MW writes: “I’ve been reading a lot about the Venus-Saturn square aspect in my birth chart. It sounds like my love life is doomed, and that I will always fail in relationships or attract ‘bad love’ to myself. Can you explain that, and is it true?”
Any aspect in a birth chart can potentially manifest in either a “good” or “bad” way. The “good” aspects like trines and sextiles can make you lazy with your gifts, and squares can provide drive and ambition and energy. A Venus-Saturn aspect can be a real challenge though: although it can give you the will and determination to see a relationship through when things get difficult, it is most often associated with feelings of loneliness, inadequacy, or rejection.
Why any aspect manifests the way it does though is often more of a philosophical question than a practical one. Are you always yelling at the neighbors because they play their music too loud… or are the neighbors always playing their music too loud because you’re always yelling at them? Does “always” even really apply if you look at it more objectively?
Are you feeling rejected by a loved one because they are rejecting you, or are you shutting them out unconsciously, as a sort of preemptive first strike against rejection? Are you just fighting an unwinnable war out of stubbornness? Or is it some combination of those things? A Venus-Saturn square, whether it’s in the birth chart (which some of you have) or by transit (which we all experience at times) demands that we ask ourselves these things.
Rather than explain all the possible manifestations of Venus square Saturn, maybe I should illustrate with a true story from Nature. Specifically, a story about the rats in my back alley.
***
Wherever you may live in the world, there are always going to be pros and cons. If you move to Paris, you’ll probably have to deal with snooty waiters. If you relocate to Moscow, you’ll probably have to bribe someone to get things done. I now live in New York, and I get to see a lot of rats. Earlier today I was out in my back alley and I had the opportunity to observe the struggle of a young rat attempting to climb into the neighbor’s garbage can. Normally I love observing animals (especially the young ones) in their natural environments. Rats, though? I have a bit of a problem with them. Nonetheless, my natural tendency to enjoy watching animals at work won out.
The half-grown rat in question spent several minutes trying to climb up a bush in order to drop into the neighbor’s trash, which I assume was smelling particularly good today (that’s another thing about New York… it may be “the greatest city on earth,” but no one ever called that because of its cleanliness). Every time our youthful rodent protagonist got high enough on the bush to be able to vault into the trash, the branch he was on would get wobbly and he would slip back down. But he was clearly driven by whatever was in there, and he never gave up.
Eventually, his efforts were rewarded… but not in the way he had planned. Instead of being able to climb into the trash, the young rat ended up being flung backwards across the back alley, landing with an audible squeak of distress. This may not sound like a happy ending, except that this rat — once he had been flung halfway across the back alley — noticed the pile of trash on the ground on the other side of the road. Among other things, this pile of spilled garbage happened to contain a particularly delectable mound of rancid Whole Foods tuna salad. At least that’s what I think it was.
The rat never gave up. He struggled mightily and ended up facing disappointment. And yet in the end he triumphed, finding an even more delicious and accessible lunch than he had originally hoped for.
And perhaps that stray cat who had been sitting back and watching the whole thing ended up getting a delicious lunch out of it too.
***
What I’m trying to say here is that we all have our struggles in life, but that ultimately the promise of Love… somewhere, somehow… can make those struggles worthwhile. That, and nothing ventured, nothing gained… there are plenty of fish in the sea, and so on. Also: I need to spend less time hanging out in my back alley, because there are lots of rats out there.
On second thought, I guess what I’m trying to say here is that Venus square Saturn is difficult.
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