COSMOPOLITAN July 2015 81
This is only a guide. To find the exact timing of your
Saturn Return, see a professional astrologer.
HOW TO WORK IT OUT
BORN
SATURN RETURNS
You’ll have three Saturn Returns in your lifetime,
but it’s the fi rst one that’s the most di cult
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
2009 - 2010
2010 - 2011
2011 - 2012
2012 - 2013
2013 - 2014
2014 - 2015
2015 - 2016
2016 - 2017
2017 - 2018
2018 - 2019
2019 - 2020
2020 - 2021
2021 - 2022
2022 - 2023
2023 - 2024
2024 - 2025
2024 - 2026
2025 - 2027
SATURN CAN CEMENT A RELATIONSHIP
OR BRING SOMEONE NEW INTO THE
PICTURE. KIND OF LIKE A REEEAALLLY
GOOD PERFUME.
BY THE TIME YOU’RE 30, SATURN’S TRANSITION CAN
BREAK PEOPLE UP BECAUSE SUDDENLY EVERYTHING IS
EXPOSED AND THE REALITY OF WHAT THAT RELATIONSHIP
IS ALL ABOUT COMES TO THE SURFACE. >
Of course, when people
talk about quarter-life crises
it’s easy to just roll your eyes
and blame our privileged lives.
Because in the grand scheme
of things (poverty, IS, world
hunger) our struggle isn’t that
real. But alas, as my inbox
became flooded with more and
more tales of heartbreak, job
dissatisfaction and turmoil,
there was a connecting thread:
all these events had occurred
as thee women approached 30.
Astrologist Sarah Bartlett
explains, “Saturn Returns is a
test to see exactly where your
life will go from here.”
And that test generally
comes in the form of absolutely
everything falling apart, all
at once (HOORAY). Yes, it
all sounds very ominous but
apparently there’s good reason
for it: the role of Saturn is to
teach you hard lessons so you
can move forward in your life.
Not exactly what you want
to hear when you’ve just been
dumped, eh? It makes sense,
though, since your twenties
are the most formative time
in your life, when you’ll make
a lot of mistakes. But it’s those
mistakes (going back to that
guy for the third time; maybe
getting an STI and almost
certainly getting blind drunk
at your work Christmas party)
that have to happen, so that
you’ll come out the other side
with a new perspective. The
kind of perspective you’d want
to take with you into your
thirties (that doesn’t involve
flakey guys, unprotected sex
and a taste aversion to wine).
“A Saturn Return is
essentially a metaphorical
rebirth,” continues Bartlett.
Sure, it’s all majorly blah-
di-blah (metaphorical rebirth,
really?!) but regardless of
whether Saturn completing
its orbit around the sun is the
reason your boyfriend of six
years just told you marriage
actually isn’t his thing or why
your well-paid career has come
to an abrupt halt, what this
concept does do is open you
up to the possibility that often,
the unwanted change that is
occurring in your life brings
with it new opportunities.
There is something else
we can’t ignore: in some ways
it offers the kind of consolation
even your best friend can’t
provide. That consolation
being that this tumultuous
period will pass. Eventually.
So if you’re in your late
twenties and your world has
been tipped upside-down, take
comfort that it’s probably not
the plotting of a mastermind
out to ruin your life, but maybe
something far more intriguing
and universe-driven.
And if you’re still feeling
torn up, never underestimate
the power of cereal for dinner.
’Cos sometimes the struggle
really is real.
NEW WORLD SPECIAL
SATURN & LOVE
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