Saturn conjunct South Node (and natal Venus!)

Saturn conjunct the South Node occurs once every twelve years and usually only lasts about a week. But this time, due to retrograde motion, Saturn touches the South Node three times and the entire transit lasts six months!

We’re at the end of it now, with the last exact contact occurring on September 28th. But since April of this year Saturn has been calling us all to account. We only have to look at the situation in the United States with attempts to impeach President Trump for his corrupt actions. Saturn does not let us get away with shirking our responsibilities.

Although Saturn conjunct South Node is primarily a societal transit, affecting us all at the macro-cosmic level, if personal planets or points are aspected in your natal chart this transit can create ripples in your own life as well. In particular, those with planets or points between 11 and 17 degrees of the Cardinal signs (Cancer, Libra and Capricorn) will likely feel Saturn conjunct South Node quite strongly.

If you are personally affected, the way this transit impacts you depends on which house the two are passing through in your natal chart. The themes that will play out, according to house, are as follows:

• 1st House – Identity and persona
• 2nd House – Personal possessions and property
• 3rd House – Communications, siblings and technology
• 4th House – Family of origin, mother and home
• 5th House – Children, creativity and romance
• 6th House – Work, service and physical well-being
• 7th House – Partnerships, marriage and collaboration
• 8th House – Intimacy, sex, birth, death and inheritance
• 9th House – Education, exploration and research
• 10th House – Status, leadership and career
• 11th House – Community, social networks and movements
• 12th House – Inner life, mental health, self undoing

For me, Saturn and the South Node are in the 8th House, the house of birth, death and inheritance. Pluto also happens to be there too, currently sitting on my Moon. Over the past two years my father and we aunt have both died of Cancer. I have also birthed two daughters. Two souls making way for two more. How much more 8th House can you get?

Saturn also happens to be conjunct my natal Venus, emphasising commitment and responsibility. I have just returned from four days with my grandmother who is 91. It was a pleasure to be with her and she spoiled me preparing meals the week before, so that I didn’t have to cook, and urging me to sleep in every day. Then I came home to my family and everything got very real again. It’s the beginning of the school holidays – 14 days of nonstop childcare ahead. No more rest and relaxation for me!

Saturn conjunct Venus is here to remind me that love is not how we feel about others it’s how we act towards them, even when things are hard and you’re tired and uninspired and cranky.

Saturn can feel very claustrophobic. Its energy is structure and containment, especially in a tense aspect formation such as the opposition. It’s not fun. But the beauty of Saturn is that even though he puts you through the ringer, he also gives you the strength and perseverance to get through the challenging times.

Saturn conjunct natal Venus: everything feels heavy

Yesterday was a hard day and I found myself yelling at my kids. I hate it when this happens and I tend to recriminate myself quite harshly. Of course this isn’t a useful approach. Putting myself down because I was exhausted and lost my temper is not going to make me a better mum. I’m always reminding my husband that positive feedback is more effective with kids, why wouldn’t I use the same strategy with myself?

Saturn conjunct natal Venus is emphasising commitment, and Saturn conjunct the South Node guarantees that this commitment, though hard, is non- negotiable, perhaps fated, and that we will have to just have to screw our courage to the sticking point and hold on until the pressure abates.

Fortunately this contact from Saturn to my natal Venus can also give me the will-power and courage to get through this. The energy of Pluto, so close by and on my moon helps here too. It pushes us to look at the deeper reasons for our anger, and disarms some of the triggers that set us off.

Emotions such as anger, hate and self-recrimination are normal to all human beings and I am perfectly normal to have them. I don’t have to feel ashamed to have these emotions. I may feel regret, which is healthy and leads to changes in behavior that might have been rooted in that emotion.

Shame on the other hand leaves you paralysed. You feel dis-empowered. The problem, out of proportion in your head, seems insurmountable. Shame makes us hide our weaknesses from others, and so, because we are all hiding from each other we imagine that we are the only one that is weak. That only we are struggling and that everyone else is A ok.

To overcome shame we must let our gourd down and share our vulnerability with others. Many people feel they risk being hurt if they ‘expose’ themselves, but this is just the shame talking. It presupposes that others will want to punish or humiliate us, rather than expecting kindness.  The ironic thing is that people who do hurt others, either willingly or unwillingly, are often motivated by shame themselves.

By opening up about our fears, anger and shame we usually find that everyone else is the same. We all have demons.  We all have a dark side. And most of us are trying simultaneously to protect, nurture and exterminate it :)

But you can’t get rid of your dark side, any more that the Moon can get rid of hers. So, why not explore it instead? Who knows what gifts, talents and resources are hidden back there.

Reclaiming our dark side is about doubling our territory, but to do this we must first understand that darkness is a gift. We do this by recognising the beauty of darkness; it can be soothing, recuperative and even sometimes exciting! Why would we want to deny our ownership of this land?

We reclaim our dark side by letting go of shame and exploring Saturn is key to this. Saturn is our inner father, formed by our relationship with our real life father. For this reason, Saturn plays out differently for everyone. He may be kind and gentle, strict, disciplinarian, or even abusive. What kind of Saturn do you have within you?

Want to understand the impact of Saturn conjunct the South Node in your own life but don’t know where to begin? Download a natal chart for free at astro.com, then grab a copy of my free ebook, which explains exactly how to interpret your own natal chart and track the transits in your life.