**A little disclaimer: If all things astrological leave you
rolling your eyes and mumbling about ‘hippy, new-age, folksy nonsense’ then
it’s probably best to stop reading at this point and come back for the next
entry as this one will be full of astrological shenanigans!
I’ve always been quite interested in things like horoscopes,
even though I take them with a fairly large pinch of salt. My horoscope is
usually the first thing I read in a magazine but do I really think they’re
accurate? Not at all. Nine times out of ten the little comments are so general
that anyone could apply them to what’s going on in their life at that moment
and lo and behold your horoscope is spookily on target!
So, I’ve heard about astrology (I’m a Leo-lady: so that’ll
be bossy and stubborn but with really good hair!) and the Chinese zodiac (the
year of the…um…pig. Of all the animals I could have been – tiger, dragon etc –
I got the pig. ) and I’ve even had a look at runes and tarot cards but I’d
never heard of the Saturn return.
The what?
My thoughts exactly when it was first mentioned at work by
my friend Jen. It was around this time last year that Saturn first popped up in
conversation. Apparently (and for a much better explanation and all things
generally Saturn-related take a look at http://saturnsisters.com/),
it takes Saturn 29.5 years to orbit around the sun and so just before your 30th
birthday Saturn is coming right back to where he was when you were born.
Unfortunately, Saturn’s early birthday presents aren’t the greatest and having
just about survived my own Saturn Return I think I can safely say that Saturn
is the bringer of some seriously tough love.
Your particular Saturn lesson depends on the zodiac sign
Saturn was in when you were born – Libra for me, which meant that from December
2011 until early October 2012 I was going the learn all about criticism. Yup
that was going to be the main theme of my Saturn Return: criticism. Apparently,
this was going to be a transformative 10 months in which my life would be
turned upside down and I would be a stronger, happier person at the end of it,
if I paid attention to what Saturn was trying to tell me.
Yeah, right.
Saturn Return.
Criticism.
How much could happen in 10 months?
Ummmmm….
In early December 2011 I split up with my long-term
boyfriend.
From Jan – May I hit the roughest patch I’ve ever had in my
career.
Some old, long-term friendships started to fall apart around
the same time.
And was there criticism?
You better believe it.
Family, friends, colleagues, vague acquaintances. Suddenly
it felt as if everyone had a problem with some aspect of my personality. When
things were at their worst in March and April I felt like starting a deli-counter
style ticketing system: ‘Please take a number and then wait your turn to tell
Lauren exactly what you think of her.’
So what to do with all this criticism? Well, pre-Saturn my
tried and tested mode of dealing with criticism was to ignore it and in true
Leo-style plough on stubbornly with whatever I was doing.
But it sounded like Saturn wasn’t going to let me get away
with that.
So I decided to try and separate the critical wheat from the
chaff. What was useful criticism and what wasn’t? Turns out there was quite a
bit of useful stuff, mainly involving the need to develop a more positive
attitude and stop automatically seeing the negative in every situation.
And, of course, there were a few bits and pieces that I
won’t be changing anytime soon (sorry you don’t like my hair, mum, but I’m not
going back to blonde!).
Anyway, I did my best to pay attention to whatever Saturn
was trying to say and the upshot of all this is that now, just a few days
before my Saturn Return comes to an end, things are pretty good.
I got back together with my boyfriend and we’ve just moved
in to a lovely apartment together.
In mid-September I was promoted at work.
And looking back, being single for a while and living in a flat-share
means I’ve made lots of lovely new friends.
So I guess there was something to all the Saturn Return
stuff in the end – though I can’t say I’m particularly sorry to see it finish!
That’s me free from Saturn for the next 29.5 yearsJ
Well, almost…
Saturn trundles off into Scorpio on 5th October
so if you have any last-minute snarks or criticisms to throw at me, you’ve only
got 5 days left to do it!
And if you were born between August 25th 1983 and
November 17th 1985, good luck – you’re next in line for a visit from
everyone’s favourite planet!
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