Copyright 2006 Eileen Nauman
All Rights Reserved

Email: docbones@gotsky.com
Websites: http://www.medicinegarden.com , http://www.whatflowerareyou.com
Blog: http://www.talesfromechocanyon.blogspot.com
Permission for individuals to send to friends.
Websites: must email me to post on their website first.

WHO IS AFFECTED BY THIS PLANET TURNING RETROGRADE?

December 5, 2006, Saturn is at 25 Leo 04 and goes retrograde at 8:07 pm., PST.

LEO SUN SIGN PEOPLE: If you were born in the sign of Leo between August 15th through August 21st are affected by this direct turning of Saturn. The people most directly affected were born on August 18th.

AQUARIUS SUN SIGN PEOPLE: By opposition, if you have any planets or cusps at 25 Aquarius, anyone born between February 10th through February 21st, will be affected. The people most directly affected were born on February 14th, Valentine’s Day.

NATAL DEGREES AFFECTED IN YOUR CHART

If you have any planets or cusps at the following degrees of ANY sign, you are affected: 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26,27 and 28. Consult a professional astrologer such as Rosemarie Brown for what this will mean for you, as an individual. She can be reached via email at: starrose@sedona.net

THE HOLIDAY IS GOING TO BE SOMBER

Some families love to get together on major holidays and it’s a blast. Other families cringe at the thought of having to go visit parents, siblings or relatives. The Holidays is a major time when people get very depressed and more suicides occur. Knowing this, and with Saturn going retrograde, it’s going to be a somber Holidays. That doesn’t mean it will be unhappy. Rather, somber can mean an understanding that while you sit down to a food feast, there are millions of people around the world starving. It can make you grateful and humble for what you have. It can also mean reflection on the devastating hurricanes, typhoons and earthquakes and how many people have NO home to go back too; their lives completely uprooted. It shouldn’t make you feel guilty; Americans are some of the most generous and giving people in the world, and I’m sure anyone reading this article has done their fair share of trying to help those who have less, have more.

You can also remember the people in your own back yard. Maybe, when you go to the grocery store, buy a turkey or ham for the local food mission. Or giving money (even five dollars is great) to your favorite charity. If you have some old clothes, how about cleaning them out and giving them to the Salvation Army or Goodwill Stores? And if you can, give blood. There are so many ways to help others and level the playing field of Life that we know is never fair to everyone.

So, ‘somber’ does not mean guilt or depression. It simply should be a time to reflect appropriately on what we have--how we got it--and being grateful and thanking those who came before us. If not, for example, the Native Americans stepping in to help feed the Puritans who landed on North America, they would have starved to death. That is how Holidays in our country began--the generosity of East Coast Native Americans.

TRAVEL DELAYS ARE GOING TO BE HUGE

With cantankerous Mars galloping gleefully in the fires sign of impetuous and spontaneous Sagittarius on the same day Saturn goes retrograde, try to maintain some balance. Sagittarius has a wonderful Jupiterian side of largess, sharing, giving largely and doing things on the spur of the moment. Think about visiting your favorite relatives in an surprise and unexpected whim of last minute travel. And travel will be HEAVY this month because of Mars in Sagittarius. Many people will make last minute decisions because Saturn forces us to make it and then commit to our whim. There will be more air travel than normal due to this cosmic situation in the sky. Mercury rules transportation and it is direct, thank goodness and this means traffic is going to be heavy and moving. With Saturn going retrograde and ruling blockages and stoppages, you can be sure that Holiday travel will become the Nightmare from Hell for the period shortly after THanksgiving through about the 13th of December. Then, it will ease up a bit.

If you decide to travel, come prepared with a pillow, extra food and a ton of patience, because storms can settle in, diverting air traffic and halting operation big time in the above period. The whole travel industry is going into stasis and constipation with Saturn blockages. Or, hey, here’s an idea: Save yourself the stress and stay home! Make spontaneous phone calls to your friends and relatives instead!

FLU SEASON IS CRANKING UP

Uranus and Saturn have a lot to do with epidemics, and December is typically the time when you see the flu season amping up. With big crowds, the flu is going to take off. So, if you don’t need to be in airports and traveling, that would be ideal. But if you have to go; it won’t be that bad this year. Just tank up on more B-complex and Vitamin C plus Zinc and you should sail through this time period just fine.

WHO AND WHAT IS SATURN?

Saturn can be seen symbolically as the banks to our River of Life or the Flow, as I call it. Without banks, without walls or restrictions of some sort, we would ooze all over the place; sort of in a Neptunian directionless hither, thither and yon kind of way. Saturn gives us shape, form, substance and yes, boundaries--that nasty little word that some folks just hate to mutter under their breath :-).

Saturn is always called bad names by people who are under it's influence but that's not the whole story about this incredible planet. If we did not have bones, a skeleton and skin, what would hold us and our organs and systems together? Nothing would. Saturn rules bones, teeth and skin. So you can see, that it creates a viable, formed vehicle for us to putter around in called a 'human body' :-) That's a boundary too, isn't it? It is the banks for that particular river called a body, if you want to look at it in another way or aspect.

Yes, Saturn is about responsibility, carrying your share of the load and being held accountable for what you say or do--or say you're gonna do :-) (and if you don't, Saturn is there to tap you on the shoulder and remind you of it.) It is about duty, loyalty, perseverance, endurance, form, shape, substance, boundaries, responsibility, being held accountable to yourself as well as to others, as well as empire building, creating a solid foundation from which to grow from or toward. Without a solid foundation, we become wobbly and cannot fulfill our soul's directive for us this lifetime. We would wander without direction, cause, goals or vision; much less a dream to hold or work toward.

SATURN REWARDS THOSE WHO WORK HARD...

Saturn is frequently maligned as the 'taskmaster' and pictured as Death. All things have a cycle. All things have a beginning, middle and end, and it is Saturn's thankless job to get us at each of these waves or cycles of opportunity that afford us growth and evolution if we so choose to use his energy in that expression and "form". He gives us the boundaries of life and death; from childhood, to adulthood to old age. It is said that Saturn is a contraction or contractile and associated with arthritis and osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. He rules the bones of our body. If there is necrosis, holes eaten into our bones, then Saturn is certainly involved. He rules over Calcium, one of the leading minerals that keeps our bones strong and healthy, to keep our 'frame' in good shape. The good news about Saturn is--if you work your butt off, are responsible, honest, truthful, and hard working, he will give you the rewards that you have coming to you. So, even on a Saturn retrograde time, dreams you had long thought impossible, or given up on, are suddenly handed to you out of the blue.

So, for those who have worked hard, good news! Come the week of December 4th, when there is a full moon at 12 Gemini, expect to get a raise, a promotion, or some kind of extra responsibility that signals you are appreciated and supported. Obviously, those who have been lazy and not worked, won’t get anything but a lump of coal in their stocking this year!

SATURN IN RETROGRADE MOTION

Please look to my article on Mercury to get an idea of what 'retrograde' means--I don't like to repeat myself :-).

Saturn gives us an opportunity to clean up what messes we haven't had a chance to clean up during a retrograde period. Anything left undone, unattended, partially finished or not completed, will be completed during a retrograde of this mighty planet. It can literally 'sit' on us or make us feel like the whole Universe is sitting our shoulders or back during that time. But the pressure eases off and gives us ‘breathing’ room to catch up on things that we know need tending too--but we just haven’t had the time for a myriad of reasons.

It's not unusual for Saturn, because of its large orbit about the Sun, to move over one's natal planet or position, then retrograde over it, and then come forward over it a third and final pass. This is what makes folks clench their teeth is this particular occurrence. It doesn't happen to everyone and if you're interested in finding out if you're one of 'em, you should consult with Rosemarie Brown, our core faculty astrologer here at The Medicine Garden, for details. She can be reached via email at: starrose@sedona.net.

Some folks get plain lucky and experience only ONE pass over a planet or sensitive position in their natal chart. However, having experienced both, I would rather have the three passes than the one. Why? Because if it's just one pass, then the full brunt of the lesson that we have set ourselves to learn, is gonna hit us right between the running lights. There won't be much preparation time or time to adjust to the lesson at all. Whereas, with a three-pass Saturn transit, on the first pass, you usually get an idea of WHAT it is you're going to have to learn from and grow from. The retrograde gives us the actual opportunity to work at it and slug our way through it. The final, forward (direct) pass will clean up any little details that have been laying around that we couldn't, heretofore, attend to or clean up. So, give me three passes any day!

LOOK AT IT LIKE A RIVER WITH BOUNDARIES....

During a retrograde period, Saturn may not be contracting you at all or pinching/squeezing you or forcing you to walk between two walls of some kind. Nope, it can be 'stretching' you, instead. Stretching as in making you expand your awareness, your emotions, your mental abilities or spirit outward in some way through presenting some situation that will create this 'cause and effect' choice for you. So many of us really don't know our own, personal limits, do we? We get told that we aren't smart. Or we aren't creative. Or, because you're a female, you can't do this or that. And on and on. The can't's, won't's, shouldn't's all get thrown out the window on a Saturn retrograde particularly if you're suppose to stretch your wings and fly instead of running on the ground like a turkey.

Saturn, in this particular situation, demands you to open your wings of your own limitation as you perceive it, and flow outward and upward and push beyond what you thought you were capable of, what you thought you could achieve or create. Saturn retrograde can help us become aware of our real river banks of the self, if you will, in this period. It can also rip off the blind film that covers our eyes and help us see and perceive more deeply into people, situations and events. This is called the gaining of wisdom. For, Saturn rules over wisdom. It is, however, wisdom gained from hard work, experience and on-the-job-training. It is not by grace. It is earned one hard step at a time. But, when you look back at having survived the experience, you will find yourself better educated, wiser, stronger and a little more confident than previous.

Saturn can give us confidence during a retrograde if we choose to carry the responsibility or duty that is accorded us by others or events outside ourselves--or from within ourselves. In the Tarot, Saturn is often seen as the Hermit, hooded and cloaked, carrying a bright lamp that sheds light. During a retrograde, when can connect the dots between ourselves and the outer/external event, or with another person or thing that we are currently wrestling with. It can create the light in our own inner darkness and hell that we plunge ourselves into, and provide a way out, an "aha!" that was previously not seen or explored.

Saturn retrograde is our compass for the map of life we are walking upon and experiencing. If we stop railing at what life has handed us and instead, buckle down and (as the Nike commercial sez) "Just Do it!" then Saturn will not only lead us into that dark tunnel, but lead us out of it, too. Remember this, during a Saturn Retrograde: that it is always darkest before the dawn. That is Saturn. But it also gives you the 'light at the end of the tunnel'--which is when it goes stationary retrograde (and in this case, we are now in the 'shadow' of Saturn turning retrograde for three weeks before the actual turn date of 12.5.2006 So this is a time of incredible awakening within ourselves or in regards to others or a situation we may find ourselves within. Be alert. Listen. Hear. For those who have Leo or Aquarius in them, this is your awakening period. Saturn is showing you the light at the end of your particular tunnel that you have been crawling through on your hands and knees.

The ‘shadow’ period of Saturn slowing down will be from November 20th, shortly before Thanksgiving through December 4, 2006. The turn of the wheel of Fate will occur between these two time frames so be prepared for some changes.

Saturn creates strength in us and this is especially true during a retrograde time; strength of spirit--quite literally. We may well feel like we've got an invisible hand holding us down on the concrete and it is a painful process but we are also building strength at the same time. Saturn bestows grace on those who surrender over to a higher power (whomever you believe in). And yes, Saturn gives huge rewards for those who have run the gauntlet during the retrograde. Usually two weeks before it turns retrograde or a few days or on the day it turns retrograde, you will receive your just and due rewards or acknowledgment by your peer group.

So, you want to know how well you did under your Saturn transit? Well, if you get grace in some form as it turns retrograde, that is your answer. Everyone will get something. It might not be winning the lottery; but it can be something that money can't ever touch or buy: a strength of spirit, a deepening sense of compassion, and understanding of self, maturing and gaining wisdom about yourself, others or a particular situation. Unlike Jupiter, which gives grace won from previous lifetimes or things you have done for others in this lifetime, everything given by Saturn is damn well earned!

KEYWORDS FOR SATURN

Use the Saturn keywords to help you understand what this retrograde and what Saturn retrograde can potentially mean for you. If you are concerned, please contact Rosemarie Brown, our core faculty astrologer for a personal chart reading.

KEYWORDS FOR SATURN AND HOW TO USE THEM

Simply take one adjective from one planet (Saturn) and put it with one of the Neptune adjectives. You can make 2-word sentences this way, and begin to get a feel for what it might rule over in your life should you be in the degrees mentioned above.

SATURN

ambition

arthritis/osteoporosis

authority

Bioflavanoids

business

Calcium

caution

cold

consolidation

control

delay

discipline

father

fear

Fluorine

inflexible

inhibition

Ligaments

limitation

losses

loyalty

old age

Osteoporosis

PABA

patience

practical

reliable

responsibility

restriction

Skeleton of body

"Smaller than..."

structure

Sulfur

tediousness

teeth, bones, joints

Tendons

time

Vitamin C

Vitamin K

I always like Saturn’s swing retrograde because it means an easing up and off of us. It can mean that some things come to an end, or a completion--finally--after one or two or even four years in the making. It can mean a huge load is lifted off of you. This is certainly a huge time for serious decisions to be made--once and for all. For many, it will feel like the weight of the world is slowly lifted off so they can straighten up, feel lighter and walk free.

Others will feel the grinding quality of Saturn from just before Thanksgiving and it will continue until the person snaps or has had enough or surrenders on December 4 or 5. Given that the high emotional tide of ourselves is linked with a full moon and Saturn going retrograde a day later, this is a time to get the yoke off of your neck and free yourself up. Sometimes, there is such a thing as too much obligation to others--especially in the area of care taking--and other ideas or ways to deal with the situation need to be inserted, instead.

If you are one of those people hung up on total responsibility ‘til death do you part, Saturn may well have another plan of action for you. If you are thinking outside the box, or stop allowing guilt to make up your decisions for you, then Saturn is going to bring this crippled way of leading your life to an abrupt end on December 4 or 5th. Stay tuned.

All in all, with Saturn going retrograde, it means a pretty bouncy Holiday season--but buying serious and good quality items instead of cheap things by the dozen. And there is more focus on family and spending quality time with them. More than usual. So, the somber quality of Saturn does not mean the Holiday is going to be glum; indeed not. It simply signals that you are going to realize that the best gifts in life can never be bought with money; and that relationships and family are hidden nuggets of gold in your life to appreciate and enjoy. Happy Holidays!

HELP TO MAKE THIS TRANSFORMATION PAINLESS--WELL, ALMOST PAINLESS....

I don’t believe we have to SUFFER endlessly through change. The people below are, in my opinion, the best in their particular business and are skillful catalysts to help people to help themselves. Utilize the transformative energy in the BEST and most healthy of ways... check out this group and choose which tools resonate most strongly with you and contact them. You won’t be sorry you did!

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELORS:

You can engaged the services of the medicinegarden.com's professional astrologer and find out. Our own Rosemarie Brown is a natal counselor. Just contact her at: starrose@sedona.net

If you are wanting to move and aren't sure where or you have a place in mind, but aren't sure if it's "right" for you, Gail and Michael have locale information available. If health is your consideration, both are trained medical astrologers. To contact them: Gail Carswell at rockdoc@mindspring.com or Michael Foltz at solardoc@mindspring.com. Better yet, visit their website: http://www.owlswebnest.com, for more information on all the services they provide.

I'm sure one of these three professionals will be able to shed considerable light in what is going on in your life and the many choices you have available to you to institute and use.

UN-CONFUSE YOURSELF:

NEED A "Coach", some serious therapy that gets to the "heart" of your angst or what you're wrestling with? We recommend Rosemarie Brown. Please contact her at: http://www.rosemariebrown.com or by email at: starrose@sedona.net

VOICE ANALYSIS--THE MISSING NOTE:

I've had my voice analyzed by Ani Williams and I can tell you from personal experience that we all have a "missing note" in our life. So what? Well, consider this. Without this missing note back in our life, we aren't working off of 8 cylinders. We're working on 6--or less! Please go to Ani's website for more information. This is a life-changing "tool" that you should include in your personal transformation kit. http://www.aniwilliams.com or contact her via email at: songaia@earthlink.net

SPIRITUAL UPKEEP RENOVATION: NEED A SHAMAN?

Gail Carswell, Michael Foltz, Grace Verte (grace@graceverte.com) and Rosemarie Brown are all trained shamanic facilitators who can help you through your spiritual transformation. For more information on Soul Recovery and Extraction, go to: http://www.medicinegarden.com/SRE/SREchapter.html and then contact one of them for further help!

FOR CARE OF BODY, MIND AND SPIRIT: HOMEOPATHY

Our favorite classically trained homeopath is Yolande Grill of Cave Creek, Arizona. She does long-distance case taking by phone and I consider her one of the best we've got in the USA. So, don't delay! She is also a shamanic facilitator, as well. Get a hold of Yolande at: y.grill@att.net