SATURN’S ENTRANCE INTO ARIES: A PRELIMINARY SHIFT
On Sunday, Saturn makes its initial entry into Aries, marking an important preliminary shift into this sign. Consider this period a prologue to Saturn’s upcoming transit through Aries. On September 1st, Saturn will retrograde back into Pisces, where it will remain until completing its journey through Pisces on February 13th. At that point, Saturn will reenter Aries for an extended stay that will last until April 12th, 2028. We will explore this transit in much greater detail in the coming months.
As we begin, I’d like to cover some foundational material, discussing Saturn and Aries generally. This background aims to deepen your understanding of the zodiac and planets beyond simple descriptions of qualities. It’s a lot of information, but for those of you learning, it will be helpful. I hope you enjoy!
SATURN IN THE CARDINAL SIGNS
The cardinal axis is an essential framework in the tropical zodiac. It defines the rhythm of the seasons, illustrating the Sun’s journey and shaping the architecture of the year. This axis moves through beautiful swings of light and dark as expressed in the changing seasons. Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn correspond to spring, summer, fall, and winter respectively.
This collection of dignities reveals a great deal about Saturn’s inherent qualities. Understanding Saturn’s role across the cardinal axis offers insight into its diverse expressions of responsibility and restriction. Each of the four cardinal signs casts Saturn in varying lights, showcasing its diverse expressions. Saturn is exalted in Libra, fallen in Aries, in domicile in Capricorn, and in detriment in Cancer.
SATURN & THE SIGNIFICANCE OF DARKNESS AND LIGHT
Saturn’s two signs of strength, Capricorn and Libra, put us face-to-face with darkness and the seasons of waning light. In Capricorn, Saturn nestles us deep into the belly of winter, when the light has diminished and darkness prevails. Saturn exalts in Libra, which marks the autumnal equinox when the scales measuring the Sun’s light tip toward increasing darkness. We cascade into fall. There’s a seriousness to these seasons that illustrates the best of Saturn. These seasons reflect Saturn’s qualities: They ask us to confront darkness and endure the natural cycle of endings, mortality, responsibility, severity, discipline, sacrifice, maturity, time, aging, and the influence of elders.
Conversely, Saturn’s signs of detriment and fall are those of excess light. Saturn’s detriment in Cancer comes as we reach peak saturation of the Sun. Summer begins, and the light of day lingers. Aries begins the spring. The verdant force of life breaks through the earth. Winter melts, and the youthful push of spring conquers the cold. It's a strange place for Saturn the Senex. Picture Saturn, the elder, sitting in the bright wildness of spring.
When thinking about Saturn in Aries, I picture the beautiful death scene from The Godfather. Surrounded by the buzzing vibrancy of spring, the Godfather playfully engages his grandchild. Then, suddenly, the moment shifts. He dies, enfolding the scene in a sense of inevitable transition.
SATURN IN FALL
Francis Ford Coppola is a Capricorn rising, ruled by Saturn in Aries. I’m not surprised that he has given us an enduring image of Saturn in Aries in The Godfather. Vito Corleone is one of cinema’s most beloved anti-heroes (a great Saturn in Aries phrase). Corleone is an imposing figure, a patriarch who must wield Saturn’s responsibility, but he does so in a fallen way. Fall often speaks to being held in low esteem. The Godfather exists as an outsider:—a boss of organized crime (another great Saturn in Aries phrase) who must operate within the limits of that low esteem, outside the law, and wield Mar’s tools of violence and cunning to accomplish his goals.
Fall can express being out of place. Sixth-century astrologer Rhetorius gives us a beautifully clear description of this:
On exaltations and humiliations… On what account is Kronos humiliated where the Sun is exalted, and is the Sun humiliated where Kronos is exalted? We answer that the Sun is the treasury of fire and light and the master of daytime, while Kronos, who signifies darkness, is cold. Consequently, where the light of daytime is exalted, darkness and night are humiliated, and coldness is warmed up; but where darkness is exalted, light is humiliated, and daytime becomes shorter.
—Rhetorius, trans. Lazlo, Compendium
You’ll notice the translation uses the word “humiliation” in place of fall; that’s a helpful clue. Exaltation and fall are dignities that reflect context. Fall speaks to a planet being disrespected, out of place, laid low. In her excellent tome on ancient astrology, Demetra George writes of fall:
The Greek term, tapeinoma, means a low-lying place, like a depression in the ground. The word carries both the meanings of lower status—humbled, base, low-born—and the corresponding state of melancholy; downcast spirits. A person who has a planet in the sign of its fall may find themselves in situations, in regard to the planet’s own nature and house location, where they feel weakened or marginalized due to a lack of authority and respect. Planets in fall can indicate worry and hardship concerning the matter the planet represents. Despite one’s best efforts, a person may encounter situations that lead to sorrows and distress and can provoke a sense of being powerless or unfortunate in one’s circumstances.
—Demetra George, Ancient Astrology Volume I, 191
SATURN AND THE THEMA MUNDI
We gain valuable insight into Saturn’s dignity through the Thema Mundi, the symbolic chart of the universe. It’s an important chart that demonstrates many structural teachings of traditional astrology. The Thema Mundi has a cardinal angular axis. It is a Cancer rising, Aries is on the MC, Capricorn is at the descendant, and Libra is at the IC.
All four of Saturn’s primary dignities are represented here—its domicile, exaltation, detriment, and fall—which makes this a crucial point of reference. No other planet is so closely linked to this axis. Saturn's strengths align with the angles of waning light and darkness. Saturn's points of struggle correspond to the angles of increasing or peak light.
CAPRICORN / THE SETTING POINT / SATURN’S HOME SWALLOWS THE SUN
Saturn’s domain of Capricorn holds the seventh house, where the Sun plummets into the earth each day at sunset. The Hellenistic name for that place, Dusis, translates to “Setting.” While this part of the chart is associated with partners of contractual binding, a Saturnian signature, it is also connected to death and darkness. We can see this amplified in first-century astrologer Manilius’s writing in the Astronomica:
There remains one region, that in the setting heaven. It speeds the falling sky beneath the earth and buries the stars.Now it looks forth on the back of the departing Sun, yet it once beheld his face; so wonder not if it is called the portal of somber Pluto and keeps control over the end of life and death’s firm bolted door. Here dies even the very light of day, which the ground beneath steals away from the world and locks up captive in the dungeon of night.
—Manilius, Astronomica, 2,939 - 48
LIBRA / SATURN’S EXALTATION IN THE SUBTERRANEAN REALM
Saturn’s exaltation Libra holds the fourth house and IC. The Hellenistic name for this place was Hupogeion (“the subterranean place”). When the Sun is here, we are in the depths of night. Manilius connects Saturn to this place:
Where at the opposite pole, the universe subsides, occupying the foundations, and from the depth of midnight gloom gazes up at the back of the Earth, in that region Saturn exercises the powers that are his own: cast down himself in ages past from empire in the skies and the throne of heaven, he wields as a father power over the fortunes of the fathers and the plight of the old.
—Manilius, Astronomica, 2929 - 937, 2798 - 800
ARIES & CANCER / SATURN’S STRUGGLES
When we look at the cardinal signs where Saturn struggles in the Thema Mundi, we see a very different orientation. These are the places of amplification of light and vitality. They are the first and tenth houses. These parts of the chart are associated with life, light, and vigor. The Cancer ascendant marks where the Sun rises, defeating night. It marks the hour when the life force triumphs over death and the child takes its first breath—the miraculous birth. The first house is where life and light enters the chart. Of course, Saturn is not a welcome visitor here.
ARIES IN THE THEMA MUNDI
Aries holds the tenth house of the Thema Mundi. The tenth place is one connected to the brightest part of day, and the peak visibility in career and renown. But Saturn’s heavy weight is too much for the top of the chart. This is where Saturn falls. Its gloomy gravity sits precariously in the place of peak light. Of the bright tenth place, Manilius wrote:
Enthroned on high this post is occupied by Glory (truly a fit warden for heaven’s supreme station), so that she may claim all that is preeminent, arrogate all distinction, and reign by awarding honors of every kind. Hence comes applause, splendor.
—Manilius, Astronomica, 2810 - 820
We can see how the archetypes of Saturn might sit awkwardly here. I picture an aging king, his faculties failing him.
OFF-TEMPO
Know that the convertible signs indicate the quick transformation of matters, and nothing is made fixed by them, nor does its period of time last long…. And the quickest of the convertible ones are Aries and Cancer, and they are the most intense in crookedness and the greatest of them in changeability; and Libra and Capricorn are the most powerful and balanced of them.
—Sahl B Bishr, trans. Dykes, The Book of Choices, page 197
You’re going to hear a lot about mismatched time signatures with Saturn in Aries. Saturn is known for its dragging slowness; Aries is known for its breakneck pace. Aries’s pace can be attributed to its modality. There’s an initiatory force in all of the cardinal signs, but especially in Mars-ruled Aries.
Saturn is connected with slowness because of how long it takes to move through the zodiac. Its lengthy synodic recurrence cycle takes thirty years, more than double that of any other planet. When it comes to ascensional times, Aries is eager to rise—it races across the horizon. Aries and Pisces have the shortest ascensional time (in the northern hemisphere).
Aries, a fire sign, is hot and dry, eager to act quickly and assertively. Saturn is associated with coldness and dryness but moves at a far more deliberate, measured rhythm. This combination results in a significant friction: Saturn’s cautious, limiting influence resists Aries’s impulsiveness. The clash manifests as frustration and difficulty in harmonizing these contrasting tempos. Saturn’s need for structure and long-term planning feels at odds with Aries’s desire for immediate action.
This tension may produce a sense of being off-tempo, with Saturn attempting to slow down the rapid bursts of Aries energy. Instead of flowing naturally, the interaction can lead to grinding irritation, where Saturn’s constraints stifle Aries’s capacity for spontaneity and daring. Conversely, Aries’s exuberance may challenge Saturn’s emphasis on commitment and discipline.
YOUR SATURN IS IN ARIES? DON'T PANIC
Your Saturn might not represent you. Does it rule your seventh house? Maybe it’s about partners. Is it in your fourth house, or ruling your fourth? Maybe it speaks to your early life or parents. Is Saturn in your sixth house? Perhaps you deal with a chronic genetic health condition that has nothing to do with you or the choices you’ve made. It can be very helpful to disentangle dignity from the modern idea that the chart is a picture of your psychological profile. That’s a relatively new adaptation in astrology. You cannot judge a person’s character, goodness, or worth by the essential dignity of the planets in their natal chart.
Similarly, imagine that a fallen planet rules the ascendant. In this case, it will have a more inherent connection to that person. Rather than expressing goodness, worth, or value, it may express more about the circumstances surrounding the person. For example, there may be cultural conditions or contexts that speak to the planet’s struggles. There are so many people who are devalued by dominant powers. The immigrant, the academic, the trans person, and so many more are being knocked low by law and letter.
MUNDANE SIGNATURES
Much is made of Saturn’s challenges, but the bones of Saturn are crucially important for holding society together in the architecture of government. Saturn offers a kind of cold bureaucratic solidity. We need Saturn to be able to create impersonal systems that can support large and complicated communities.
We can look back to the recent period of Saturn in domicile to see this point made starkly evident. Saturn was in domicile during Covid. While those years were marked by Saturn’s characteristic experiences of fear, isolation, and restriction, we can also see how Saturn’s connections to government and management were functioning in ways that illustrate the best of Saturn.
Due to responsive Covid-era relief packages, tax credits, and unemployment benefits, poverty rates fell. At the beginning of Saturn’s ingress into Pisces (and very near the heliacal rise of Saturn), Matthew Desmond published an excellent book, Poverty by America, in which he details these shifts. The statistics are staggering—for example, child poverty fell by 57 percent during 2020. These are the statistics we should be concerned with replicating.
MOMENTS FOR INFRASTRUCTURE IN RECENT PAST:
Affordable Care Act: Signed into Law by President Obama: March 23, 2010
Saturn in Libra, the sign of its exaltation
The First New Deal (1933–1934): Saturn in Aquarius (The Depression begins in 1929 when Saturn is in Capricorn / FDR is elected in 1932 in the early days of Saturn in Aquarius, the sign of its domicile
Aries is the sign of the hero- the individual. We can learn about Saturn in Aries through its opposite. Saturn’s exaltation is in the sign of Libra, the scales of justice. Libra concerns itself with fairness. Fairness feels like losing to Aries; Aries wants to win. Winners require losers. Under this placement, we can expect the scales of justice to go unbalanced, at least as they relate to Saturn’s work in architecting infrastructure and government. I imagine merit-based rhetoric will continue to run rampant under this transit. The dismantling of DEI initiatives and federal funding that benefits the general public is likely to continue.
This transit is also colored by Neptune’s presence in Aries. Modern mundane astrology focuses on cycles of the outer planets. The conjunction of these two planets is quite significant. We’ll discuss it in greater detail as we move closer. The Aries ingress' of 2026 and 2027 features Saturn and Neptune’s conjunction in prominent positions.
Saturn in Aries is a complicated place. I think of Dylan Thomas’ iconic poem Do not go gentle into that good night. While not a Saturn in Aries, Thomas’ Saturn is in Cancer, the sign of surplus light. The sign of Saturn’s detriment. The poem contains all the complexity of Saturn in Aries. Its first lines harken back to the Thema Mundi, “Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” In the poem, Thomas pumps his fist in the face of the inevitability of death, of defeat. It demands a passionate resistance against endings. Yet speaks to Saturnian wisdom in the line, “Though wise men at their end know dark is right.”
How might Aries provoke courage to champion our commitments? How might Saturn’s wisdom show Aries which fights are worth fighting in the long term? How can we stay committed even when it feels like we are losing? How might we keep our hearts ignited even in the face of temporary loss. Saturn is a planet that concerns itself with the long game. How might we accept what is, and is not, available right now, with our compass pointed to the long term? This may require effort, Saturn in Aries is not naturally prone to patience.
We can temper this transit by connecting to other opportunities. Jupiter in Cancer offers an important counterpoint. Where do we have capacity in our local communities, close-knit circles, affinity groups, and personal commitments? How might we widen our circles of care? These will be important spaces to nourish in the coming year.
We will discuss Saturn in Aries a LOT more. For now, I hope this has connected you to some of the foundations of the sign and planet. Wishing you courage!
