Copyright 2005 Eileen Nauman
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This is not the 'normal' Saturn going direct on March 21, 2005. On it's heels, five days later (March 26, 2005) master transformer, Pluto, is going retrograde. This is akin to being in an automobile wreck and getting a nasty case of whiplash. Add to this celestial recipe, Mercury is already retrograde as of March 19th, and you have a perfect quandary. This reminds me of the 'right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing' kind of scenario.

When you get two dark behemoths like Saturn and Pluto playing tag with one another, energetically speaking, this is for keeps. The game is up. The game is over. Saturn doesn't mess around for it always brings things into physical manifestation and clarity. It can be akin to running face first into a brick wall or it can be an angelic kind of mystical experience where you get the ultimate 'aha'! Of course, Saturn being the judge and jury of karma/dharma for us, the jig is up for some and for others, they will get exactly what they have coming. Now, that could mean a trophy and first place, or, if you have been cheating, lying, defrauding or any other nasty kind of thing, then you will be found out.

Pluto is the transformer. And with these two tied to one another, March may end up being a horrendous train wreck on many levels. For one, these two can focus on assassination attempts of world leaders. Pluto rules over terrorism, so we may see it heighten or if we are lucky, begin to dribble off and be less of a threat for awhile. One thing for sure, our lives aren't going to be the same after Saturn and Pluto and Mercury get done with us. The key to this period is remaining flexible and open to changes--and not fighting them tooth, hammer and nail. Don't be dragged kicking and screaming because, frankly, you're going whether you want to or not. So, utilize this energy to make the necessary changes in your life that are knocking at your door, instead. Just look at Martha Stewart--when you get lemons--make lemonade! Turn a prison experience into a positive perspective instead.

WHO IS AFFECTED BY THIS PLANET TURNING DIRECT?

March 21,2005, Saturn is at 20 Cancer and goes direct at 6:54 PM PST.

Transiting Saturn turning stationary direct has already done its clarifying of issues beginning March 7, 2005. Right now there's a lot of pressure on some people; loads that they may feel are just impossible to continue to carry. Now, it is turning direct in early March and finally, the pressure/loads on these individuals will begin to ease up--none too soon as far as they are concerned. Cancer and Capricorn are most affected by this particular heavy planet turning direct in the skies overhead this time.

If you were born between July 8th and 14th, you are directly affected by this retrograde. The people most affected were born on July 11th.

By opposition, if you have any planets or cusps at 20 Capricorn, anyone born between January 6th through January 12th, will be spotlighted. The people most affected were born on January 9th.

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 direct time, dreams you had long thought impossible, or given up on, are suddenly handed to you out of the blue.

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 Carol B. Willis, our core faculty astrologer here at The Medicine Garden, for details. She can be reached via email at: cbwillis@lightlink.com

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 direct 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 direct period, Saturn will be contacting you. You will learn how to walk between two walls of some kind. 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 direct 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 (like this act of terrorism). 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 a 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 and a little more confident than previous.

Saturn can give us confidence during a direct period, 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 direct time, 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 direct 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 turning direct: 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 direct (and in this case, we are now in the 'shadow' of Saturn turning direct for four weeks before the actual turn date of 3.21.2005 (so, from 3.7.2005, we've been in the "shadow" of Saturn's change-up--and that is when the space shuttle, Columbia, blew up). It 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 early degrees of Cancer and Capricorn, 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.

Saturn creates strength in us and this is especially true during a direct time; strength of spirit--quite literally. We may well feel like we've got an invisible hand smashing our face down on the concrete and rubbing our flesh away from our bone, but while this painful process is going on, we are building strength. Helluva way to do it--one way to do it. Saturn bestows grace on those who surrender over to the honing by fire process. And yes, Saturn gives huge rewards for those who have run the gauntlet during the direct. Usually four weeks before it turns direct or a few days or on the day it turns direct, 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 direct, 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, others or a particular situation, for example. 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 direct Saturn can potentially mean for you. If you are concerned, please contact Carol B. Willis, our core faculty astrologer for a personal chart reading.

KEYWORDS, HOW TO USE THEM

Since Saturn is going direct March 21st and transiting Pluto is going retrograde the same month (March 26th), this is going to be a pressured month for many people. An article on Pluto turning retrograde will be created shortly for more information on this dynamic and transformative planet. You can look at them together and what they may signal to us. Simply take one adjective from one planet (Saturn) and put it with one of the Pluto adjectives. You can make two-word sentences this way (take 1 from Saturn and add 1 from Pluto--there are plenty of combinations to 'play' with here!), 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

PLUTO KEYWORDS

abduction
compulsion
contamination
contempt
control
convicts
crime and the underworld
death of some thing (spiritual, mental, emotional or physical)
decay
deep analysis
depravity
destruction
detectives
disasters
elimination
endocrine system
epidemics of global proportion
fanatics
guilt
legacies
mortality
Orotic Acid (B-13)
passion
penis
Phoenix bird (rising from the ashes)
power
prostate gland
regeneration
resurrection
sexuality issues/dysfunction/hyper function
subconscious mind
testicles
transformation (spiritual, mental, emotional or physical)

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 Saturn 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 Carol B. Willis is a natal counselor. Just contact her at: cbwillis@lightlink.com

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 DURING THIS RETROGRADE:

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 Mercury 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 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