As of today, March 7, 2023 at 8:34am EST - my Saturn’s Return is officially over as Saturn finally leaves Aquarius and makes its way into the dreamy and magical Pisces.
If you don’t know, Saturn is a really challenging planet. I’ve often heard it described as a coach as it’s a planet that highlights what is no longer working and almost forces you to let it go so you can be better and stronger.
Saturn transits can be challenging for all of us, but they’re especially challenging when we’re in our Saturn’s Return. You may have heard of it before in the spiritual community or just within the world (I remember Donna telling April in Parks and Rec the reason she was struggling and questioning everything because she was in her Saturn’s Return!), but essentially your Saturn’s Return is when Saturn comes back to be in the sign it was in when you were born. Saturn takes about 28-30 years to go through the entire zodiac as it stays in each sign for 3 years.
So for me, when I was born Saturn was in Aquarius and since then, Saturn has gone through the entire rest of the Zodiac, only to return to Aquarius on March 21, 2020. It flipped out a bit in July (usually in the first summer it returns briefly to its previous sign) but then as of December 17, 2020 it went full force into Aquarius and stayed there until today!
When Saturn enters the sign you were born in, it’s said that it’s your final push into adulthood. Lots of challenges come up and you are essentially forced to close some doors as you embark on this new chapter of your life.
I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect going into it, but I can say that it absolutely was a challenging three years for me.
Aquarius is a sign that is all about mixing up the status quo, questioning why things are done the way they are, pushing for more humanitarianism and justice for all - essentially challenging the world and pushing it to be better. So that in a sign like Saturn is definitely world-changing (as we’ve seen in the past three years as a collective for sure). So yes, having a Saturn’s Return in Aquarius makes you question absolutely everythinggggg about the world and why things are done the way they are and trying to figure out how they can be better.
Not only that, but the entirely of my Saturn’s Return was also during the global pandemic.
So I think it’s safe to say that us Aquarian Saturn babies may have had a rougher go of a Saturn’s Return than most, given that Aquarius is a naturally challenging sign and that a pandemic on top of it really changed everything and turned the whole world upside down.
I found during this time period, everything that no longer served me was ripped away from me. I wasn’t able to choose to let them go, no the Universe forced them out of my life. I had a years-long toxic friendship finally blow up and get ripped away. I was laid off my corporate job. I had myself and those closest to me lose family members. I struggled with instagram scammers impersonating me on a weekly basis affecting my business. My finances/income were inconsistent. Instagram completely changed its algorithm and where certain content used to get 1500 likes, new followers, and natural sales - it shifted to getting less than 100 likes, losing followers, and no sales and & I had to shift and re-create my entire content creating strategy & business. Even a dream come true like my book getting published had some negative strings attached. I found myself getting super angry over things (like I did when I was a child - my chart is very fire heavy) and staying angry for days. I was definitely way more triggered by the way others (in my opinion wrongly) viewed the world and definitely felt sooo many triggers that were never healed from childhood and beyond pop up.
Of course, it wasn’t all bad - I did also finally have my dream of being a published author come true; I got to see my journal physically in stores; I had two amazing birthday trips to Disney World (my favorite day and favorite place), I worked with some amazing clients, made new instagram friends, found an amazing spiritual community with Spirit + Soul Studio, had a new nephew born, and throughout all of this I also had a stable relationship with the love of my life where our love only grew with time. So I do have to appreciate the good.
Overall, with the good and bad, I felt my biggest lesson was in balance. I had to accept that it’s okay if sometimes things don’t go my way, all it is is a learning lesson for me, or it’s an excuse to make change, or it’s the Universe having a greater plan, so I need to just accept, let it go, and move forward to the best of my ability. Sometimes things go our way, sometimes they don’t - that’s just life. The key is to putting out all the best intentions and energy to direct things in your favor, but also then accepting it’s okay if they don’t, and all it means is the Universe has some kind of plan up its sleeve and maybe something better down the line.
During my Saturn’s return, mainly during the entire 2022, I worked with the amazing Emily the Mystic, as we went into my Akashic Records and did soooo much healing. We went real deep into my subconscious mind, into my past (like even back to 2 years old), and into my past lives and galactic lives … all working to understand all the feelings and lessons and “blocks” (what was holding me back in certain areas), and let go of things that still bothered me plus working to clear out the energy from all of that. It wasn’t always easy (though I did always feel so empowered after every session with Emily), but understanding it all and figuring it all out, definitely made things so much better. With healing, usually once you’re able to identify the source, it’s that much easier to let it go.
I honestly consciously didn’t even realize that my Saturn’s Return was the reason why I dove into all this. All I knew was that I was not 100% happy with where I was at and I needed help to make some big changes.
Saturn needs us to let go and heal and change for growth, so whether we consciously realize it or not, this time period is massive for healing. The healing work needs to be done (whether you want to or not!) so either you’ll be really called to do it, or the Universe will essentially force you into it.
Towards the end of 2022 and towards the end of working with Emily, I really re-dedicated myself to consistency in actively choosing to feel good. I think it’s important to let yourself feel everything you need and process your emotions, but I personally was so tired of feeling angry or down or frustrated, so I had to actively make a point to choose to feel better. I trained my brain to focus more on the good (like I did before my Saturn’s Return! Really, it was just within the Saturn’s return that it felt more difficult to do so, even tho beforehand I was able to do it with ease), I dedicated myself to meditating and journaling every single day. I’d envision good things, I’d write about good things, and sure enough I actually started to feel the best I had felt in three years.
I think it was a combo of doing this and Saturn closing in on shifting out of Aquarius , but either way I’ll take it.
My Saturn is at the beginning of Aquarius, and I heard some other’s say that being towards the beginning of the Saturn sign, you start to feel the effects less and less as it nears the end, which I think is true for me because really towards the end of December 2022, I started to feel the heaviness and weight alleviate. And definitely in February, it felt like the good things and better things were starting to flow in. I absolutely had way more hope and confidence than I felt in the past three years during my return.
I will say this past week of March I have felt a bit more anxious again, but I think that’s because the Virgo Full Moon is also happening today and as a Virgo Sun, that Virgo Full Moon energy is strongggg - but again, I think it’s my sign to have one last massive, big release (the full moon is the ultimate monthly releaser!) to release alllll that drama and hurt and emotions from the past three years of my Saturn’s Return; so that’s definitely something I’m planning on doing tonight.
So, takeaways:
Saturn’s Return is a challenging time for sure. Talking to my other friends who went through their Saturn’s Return they also really experienced a shake-up: a change in their perspective, uncomfortable growth, toxic relationships / friendships taken away, job changes, city changes, generational healing, family drama … but also a deeper understanding of who they are and what they want.
I think honestly that’s the best thing that comes from the chaos of a Saturn’s Return, at the end of it you’re definitely wiser, definitely put up with less nonsense, you see the world differently, and you have a clearer sense of what you want out of life and who you want to be.
So, if you are about to enter your Saturn’s Return (or it’s coming up soon), don’t worry. Be gentle with yourself and know so long as you rely on your spiritual tools to deal with it and help yourself heal, you’ll be fine. In hindsight, it actually goes pretty quickly.
It may not be easy, but it’s all necessary growth.
I feel such a sense of relief honestly now that it’s over, but I’m very proud of myself for overcoming some of my biggest life challenges and still having a positive, hope-filled heart.
