(astrobutterfly.com)

Saturn in Aquarius is one of the most anticipated transits of the year.  In the light of the Coronavirus crisis, with its domino effects, Saturn in Aquarius seems to be a key transit that will show us where all of this is heading. 

Saturn enters Aquarius on March 21st, 2020 to spend – initially – 3 months here, until July 1st, when Saturn (retrograde) moves back into Capricorn. In the coming months, Saturn will give us a taste of what’s to come in the next couple of years. 

Saturn eventually leaves Capricorn and moves back into Aquarius on December 17th, 2020. Saturn will stay in Aquarius until March 2023. 

The Saturn-Jupiter Conjunction – A New Era

We cannot talk about Saturn in Aquarius without talking about the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction which will occur on December 21st, 2020, at 0° Aquarius.

This is not ‘just’ a Saturn-Jupiter conjunction – although a Jupiter-Saturn conjunction alone is an extremely important event, since it occurs only once every 20 years – but what makes this Jupiter-Saturn conjunction truly special is that it occurs at 0° in an Air sign.

Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions are very cyclical and belong to 200-year elemental cycles. The current Jupiter-Saturn cycle started in 1802 and is an Earth cycle.

The current Earth cycle will end on December 20th, and a new elemental cycle will begin on December 21st, 2020, this time in the Air element. This is BIG. 

The energy will shift from Earth (consumerism, material values, hierarchies) to Air (intellect, information, collaboration). 

In the light of a Jupiter-Saturn conjunction – which will revolutionize our society – you really want to pay attention to Saturn’s first ingress in Aquarius on March 21st.  

Saturn And Aquarius

To understand what to expect from this transit, let’s go back to the basics, to understand what Saturn and Aquarius stand for in astrology. 

Saturn is the great teacher. Some of Saturn’s keywords are rules, discipline, patience, responsibility, and maturity. Saturn wants us to grow up!

Saturn exposes the limits of the sign it transits – what’s working, and especially what’s not working.

Saturn has spent 2.5 years in Capricorn, exposing the good, and especially the bad and the ugly of the Capricorn archetype: lack of integrity, misused power, materialism and corruption.   

Now it’s Aquarius’ turn to get scrutinized by the Great Teacher. By the end of this transit,  Saturn will sort out what needs sorting out… especially considering that in 2024 Pluto also moves into Aquarius, to completely transform and revolutionize our society.   

Given the background of the Coronavirus, we already know what’s ahead of us, and what’s ahead of us sounds very much like Saturn in Aquarius:

Social (Aquarius) distancing (Saturn).

Air travel (Aquarius) delays (Saturn).

Online (Aquarius) and remote working (Saturn).  

Whether or not the infection will escalate, the pandemic threat is already challenging what is at the core of what makes us human: social engagement and belonging. The virus is asking us to stop this interaction and replace it with social distance.

But that’s so much more than social distancing that we need to come to terms with. Saturn will ask Aquarius to ‘uplevel’ and transform from a rebellious and spoiled adolescent into a responsible, society’s-interests-first citizen of the future.

Let’s have a look at how this can work in practice: 

The unevolved Aquarian attributes are:

• Herd mentality – blindly and irrationally following the crowd without checking in with one own’s integrity – while at the same time showing discriminatory and selfish behaviors, like emptying the shelves.  
• False democracy – expecting to exercise one’s individual rights, without fulfilling one’s obligations. Examples: making noise in a restaurant for our own selfish pleasure, even if we disturb other people. Voting for a politician because “we exercise our democratic right” without understanding how politics work or taking the time to do proper research. Believing the society needs to create jobs and take care of us, without us contributing back etc.  
• A false sense of freedom – rebellion without accepting authority first; thinking one “knows better”; unwillingness to follow rules and delay gratification.
• “Opinionitis” – the “disease” of having an opinion without substantiating it with expertise. The internet (another Aquarius theme) has made it easier than ever to share opinions. We have, however, a responsibility for the information we spread. Is it substantiated by expertise? Is it in the best interest of the people? 

And some of the evolved Aquarian attributes are:

• Good fellowship – caring for the other and humanity itself – not because of fear, or because there is an expected payout – but because of a true desire to contribute and make a difference. A good example is the many doctors and nurses that fight for the lives of their patients even when their own health is at risk.
• True democracy – democracy means rights, but also obligations. Real democracy happens when people contribute to the best of their ability to a better society. Example: volunteering/taking on our fair share of the workload in the community, coming up with proposals and personal initiatives to make the world a better place, and taking action when other people’s rights are violated.  
• Freedom – once people have learned the “Capricorn lesson” – how to respect authority, how to follow rules that go beyond instant gratification (but are necessary for a good functioning of society) – then, and only then, true freedom can be found.    
• Expertise – Aquarius is the PHD of the zodiac, the true scientist, the true Scholar, someone who has studied a particular topic in-depth enough to have a qualified opinion. The true scientist is NOT someone who is following corporation-sponsored agendas or blindly regurgitates what he or she is told. A true scholar is objective, has critical thinking and brings their own original input to an already thoroughly researched topic. Original and value-creating intellectual input is Aquarius energy at its best.  
• Technology – when used smartly, technology is NOT a tool to withdraw from a reality that is less exciting than our social media feed – but a medium to spread knowledge and bring people with common interests together.  

There is a reason why Aquarius follows Capricorn. In Capricorn, we learn how to deal with authority, systems, and top-down hierarchies.

When Saturn was in Capricorn we’ve seen the limits, but also the crucial role authorities play in society.

In every single society we need authorities, we need to have systems in place, we need decisive top-down action “the schools are closing” or “stay home”. A society without Capricorn is total chaos. And we can not have Aquarius’ promise of total freedom unless we learn how to deal with restrictions first. 

But of course, Capricorn’s top-down systems are very vulnerable to corruption – and we all know this by now. Too much emphasis on a top-down hierarchical structure can lead to power imbalances that are not in the best interest of the system. 

And if the top-down order has shown its weaknesses and limitations, it’s time to look for a different type of order.

An order that installs organically, bottom-up and which reflects more accurately the needs and realities of our society. 

Saturn in Aquarius suggests that the solution is NOT looking for ‘another’ politician or ‘another’ top-down system to replace the existing one.

Socialism, neo-communism and even environmentalism may seem like appropriate solutions to a corrupted, power-abused society… but inherently, they are just another political, top-down structure. They are just another Capricorn institution.

And the Capricorn / Earth era is over. The solution to the crisis we are currently facing does not exist yet.

We have to create it ourselves.

BOTTOM UP. Organically. 

Saturn in Aquarius is not about finding the “right” system. The “right” politicians. It is about CREATING a new system organically, from the bottom-up. 

Here are some shifts we can expect during Saturn’s transit in Aquarius. 

A shift from capitalism to human capital – Capricorn and the Earth element value “capitalism” while Aquarius and the Air element value the ‘human capital’. The world will start valuing more the human capital, at the expense of material aspects of production.

A shift from top-down hierarchies to bottom-up innovation – both Capricorn and Aquarius are ruled by Saturn, so both signs are concerned with bringing order into chaos. But while with Capricorn order comes top-down (from the leader) – with Aquarius, progress comes bottom up (from the individual). 

A shift from big cities to smart cities and small communities – Aquarius thrives in communities – but very importantly, it thrives in micro-communities, which can be self-governing. It is not excluded that the role of the big city, of the big metropolis, will change, and we may slowly return to smaller communities, where we can take better care of each other.  

A shift from duty to true altruism – If Capricorn is duty, Aquarius goes beyond duty. The evolved Aquarius energy does something not only because it is morally right, but from a place of true altruism and from a genuine desire to make the world a better place. 

A shift from a taxpayer status to civil responsibility – Instead of delegating the power and responsibility to states and corporations through taxes or donations, Saturn in Aquarius will pass the responsibility back to us – how can we, as individuals, contribute to a society and make the world a better place? 

Ultimately, Saturn in Aquarius is about acknowledging the value of humanity. Governments and corporations have taken people for granted for way too long, without appreciating, rewarding and giving them the recognition they deserve.

And now, thanks to Saturn in Aquarius, we will have to rethink everything – forms of organization, relationships, and the distribution of resources.

It is increasingly obvious that what we have built does not serve us anymore, does not help us, and it does not make us more human or happy. On the contrary: it makes us increasingly depressed, inhuman and fragile.

Saturn in Aquarius is about how we, as individuals – every single one of us – contribute to a better world – by helping ourselves, our fellow humans and other living beings from a place of love and support.

(Contributed by Richard Burns, H.W., M.)