Saturn is at its last degree of Libra today before retrograding back into Virgo tomorrow (Tuesday) at around 3:30 pm Eastern time. Saturn has been in Libra since last fall where it has been creating tests and challenges in the areas of partnerships and beauty, as well as our aesthetic ideals. 

Virgo is the sign that deals with issues of day-to-day life in a body. The food we eat, the mind body connection and our health, our day-to-day routines such as the work that we get up for every day, and a thrifty and practical approach to our finances. While Saturn was in Virgo it forced us as a global people to look hard at these areas of life and we can argue that Saturn’s entry into Virgo began the practical move towards a more sensible approach to finance that began to bring down the irrational exuberance at the end of the Pluto in Sagittarius era.  

Saturn in Virgo also forced us to face the reality of the deteriorating quality of our health, not to mention the healthcare delivery systems, and the fact that the work force is shrinking as manufacturing is increasingly automated and humans are rendered obsolete in many fields.

Saturn will turn direct and begin to move forward again on May 30, but it will remain in Virgo until it re-enters Libra on July 21st. While Saturn travels through Virgo it will no longer be conflicting with Pluto which will bring some relief from the intensity of the Saturn/Pluto square which has been putting a lot of pressure on the need to let go of the past and allow transformation to occur.
Still, when Uranus enters Aries in May and hooks up with Jupiter there will be a lively energy of radical rebellion (the Cardinal Crisis) released into the atmosphere that will conflict with serious Pluto in Capricorn and even without Saturn there will be plenty of planetary intensity in May and June, especially at the time of the eclipse on June 26th which will interact with Uranus, Jupiter and Pluto. That might be a good week to plan a vacation! 

This last trip of Saturn through Virgo is a good time to attend to those details of our lives that seem mundane and boring, but which secure the underpinnings of our reality and build a solid foundation for our life on earth. Saving money for the future, eating well and getting exercise, helping others and donating to charity, honoring our responsibilities – all of these will win the approval of Saturn as he completes his work in these areas.