As a medical astrologer, I spend a lot of time looking at people’s charts and interpreting them. When someone has a transit (a planet moving over a planet in the natal chart) I interpret that too, offering potential meanings and themes that may arise in relation to health.
Right now, I’m personally experiencing this transit myself: Saturn is approaching, within a few degrees, my natal Sun (8th house, Aries, whole sign). I want to share some of the themes that have surfaced for me, because I think they illustrate just how intense and daunting this transit can be.
Saturnian Themes
Saturn brings pressure, restriction, and a slowing down of function. Astrologically, it carries themes of:
-Chronic illness
-Dryness and coldness
-The aging process
-Death and endings
-A general contraction. Like a giant shadow passing overhead, the way a football-field-sized UFO might pass slowly over a city, darkening everything beneath it before moving on
Saturn passing over my Sun has forcibly put me under stress and restricted my energy. For me, this has shown up as:
- An exhaustion phase that crept in and didn’t lift
- A diagnosis of postpartum hypothyroidism
- Themes of death surrounding me, from patients to family members that I’ve had to face head-on as part of this transit
- Feeling the cold more than usual
- A noticeably slower metabolism (hypothyroidism, hello!)
- Lower blood pressure
- Tiredness and weakness
- A sense of living inside a pressure cooker
There’s also been an internal, psychological layer to this. I’ve had to become far more discerning and disciplined with how I spend my personal energy. My ego has taken a beating- learning to slow down, to say no, to accept that I can’t juggle a thousand things at once. This transit has shown me just how much of my ambition has actually been driven by ego, not necessity.
These are the themes that hit me the moment Saturn entered Aries, and they’ve only intensified as it approaches my Sun exactly.
Of course, there’s more nuance to any transit than a single placement – other factors in the chart, aspects, and planetary rulerships all play a role, and no two people will experience Saturn-Sun the same way. That said, beyond what I’ve personally experienced, this transit can also present as:
-Heart issues
-Reduced strength or vitality
-Joint stiffness or joint issues
-Skin issues
– And other presentations depending on other factors unique to one’s chart
Final Thoughts
Saturn transits are never easy, but they’re rarely without purpose. They ask us to slow down, to face what we’ve been avoiding, ask us where have we been foolishly spending our energy, where do we need to build more boundaries, and to build something more solid and sustainable in place of what wasn’t working. If you’re moving through a Saturn transit of your own and want to understand how it might be showing up in your body and your life, I’d love to help you explore it.
I’m Ash, a naturopath and medical astrologer based in Kalamunda, in the Perth Hills. I offer medical astrology readings alongside naturopathic medicine, Reiki, and tarot. Get in touch if you’d like to book a session.