Saturn in Scorpio: Your Guide through the Dark

Today I’d like to tell you about Saturn in Scorpio: Your Guide through the Dark, a new book by Mandi Lockley. It will do wonders to keep you on track during Saturn’s 2½ year transit through Scorpio.

You may recall that Mandi coordinated the series of Saturn articles in the 2010 Blogathon. We learn from her biography that she has an 8th house Capricorn Sun, and is therefore extremely well acquainted with Saturn and the Scorpion’s territory. From her keen understanding and life-long training in this arena, she offers up a treasure-trove of astrological wisdom.

We are first introduced to Saturn and then to Scorpio in the opening pages before Mandi masterfully weaves the Saturnian tapestry that hangs before us for the next few years.

On Saturn ~

“All physical barriers come under Saturn’s rulership including our skin, which is the literal limit of the physical body and the barrier between the self and the not-self. Fences, walls, locked doors and ‘keep out’ signs designed to deter the unauthorised and defend whatever is within, also come under Saturn’s symbolism. By extending this psychologically, we can see how Saturn has come to represent the limits of our ego consciousness, our self-imposed limitations, where we draw our emotional boundaries, where we hit psychological barriers and where we become defensive.”

On Scorpio ~

“A scorpion’s sting is one of nature’s great survival mechanisms. Not only does it allow the scorpion to immobilise its pray, it also provides the perfect defence against predators. The scorpion, like all of nature’s best survivors, won’t deploy its poisonous sting unless entirely necessary. To attack indiscriminately is a waste of its precious resources.”

Mandi takes us deep into our charts by exploring Saturn in Scorpio through the houses. This section of the book goes into great detail and differs from the usual cookbook interpretations of Saturn in Scorpio and Saturn in the houses. This is Saturn in Scorpio in the houses! You won’t get that in a cookbook. She also details aspects to all natal planets and includes an extended section on Saturn to Saturn transits and Saturn Returns.

Get this book! It will be a go to reference that you’ll return to again and again. And, it’s modestly priced at only $5.99 for the Kindle edition, which is alluring to the Saturn in all of us.

You can read the introductions and more on the extended Amazon preview. The book is available for the Kindle or as a pdf directly from Mandi on her website, Astroair Astrology.

About Mandi

Fascinated by astrology most of her life, Mandi cast her first horoscope back in 1985. Latterly, she studied at The London School of Astrology for over three years and gained the school’s Certificate in 2005. She also studied under Noel Tyl between 2008 and 2010.

Committed to self development – emotionally, spiritually and intellectually – Mandi believes in doing her best to live her life true to herself and her life purpose, in service to others and in harmony with the cycles of the universe. These values are also the focus of her work with her clients.

Saturn ~ Thinking Outside the Rings

Our good friend Saturn will soon be turning retrograde at 29° Libra and back peddling through the sign of balanced effort from February 8th through June 25th. He’ll trace his steps back to 22.46° Libra before turning direct again.

A few months of “think it over” are looming large.

Saturn represents structure and limitation. We can think of Saturn’s rings as the boundaries he uses to protect us. They are fences built not to keep us in, but to keep the seemingly dangerous and harmful out. The closer those rings are to the planet, the smaller our world becomes. In order to broaden our view and our ability to perform, we need to think outside the rings. The retrograde period is a very good time to do just that.

What do you stand to gain by moving your fences out a bit? Will unnecessary inhibitions allow you more freedom if you think beyond the rings? If you have difficulties with boundaries that are too loose, how might you benefit by moving the rings in?

What you are being asked to think over is dependent upon the house of your chart that Saturn is now transiting. Briefly,

Thoughts for the New Year

Each time the New Year rolls around, lots of us start feeling some serious pressure to make a few resolutions. Transiting Saturn can be a great motivator toward figuring out exactly what you “should” be working on. Wherever he is in your chart gives you a major clue about your homework for the year.

If you’ve been doing a good job on his little tests so far, I’m raising a champagne toast to you. If you haven’t, and have resolved to do a better job next year, I’m raising a toast to you, too.

Remember those times in your life when everything just seemed to come together so nicely? You felt a sense of ease in all areas of your life ~ mentally, spiritually, physically, and emotionally. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have that again? If you’re feeling that way now, my hat’s off to you and I’m raising another toast.

If you’re not feeling that way, maybe these three cards from the Isle of View Insight Cards can inspire you. I’m not making any resolutions this year, but I’m keeping these cards as my daily inspiration for the coming year. Want to join me?

MYTH ~ Make Yourself the Hero

2011 in Review ~ Rate Your Planets

We’ve all had to endure a year of the punk planets in Cardinal signs. I’ve yet to run into anybody giddy enough to say, Oh, this has been one of my favorite years EVER!

I mean, come on, it was pretty tough on everyone. We’re all a little cranky. But even though it’s been a rough year, we hang on to hope and cross our fingers that 2012 will be better, doomsday prophecies or not.

Here’s a way to take a look at 2011 and rate your planets or, better yet, rate how you lived up to the planets’ expectations of you.

Year End Review

Spend a little time evaluating each planet’s role in your transits this year. Give an overall rating for the inner planets (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Mars). They travelled through lots of signs and houses in your chart, so it’s a little harder to pin them down.

For the outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto), include the houses they visited in your chart as part of the evaluation.

Don’t look for things like Saturn squared my Sun and I didn’t feel like leaving the house all year or Pluto conjoined my Moon and I was miserable. 

Instead, you might write something like this if Saturn was in your 3rd house:

• I set some boundaries on how I communicate with my neighbors. I won’t  be a part of neighborhood gossip anymore. 4 stars
• I improved my vocabulary and can now work the NY Times crossword puzzle in 15 minutes! 4 stars
• I never got around to those driving lessons I promised myself. 0 Stars
• I told Aunt Ada I’d visit her monthly, but missed a couple of months. 3 Stars

Get the idea?

I created a little worksheet to help you out with this. You can download it here. If you need some help with the houses, download this. Forget about aspects for this exercise.

If you’d like a life review, use this worksheet with your natal chart.

Don’t make snap judgements or give yourself a pass/fail before you start. You might surprise yourself with your overall review.

Just for fun, let’s go ahead and rate the planets, too. Take this poll and vote for your favorite planet of 2011, the one you were happiest with.