The beginning of your Saturn return is marked by the planet’s return to the same position it was in when you were born. The three year period happens between ages 27 and 30 and is a time of deep reflection and turmoil. It is when all is broken down to eventually be rebuilt. An initiation into true adulthood, your Saturn return doesn’t happen to you, it happens for you. The lessons learned while surviving its twists and turns will evolve you into the most resilient version of yourself. While at times overwhelming and dark, you will walk away from the experience with clarity and a defined sense of identity.
Whether you’ve survived it, are surviving it or preparing for battle, here are some of the most common lessons learned during your Saturn return.
Control What You Can Control Well
“You can only control what you can control” is a known saying. However, it’s important to be intentional with what you can control. Be mindful of how you react to triggers, the routine you build and your own inner dialogue. If there’s only so much that you can control, it’s worth making sure you do your best to control it in your favor.
Confront Your Skeletons
If there’s stuff you’re not willing to look at, your Saturn return will certainly make sure you do. Traumas have to be confronted to be healed. The biggest relief comes from realizing that even your biggest fears are survivable. You can breathe more deeply when your closet is cleaned out, apologies are made or accepted, and you relinquish the burden of quietly suffering.
Only You Can Break Your Cycles
When it comes to breaking cycles and generational curses, no one can do it for you. You can point out patterns, but noticing isn’t enough. It’s up to you to take action and reclaim your life. Whether you come from a lineage of over-workers and developed some new toxic habits on your own, you deserve the self-investment necessary to end your cycles.
Comfort Will Keep You Small
Saturn believes that discomfort is the only avenue for growth. Ending relationships and taking leaps of faith isn’t easy, but it’s where true evolution ensues. Staying in comfortable relationships and circumstances may feel good in the moment. However, that stagnancy will only prolong you becoming the best version of yourself. Doing the hard thing is always uncomfortable and always worth it. Implement the boundaries necessary to protect you from those who benefit from you staying shrunken.
Grief and Joy Can Coexist
In order to invite in the new, you must shed the old. A better life will cost you your old one. You can mourn what once was while celebrating all that rose from its ashes. Just because you’re grieving doesn’t mean you can’t also experience euphoria. Extreme emotions tend to compliment each other well, especially in tumultuous seasons of life.
Authenticity is Your Superpower
Your Saturn return will quickly show you that living a life unaligned with your truth will only get more uncomfortable. It’s up to you to live honestly, even if it means challenging the story others have written for you. Living authentically, whether that means moving, shifting careers or expressing your identity in an entirely new way, will keep you in flow and align you with opportunity.
Invest in Your Foundation
Slow and steady wins the race. You can have big dreams, but Rome wasn’t built overnight. It may be daunting to build your life brick by brick, but that’s the difference between what lasts and what doesn’t. Instant gratification can only keep you satisfied for so long. It’s the things you earn through discipline, commitment and showing up when you don’t feel like it that will reward you with lasting peace. The time will pass anyway, so might as well spend it investing in your future.