Saturn in Aquarius and Doubt
The skies continue to provide opportunities to see things with new eyes and embrace the familiar with deeper appreciation. Eclipses, cazimis, Pluto revelations, Saturn realism, the (true) nodes changing signs, heliacal risings and settings. There will be no boredom down here for many months with opportunities big and small to manage. With that backdrop in mind, I wanted to talk about Saturn in Aquarius in relation to doubt. It feels timely because Mercury is stationing in Aquarius as I type, close enough to Saturn to get audited.
I think Saturn in Aquarius is a good time to consider doubts we have, their cause, and how we can use that doubt constructively. Recognizing it, and letting it go so we can act in order to move beyond the doubt. By the end of January, Mercury and Venus will be visible morning stars, more able to affect change in our circumstances. If we understand our values from the Venus retrograde, and we know the next steps to take from the Mercury retrograde, we can be less doubty and more confident for when the winds of change shift.
Valens includes in Saturn’s many significations those who are “self-deprecating” and “careworn” (careworn = tired from worry - thanks google). Saturn also rules over “humblings” and “accusations”. All of this sounds at least doubt-adjacent.
Another way to relate Saturn with doubt is via its rulership of Capricorn and Aquarius, representing winter in the Northern Hemisphere. While maybe not the strongest symbolic approach if you’re from the Southern Hemisphere, it’s one I have a bias for because I’m from a cold place. From this perspective, winter and Saturn are marked by a lack of growth, loss, limitations in activity, and literal cold/less sunlight. (Rural) people prepare for this time of year for a long time before it occurs, practicing delayed gratification. The end of the winter is the doubtiest time of the year because historically we didn’t always know if the supplies and food would last long enough, resulting in a need to ration certain things. There’s a lot of cost-benefit analysis involved to optimize and make the most of what you have in survival times. This is part of the nature of Aquarius: Constant optimization spurred along by doubt and analysis. At the most benign, we analyze a groundhog’s behavior every February to know how much doubt to exercise for a swiftly arriving Spring.
Anyway, this doubt. It’s Saturn and Aquarius. Cool. How does this help me prepare for the winds of change shifting? The main point I wanted to make is that there’s two kinds of doubt and we should be aware of what they are. There’s a kind that’s useful, like when we investigate a question to understand how something works. The question came up because of doubt, we investigate, and we are more wise as a result. In science, theses that overcome doubt are strengthened. This is constructive doubt acting as a force that moves us toward understanding and mindful action.
The other, less useful kind of doubt is that which impedes us and keeps us in a cycle of un-ending analysis. The presence of internal resistance is one way to tell which kind of doubt is present. If there’s resistance to making a choice or giving something a try, and we continually go back to the drawing board to re-evaluate - this doubt has potentially gone beyond its usefulness. If there’s a sense of disbelief without having investigated the thing and we’re stuck in a doubt-filled narrative, not useful. If you feel like you’ve been stuck for a long time on something, then there may be some lingering doubt-fueled loop of indecision happening somewhere.
The difference between the two kinds of doubt is that the first one has a resolution - there’s a decision made and/or an action taken which moves the ball down the court. It may not be the correct direction, but it at least keeps things moving toward growth and understanding. The second kind of doubt - there is no resolution, just never-ending doubt, investigation, doubt, investigation leaving us stationary. Maybe it starts out useful, but that ship leaves the dock pretty quickly sometimes. I think this is how we end up in troubled Saturn or Air sign territory. This is when Saturn and doubt become a barrier stemming from inaction or ineffectiveness.
If uncertainty looms during the retrogrades of January/early February, I think it will be partially dispelled as Saturn meets the Sun and provides sober clarity on February 4th, shortly after Mercury stations direct. When the Sun passes under the rays of Saturn and they join within 17 arc minutes, the qualities of Saturn are distilled and melded with the Sun. The Sun can temporarily engage in life and express its agency with the Saturnian qualities of authority, accountability, respect, realism, or commitment. We can feel Solar confidence in our progress while also pursuing improvement. The Sun’s Will shines forth but with temperance and maturity.
With this conjunction/Cazimi, Saturn restarts its cycle with the Sun. It may be clearer what we need to show up for in our lives, or what requires more patience and responsibility than we originally thought. If that sounds a bit heavy, know that Saturn is the scaffolding we need to build things. It’s hard to move forward on plans when we don’t know our allowances and limits, which are Saturnian things. Sometimes those allowances/limits are about time, money, people-power, obligations, or the limits of our own agency. These facts may not always be what we hoped for, but they also create the container in which reality materializes. It helps us set the order of operations. All of these things help to combat doubt because they help define a path ahead.
Happy navigating <3
Venus Cycle Important Dates to watch/reflect on:
1/8/2022 Venus’ inferior conjunction with the Sun
1/18/2022 Venus now visible (also Saturn disappears behind the Sun)
1/29/2022 Venus direct station
Mercury Cycle Important Dates to watch/reflect on:
12/23 Mercury became visible as evening star
12/29 Mercury enters pre-shadow phase
1/14 Mercury stations retrograde
1/16 Mercury disappears behind the Sun
1/23 Mercury inferior conjunction with the Sun
1/30 Mercury becomes visible as morning star
2/3 Mercury stations direct
2/24 Mercury leaves shadow
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