The Aquarian Age, Saturn Returns, and How Human Design Ties it All Together

Saturn just moved from being in the sign of Capricorn into Aquarius and today it is joining with Jupiter (also in Aquarius) and forming the Great Conjunction – a celestial phenomenon that hasn’t happened in air signs for the past 400 years. I’ve been reading and learning a lot about this event and am feeling really energized by it. It feels like, YES this is what we all chose to be here for in this lifetime.

Piscean<<<Aquarian

We’ve been scratching through the end of the Piscean Age and moving into the Age of Aquarius and feeling the stark contrast between these two eras very keenly. The Piscean Age showed us hard structures, patriarchy and hierarchy, consolidation of power, and what feels to me like a scarcity mindset. Only a few people hold the knowledge, the power, the material resources and it is up to everyone else to learn their system and play by their rules in order to be worthy of these gifts. The Age of Aquarius is about dissolving these structures and releasing where we’ve been controlled by fear in order to build something that is equitable for all. It’s a highly individualistic age but requires us all to show up as ourselves to properly serve the collective. It asks who we want to be and what we want to offer, pulling us toward our soul purpose rather than a material one. I for one am THRILLED.

Looking for purpose in a saturn return

Ok so, wonderful. I’m here right now for a reason and for the past two years, trying to figure out what that purpose is and how I want to show up has been HUGE. To be honest with you, I didn’t even realize I was going through my Saturn return for the past two years. Before you’re like “what! how can that be?!” Let me explain…. My natal Saturn is retrograde in Aquarius and sits in the 8th house. For the past three years, Saturn has been hanging out in Capricorn (dipping back into Aquarius here and there) and it’s been Saturn return time for a whole generation of people with Saturn in Cap. I assumed for my Saturn return, I’d be experiencing the full force of Saturn in Aquarius but in truth, Saturn will only return to the position where it was when I was born, in the sign of Aquarius, only for the last two months of my Saturn return. When a planet is retrograde in your chart, it means those lessons are a bit slower and this is something your soul really wants to soak in … and I feel like getting roughed up by Capricorn (which happens to be my North Node and also where I have a stellium in the 7th house) has just been right what the doctor ordered.

I have a lot of takeaways from my Saturn return that I keep promising to share (shouldn’t do this with an open heart center!!) but I realize I’m still processing it. I’m still technically in it until February 3rd, but writing it out is helping me escape my defined head and ajna and get some clarity. I identify so thoroughly with my feminine, Cancer sun and rising, nurturing side that I forget that Capricorn is the flip side of the coin. It’s the discipline I need to learn, the boundaries I need to set, and the structure that I need to find in order to NOT experience the low vibration of all that nurturing and burn myself out. The theme of the past two years has been shedding these layers and seeing where and how I have put myself last for my entire life so I can come out of it and get into the alignment the world needs from me, and truthfully, I need from myself. Many things I’ve learned have helped me see this, but digging into my Saturn placements in Human Design has been an eye opener in retrospect.

What is Saturn all about?

Saturn is the disciplinarian and teacher in astrology and Human Design. It’s the planet that pushes on you when you are not living in alignment with your inner values and gifts. I recently learned about the connection between Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter. Venus sets your values and speaks to what is important to you and what “laws” you want to uphold in your own life. When you’re living in alignment with these values, Saturn leaves you alone and you get to reap all the blessings from Jupiter that rewards you for doing you and being the best version of yourself (as your soul defines it). When you’re working against your value set, Saturn throws pebbles in your way. Saturn is thought of as the big scary judge of life, but really it wants you to do and be who you need to be … and when you don’t want to see that and ignore all the pebbles, it throws you boulders.

I once heard a story of a woman in her Saturn return who knew she needed to get out of a relationship and move to a new place but was so comfortable and resistant that one day a car crashed through the front of her apartment and she had no choice but to get on with her new life. Nobody wants that. But we all know the feeling of KNOWING we need to change and resisting because we can use conditioning, society, expectations, whatever as an “excuse” for not just getting on with it. Really we don’t move because we’re scared – so Saturn shows us that even when our fears happen, we are strong and resilient and can handle it. Being fully self-actualized is scary! It seems much more comfortable to just be the person everyone else wants you to be … but fortunately and unfortunately, we’re much more important than that.

So looping back… knowing your Saturn placement helps you understand the red flags that will show up when you’re off balance. It doesn’t just happen in your Saturn return, it’s ever-present in life, and being tuned into that frequency will help you notice the pebbles and not trip up.

Saturn Placements in Human Design

I always feel these concepts are very abstract until they have some life experience on them, so let’s look at me for a moment.

I have both my Saturn placements in gate 41.4 in my Human Design chart and I am still working my way through the true lessons of these energies. Gate 41 is in the root center and its signature is the pressure to feel and experience new things. It’s called the gate of contractions and also the gate of fantasy — which in itself seems confusing! I can say in the last few years, the desire to try new things and experience change has been a BIG one for me. I moved across the country, went from a working non-stop lifestyle to meditating like it was my job. Went places I’ve never been before, changed jobs 3 times, moved 3 times, cut my hair, started relationships, joined new groups and communities, you name it! This period of time was when I found Human Design.

Prior to this, I was pretty content doing the same thing every day. I like a good routine but I knew my routine was anything but sustainable, but it wasn’t until I got truly uncomfortable in life that I opened myself up to the idea that I could be MORE than what I’d been for the past decade.

I remember being in the job I loved and when the company started to crumble thinking “this is the only thing I’m ever going to do, how can I not do this anymore?!” My identity was so intertwined with what I did, where I lived, and who my friends were that I couldn’t even see myself. I have a defined identity center so I had to find that strength of self I had buried because I was living in my open heart and solar plexus centers – people-pleasing, avoiding truth, generally unable to handle emotions in a healthy way. That pressure from the root center was so strong that I had no choice but to move. If I stayed still too long, I was plagued by this sense that I am not satisfied and I’m wasting time. I also am pretty sure I got shingles after mentally “grounding” myself and trying to fight this need to push and change. In fact, the emotional “source” of shingles is “waiting for the other show to drop.” So yeah, that’s pretty much it. As a Generator, these two things are like being stuck in mud … EXTREMELY uncomfortable and frustrating. So I had to keep moving. Keep imagining what could be and keep reinventing, learning, absorbing, and following that inner direction.

I’m still growing and evolving but the thing I’ve learned is to be open to the idea of change. I create my own reality now and it’s anchored in loyalty to myself. When I start feeling the itch to be and do something new, I’ll know that’s a Saturn nudge and not be afraid of it anymore.

The good news is, we don’t have to navigate these times alone! I don’t think there was any coincidence that I found Human Design when I was in the midst of a HUGE Saturn lesson. Let’s learn and grow together.