Monica’s
Astrological Newsletter
Planetary
Cycles
July 17, 2008
By Monica
Wallach
Dear Friends,
In
this issue of the newsletter, I would like to discuss planetary cycles. By understanding the cycles of the planets,
you will understand why certain patterns form in terms of the average stages of
life. For example, why do many fifteen
year olds rebel against their parents?
Why do so many people find it difficult to turn thirty? Why do people often hit a mid-life crisis
around the early forties? All of us
experience key times in life which we can tie to the cycles of three large
outer planets: Saturn, Jupiter, and Uranus.
Throughout
history, Saturn has had an association with limitation and restriction. Saturn represents the disciplining,
cautious, wise, serious and steady force needed to build anything lasting. To construct a house, you need blueprints,
planning, patience, and hard work.
Every youngster needs discipline and boundaries in order to develop
properly. Saturn represents this type
of limiting energy. Saturn has a
reputation as the celestial schoolmaster, since many of us do not necessarily
want to learn the lessons it teaches.
Saturn has an association with the sign of Capricorn, and people with
strong Capricorn in their charts exhibit the Saturn characteristics of
seriousness, discipline, and a strong work ethic. They may seem older than their years. Frequently, the oldest child in a family has the Sun in
Capricorn, or has a Capricorn influence in the birth chart. Saturn has an association with old things --
the elderly, history, and ancestors. In
ancient astrology drawings, you see Saturn depicted as Father Time.
Saturn
takes twenty-nine to thirty years to make one complete cycle around the
zodiac. It has a half-cycle of fourteen
to fifteen years. So, around the time
teenagers get to the age of fourteen or fifteen, they experience their Saturn
half-cycle, meaning, Saturn will have moved directly opposite the place it sat
on their day of birth. This movement of
Saturn correlates with the age when teenagers challenge parental authority and
want to break out of the restrictions and limitations put on them by their
elders.
Around the age
of twenty-eight to thirty, we experience what astrologers call the Saturn
Return. This means Saturn returns to
the same place in the zodiac as it was at the time of birth.
The Saturn
Return often marks a major turning point in life. Saturn will rid you of anything not worth keeping in your
life. Saturn makes sure you have solid
foundations upon which to build for the next thirty-year cycle. It pulls you to get on the path to stability
and long-term growth. If you have been
playing around in your twenties, the Saturn Return can signal a time when you
want to settle down and start a family.
Saturn governs the preservation and continuity of our traditions and
lineage, and its influence pulls people who turn thirty to take on the
responsibilities that come with parenting.
Conversely, for those who have already married and settled down, the
Saturn Return can mark a time, if they feel unhappy, when they undertake the
difficult task of restructuring their lives by divorcing and moving out.
The
Saturn Return can have the same affect in the area of career. If you do not like the path you have been
chosen, around the age of thirty, you may change positions or careers. People often feel the seriousness of growing
older during this time. The Saturn
Return compels you to get your life on a firm and secure footing. Anything that will not see you into the next
phase of life gets cut out. No wonder
turning thirty has been seen as a difficult birthday!
If
Saturn encourages you to establish your career and your family, what happens
when you turn forty and want to break free of all these responsibilities? The early forties have a tendency to make
people want change and freedom.
Long-term marriages break up and stable careers are shed. Why?
It has to do with the cycle of Uranus.
Mid-life crisis has a close association to the movement of this
planet.
Uranus
resonates with the themes of freedom and independence. It takes eighty-four years to complete one
cycle around the twelve signs of the zodiac.
Once every seven years, it moves into a new sign. Have you heard of the “seven year itch?” Each seven years Uranus moves into a new
sign, and you begin to itch for a change.
Uranus has more than this seven-year pattern. Its key stations are its first quarter cycle at the age of twenty
to twenty-two, its half cycle around the age of forty-one to forty-three, and
its last quarter cycle at approximately age sixty-two to sixty-four.
It
is no coincidence we consider twenty-one the age of independence. It is generally the time when young people
venture off to establish an identity separate from their family. Even though many people leave for college at
the age of eighteen, a recognized shift occurs somewhere around the age of
twenty-one that truly makes you ready to assume your own independent life.
The
Uranus half-cycle occurs around the early forties, the time of the mid-life
crisis. The energy of Uranus makes you
crave something new and exciting. If
you have given up your independence and become burdened with too many
responsibilities, you may have a strong desire to break out and do something
different. During this time, a person
may leave his or her spouse and family to take up with a younger and more
exciting lover. In a milder version, a
person may buy a sports car, or try a radical new hairstyle, or do other things
that give them the feeling of excitement and adventure they had in youth. Many people who have worked for years to
build a career, perhaps since their Saturn Return, now want to change.
The
final quarter of the Uranus cycle occurs in the early sixties, with the average
age being 63. No wonder people want to
retire around this time! They want more
freedom, and they sense the need for another major change in their lives.
Jupiter
makes a cycle around the zodiac every twelve years. Jupiter has an association with optimism, expansion, generosity,
wealth, and love of life. You have a
Jupiter Return at the ages of twelve, twenty-four, thirty-six, forty-eight, and
so on. None of these ages have a
reputation for difficulty. On the
contrary, many people experience these as positive times, mirroring the nature
of Jupiter.
Many parents
say their children act great around the age of twelve, just before they go into
those awful teen years where they begin to question authority! In general, the age of twenty-four brings a
time of expansion and fun. Many people
have just gotten out of college and have started making money and pursuing
their careers. By thirty-six, we find
people generally happy in their marriages and careers, having gotten on course
around the age of thirty. The age of
forty-eight usually brings a time of contentment after the changes made in the
early forties.
The interplay
of these three planetary cycles provides an interesting pattern for a general
cycle of life. At the age of twelve, we
feel great and like to explore life.
Around fourteen or fifteen, our parents and other authorities become
unbearable, and we want to rebel. At
twenty-one, we actually do get our freedom and become much more
independent. At twenty-four, we feel
happy and confident, and have moved into the larger world. At the age of twenty-nine or thirty, life
takes a more serious turn and we recognize the need for continuing family
traditions, and for firmly establishing our careers and families. Then come the early forties when we want
freedom and independence from all those responsibilities.
These
planetary cycles affect each of us to some degree. They explain why certain age groups generally experience certain
conditions. These cycles show that life
does have natural cycles, natural turning points, and that the span of human
life has a basic structure.