Second Saturn Return

Saturn is a planet in the Solar System that represents structure and responsibility. It completes its orbit around the Sun every 29 years. After Saturn moves through all twelve houses in our Astrology Chart, we have a Saturn Return. When it happens at around age 28-30, we transition from young adulthood to middle adulthood. The second Saturn return at around age 58–60 marks the transition to mature adulthood. If we fail to accomplish a goal at the first Saturn Return, we get a second chance at the Second Saturn Return. However, it is more difficult. The job before you at age 58-60 is to do what you really want to do and grasp the lifestyle you want, no matter what changes and disruptions you have to go through. Anything we have outgrown or have tolerated, but not found satisfying, must end or be altered to meet the new needs and requirements of our older years.

As the Second Saturn Return approaches, often our lives seem to speed up, as if the universe is pushing us to clear out old baggage from the past, so we can lighten the load for the next stage. Important events, that either finalize old issues or prepare the ground for new developments, tend to occur with increased frequency. Relationships and major life decisions are often the focal points for this clearing out of karmic baggage.

The Second Saturn Return is about letting go of superficiality and moving to a more real or more basic lifestyle. This does not mean giving up all of your creature comforts but modifying them to fit into a retirement lifestyle. You cross a threshold of leaving behind tools that no longer serve you and adopt new tools for survival as a mature adult. This is when we no longer have to support our children, live in a house too large to maintain physically and financially and work in a profession that puts too much strain on our mental and physical health.

Most people reaching the age of 58-60 say that they feel a sense of freedom from having to strive for validation and approval. The primary structural change at this time is relaxing the mind, body, and soul from an attitude of striving. Rather than this being an indication of giving up, the Second Saturn Return is an indication of a more authentic way of being. One can still work, achieve, and excel at their profession, but their motives change from duty and demand to personal satisfaction. The function of Saturn is about finding one’s inner authority and, thus, outer self-assurance. The Second Saturn Return, ideally, brings this objective closer to the heart and thus reduces the stress on accomplishment as proof of existence or self-worth.