunar return also happens at 27 (and ca. 54 and 81), but progressions are a bit advanced for this so I chose to not go into them.
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I appreciate the debunking of the idea that Jupiter returns are "lucky" years! I've seen it play out in challenging ways both in my own life and in clients' life -- regardless of whether Jupiter is dignified by sign / severely afflicted or not, too. Love your description of it!
Have you read Chiron in Love by Liz Greene? I’m fascinated by this asteroid bc it’s sitting right on top of my moon in an exact trine with my sun/Pluto and NN, and this book brought up some interesting questions for me in light of the myth. It made me think about how Chiron begged for death because the pain from his wound was so painful and beyond his healing skills. It’s like Chiron shows us where we are able to heal others through our deepest wounds, but may not necessarily be able to heal those wounds for ourselves. Maybe we aren’t even supposed to heal those wounds ourselves in this lifetime. Maybe where Chiron is indicates where we need outside intervention for our healing (petitioning the gods for a swift death). I have a lot of thoughts about Chiron after reading that book!