Hari Om Namo Narayana!
(Known fondly by nicknames such as ‘The Wall’ and ‘Mr Dependable’, famous Indian no.3 batsman, Rahul Dravid is probably the poster boy of Saturn Retrograde being expressed in picturesque fashion.)
Well if I had a dime for every time someone panicked and misinterpreted a Saturn placement, I’d be a billionaire for sure!
Now, in case you are new to the planets and my answers and the approach I take to study them, you’re encouraged to read this article I wrote about “What does it mean to have strong Saturn in your birth chart” for a good foundation.
This answer is complete within itself but some background knowledge gives you a lot of food for thought and draw your own inferences. That’s really what helps you expand your knowledge and understanding of this sacred art and science of ‘Vedic’ astrology.
- That’s very important because no planet in ‘Vedic’ astrology is unidimensional. There isn’t just one book for this field of study, there are many many books.
- Some explore the astronomical parts of this field, some explore the astrological parts, some the spiritual parts of it and a ton of knowledge is drawn from ‘Vedic’ literature.
- So when you look at a planet, you need to look at it form all perspectives that you can or know of, to truly be able to interpret its placement.
Therefore, constantly expanding your knowledge and cross referencing it with the many many books that are part of ‘Vedic’ philosophy, is actually what will help you understand ideas in depth.
- Saturn is on the one hand, your patience, resilience and strength but on the other hand it is also your stability, grounding and feeling of security.
- So when Saturn is retrograde, I can see right away.. especially if it is the only planet retrograde in a chart, that this individual is a badass.
No kidding!
- This one fleeting analysis usually never fails me when someone comes for a consultation.
However, does that mean everyone born with a retrograde Saturn is a strong individual?
- Nope, obviously not.
- It does mean however that everyone who has Saturn retrograde in their chart, has the ability to channel the powers of this planet and build upon them to a huge degree.
- That’s because Saturn is the planet of self efforts.
- Saturn is the planet of ‘karma’ as in your ‘ability to act’.
- He’s a very simple and logical planet among whose rules of governance is the simple law of ‘cause and effect’.
That’s why I’ve seen many times that people who have Saturn forming strong combinations in the second and eleventh houses, which are the houses of gains and wealth.. quite often they end up broke at some point in their life.
And then you have people like Warren Buffet, who has Saturn in his second house and is one of the richest men ever!
- Saturn works for you if you work with it.
- No matter how good his placement is in your chart, if you don’t face up to the challenges thrown towards you, you won’t be able to master your circumstances and find the growth you seek.
- And when Saturn is retrograde you can bet that you will feel this impact 10 times more than others.
- It can swing both ways now.
- You can either work with your Saturn placement and have a true shot at greatness and security vis a vis that area of your life, or that area of your life will weigh you down and never let you fly.
This is, I think now.. a very difficult challenge for most people.
That’s because everyone is in a different cycle of development and some people just weren’t born with their soul seeking these experiences; not actively at least.
- Maybe your soul just wanted to be born in a rich family and enjoy life.
- However, since you were born into that family you have some debt to pay in lieu of that. A debt you can’t escape!
- That’s what makes Saturn retrograde especially hard.
Let me give you an example:
Imagine you were born into a rich business family where your father, uncles and siblings are all great at finance, operations, computers or something that is useful for running and growing the family business.
They each take their talents and build something with it and become an important part of the family business. Each is heading and/or growing a different business vertical.
You however, have a learning disability and even though you want to get involved and you can because it is after all your family business, it’s difficult for you.
Why?
Because even with the gigantic blessing of a stable secure home and wealth to enjoy and inherit, you are struggling with the basics!
You finally begin reading at 8 and mathematics is completely not your cup of tea.
You grow up feeling ‘less’ than others, feeling inferior, feeling like a disappointment.
- However, it is because of this.. because of how you are different from the rest and how you don’t have a clear path to be a part of and build what is already there, that you break free from the security.
- Let’s say you decide to study only the subjects that get you through somehow through high school and you focus all your energies instead on learning how to fix bikes and stuff.
- People look at you disapprovingly even when you’re just trying to do your own thing and instead of appreciation you mostly get scorn.
- However, you persevere and stick to what you can apply yourself to and you have your own chopper garage by the time you’re 35!
I actually know a person like that with a similar sort of story.
That’s the power of Saturn.
- It is tough.
- It is brutal.
- It is merciless..
- but only if you can’t deal with it.
However, Saturn gives you the resilience to deal with the challenges he gives you too.
- Retrograde Saturn can be a great placement for someone who wants to be a businessman, freelancer or work as a self-employed individual in any way.
- You will have a low appetite for risk though and mostly likely be conservative and pragmatic in your approach.
- Because Saturn is ‘retrograde, your relationship with risks and adversity will be ‘indirect’.
- You won’t want to take risks but life circumstances will push you towards it and make you good at it.
- You won’t want to ‘re-invent the wheel’ but life situations will push you towards it.
- That doesn’t mean you can’t be the CEO of a Fortune company or a great Financial Analyst with it.
- It’s just that with a strong Saturn, the more logical you are with life, the better you can harness his energy.
Once again, ‘logical with life’ doesn’t mean you can’t excel as a spiritual teacher.
It just means that you will have to learn to function strictly within your resources and talents.. and push your efficiency of usage to a maximum.
- Saturn is the planet of ‘realism’.
- Realism implies you understand first and foremost, that things are the way they are and you just have to accept them and deal with them.
- At his core, Saturn is not a planet that seeks to break away and disrupt things. That is more of a Martian trait and also how someone with prominent nodes would behave.
- But if breaking away and rebelling even is what is required by your situation, then so be it.
- Saturn pushes you again and again to do what is ‘required’ and do it the best you can!
In this respect, Saturn is an amazing planet to be retrograde but only if you are willing to work with him.
Why?
See, Saturn is a planet who works well with the idea of ‘merit’.
He will reward you for what you have worked even if unknowingly.
What does that mean?
- Well, let’s say you have been reading a lot all your life.
- Through school, through college and through your job you somehow managed to read 2–3 books a week. That’s just something you did because you really loved it.
- Now, let’s say you work as an IT professional. The recession hits, you get laid off and suddenly you are left with very few options to choose from.
- Not getting any opportunity you wanted, you give up in the end and just decide to take up a proof- reading gig.
- It doesn’t pay that much but it is still enough and you don’t mind reading anyway.
- Guess what?
- You walk into that job with very little expectations but 3 months down the line you are now a regular employee and earning incentives.
- You think wait, let me try to get an editor’s profile.
- You apply sincerely, fill out applications, go to interviews and voila! you have a pretty decent job now as assistant editor.
- This goes on and 6 months later, you have been instrumental in the success of numerous projects and are now given charge of a team.
Did you notice what happened here?
- You got rewarded for that which you’ve worked hard for.
- You may not have done so consciously but nevertheless you make the cut because you are really good at it!
When you have Saturn retrograde in your chart, these sort of incidents and influences happen more to you than the average person.
The thing is, it is all about your interpretation of your situation and the challenge it presents.
- Most people, when they are in that stage where they’re laid off and searching for a job and not getting one, they tend to give up and dismiss everything as God’s plan because “Saturn is retrograde in their chart”.
- Others, even without guidance try to analyze what they can make work for them.
- That’s when you are transmuting the pain Saturn is giving you to performance, like he wants you to.
Now, from a purely learning perspective, I should include a few points for someone who wants to understand how this plays out when you’re looking at a person’s chart:
When Saturn is retrograde:
- The native may be mature beyond their years. Life circumstances could be such that they had to mature long before others their age.
- The native may have a serious disposition.
- The native may not have cordial relations with their father/ authority figures.
- The native may suffer from issues related to a slow metabolism, such as water retention, difficulty losing weight, constipation, problems with their musculoskeletal system such as excessive stiffness and tightness.
- The native will be law abiding and sincere.
- The native may not get many benefits from their siblings.
- The native does will in technical or service related fields.
- The native struggles a lot in life and has to work very hard.
- The native is frugal and minimalistic.
- The native may be quite averse to change, be pragmatic in approach towards matters of relationships, business and finance.
- The native has to take on a lot of responsibilities in their life and they do so with a smile on their face.
- If the retrograde Saturn is placed in a strong position, the native is feared as well as respected by their enemies and becomes a master of his or her field.
- Obviously the extent of this shall have to gauged by studying other factors in the chart as well.
Now, these are general points I shared here to aid the research of anyone looking for pointers when analyzing someone’s chart.
As a whole, they will be quite prominent in a person’s life who has important planetary placements in Saturn’s ‘nakshatras’ or if they have Saturn in the 1,4,7,10 houses.
- If the Moon and/or ascendant is in a star ruled by Saturn then these influences will become quite prominent in the individual’s life.
- If Saturn is debilitated in the native’s chart then the negative influences are going to be more predominant especially early on in the native’s life.
- If Saturn is well placed and strong, even then the challenges will be prominent in the native’s life however challenging periods will come with considerable fruits of labor.
You are encouraged to go through my answer on “Do retrograde planets always give ill effects?”. That will give you a lot of relevant information as well.
Mostly though, as you will see in the examples mentioned below, Saturn retrograde is found in the charts of a lot of well respected and established personalities who are authorities in their chosen field.
In the end I would like to point out that Saturn’s ruling ‘mahavidya’ is ‘Kaali’ who is connected with invincibility and liberation.
In many ways, that is the purpose of Professor Saturn when he is teaching you.
His job is to push you to greatness so that your soul can actively work towards liberation.
Every planet has a lesson to give you and that lesson is meant for the maturation of your soul.
Therefore every lesson brings you a step closer to liberation.
Saturn’s way of working is to burden your physical existence with realism.
Life is hard, time is limited and no one is coming to save you.
That’s what Saturn’s message is.
He does not let go of you like ‘Rahu’ does.
See, the North node has a purpose to fulfill an experience.
As part of that experience if you die, you die. That’s it.
The point is for your soul to have that experience to be able to grow.
With Saturn, the way of work involves much like ‘Kaali’, pushing you to the point beyond your comfort zone so that you discover a new level of your potential.
- Saturn wants you to conquer your difficulties and go beyond them so that you can be liberated.
- A lot of clues about a planet can also be had from their ‘Ishta deva’.
- Saturn’s ruling deity is ‘Vishnu’, the preserver of the universe.
- How do you preserve things? How do you preserve balance?
- By hard work.
- That is why Lord ‘Vishnu’ himself must come down to the Earth from time to time to restore balance.
- That’s because to restore any sort of balance within a system you need to work within that system.
- This is why people with a strong Saturn make great lawyers. They are very good at look at the flaws in things and then working around them, without needing to change them.
- When you have a retrograde Saturn in your chart, you need to be especially conscious of your conduct because ‘karma’ acts faster in your case than others.
This depends, in my experience on the extent of retrogression of Saturn in your chart.
The more deeply it is retrograde, the more the extent of that impact.
Hope this helps.
Aside from the example mentioned on the cover of this answer, here are some prominent people with retrograde Saturn in their chart:
Indian Business Mogul Mukesh Ambani
- I know everyone probably thinks well what did he have to go through?
- The family you are born in does give you advantages or disadvantages over the rest but that’s not the complete picture.
- Mukesh Ambani practically had to rebuild the Reliance brand after splitting the business with his younger brother Anil Ambani.
The poster boy of fitness in India, Milind Soman is one of those rare individuals whose popularity stocks have gotten better with age.
- If you look at what he has occupied most of his time with in his later years, you won’t even be surprised.
- This man has channeled the energy of Saturn retrograde in the most amazing way possible.
- From completing the Ironman in his first attempt, to running countless marathons and ultra marathons, Milind Soman is also an avid swimmer.
- (long distance running and endurance sports are characteristic of strong Saturn energies)
- and… the best part is his primary career is as a model! (where he probably beats kids half his age, the way he looks!)
- So the ‘Saturn retrograde’ element of working hard and reinventing oneself, is once again reflected here in his life.
One of India’s finest politicians to have ever handled the External Affairs portfolio, Sushmaji.
- There is this element of the pinnacle of your career being reached at the fag end of your life with Saturn retrograde.
- Not that she wasn’t well respected in the earlier part of her career, it’s just that her stint as India’s External Affairs Minister of India is perhaps the most memorable in recent times.
- Once again, as with Saturn retrograde, it took her a long time to get to a position of power prestige and unequivocal acceptance as a fine politician and leader.
Hope this helps.
Hari Om Namo Narayana!
