Saturn’s transit through the first house, while a relief from the challenging twelfth, was far from roses and ponies. While my personal account struck a chord with many readers, more than a handful also wrote to me describing how much harder the first house Saturn transit was, than the twelfth, for them. The common thread for those readers involved feelings of depression, uncertainty and anxiety.
No Saturn house transit works in a vacuum, each builds on the last. When Saturn entered my twelfth house, I lost steam physically, emotionally, spiritually; when Saturn entered my first, I rejoiced with the promise of new life, spent a lot of time streamlining so I could work on rebuilding myself and still managed to make a new career move. Yet it took a lot of time and energy to market my new business, and since energy is not in abundance during a Saturn first house transit, I knew I couldn’t keep it up. As Saturn moved into my second house, I decided to choose with my values (a sustainable workload and self-care) instead of ambition. Since the astrology textbooks often talk about tightened financial belts when Saturn enters the second, with that decision, I expected as much, although, according to Rob Hand, “this is not necessarily true, although it can be. If material wealth is keeping you from discovering your true values, then you are likely to experience financial losses.” Consistent with choosing to work in alignment with my values, nothing like the above happened. Instead, I experienced personal victories around my self-worth and ability.
Not Only Money, Honey
When we speak of the resources necessary to our survival we’re speaking for the second house, specifically our second house. Humans, being different, have different ideas about what makes them feel secure, with different dollar amounts and valuations, but without an understanding of what we have (talents, gifts, skills, values, abilities), and how we can put that to use to survive in the world, we will feel insecure and experience lagging confidence– a second house problem.
Enter Saturn transiting the second. Saturn prods us to figure out what we “have”. These may be bankable, like we are technically proficient, or we may think they aren’t -maybe we are good at encouraging others. Do we value those in our self? If we feel we have valuable internal resources, we tend to manifest those abilities in terms of external resources, i.e., being paid money. This is the time to take stock of what we have, in every sense of the word, from the condition of our bank account, to how well our car runs, to our self-esteem – which directly affects what we feel we have to offer others. What are your talents, gifts, innate resources and skills? What is it that you do exceptionally well? What do you value, spiritually, psychologically, morally? These second house questions take on importance during Saturn’s transit through the second, and our answers determine the outcome.
Consolidation and Recognition of Resources
Your survival skills, your ability to think: “I’m going to make it after all” (just like the Mary
Tyler Moore theme song) is directly linked to the health of your second house planets. Often people with afflicted natal second house planets, or the south node here, really have to work on releasing survival fears and believing that we can survive anything. During Saturn’s transit, any financial dependencies need to be clearly faced and 
assessed for their durability and overall health, while compassionately acknowledging that humans are naturally interdependent and some of us have more earning ability than others. I’ve known people with the natal south node here who, due to health reasons, are financial dependents to a large degree. The same inequity could occur between a stay at home parent and “the breadwinner”. In a culture that links earning ability to self-worth, transiting Saturn won’t let us get away with sweeping how we really feel about our earning abilities under the carpet. We may need to bolster our self-esteem. We may need to find a way to make peace with the financial inequities that bother us in our primary relationships.
Money fears are inextricably linked to survival fears. Especially if we have a personal history of poverty, ill health or not having enough resources, like food or shelter, to thrive, Saturn transiting the second pits us against our questions about our own financial viability, perhaps forcing us to see economic disparities or, historically, where we actually didn’t have enough. This Saturn transit coincided with a major Pluto transit, for me, and for a period of time much of my healing work revolved around not having enough money and resources during childhood. That said, our survival skills are not only measured in money; we have inner resources. And those need our awareness.
“Humans are not born with natural skills for survival,” writes Joanne Wickenberg, in the introduction to the second house section of her excellent book entitled In Search of a Fulfilling Career. “Skills for survival must be developed…skills that aren’t always inherent…skills that require effort and adjustment.” Joanne goes on to say that: “Many astrologers have failed to recognize the deeper issues of this very important house in describing personal strengths and skills need to maintain a career. These skills and strengths are defined by the sign on your second house cusp…developed through the experiences described by the house and the sign of the second house ruler…(and) planets in the second house describe other personality functions that need to be expressed productively.” Her description is totally consistent with my experience. I have Scorpio on my second house cusp, its ruling planet, Pluto, in my twelfth in a tight t-square to my Sun and my Mars. Neptune, Ceres and Juno in Sagittarius all reside in my second house and is quincunx my Sun. Survival has been a lifelong issue for me. That said, extreme experiences (Pluto t-square) have developed psychological resources and astrology (Scorpio) to help others through adversity and that’s what I’m paid to do. My connection to the realm of spirit and archetypes, like astrology, (Neptune), my ability to see the big picture and offer perspective and possibilities (Sagittarius) has helped me to disseminate and publish spiritual information that is healing and nurturing (Ceres). My marriage (Juno) has both taught and allowed me to value my more intangible qualities– spiritual skills and strengths I’ve developed— instead of measuring my worth by money. If you’re having this transit, I suggest you take stock of your chart, as I did, for your strengths, talents and skills. In a nutshell, we each have inherent resources, but we must first recognize them!
As for money, generally, getting practical and organised in this department comes relatively easy and gives you a sense of security. New forms of financial support and streams of income can be established. I have a friend who moved to a new town during this Saturn transit, to discover that in this new town her Medicare benefits allowed her to receive all kinds of reduced rate alternative health treatments. As Rob Hand says, “Be careful with your finances, and be economical. Above all do not become concerned with them any more than you have to in order to function in your everyday world.” And if you need a financial colonic/makeover, there’s an excellent book called Your Money or Your Life, too.
Self-Esteem, Risk Taking and Experiencing a Victory
One of the things I often say when working with clients who have a strongly-teneted second house is thus: You have a need to experience at least several personal victories in life, victories that are going to require you to take risks. For Neptune and Jupiter, what’s required is a leap of faith. For Pluto, it’s being willing to give up everything and start over. For Saturn, it’s trusting in one’s own authority. For the Sun, it’s a lifelong process of not underestimating what one is capable of doing and who they can become. If we don’t undertake the second house invitation we are plagued with a form of insecurity and anxiety born of not actually living our full potential. This often manifests as making “safe” career choices where we are promised a retirement package but live our lives feeling unfulfilled, underutilized, bored. The artist becomes a banker; the poet, a lawyer. You know the story because you’ve seen or heard it a million times before. To truly lead a fulfilling life we need to walk to the edge of the diving board and jump.
Saturn transiting the second house begs us to take a risk into territory that feels edgy, unfamiliar and even a little scary. For me, I decided to jump into self-publishing. It was such a huge learning curve, but it is the book (Karmic Dates and Momentary Mates) I’m most proud of because I did it all myself. Okay, almost all of it: I hired helpers who had skills I didn’t have. Helpers, Erin Sullivan says in her book Saturn in Transit, surround us during the Saturn second house transit. Any time we attempt to do something risky and scary during this time, co-operators are standing by to help.
Which brings me to another lesson inherent to this passage. Saturn wants us to turn our fearfulness into resourcefulness. We do this by assessing what we have and using it in the material world. Because of the earthy nature of both Saturn and the second, I found that there’s an agreeableness with this archetype and house combination. Once we embrace the risk aspect, actions taken, while not effortless, feel inherently doable. Since Saturn rules our fear, and the second, survival resources, by now you might notice that the biggest fear here is fear itself. So don’t sell out. Trust in what you have, internal (talents, skills), and external. Dare to follow through on what you began when Saturn transited your first house. Make choices from your true values.
The Possession That Will Not Leave You
“Traditional texts call the second house ‘movable possessions’. This, I suppose means we can pack them up and take them with us. What more moveable a resource do we possess than our concept of the value of our own self? When Saturn is transiting the second we gain insight into patterns that have established the bases upon which we build our values, loves and worth.” -Erin Sullivan, Saturn in Transit
As a health coach and someone who lives with the reality of surviving chronic illness 24/7, I would be remiss if I did not mention the connection to health and the second house. Your health is a resource; it is what you have that only totally influences your ability to earn money and survive. Saturn transiting the second is a good time to take stock of your health for that reason. Your health may be a gift, a possession, resource… but it is not a given. Your health can leave you at any time.
Which brings me to the one possession that will never leave you: You. I was talking to April while visiting her in San Diego last spring when I learned she has natal Saturn in her second house. Eager to hear from an expert about how this actually worked, we traded notes. April described how early experiences with loss taught her that fortunes are precarious, that since people in her life might not be around forever she could only rely on herself. At the time of our discussion I’d just passed through the proverbial eye-of-the-public-speaking-needle, having been brought to my knees by a risk I had taken, and losing all my fears of judgment and imminent death in the process, a new shift in my psyche had occurred. When I said, “I am in a new place. I care far more about taking care my self, and what I think of me, than what others think of me,” I knew it was a shift that had substance and staying power. April reinforced this with, “Yes, you’ve got it. That’s what Saturn in the second is about.” I walked away confident and with this insight: Saturn in the second wants one thing above all, for you to take care of numero uno, stand on your own two feet and feel the gravitas of doing so. Doing what you need to do, for you and only you, is pinnacle to your growth during this transit.
We all have something singular within our possession that no one else has: Our essential self. The Universe or the Cosmos or God had enough confidence in our ability to support that self that we were given life. If we trust in our self, if we trust in the fact that we were given what we already need to thrive, it’s impossible to let our self down (can you hear my Neptune preaching, here?). Sometimes our survival skills aren’t always apparent, and as Joanne Wickenberg said, even inherent. In other words, just because we’re given our second house gifts doesn’t mean we will open them, take them out and utilise them. But the second house Saturn invitation is to take stock of what we have and do exactly that. When we do, when we discover what we can do, when we take inventory of what we do have and how to nurture and care for that, instead of focusing on what we don’t, we earn the most precious commodity going in this world: a substantial sense of self worth. And that, my friends, is priceless.
This couldn’t have come at a better time. Thank you, Jessica for the encouraging words on this Saturn transit. It has started helping me make sense of my first Saturn return which is also in the 2nd house. I’ve always felt confused by it and the lessons it comes with but I now feel I have a little more grounding. I am continuously moved by your words and understanding of astrology. I treasure your website!
That’s so sweet of you, Natalie. Glad to have you here! xo, Jessica
Thank you so much Jessica!!!
Thank you Jessica, Saturn is starting to transit my 2nd house and I am at times filled with fear at how am I going to pay off the mortgage of this vacation rental. After reading your words of encouragement, I will replace the fear with the attitude, “I can do it!”
I look forward to reading your book.
Kind regards, Marija Chandler
So glad you found your confidence, Marija! Thank you for reading <3 Jessica
I have Saturn currently transiting my 2nd house. Finances are tight but right now I am all about investments. Since the planet Saturn is the Taskmaster, Teacher and the second house is the house of self-worth, what we value etc, I’ve learnt a lot regarding my self-worth in relationships. I learnt to walk away when I wasn’t treated with the respect and love I deserve, no matter how much I love that person. I am not that desperate.
Funny because when Saturn transited my 12th house, I was in high school and I was one helluva possessive streak. I didn’t know how and when to gracefully walk away from relations.
When it entered my 1st house, I was so enthusiastic about the future. It felt like a fresh start. I focused on me and my self-image.
At the moment, I’m also busy building (saturn) solid and secure financial structures (2nd house). My self- esteem (2nd) is also under heavy construction (saturn). I love Saturn transits because they teach me all there is to know regarding the house they come in contact with – by means of life lessons of course.
This was perhaps the best article about Saturn in the second house that I have read.
Thank you for your time and effort!
Best Regards,
Juha Stark!
Dear Jessica,
I was just searching for some insight about my upcoming Saturn transit of the 2nd house (it’s still in the 1st for most of 2017) and Second Saturn return..Of course I have some fears around this, but really appreciate your post here! I also really love the Mary Tyler Moore gif..she was such an inspiration too!
Thanks so much..
Good wishes and Blessings!
You are welcome, Mary! I’m glad you feel encouraged. Barring other indicators, transiting Saturn is quite compatible in an earth house 🙂 Plus, 2nd Saturn return people tend to manifest the best of the God of Age, Wisdom, Experience.
Great article. It gave me insight on 2nd house matters that I’ve always felt confused about. And – from a very personal confession – I thank you a lot for having written that.
Regards.
Thank you ! I am experiencing Saturn Second Returm now! Just starting the journey and this article has been a gift to me ?
My 2nd house Saturn transit has been hell financially. At one point I was suicidal it was so bad, not a penny to my name. At 56 yrs. old and with years of gainful employment behind me (always had to watch finances carefully though) this experience has been extremely draining. Saturn leaves my 2nd in Dec and I wonder if I can make it through, little energy left. My situation may shed a light – there has been some upsides but it’s all precarious: Left the city/job due to mental health reasons to move to the country where I’ve been trying to transfer my skills to off-site work – quite a major undertaking to begin with. Last summer I scored a good contract that tided me over through the winter, and just when I was broke again I got hit with a ton of work. This work required new creative skills that takes much longer so my hourly wage is not as good as it could be. After a very busy spring it’s now quiet again. Of course unexpected expenses have cropped up to take any savings away from me over the course of a year. I had to declare bankruptcy. The weight of financial stress has taken its toll and I’ve had enough! The up side is that I’ve managed to do what I thought was impossible, work from home, and that I’ve actually survived for almost a year. Regardless of any strengths arising from this experience, I’m left with a very bad taste in my mouth re money. Natally I have Jupiter conjunct Mercury (8/9°) in 2nd square Pluto on my 11th house cusp (technically very end of 10th), sextile Venus in the 12th. I can’t wait for this transit to be over.
I forgot to mention that for the first year after the move I job searched morning noon and night and was willing to go far outside the box to find a job locally. No success. Painful process and blunt reminder that having a career for 25 yrs. marginalized me into a “no experience” zone. I had to make a decision re my physical and mental health vs. work/income during this Saturn transit which amounts to an oxymoron I think.
Thanks Jessica.
Saturn will move to my natal 2nd house in Dec ’18. So a year ahead of me to gain as much confidence I can get. Right now doing great financially. But still very concerned about savings. Lots of contemplation before spending money.
Your article is very helpful. I was thinking of starting a creative project for some time now. I think this is the right time to start. I will help me with my self esteem. And also ready to work hard with my 9-5 job.
Any advice apart from what I doing?
Thanks again for an insightful article.
God Bless!
I have Saturn & Pluto due to transit my 2nd house next year. Thank you for such a detailed explanation of the Saturn transit.
Hello Jessica. I was in tears reading your article about Saturn transiting the 2nd house. Much of what you wrote hit me hard and good. I am in this transit after being laid off from my job in January. Moved to a new area to start over. Have not found a job, am on unemployment and food stamps at 51 yo. I am living in total fear and how interesting what you wrote about health. I had my first hospital admission a few weeks ago with blood clots in my lung. I feel defeated and my self esteem in quite low. You gave great advice about this transit. Thank you. I will be reading this several times.
Hi Jessica, I like your articles. They are accurate. I have to add that I was stolen too many times during Saturn in the 2nd House. My relationships became a kind of Game of Thrones plot. Every day my worth is being challenged. I have saturn conjunct saturn right now which is not cool. You’re my Saturn Guide because you’re a Libra Rising and I’m a scorpio, which means I’m following your advices after you passed the transit. The threshold after Saturn passing the ascendant was energy draining. Fortunately I’m back strong as rock. Just my cholesterol is still high.
Thanks
I’ve been reading your blog since Saturn and the progressed Moon were in my 12th house. That was four years ago. Saturn’s transit of my 12th-1st houses were the most challenging time in my short life of 31 years and your posts in addition to Eric Sullivan, Rob Hand and Stephen Arroyo’s books helped me get through it and understand what was happening to me. I love your posts because they’re very personal since you talk about your own experience.
Well Saturn entered my 2nd house earlier this month and as always, your post is on point. When Saturn transited my 12th house, I was about to finish grad school and I was terrified at now having to begin a career. The long-time anxiety-depression I’d normalized for years came in full force and I reached a point where I couldn’t function. Luckily my family rallied to get me help and I was able to graduate. It still wasn’t easy. You were right when you said Saturn transiting the 1st is harder than the 12th. Once I got used to having less energy Saturn in the 12th was easier to work with. When Saturn entered the 1st, I felt the need to do something but I had no energy to do it and I was unsure what I want to do. I couldn’t get a job and felt like a failure. Then I found out I had devastating anemia and again my family told me to focus on my health both physical and mental. I did that, and now I feel better but ready to step into new territory and take a risk.
What I value is center stage in my mind right now. I’m ready to start my career but on my terms and in a way that doesn’t interfere with my health and allows me some autonomy. I’ve been working on a book for the past couple years and if things go according to plan I will publish it while Saturn is still in my 2nd.
Thank you for this article. It explains to me what’s been happening lately especially as Saturn, South Node, and Pluto are all conjunct transiting my 2nd house Capricorn Mercury. With natal sun earlier in the house it’s nice to understand it’s meanings.
Extremely helpful thank you. Saturn has been transiting my second house (Venus and Neptune) for nearly two years and it has been the most difficult time of my life. Reading this brought me support and perspective. thank you for your wisdom and generosity.
Wow, thank you so much. I have been reading about my Saturn return in the 2nd and figured all I could expect was financial problems. Saturn just entered my 2nd this month and that’s exactly what I’ve been getting: a lot of worries around money. I guess We can also argue that this is a self-fulfilling prophecy. So reading this piece is an eye-opener on the underlying issue here: my fear of not being able to find the resources I need in order to survive, which is directly linked to my self-worth.Thank you!!!
You are such a great writer. I very much enjoyed reading this, thank you! That is fascinating about needing to take risks in this house when it’s very active. I have a prominent 2nd house with my moon, Neptune, and Uranus. The cusp is Capricorn and Saturn is sitting in the 3rd. I’m even more curious about the part where you said when a painter becomes a lawyer. I have found myself going down the wrong path (lawyer) when what I really wanted was something more creative and entrepreneurial. I’m still figuring out what this looks like, but this year I learned that I’m really good at photography and also learned graphic design. During this transit I’ve definitely been feeling really down about my self worth. My parents are financially supporting me while I figure out how to monetize my art, and I’m feeling the weight of not being deemed “good enough” in society. This year I’ve avoided conversations with people out of shame for my situation. I’m not sure whether to look forward to my Saturn return because it will finally be leaving my 2nd and maybe I will finally get the answer to what I’m going to do with my life and gain confidence, or if it’ll suck cuz it’s a Saturn return haha. I’ve also found it interesting because what I value most is relationships (Mars 7th in cancer as the focal point of 2 t squares) and that kind of seems like what I’ve felt most disappointed with this year. I’ve had no romantic life at all for a year and I’m wondering if I’m being deprived of it because the Saturn transit is tightly aspecting that Mars in 7th point. And what I value, is relationships. I may need to read this post again tomorrow and think it over. Thanks again!
Beautiful post!
i read so many things about 2nd house in transit but not one hit home like this one. . its a new perspective and its empowering, i cried… i shed real tears bec everything u said is happening now and while its scary bec 2024 is such a chaotic time to experience this transit w somany fear mongering authorities in many social media channels, its good bec i feel safe. thank u jessica.
You are so welcome, Rose! I’m glad this resonated so strongly. And thanks for leaving a comment. Much love in your 2nd house journey, Jessica
Hi Jessica, your article has found me just when I needed it!! Omg, I’m currently experiencing the Saturn transit in my 2nd where I have my natal Lilith and I felt like I hit a roadblock with my finances and career. I made I huge leap when Saturn was moving out of my 1st into a full time artist and it was going good until this year. It just felt like everything was dragging, deals falling through, lots of financial losses. I was starting to lose it and I took a long pause from it in June and July. I kept wondering if I made a mistake. But your line “Don’t sell out” is all the encouragement that I needed to keep going ??? I’ve been doing shadow work on my values in July and August and I’m just glad to know I’m still on the right path. Thank you so much for sharing your experience!!
Beautiful, Barbara. I love that you took that leap to become a full time artist. This is inspiring, for me and many others. As a person with Neptune in the second house – I firmly feel there’s a way to do what you love and in alignment with YOU! xx