Monthly Archives: December 2015

The Second Saturn Return

As a strong Saturn person who became a professional astrologer on my first Saturn return, I’m always interested in the Saturn cycle. Al H. Morrison felt that the second Saturn return was quite significant. (He, too, had an important Saturn, with Saturn conjunct his Sun straddling the fourth house cusp.) Al saw the second Saturn return as further consolidating the career or life direction. The return at ages 58-59 has a Janus-like effect. With the perspective of time, you easily look back at your life history, seeing what you’ve experienced and accomplished. In harsh Saturnine terms, time has passed and we won’t be getting it back. What do you want that you haven’t had the opportunity to do? What have you done that you’d like to continue?

At the borderline of 60, we also more easily look ahead. How many years might we continue to be active? And what can be accomplished in that time? This hard look at reality makes us more focused, according to Al, which is a natural Saturn function. We no longer have time for things that aren’t important as we become more aware of the limitations of our time.

Here’s an example: A good friend experienced her second Saturn return last year. She’d been a writer for over 30 years though she earned more through teaching. But all her hard work in the previous cycle bore fruit at the return as she began finding better writing opportunities, and she left a regular teaching job as a result. Shortly after the return was past, she found what she once would have considered an ideal teaching position; but she ended up not applying for the job — it would interfere with her writing opportunities.

These career transitions can be typical of the Saturn return. We realize that we can’t do everything. And our changing opportunities and circumstances may lead us in different and even more rewarding directions.

Al H. Morrison was born on July 8, 1916 at 12:17 AM in North Little Rock, Arkansas.

For more from Al, see my book, The Best of Al H. Morrison.
Buy from Amazon.com: The Best of Al H. Morrison

Taylor Swift, Venus and Mars

We’ve all experienced heartache. What gives Taylor Swift her gift of sharing her experiences and getting such a tremendous audience response? Her Sun in Sagittarius in the 5th house makes her a troubadour as well as a philosopher about love. And her Mercury conjunct Saturn in Capricorn allows her to take a step back and reframe her past. But I think the most important element in her horoscope is Venus sextile Mars, which makes her a natural expert on love and sex, affection and heartbreak.

On November 22, 2015, Swift won three American Music Awards, including Song of the Year for “Blank Space,” which she co-wrote. This song, about the highs and lows of a new relationship, perfectly expresses the energies of her Venus in Aquarius in an out-of-sign sextile to Mars in Scorpio.

Taylor Swift Horoscope

Taylor begins by telling her new guy that she can show him “incredible things – magic, madness, heaven, sin.” The incredible, magic and heaven relate to Venus in otherworldly Aquarius, while madness and sin reflect passionate and gritty Mars in Scorpio.

With “Look at that face” and “I can read you like a magazine,” she considers his Venusian appearance and personality, and offers, “let’s be friends,” since Aquarius is the sign of friendship. Yet she knows that he could be her “next mistake.” Still, her Mars in Scorpio has piqued her curiosity and she’s “dying to see how this one ends.”

In the refrain, Taylor repeatedly contrasts her Venus and Mars. Will the relationship be “forever” (Venus in fixed sign Aquarius) or “go down in flames”? (Mars in Scorpio, a sign that must see actions to their possibly painful conclusions.) She wonders if the “high” (Venus) will be worth the inevitable “pain” (Mars). She admits her ex-lovers (Scorpio) might say she’s “insane” (Aquarius) but that she loves “the players” (Venus sextile Mars). She knows they’re both “young” and “reckless” (Venus sextile Mars) and could take things “way too far” (Mars in Scorpio) with the possibility of being left “breathless” (Venus in air sign Aquarius) or with a “nasty scar” (Mars in recuperative Scorpio).

Many other images in the song reiterate the contrasting Venus-Mars themes: “Rose gardens filled with thorns,” “a nightmare dressed like a daydream,” and her feeling that “boys only want love if it’s torture.”

In the end, though, Swift understands her Venus-Mars contradictions, and is willing to try again. “I’ve got a blank space, baby, and I’ll write your name” nicely sums up her Venusian need for relationships as well as her ability to take another Martian chance.