Saturn in our natal chart represents a place where we can feel limited, painfully inadequate, fearful, or experience delays. But there is a purpose behind Saturn’s seemingly negative effect on our life: Saturn wants us to grow up, take responsibility, and develop our inner authority. If we are willing to face ourselves and do the work to overcome our fears, we develop the strength and power we wanted all along.
We have a page about Saturn if you want to learn more. I also highly recommend Liz Greene’s book Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil, which is the basis for a lot of my thoughts on Saturn.
Saturn in Capricorn in the Natal Chart
Core Conflict
Vulnerabilities
- childhood of emotional deprivation or rejection by the family (especially the mother)
- a childhood that emphasizes appearance over feeling and suppresses the will or identity
- intense self-consciousness or sensitivity to public opinion
- both craving and being afraid of exposure
- inertia due to fear
Defenses
- denying oneself relaxation or enjoyment
- sacrificing to achieve goals
- focusing on one’s image or social status and material success
- conservatism in social values to avoid standing out
The Work
- resolve childhood wounding or neglect
- develop leadership ability
- develop compassion for those under your authority
- define achievement in terms that are not purely external
- become aware of deeper inner drives
- align achievement with personal values and meaning
Transformation
- achieving meaningful success that benefits both self and society
- mastering the responsibilities of leadership
- finding fulfillment beyond material gains
- enjoying the fruits of your labor
- becoming a wise and compassionate authority figure
The Saturn Growth Journey
The Saturn journey involves a coupling of need and fear. There can be shyness, stiff awkwardness, and/or emotional coldness and a sense of inadequacy in an area where we badly want to feel confident and capable. And we just don’t. Where others experience ease, we struggle. Where others find things obvious, we have to painstakingly puzzle things out. Where others dance, we stumble. That’s just the way Saturn feels.
If we can’t face our pain, we can end up projecting our unowned negative qualities onto others, or trying to satisfy emotional needs with physical ones and replacing inner work with outer achievement. We look outside ourselves for what we need to develop within ourselves.
Eventually, we realize there is no shortcut. The only way to our goal is to just do the work, by ourselves, for as long as it takes.
