With Saturn now moving retrograde, I figured Iād check in on how Iām faring with Saturn. Saturn has been transiting my first house since September 2011. I had been looking forward to Saturn leaving my twelfth house like I looked forward to being released from an obligation I had no interest in keeping; in my twelfth, Saturn had taught me to quiet down, stop working so hard, to chill out. Dialing back and losing focus in the diffuse awareness of the twelfth house does not and did not feel natural to me. With a score of like 65 on Donna Cunningham’s Cardinal-o-meter, I flip flopped like a fish out of water.Ā Not until Saturn entered the twelfth house did I realize how much my identity was fused with doing instead of be-ing. The week of Saturn transiting the first, initially felt like a release from bondage. That week, I reconnected with parts of my self I thought Iād lost by attending a high school reunion, and taking an art class with a master artist. In a very real sense, this was the beginning of the rediscovery of the self. But after the initial homecoming, I had to let go of that nostalgic self-reunion.Ā There’s a Joseph Campbell quote that speaks directly to what takes place during the shift from Saturn from the twelfth into the first house(s),Ā “We must be willing to get rid of the life we have planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”
Keeping Up Appearances
As Saturn crosses the threshold, we are called to break with old masks ā with ways of seeing our self, being in the world, showing our self and our face to the world. Yet who am I today? This is the questionā¦ and first house Saturn is all about restructuring the identity. Early on, something I had read helped me understand the consolidation of energy I began experiencing. It became very important to me to evaluate where I was spending my energy –to end superfluous obligations, to other people, and to myself. Ā Why was I pushing hard to be social, or work on projects that felt like a mountain of work, when I was tired, so tired? I’m already an introvert and need time to recoup energy but this was ridiculous. Both Rob Hand and Erin Sullivan say because we are rebuilding the very identity, we have less energy to spare during Saturnās transit ā and any commitments that stand in our way of doing this intense self-exploration may get sacked because it stands in the way of the time we need to spend working on our self. This is the motive behind why people may experience “fails” during this time. So if you get sacked, or your work doesn’t get published, consider it a blessing: you are in the process of rediscovering the Self that will seed a whole new 28 year cycle. Ā You don’t want to be wasting precious time on a hamster wheel.
Rediscovering The Self
Because of this need to restructure the identity, which entails less commitment to worldly demands, more seclusion and inner 
work, Saturn here can put a damper on being seen and getting noticed. This is happening because thereās a new identity re-forming. Like the pieces of a lego creation, the process of self-rebuilding is necessarily slow, careful and must be made without haste. The feeling is that every piece (friendship, career choice, obligation, cause, hobby) you decide to take on will be with you for a long while, and to not be premature.Ā Iāve been tempted many times to define myself — to run headlong in exciting directions that, upon reflection only a mere few weeks later, I just knew wouldnāt have made me happy. It took a few experiences like this, me anticipating I had found āthe answer!ā only to have it dissolve, and realize Iām a work in progress and if my newfangled career mash up ideas donāt get past the starting line, itās probably for the best. As a result of admitting I truly donāt know where Iām headed yet, Iāve learned to remain wide open to possibility, and to explore things that come along with fresh eyes,Ā which feels very courageous and first house, while also remaining extremely discerning and realistic,Ā which feels very Saturn.Ā This is a safety against running headlong into brick walls down the road, for as Erin says, āOften it remains unclear who we are while Saturn remains in the first house.ā -And- āā¦seizing the first apparently solid opportunity to present itself is not always the best; all such opportunities need to be examined for their durability and longevity.ā In short: if you can’t envision enjoying doing this for at least the next 14 years, scrap it. Or as Rob Hand, a very practical man, says of Saturn transiting the first house, āDonāt be in a hurry.ā
Yet, itās not about sitting around doing nothing. It’s a busy time. Putting the pieces together takes time, effort and often Saturn transiting the first yields new choices & direction. In my experience, however, these choices must obey another Joseph Campbell dictum, to always: āfollow your heartā then givenĀ plenty of lassitude. Iāve read about people taking up hobbies now that turn into careers ā later. Iāve experienced the budding of a new profession, and though I donāt know what form it will take yet, itās been important work for me to listen to what my heart says about it every step of the way.
In Corpore (Latin, meaning In The Body)
āFor the duration of Saturnās transit through the first house, one must find creative antidotes for spiritual starvation. Nourishment for the body and soul is a difficult menu to find ready prepared.ā ā Erin Sullivan, Saturn in Transit
Being in the body has never been easy for me, and in all honesty it has gotten harder and improved with Saturn here. During this time I’ve had a disease return that I though Iād been finished with (on the exact weekend Saturn quincunx’d my sixth house Aries Mars). This is the harder. Chronic pain has severely limited my ability to write, create and do things I want to do. Creativity had been such a strong source of spiritual nourishment for me, albeit (and I am loathe to admit this) at the cost of other forms of sustenance. This is the lesson. As Saturn has thrown the circuit breaker on the 
creative-spiritual and put much (often ALL) of my attention on being in the material body, I have had no choice but to submit to the lessons of the Taskmaster. Inasmuchas my work is cut out for me with Saturn here, I am beginning to reap some rewards from it. I found traditional cooking (Sally Fallon, Nourishing Traditions) or it found me -and when I did I experienced the major epiphany that Iād never actually felt deeply nourished by my food. Saturn rules traditions. Ā My diet, has long been far healthier and conscious than the typical American diet, but also had a lot of restrictions that left me feeling hungry, and malnourished on deep levels (natal Saturn conjunct Sun, South Node in Cancer). When I began eating a very nutrient dense diet, a diet like our ancestors ate. As a result of eating like my ancestors ate hundreds of years ago, IĀ started feeling far more substantially nourished as a person.Ā Of course Iām also cooking like they did, too, which means Iāll start my day cutting vegetables for a stew, or canning pickles or making crĆØme fraiche. Time consuming? Yes. But also connecting to my body, the earth, and my spirit in a whole new way. As Erin says, “While Saturn remains in the first house we renegotiate our earthly contract.”
Iāve noticed people who have Saturn in the first, natally, often have physical limitations ā thyroid disease, bone disease, juvenile diabetes to name a few ā restricting one’s confidence, ease of movement, and the opportunities one can pursue. Ā Why is Saturn in the first so hard on the health? Is it because of the quincunx relation of the first house to the Sixth? A quincunx is an aspect of adjustment, and letting go and eliminatingĀ health-inhibiting behaviors doesĀ involve the quincunxy idea that no one wants to do: ālet go, release into change.ā Speaking of letting go, I havenāt lost weight, thank Goddess, as I didnāt need to, but for some this is a true benefit of this transit. Due to depression or the self-discipline and self-denial it bestows on the character, Saturn can lean people down during its ASC and first house transit ā witness Angelina Jolieās Skeletor-like appearance while Saturn in Cancer crossed her ASC, a skeletal reputation which she has never entirely lived down.
Thresholds & Doorways
Saturn rules thresholds & doorways. Throughout Saturn’s transit I’ve become fascinated with doorways. Redoing my home office, I painted my closet door a lovely mediterranean blue, shabby chic’d it up a bit, and now it transports me. Me and Pinterest have a thing going, and our common interest: doors. Greek doors, Santa Fe doors, doors with a hint of something just beyond the known. Transiting Saturn over the Ascendant is “the threshold struggle”, the struggle of becoming, of rediscovering the Self and what lays beyond is exciting, providing hours of psychological first house fodder. I would like to visit some of these doorways, and symbolically, just maybe, I am crossing new thresholds in myself.
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Gorgeous blog post and very enlightening. I have for a while had this theory that we have to befriend Saturn and work with its energies. Fighting Saturn’s limitations and blocks is exhausting. Love the idea of doors and thresholds being Saturnian. Makes me think of the journey from the 12th to the 1st house too. Thank you.
You are truly a master astrologer, Jessica! Thank you for all your insights, which you express brilliantly.
Thank you, Annelise. You give me too much credit – all of my insights ride on the angel wings of other master astrologers. But nontheless, I will take the compliment and say thank you!
Thank you, Sally. I agree – the best way to work with all of the planets is to befriend them, but Saturn especially has a strategy that is at least intellectually easier to grasp than some others (Pluto!), and so if we understand what he wants we can make great strides.
I enjoyed reading this, thank you.
Like you, I also have Saturn transiting 1st, natal saturn conjunct sun and SN cancer. As Saturn crossed my asc, a skin disease I thought was gone came back and has been raging ever since. In October it will have moved into my second house for good, is it your opinion that it might go away again at that time?
Hi Kerry, I certainly hope your skin condition improves when Saturn moves out of your first house (physical body) and into your second house. I’m not a medical astrologer but it would make sense to me. I am, however, a health coach. If you’re looking for natural ways of working with your skin and body, you might want to check out my HC website – btw, there’s also a free Health Skin e-book on the front page: http://jessicashepherd.net/.
Thank you Jessica,
Saturn is tight now hovering over my Ascendant and like you as Saturn transited my 12th I had to come to terms with ābeingā rather than ādoingā. But right now my life has come to a standstill. Nothing is happening, friends disappeared I feel so isolated (although somewhat self-inflicted) I spend day after day alone and reflective. All my creative juices have dried up, which pains me as my creativity has been the life force that feeds my soul. So reading of your journey renews my faith to hang in there and continue making peace as Saturn retroās back into the 12th. With my natal Saturn conjunct Neptune in the 12th I am busying myself writing the story of the past lives revealed from the 12th house of visions and dreams.
Saturn is transiting my twelth and feel such a lack of structure…your perceptions allow me to be ok with just being. I am looking at my Scorp 12th cusp and looking forward to an asc transit REBIRTH. I love the way you interpret this transit with examples of how they have applied to your personal experiences. Thank you for your vulnerability and truth.
Just found this article from a Google search! Am feeling Saturn transiting my 1st so much right now… such a helpful read!! (p.s. fun party:)
Thank you so much for writing such insightful pieces on the transits. I currently have Saturn transiting through my 12th house, it has been typical of the descriptions of the transit but it has been both rewarding spiritually and confusing in terms of personal partnerships. (I read your article on Saturn through the 12th too.) I am looking forward to Dec 2014, when Saturn finally conjuncts my Scorpio Ascendant and goes into the 1st house, I think it will be a rebirth, I feel like I will be busting out then!
Thank you for this post. Saturn is currently transiting my first house, and it feels different than I thought it would. I can “feel” myself maturing, and I can see it to when I look in the mirror. An increase in balding. I am not so passive anymore, and I am not willing to play weak, vulnerable, dumb in situations where I know I am not. I am now mentoring myself, it seems. Now I get to do and be who I am, and not what someone else wants me to be. Thank you, Steve
Thank you so much for this, it is the most complete and direct I have been able to find after long research with Saturn conjuncting my Asc. right now. I hope it will be better on the 1st house, and that I will somehow see myself (or what I am to do) more clearly, or at least to be presented with opportunity, signs, anything! I am willing to work hard if that will give. Now the next degree will conjunct my natal Uranus, yoohoo, let us see. Thank you again, your time spent writing this did not go to waste, it’s lighting the way for many…
Thank you for your kind words, Ketty. I was talking to a friend recently and we jokingly decided that if Saturn transiting the Twelfth House is like walking around with a big piece of toilet paper attached to your shoe, with Saturn entering the First House the toilet paper is still there but the difference is that you can see it, and you can do something about it. And that makes all the difference in the world. xo Jessica
Jessica, Jessica, Jessica:
Thank you so very much. I feel soothed and relieved, comforted and stabilized…
curiously looking forward to my Saturnine first house journey, already embracing a calm, patient, and confident reverie. I am envisioning the stable incremental growth of an emotional base which has eluded my Uranus driven psyche for years, and which will soothe my introverted soul.
God bless – love your style, and appreciate your help.
Thank you, Michael. “I am envisioning the stable incremental growth of an emotional base which has eluded my Uranus driven psyche for years, and which will soothe my introverted soul.” – What a great vision to hold for yourself! All my best, Jessica
Thank you so much for this. Since Saturn entered my first house life has had many challenges. The past year has been, maybe, the hardest of my life. I have lost a lot of weight and am plagued by so many food allergies that it limits me quite a lot. I am not prone to depression and I have felt it more this year than all the other 48 years before this combined. I do see maturation. I found an inner strength dealing with a scary and unpredictable general contractor for over 4 months. I had to keep facing him when normally I would not bother with people like that. But I had to. And, yes, that which I find spiritually nourishing has been hard to get to…my work, times with family, comfort and even the ability to groom and care for myself has been harder. I even lost all the nice clothes I own due to water damage (during a move). At times I felt like I had nothing left. Your writing has made it easier. Because even though I know everything happens for a reason…this is the first time in my life it felt as if some things were “not fair”.
Blessing Jessica
I can’t express my gratitude enough for your article. I was just released from a vicious Neptune transit… Yep she drowned me alright but I learned not to Dance with her again.. Then, reveling in my relief, here’s Saturn!!! I have 22 Scorpio and a quick search and there you were. To comfort and guide us, like an angel.. I was so upset, I think the universe said “she just got her but kicked, we will send her knowledge from Jessica”. I now welcome this and any other transit except Neptune ! Lol!! Jessica. People like you are invaluable for us up and comers.. My deepest gratitude.. My first teacher said the best way to learn astrology is to watch the transits of your own chart..I believe she was right..
You are so welcome, Lois! Glad to be a Divine encourager -and emissary of the Universe š xo Jessica
I look forward to my Saturn in First house experience. I’ve paid my dues and let go of everything but me. Saturn just entered my 12th conjuncting my ASC and opposing my natal Saturn. I feel the need to sleep, just rest, not even dream about the future. Just be and sense what’s around me. I don’t even own a watch. I live by my own rules free as a bird.
Thank you for sharing your experience and wisdom. I am welcoming the new phase with a lightened, happy mind š
This article rings so true to me! Right now Saturn is conjunct pluto and pluto rules my first house in scorpio so a lot of reconstruction is built in for me. There was a lot of things last year I was going to commit to but never could, such as a running program for my health regimen and I was accepted to an acting school. My mother and family disapproved so I decided not to join the program (this was the time when saturn was square my sun and natal saturn). But now I’m at this mode where I’m getting rid of the poisons in my life (friends who weren’t actually friends. Career I could no longer see myself doing in 14 years.) I’m reapply to the program and seeing my weight for what it really is. I’m excited for the commit and transit this saturn is taking me. Health and finding my inner strength do what I feel is right for my career and no one else.
Great article!
Pluto is currently still in my twelfth but I was looking at an ephemeris and realized that Saturn and Pluto will conjunct, around 2016, just as they are both transiting my ascendant in 21 Capricorn. I wonder what this means not just for me but the world at large. How does the conjunction of Pluto and Saturn affect the houses they enter? Honestly, I’m afraid a meteor will fall on me or something…
Hi Ann, I’m afraid we’ve got fresher fish to fry. We need to get through the Uranus-Pluto square before we can start to surmise what’s happening down the road…but yes, Saturn-Pluto looks like a big fish! xo
I have to admit, Im terrified of the upcoming Saturn transit through my 1st house. I recall its visit 28 years ago as challenging. But my fear this time around has to do with me having my 2nd Saturn return about the same time!! I hope I mstrong enough for this. I barely got through Plut’s 16 transit through my 1st house. Pluto literally wiped the slate clean
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My old life was replaced with a new one. One look at my natal chart and you can see that my life has not been easy. I have my natal Saturn, Mercury and Sun Sag in the 6th house. And Ihave a fixed T square. Ive hhad a very hard life.
Wow Thank You I noticed a weight loss when Saturn went into my 1st house .I wondered How great and will this last ? But it being in Scorpio and anytime anything is in Scorpio i lean out . But its just Saturn transit . Love your writing and it helps to see what others are going thru with their transits . i did have a life planned then it hit my first and i gave up that one to start a super new one moving 2 thousand miles away . i just keep asking myself did i do the right thing Is this right? Im still looking for my answer.
Hi Jessica,
Saturn has been transiting my 12th house in scorpio for close to one year now. Starting in Jan 2015 saturn will move into my 1st house for about 4 months. Saturn then moves back into my 12th for 5 months before it continues into the 1st house for good. My question is- when saturn moves into my 1st house for those 4 months, will I get a glimpse or any clues as to what themes saturn will be bringing into my life while transiting the 1st? Are there any astrological aspects I can look to to see what that may be???
Thanks!
Sag
Hi Sag, Yes, at that time look for First House themes: more self-assertion, self-expression, more clarity around choices, feeling more self-directed and able to take charge of your life. You may also experience increased responsibility (some people do -it depends on your other transits). xo Jessica
Great- Thanks Jessica!
Well, I’m already very “self assertive” in everything I do lol. Although it’s going to be nice to have more “clarity around choices”. I’ve never felt like I’ve EVER been in “charge” of my life before- it’s been more like the “universe” always decides where I end up! I checked out my chart and at that time it looks like I will have transit jupiter in the 9th house, transit north node in the 10th house and transit pluto in the 2nd house. Maybe this will help change my career direction in the coming years. I’ll still have uranus transiting the 4th.
xoxo Sag
I just read your article, and my Saturn has been transiting in my first house for quite a while already (I believe there are approximately 7 degrees left). I have to say, this makes sense of pretty much everything I’ve been going through: the sudden worry about my body and the self-confidence (I’ve always wondered how the heck I just started worrying about all this stuff!), the constant incertainty about who I was, who I am meant to be, who my friends truly are and whether I was going on the right path…
Also, I am a libra rising and I tend to mold myself after others, I tend to feel the need of having someone by my side, and not be alone. This goes way back to my personal story, and I recently figured that it’s just the fear of the ridicule of being on my own and that I can’t make it through life without some kind of partner. Curiously, during these past few years, I’ve jumped from one person to another with whom I spend all my time with (Friend, lover) and I feel this was rooted in this very old fear. And soon as I realized that, it felt like ‘aha!’ and then ‘So this is it, I can, and am going to walk this on my own, as my own individual…’
Also, I have friends with their Natal Saturn in the 1st house, and I recognize some of those traits in them: the everlasting quest of who they truly are and the fear of never figuring it out, the tendency to be depressed and have body issues, etc.
It’s quite an amazing analysis you provided there, very enlightened, thank you very much for this read !
I have Saturn transiting my 12th but it will cross my ASC for the first time in January 2015 but will go back into my 12th in May until October. Part of me wants to be done with Saturn in my 12th, but Saturn in the 1st seems like no picnic either. I feel like I’ve been through such a transformation with Saturn (and pMoon) in the 12th I’m anxious for what Saturn in the 1st will bring me. I have a lot of hopes for what I want my life to be once I begin a new cycle. I wonder what parts I will have to let go of.
Hi,
My zodiac is Scorpio. Saturn is currently crossing my ASC & it has been so hard in all areas of my life especially my Health in the 12th house. After reading the above comments Im scared when it moves into my First house it will be intense again? Could it be that since it was so tough in my 12th that when it moves into my first I’ll find more relief? Please help
Hi Lisa, Everyone’s experience is a little different in this regard. I found the first house transit to be by no means easy, but more straightforward than the twelfth. Others have told me Saturn in the first was a very vulnerable and confidence-testing time for them. But at least you know what you are dealing with so you can directly confront/do what you must do versus having Saturn in the murky twelfth where things are unclear and it’s hard to take productive action. I tell my clients to look forward to Saturn entering the First for that very reason. Best of luck. xoxo
Thanks Jessica,
If I do what Saturn wants me to do will that lighten it up? I guess the good thing is Saturn in soon moving into Sagittarius, as a Scorpio I find relief & hope in that. Due to my lack of knowledge in Astrology I could be wrong?
Yes, Lisa, if you work for it and do what must be done, Saturn rewards you. Saturn always puts extra pressure on the (Sun) sign it is transiting but the potential for long-term rewards there are great, too. Best, Jessica
One thing to say: This Saturn in the 1st looks like it will never end!
Thanks for this article.
Hi Jessica.
In my natal chart with the Sun and Mercury in the last degrees of the 5th house (Aries) and Jupiter and Moon in the 6th house (Taurus), this transit has been a remarkable time of maturing.
For the record, in comparison between Saturn opposing the Sun and Saturn transiting through the 1st house, I’ve felt a subtle difference based on personal assumptions. Saturn opposing the Sun drained out my vital energy, I’ve started to sleep more than usual. Also with the 12th house, I became completely out of focus, loosing major contact with the world around, and started a period of meditative pratice. With the Saturn in the 1st House it’s a little bit different, I felt like an urge for restructuring everything concerned with routines and physical matters. It’s not the same sense of draining out energy like the aforementioned. In fact I have not much energy to spend, but it’s stable. With Saturn in the 1st house I’m doing the efforts to get real again, like eating better, creating lists to work, etc. In my case the health issue that appeared so far was very high colesterol levels that I never had before.
Also with Saturn in this area I’ve lost control in public image and there is more vulnerability to cryticism.
Finnally some idiomatic expressions from your texts are gaining dimension
like “puzzle creation” or “threshold struggle”.
Regards.
Hi, may i say your very well read and i love your quotes from several well know authors. Right now Jan 2015 with saturn in Sag just conjunct my Asc in 2 Sag i feel a new empowerment to create what i truly desire once and for all.
F*** every else!!
Wonderful read, thank you! Saturn is crossing my ascendant today and it is truly worth a celebration! I am so very ready for the new phase, moving closer and closer to the essence of my being here.
Thanks everyone for your posts on Saturn transiting the first house. I have a 4 planet stellium in the 9th in Virgo including a Neptune/Sun conjunction which makes me creative and idealistic. My chart ruler is Jupiter in Aries and I have taken large and unwise risks. Just finished writing a historical novel (11 years work) as Saturn enters the 1st, and there have been some painful losses incurred through travel to UK including a romance and the loss of my dog. Feeling bruised and bereft I am hoping Saturn in the first brings clarity and good judgement in the publishing of my rather Neptunian book. I find myself studying business methods, Jack Canfield, law of attraction etc. with an unusual desire for practical Saturnian ‘know how.’ Best Wishes to all you good people Dave.
Saturn transit in my first house over moon brought lot of trouble in my life I have to leave place and depression sucide thinking my moon sign is Scorpio and moon in first house
I’ve been having transiting Saturn in my 1st house since beginning 2013 and it’s going to stay there a little bit. Saturn has to go direct, then retrograde and once it goes direct again it’s going to be out of the 1st house.
I didn’t really feel its coming from the 12th into the 1st, then it went retrograde in the 12th and once it went direct, I was hit. I have Venus on the AC, it was a “lovestory” (one-sided fantasy?) with a colleague and the reality got me. I was chewing on that bone for more than a year. And it hurt like hell. In the mean time I also had transiting Pluto square Saturn in the 11th.
I was quite body-conscious before the transit, swimming and running, but afterwards I just didn’t have the energy to do whatsoever. Started to eat “bad” food (didn’t really gain weight, it just made me feel less well and I feel I’m less physically strong than before). Right now I’m realizing again that I just cannot not care for my body, so I started to do sports again and am becoming more conscious about what I put in my mouth.
I spent quite some time alone during the first year of transit, trying to understand what happened with my colleague and what my share in the whole story was (it was a very psychological thing – see above, transiting Pluto square Saturn).
Definitly became more self-reliable and self-assured. Now, with Saturn transiting over my Uranus – again! – I’m trying to find my place in the world. I quit a job a month ago, because I just couldn’t see myself where it was leading me. It was typical Saturn on Uranus situation, I was so unhappy with where I was, then suddenly came an extra burden for me, and I just couldn’t leave. I had to plan things how to quit so I would walk out as a winner. I did. Took me almost half a year of patience and all I wanted to do during those months is quit job, quit job …
Here I am today, enjoying the advantages earned by my planned decision but not knowing where exactly to invest my energies. The thing I want most in my life is to know who I really am and what I’m here to do, invest myself totally in that direction and enjoy a well earned success.
This is the year where I should get at least a glimpse of that: transiting Saturn is slowly leaving the 1st house. Transiting Venus and Jupiter have just entered my 10th house (wish I had used them in a better way, but if I get to know a bit of my life’s purpose, I’ll be already very happy), transiting North Node is just a couple of degrees away of my natal Sun, progressed MC is on my natal Sun. So … at least I have heaven on my side.
Transit Saturn is now conjunct my ascendant and will be in my first house in only a few weeks. I have always lead a very healthy lifestyle so my health has always been one of my strengths. However, I’ve noticed I am much more tired than usual and I have been getting very depressed about my life. I even have thoughts of just wanting to die and I feel like my soul is dying in this unexplainable way. My emotions go from one extreme to the next on a daily basis. Then I have been meeting strangers who tell me out of the blue what my faults are like they can see into my soul which in turn brings up these heavy emotions within me and that one interaction ends up ruining my entire day putting me in a depression again. While Saturn was transiting my 12th house I thought that was the absolute worse. But now that Saturn is crossing my ascendant I wouldn’t wish it on anybody -,the depression and thoughts of dying are so overwhelming that I don’t know how I will get through it. It feels like a full blown mid life crisis where nobody is there to help you because they are all too busy with their own lives. I literally feel like I am going crazy – and no I don’t take any medication and have no history of mental illness etc lol. My mind goes blank when I see my future and no goals ever come to mind. The absolute worst transit I have experienced this far.
HI Jessica! Thanks for your article and it really helps for someone like me now that it’s my first saturn return in my sun/asc also in Sagittarius but can you please be a little more specific on how will it go with the sign of Sagittarius and in the first house? What needs to do and think of? Your insights are very much appreciated.?
Hi, Sagittarius rules philosophy, belief, worldview. Saturn in Sag: we get to see how solid what we believe/our worldview is, and evaluate whether that’s holding us back or helping us. The realm of belief is tricky for Sag- we might think our principles, ideas, beliefs (in this case, about our self – first house) are so solid and real that we cause our self suffering. Best ~Jessica
I really appreciated what you wrote. I have saturn on my asc now. It’s quite devastating as I haven’t become the woman I wanted to be.
I planned but I failed and then got stuck in a bad situation that even left me with a big depression.
Now it’s creepy because I am totally aware of what happened and realize that perhaps that dream has gone forever and nobody will ever meet the woman I craved to be as an adult (I’m 42).
So now, despite some hints of what I could do in the future (I studied in English the last years in case I could not retrieve my dream), I miss my dream and what I wanted to become today. I am so sad. Any advice about this?
My passions arts and English.
Everything you said about physical apparence is true. I am also taking extra care of my body now and got thinner,
I love what you wrote here! “I was talking to a friend recently and we jokingly decided that if Saturn transiting the Twelfth House is like walking around with a big piece of toilet paper attached to your shoe, with Saturn entering the First House the toilet paper is still there but the difference is that you can see it, and you can do something about it. And that makes all the difference in the world.”
At last… if saturn in sagittarius will be in my 1st house for awhile, Jupiter will be soon in the 10th and NN will transit in 9th and finally uranus is transiting in my 4th house trine my sun and opposite uranus… would it be understandable that I also would like to leave and go somewherelse?
Hi Chiara, You are writing as Saturn is square Neptune by transit. What you describe is not merely Saturn but the disillusionment (Neptune) many are feeling right now (this will occur again in July and September 2016 at 12 and 10 degrees respectively). The passage of time aspect is Saturn. Best wishes, Jessica
Hi, thanks for your reply, I didn’t know that. I’ll do some researach to understand.
I have had neptune square the Ascendant for a long time – it will end up at the end of January- and neptune square my sun.
Thanks again and congratulations for you blog. It’s really good.
Chiara
Thank you so much for this article- it has really helped me understand a few things- I also think it is the reason I cannot lose weight- no matter what I do (have done everything!) its like its restricting my weight loss! And therefore adding to the depression I am feeling of late. And on blood work my thyroid and everything else is normal……….go figure:)
loved this, thanks a lot!
I just re read this post from three years ago. I am having a Saturn return from my 12th to the 1st too. I have never worked so hard as when Saturn was in my 12th, but found reserves of energy I never knew I had. Now though, I am not as confident in how or where to put that energy. I do love the Joseph Campbell quote though….I just need to find the right door. I love the door photos and the painting at the top. Did you paint that Jessica?
Thanks, Michele. No I didn’t paint the doors, but I did paint one in my office, which you have likely seen since š Your experience of not knowing where to put your energy sounds about right! I’m sure you’ll find something. Give it time, says Saturn. xx Jessica
Hi Jessica,
This is the best of best article I read!!!! Thank you so much. Being a saggitarian, I experience this as it is.
Thank you, thank you!!!!!
Do you have a article about saturn transit in the 2nd house. I am so curious to learn. I wish you all the very best!!!
Kind rgds, tania
Thanks, Tania! Yes, here it is: https://www.moonkissd.com/2016/02/03/saturn-transits-the-second-house-name-your-worth/
xx, Jessica
Hi there Jessica
Just read this post and i feel i’m not so alone now!
Saturn is transiting my 1st house now +
its like you’re describing my life?
You have given me comfort that i can get thru it
especially with the home cooking i’ve also started..
had to double my portions so i don’t lose more weight..
I hope it gets easier..i think it will by august
when it goes direct again and the first crossing is over..
don’t they say that is the worst one..?!
(Until it conjuncts my 2nd house moon.. holy smoke give me a break
please planets!)
best wishes and looking fwd to reading some more!
So glad you were helped, Jodie! Sending you Saturn love… Jessica
Jessica, Thanks for all this wonderful discussion. So interesting to read everyone’s experiences–which are somewhat similar yet very different–we all have so many other planets doing so many things too! I turned a very young 70 this July 2016 and now Saturn is transiting my ASC at 17 Sag. I am finding not a lot of material about this “elder” passage as all the writings are anticipating another 30-year cycle. So when Saturn reaches my descendant in 15 years, instead of entering into my “outer phase” of life I will be 85. Interesting. I intend to write several books during the next few years and live well into my 80s, but it would be nice to read more about others who are doing that and also astrological interpretations about Saturn’s transits during senior-hood, but I’m not finding any.
My Jupiter is very strong and is closely following my Saturn transits (and surpassing them of course) giving me much good luck and plenty of expansive opportunities, so I see Saturn and Jupiter working in tandem to give me exactly what I need (inner structure and outer opportunity and expansion). Very best to all of you–as seekers we certainly find ourselves intimately connected to the universe through astrological teachings.
As another person commented about LOA, I am also a student of Law of Attraction through Abraham and over the past 10 years those teachings have helped me completely transform my life. Wow. That’s what my books will be about. Best to all of you!!
Thank you for this very valuable insight – my transit Saturn goes into first house in January 2017 so I have been reading up to prepare. My own 12 house experience has been very similar as yours – I had to give up “doing” and yet the Cosmos delivered to me what I had wished for. It was tough initially to give up “doing” as though doing gives meaning to existence but the 12th house learning was to “Trust”. I am looking forward to my first house “identity reconstruction” and would be good to hear some more about this process.
Thanks your post. I was suffering my 1st Saturn transition just few days ago. Saturn is still in my 1st house, yep, I’m a Saturn in first person. During this transition even in my 12th, i experienced A LOT on every level of my life, from being to doing , from my inner world to outer world… Life changing unfortunately! I lost my loves( grandparents), I quite the place I lived, Friends gone, works not found, and even after this transition, I’m still confused about my life, maybe because it still left a year which Saturn leave my 1st house. I do feel the strength and struggles during this period, the strength is I get little more self confidence self assertive but not too much. Expecially when my loved one didn’t give his love return, when I was failed after job interviews… i still believe who I am. But the struggle is lacking direction, can’t see the hope, can find a way( like what you said 14 years’ work) , i don’t like where I’m being and what I’m doing, but can’t find something better. Can go back to the old routine on the one side, on another side, I can’t change easily my environment, the place I am … friends who know me said my life is stopped right now. I feel myself useful, invaluable again. I thought it will be better and better since my Saturn just leave the degree in my natal but no way, I can feel much more responsibility by the way. But no direction yet, nothing turns better in view, no magic… everything suck ;( With uranus in my 1st as well in late degree, don’t know what’s going on…
Hi all. Im turning 50 this year and with Saturn sitting on my ascendant i just feel super old and tired. I admire those with aspirations during this transit. I don’t want to do anything, even the things i used to enjoy. My husband, a very Saturnian Capricorn, has been calling me a slacker. On some level it makes me feel badly, but mostly i just agree. I really don’t want “to do” anything! I want a super long vacation but that is not possible right now, so i just muddle through, hoping i don’t look as old and exhausted as i feel. Gotta get better in a little while. Right?
Hi Maeve, Your experience is right on time. Saturn’s impetus is to have you pull inside and conserve your energy. You’re entering a process of reclaiming who you choose to be in the world, choosing what commitments you need to leave behind and figuring out what you truly want to do with your limited resources/time/energy. ~Jessica
Hi Jessica, my Saturn is conjuct with moon and Venus in Scorpio first house, I’m 30 so depressive. Daily humiliations, socially inactive , lack of confidence. Fear of everything . Pls guide me, how to get ride of this.
Thank you for this wise and beautiful post. Currently have Saturn transiting my 22 sag asc. And true to Saturn”s nature this will take a looooong time (2 1/2 months). I have natal Saturn on cap in 1st so this is not unfamiliar energy. But the call to go inward, to cut away all that is not real and deep is strong at the moment. Your piece resonated on many levels.
Saturn will enter my first house next year (asc at 3Ā° of capricorn ) and will be on my moon in 2019, last time it happened in 1990 I went into a depression… Saturn is still in my 12th and i just lost my job and decided to take a sabbatical, I am very worried of going through diffilcult time again the coming years
Nice article!
Interesting article. With Saturn conjunction natal neptune transit do the effects lessen once Saturn crosses over Neptune or does the intensity remain for a while?
Any thoughts from anyone if they had this transit.
Hello Jessica! Just want to leave a comment here to let you know, I have been reading this article a little before transit Saturn was about to move out of my 12th sitting on my ascendant and onto my 1st house (November 2017 – now, April 2018), I google search this article from time to time to read again, chew on it and digest again. Now that as you said in the article, Saturn is retrograde, its a good time to review what I been up to, just surviving or in fact, really breathing in the air and living, am I happy? Did I bring what I learned when Saturn was in my 12th with me now that it’s sitting in my 1st. etc. Thank you! š
So true. I broke my shoulder during first house transit, a year of therapy on the medditeranian coast, and a load of pictures of meditteranian doors. While recovering from shoulder I had another accident and had injured my knee. Starded practicing pilates, got into shape, trying to cach up with work. I still experience joint pain, need a lot of solitude, nature and self time…changed my haircut, and generally dislike my old image. I distanced from few important and long term relationships. Fascinating accuracy…
This is such a great piece. Thank you. Saturn just crossed my ASC. And I feel a rebirth. Sateen is my chart ruler and also in my first house. Would this make a difference in how I experience the first house transit?
I was born with Saturn in Capricorn in the 12th conjunct my 1st house cusp and also have Pluto transiting my 1st house now & for years to come. Reading this makes me hope I am able to get the time to myself to benefit from this current Saturn transit thru my Capricorn/Aquarius 1st house. I had started a Healthy Life Steps Program last January and was doing really well when my mom (79) began falling in February and was hospitalized, then transitional care, then moved into assisted living with my father who has Alzheimer disease and dementia. I took leave from my job to care for him in her absence. The 3rd day after the move to assisted living and under quarantine, he called me sobbing “What have you done…you’re killing me…she’s killing me” he was so traumatized by all the sudden changes and loss of a home and neighbors he recognized that he stopped eating & would not get out of bed. Within 4 weeks I took them both home to live in my small house with me & my saint of a husband who offered me to do so when COVID began spreading thru their building. I ended up having to give up my position in a hospital of more than 20 years that I had planned to stay at thru to retirement and now wonder if the circumstances combined with COVID to move me out of a job I’m no longer meant to do. There was absolutely no question in my core of what I needed to do but solitude or ability to find sanctuary is hindered by caring for them both 24/7 with no respite due to the COVID virus.
Thank you so much for all the excellent insights you share with us readers Jessica. You are a true Godsend.
I have saturn transiting my first house which is in capricorn and uranus transiting my 4th. I started my own company which is doing well.. i am proud of it. The downside is that i have little energy and it all goes into my work. I have no energy cor the rest and no envy). I feel i become older and more courageous and resilient
Thank tou so much for this post. Saturn transits into my first house in about a week this is very illuminating for me!
You are welcome! I hope it resonates. Jessica