On Sunday March 22 2020, at 3.58 am, Saturn moves into Aquarius. It stays in this sign until July 1, and then goes back into Capricorn. It returns to Aquarius on December 17. In many ways this March 22 sign change is a preview of the future. We won’t get the full Saturn in Aquarius experience until December. We should also bear in mind that at the end of December there is a Jupiter-Saturn conjunction, in the first degree of Aquarius. From then on, the world gets the full Aquarius treatment.
So what does it mean when Saturn goes into Aquarius? It is something that happens every 29 years. When you look back at previous ingresses, you don’t see an exact repetition of history. Instead, you see different but perhaps rhyming themes.
On February 6 1991 Saturn went into Aquarius. It was during the First Gulf War, and on the following day US troops began the ground war. A week later the Americans fired two laser-guided bombs at a bunker in Baghdad, killing hundreds of people. In a way this was a Saturn in Aquarius event. The bombs were considered to be “smart”, and we have the image of technology being used to destroy people. To deconstruct the imagery, Saturn is a malefic planet, which functions well in Aquarius. And Aquarius is a sign connected with inventiveness and technology.
Flip back 29 years, and Saturn entered Aquarius on January 3 1962. In the early 1960s we saw a more positive aspect of Aquarius. It was a time when people wanted to be free, at least in the West. Though it wasn’t until Saturn moved into Pisces that the sixties moved into top gear. Yet the essence of Saturn in Aquarius was captured by British politician Harold Wilson, in a speech he made on October 1 1963:
“In all our plans for the future, we are re-defining and we are re-stating our Socialism in terms of the scientific revolution. But that revolution cannot become a reality unless we are prepared to make far-reaching changes in economic and social attitudes which permeate our whole system of society. The Britain that is going to be forged in the white heat of this revolution will be no place for restrictive practices or for outdated methods on either side of industry”.
This absolutely describes the positive side of Saturn in Aquarius. You’ve got a revolution, which seeks to change society in a positive way. It is a revolution that is based on science and technology.
Go back another 29 years, and in 1932 Saturn entered Aquarius – on February 24 and November 20. The final entry was critical. It brought to power two politicians, whose governments embodied the Aquarian principle. By November 20 1932 both politicians had won elections, but there was a delay before they came to power. Adolf Hitler’s National Socalist Party was the largest party after the November 6 1932 German elections, and Franklin Roosevelt won the November 8 presidential election. Hitler camer to power on January 30 1933, Roosevelt on March 4 1933. FDR had his Sun in Aquarius, by the way.
There were definite similarities between Hitler and FDR’s first years in government. They came to power on the back of the great depression, and they believed that the state could play a commanding role in the workings of society. People and businesses were not as free as they had been, and grand plans were created for reforming society.
Which brings us forward to 2020. The world is facing a crisis, and Saturn is about to move into Aquarius. In the West, everyone is now relying on the government to sort things out – as was the case in Germany and the United States in 1933. With Saturn moving into Aquarius, people are not going to be as free as they were, and as the world seeks to contain the coronavirus, further restraints will be put in place. But is is not just about the virus. With Saturn moving into Aquarius we will see technology having an increasing impact on our lives, and artificial intelligence will start taking centre stage.
As far as the coronavirus is concerned, Saturn’s movement from Capricorn to Aquarius is about a change from the acute to the chronic phase. This is because Capricorn is a Cardinal sign, Aquarius a Fixed one. There will be less emphasis on taking immediate action to stop an exponential threat, more emphasis on dealing with a disease which has taken root in the general population. Everyone is at risk of getting the disease, and the focus will be on finding effective treatment, especially for the elderly.
Then there is Russia. Russia is supposed to be an economic disaster, that hasn’t got the resources to support its expansionist aims. Well, in the traditional Ptolemaic scheme Russia is covered by the sign Aquarius, and Saturn moving into Aquarius is going to show the world that the Bear is far from dead. Russia is on the up, and over the next few years we’ll see its economic and political influence growing. Especially in Eastern Europe, which may be the part of the world worst hit by the fallout from the unfolding economic crisis.
However, when looking at Saturn’s movement into Aquarius, remember that it is just a taster, because Saturn goes back into Capricorn in July. The real deal doesn’t start until December.