Astrology is sometimes quite literal. When Saturn first dipped into Aquarius in March 2020, few astrologers, if any, saw a global pandemic coming. Yet we were suddenly acutely confronted, not only with a world wide crisis, but with Aquarius’s themes of humanity, connection, and disconnection.
Aquarius is the last of the Air signs, an element that talks about connection and exchange, whether it’s an exchange of ideas or the necessary social connection that we need as human beings. Moving beyond Gemini and Libra, the other Air signs, Aquarius about connection at a march larger level. It’s community and the groups or networks we gather in. It’s society and humanity.
When Saturn changes signs, we not only feel and see a collective time shift, like the hand on the cosmic clock pointing to a new hour, but we’re working to learn the lessons of that zodiac sign. After all, Saturn is the planet of lessons. It teaches us about the sign that it’s in so we can personally and collectively grow through that sign.
Over the next two years, until March 2023, we need to learn and grow through Aquarius. We need to take our social bonds seriously. We need to strengthen our friendships or work to build new ones. We need to become more aware of humanity and how we’re all connected. We need to look at themes of social inequity and social injustice. We need to think of the common good. We need to innovate, see things differently, and make new discoveries in science and medicine. (For a sign-by sign look at Saturn in Aquarius, click here. Or, learn more in my webinar on Saturn in Aquarius: 2020-2023.)
“Social Distancing”
We can’t talk about Saturn in Aquarius without talking about COVID-19, aka Coronavirus, and it’s rapid global spread when Saturn initially dipped into Aquarius in March 2020 for a three month preview. Although it predates Saturn in Aquarius, it’s part of the collective narrative as Saturn arrives in Aquarius. And we’re being cautioned or even strongly warned to stay in doors and keep our social distance.
Every zodiac sign and planet has two sides, a side that creates and uplifts and a side that pulls down and destroys. Thus is life. Light and dark. Yin and yang. Duality is everywhere, even in astrology. With Saturn Aquarius, we can either feel the push to make stronger connections for the good of society or we’ll feel the separation and isolation. Technology can either bring us together via video chats and online hangouts or it can make us feel more separated than ever.
In the run up to Saturn in Aquarius, we got to a point in humanity where our relationship with technology was beginning to become problematic. People look down all the time, glue to devices and smartphones. We don’t gather together anymore. We’re feeling our humanity, recognition, and empathy slip away. Something had to shift and here we are. Over the next few years we’re building a new relationship with technology, hopefully one that creates and uplifts instead of separates and pulls down.
Previous Cycles of Saturn in Aquarius
It’s important to look back at previous Saturn in Aquarius cycles for clues to the sort of conversations and events that may shape 2020-2023.
When Saturn was last in Aquarius, from 1991–1993/94, we saw the birth of the internet as a public entity, separate from its Cold War era, military roots. In fact, the internet as we know it was born on August 6, 1991, when Saturn was in the early degrees of Aquarius. The seeds planet at that time would take root and flourish over the coming three decades, making the world smaller, and linking humans through the “net”.
Aquarius is systems and networks. It’s also social issues and when Saturn was in Aquarius from 1962-1964, we saw key dates in the civil rights movement in the United States as it grappled with deeply ingrained inequity. Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech was August 28, 1963 when Saturn was in Aquarius.
If we go back further, to the cycle of Saturn in Aquarius previous, President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal economic initiative during the Great Depression was created in 1933-1934 when Saturn was in Aquarius.
So it’s possible, over the next few years, that we’re going to see major social and political initiatives, ones that try to rectify inequity and other societal issues. And it’s possible that we’ll see the seeds planted now that will grow into a major technological shift.
Isolated or Connected?
It’s a time when we have to become more aware of the larger issues at stake in humanity, whether its climate change, inequity, or how a global pandemic can force us to work together to achieve a common humanitarian goal.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a global wake up call. Nothing will be the same after this. The world is greatly out of balance and we have to find unity if we’re going to solve these greater social issues. As the sign of consciousness, then our eyes must truly be open when Saturn’s in Aquarius.
Lastly, Saturn is the great teacher. It’s time and the passage of time. It’s lessons and hard work. But it’s the essential lessons we need in order to grow. From 2020-2023 we must strengthen our connections connection, our humanity, and our planet.
A Sign by Sign Look:
For more information for what this will mean for you, please read my Saturn in Aquarius: Sign by Sign guide. You can also watch my 90-minute webinar on Saturn in Aquarius: 2020-2023.
Previous Saturn in Aquarius Dates:
- January 3, 1962 to March 23, 1964
- September 16, 1964 to December 15, 1964
- February 6, 1991 to May 20, 1993
- June 29, 1993 to January 28, 1994
Key 2020-2023 Dates:
- Saturn in Aquarius — March 21, 2020
- Saturn Retrograde, 1 Aquarius — May 11, 2020
- Saturn Retrograde in Capricorn — July 1, 2020
- Saturn in Aquarius — December 17, 2020
- Saturn Retrograde, 13 Aquarius — May 23, 2021
- Saturn Direct, 6 Aquarius — October 10, 2021
- Saturn Retrograde, 25 Aquarius — June 4, 2022
- Saturn Direct, 18 Aquarius — October 23, 2022
- Saturn in Pisces — March 4, 2023
Saturn in Aquarius Keywords:
Social responsibility, social distancing, social leadership, activism, humanitarianism, ingenuity, scientific breakthrough, social consciousness, global consciousness, progressive causes, unity, division, isolation, disconnection, inhumanity, ideology, technology, big picture, networks, the internet, community, groups, the collective.