Saturn, the Late Bloomer: Understanding

the Long-Range Dynamics of Saturn in the

Horoscope
by Ray Grasse

Were all familiar with Aesops fable of the tortoise

and the hare, in which a plodding tortoise manages to win a race against a speedier
competitor, as a result of its slow and steady persistence. This story is usually rolled out as a
morality lesson about the importance of tenacity: Stick to your guns, were told, and you can
win out over those who charge out of the starting gate full of passion and speed but lack
staying power.
For astrologers, though, this tale could just as well serve to illustrate an important facet of the
planet Saturn namely, its "late bloomer" quality. We tend to think of planetary principles in
terms of static meanings, but its good to remember that they also manifest through a complex
set of developmental dynamics over time.
Thats especially true of Saturn, Ive come to realize. Simply put, whatever it touches in the
horoscope tends to reach true potential only after years of struggle
and maturation. One way or another, for better or worse, Saturns
full effects unfold very s-l-o-w-l-y. This doesnt mean that Saturn
cant lead to remarkable achievements early on, because it
sometimes can like the person with Saturn conjunct Mercury
who shows signs of intellectual genius from a young age. But even
in these cases, well tend to see enormous hard work and effort
being applied, or that early brilliance will ripen into something
deeper and different as the years progress. Either way, its an
expression of the gradual dynamic characterizing this planet.1
Ive come to believe that understanding this dynamic is critical
toward not only grasping the role of Saturn in the chart, but also
unlocking the entire horoscope itself. Why? In a way, it goes back

This essay is taken from

Ray Grasse's book
"Under a Sacred Sky"
which can be ordered at
Wessex Astrologer or
amazon.com

to some of the very things we normally dislike about this planet: hard work, struggle,
recurring obstacles, and so forth. By way of contrast, whatever Jupiter touches tends to
indicate where things come relatively easily and flow more naturally. Saturn is not like that.
Whatever it touches is where you usually have to work hard for whatever you get, and you
can face major hurdles just to reach "the finish line." Theres a silver lining, though, and its
this: The sheer amount of hard work you apply to that area can bring about a level of mastery
you probably wouldnt have gained otherwise and that, in turn, can affect everything else in
your life. No small matter.
In this article, well explore how the late-bloomer influence of Saturn can affect the other
planets in ones horoscope. As far as aspects are concerned, it goes without saying that the
stressful contacts to Saturn (square, opposition, and often the conjunction) are the most
challenging of all, yet they also increase the potential for failure or success in those areas.
(Thats especially true of the conjunction, which seems to bring out both the best and the
worst in Saturn at once.) What Ill be laying out here are primarily best-case scenarios,
showing what can result if a person learns to channel these energies in the most constructive
way possible. Whether someone actually chooses to go that route is difficult to say, since it
hinges on many things, but we can do our best as astrologers to encourage that possibility.2
That said, let us turn our attention now to Saturns influence on the largest body in our solar
system.

SaturnSun
I call this connection the struggle to shine. The Sun in the horoscope symbolizes our essential
identity and the impulse to express that character before the world. When Saturn is closely
involved with the Sun, it makes for a more strenuous effort in forging our public or
professional identity, or in gaining respect for that creative light. We may feel blocked in that
effort, as though were standing in the shadow of others, whether that be a prominent or
powerful parent, more successful peers or co-workers, or even an intimidating boss. For that
reason, Ive sometimes referred to the Sun/Saturn combo as the "Rodney Dangerfield" aspect,
after the late comedian who gained fame for the line "I dont get no respect!"
The silver lining here is that that sense of frustration compels us to work that much harder to
"prove" ourselves and step out from behind those long shadows toward greater respect.
Remember, theres almost always a strong element of "compensation" involved with Saturn:
Whatever it touches can be where we feel somehow inadequate or even inferior, and we are
prompted to struggle even harder to make up for it. Its like the old Avis car rental commercial
from years back, when the company was trying to compete with Hertz: "We try harder!"
Finally, after much constructive effort, individuals with this aspect finally step out from those
shadows and into the spotlight, to be honored for who they really are.

A classic example of this dynamic is Beatle George

Harrison, who had the Sun and Saturn squaring one another. He often hinted at the frustrations
of being in the shadow of both John and Paul, but he eventually achieved acclaim not only for
songs like "Something" (called by Frank Sinatra one of the greatest songs ever written), but
also for solo albums like All Things Must Pass. In a fitting synchronistic touch, the name of
his own record label was Dark Horse!
A similar example can be seen in Rolling Stone guitarist Keith Richards, who was born with
an opposition between Saturn and the Sun, and who worked for decades in the shadow of his
extraverted bandmate, Mick Jagger (a Leo). In recent years, though, Richards has gained
increasing attention for his work, not only as a solo artist but through the success of his
autobiography, A Life.
Other famous individuals with SunSaturn connections: Salvador Dal, Jeff Bridges, and
David Carradine (square); Sting and Guru Maharaj-Ji (conjunction); Steven Spielberg
(sesquiquadrate).

SaturnMoon
This one can be called the struggle to relate. Whereas the Sun is more professional and public
in its expression, the Moon is more private and personal in tone, manifesting largely through
emotional connections with friends, family, or partners. When the Moon comes into close
contact with Saturn, the result can be serious inhibitions or blockages in forging emotional
bonds, as well as in receiving nurturance from others. This is arguably the most difficult of all
Saturn combinations, yet even here there is much room for improvement. For example, the
sheer pain of dealing with this energy early on sometimes causes the person to eventually
work through those emotional blocks using therapeutic methods or spiritual work of some
kind, or through channeling those energies into some symbolically meaningful avenue.

Consider my female client who suffered terribly as a

result of being adopted into an unloving family, but she later vowed to make up for it by
showering her own children and grandchildren with affection, working hard to become (in her
words) a "model parent." The pain she experienced as a child made her more aware of the
pain in others, which she sought to heal a good example of the more positive side of
compensation.
Sometimes food can be the pivotal symbol reflecting the energies of the Moon. One client
spoke about being homeless and near starvation at times during his childhood, which
compelled him as an adult to enroll in cooking classes at a culinary school. He eventually
became a master chef in a major restaurant, where he now donates a certain amount of left
over food to down-and-out people at a homeless shelter. He has Saturn opposing his Moon.
Ive noticed that a surprising number of my creatively gifted clients also have a marked
SaturnMoon connection in their horoscope. I suspect some of that may be due to the
insecurity this pattern brings, which causes them to seek out public approval in later years.
Perhaps they felt starved for attention early on, and now theyre going to try to get "fed" by
the world in other ways.
Another possibility is that the SaturnMoon energy has the effect of drawing these individuals
inward in ways that prove useful for their creative work or reflection. And over the long run,
the sheer frustrations brought on by this pattern early in life can become so pent-up that these
people really have to find an outlet of some sort later on, simply to keep a grip on their sanity.
As one musician who has this aspect said to me, during his childhood he felt as though his
emotions were completely bottled up, but when he writes or performs music nowadays, its
like a cork is being taken out of the bottle and its contents being released into the open air.
Others who have SaturnMoon connections: Bob Dylan (conjunction); Jack Nicholson and
the Dalai Lama XIV (opposition).
SaturnMercury
This one might be called the struggle to communicate. I know of no better story to illustrate
this combination than the life of legendary Greek orator Demosthenes. According to Plutarch,
Demosthenes experienced great difficulty speaking publicly while young, because of both a
speech impediment and breathing difficulties, which caused him to talk in staggered, clipped
sentences. But in classic late-bloomer style, he tackled this problem by working on his diction
and projection, using such unorthodox means as speaking with stones in his mouth and
shouting into the surf. The end result was that he became what some regarded as historys
greatest orator. One doesnt get much more SaturnMercury than that!

The "sleeping prophet" Edgar Cayce had Saturn and Mercury

conjunct when he was born, and his talents as a medium and metaphysical teacher unfolded
relatively late in life. Individuals with this planetary combination frequently have the potential
to become profound thinkers, with an ability to reflect deeply on lifes big questions. Yet,
strangely, even with the so-called harmonious aspects, these people often suffer from a deep
sense of inferiority about their communication skills or even their intelligence. Because of
their slow and deliberate way of pondering problems, perhaps, they can mistake their own
slowness for stupidity and occasionally, others do, too. Albert Einstein also had Mercury
conjunct Saturn and was thought to be mentally slow as a child. We all know how that one
turned out.
As a way to compensate for that sense of inadequacy, these individuals can work hard to
"bootstrap" their way up into intellectual respectability, often through self-education and
extensive reading. Abraham Lincoln had Saturn square his Mercury and rode this energy all
the way from a log cabin in Kentucky to the presidency of the United States, studying books
every step of the way. Such people also have an uncanny ability to distill into a few words
ideas that others take entire volumes to lay out Lincolns Gettysburg Address is a beautiful
example of that (while Einstein is remembered most famously for even less than that a
simple equation, E=Mc2!).
Others with SaturnMercury aspects: Isaac Newton (square), Marlon Brando (opposition);
Tina Fey (conjunction), Grandma Moses and the writer David Foster Wallace (conjunction).

SaturnVenus
I call this one the struggle to love. SaturnVenus connections are notorious for creating
roadblocks in someones romantic life, and though thats often true, this combination can also
lead to lasting partnerships, while also conferring a much deeper understanding of love than
most will ever know. By analogy, who has a greater appreciation of water the person
swimming in the sea off Fi, or the person crawling through the desert sands toward an oasis?
When SaturnVenus people finally do discover love, they taste it with a richness that can be
truly profound.
I sometimes call this pairing the "ugly duckling" aspect, because of how it affects a persons
experience of their own beauty over time. Venus has much to do with personal charm: How
refined and ingratiating are you when dealing with others? How alluring do you appear to the

world? The answers to these questions hinge to a great degree on the condition of your Venus.
When Saturn is involved with Venus, it can therefore make people with this pairing feel
gawky or insecure about their attractiveness early on, even to the point of feeling ugly or
coarse (especially in the case of the hard aspects). Though they sometimes present an aloof
front to the world, inwardly they may be feeling like an outcast, someone who has been "left
out."

But as these individuals mature and learn to break out from

their shell, they become far more comfortable in their own skin, and others start seeing them
differently, too. Think here of Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady and the work that went into
making her a "proper" lady. Or consider the real-life case of Princess Diana, who had a trine
between these planets and ripened from a skinny, shy girl into a symbol of glamour in her
final years. (Having a late-bloomer chart doesnt necessarily guarantee longevity, by the way!
Its always proportional to the life you do live, whether that be to age 9 or 90.)
When it comes to money, the late-bloomer side of SaturnVenus can manifest as the "rags to
riches" syndrome, where a person goes from relative scarcity to considerable affluence later in
life. Look at some of the economic heavy-hitters with a strong pairing of Saturn and Venus:
Bill Gates (conjunction), Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com (conjunction), and Oprah Winfrey
(square), to name just three. When a square or opposition is involved, it can lead to major ups
and downs in someones financial fortunes, of course, but it doesnt necessarily deny the
fortune itself.
Venus also plays a part in creativity, so when paired with Saturn this sometimes makes for a
slow-unfolding dynamic in someones artistic development. Famed architect Frank Lloyd
Wright had a tight opposition between Saturn and Venus, and in addition to his notoriously
checkered Saturn, love life, by many accounts he experienced the most fruitful phase of his
career between the ages of 70 and 90.
Other individuals with SaturnVenus connections: Michelangelo and Joni Mitchell (square);
Georgia OKeefe (sextile), Lord Byron, Auguste Rodin, and John F. Kennedy, Jr. (all with the
conjunction).

SaturnMars

Simply put, this is the struggle for courage. Some of us remember the ads from our childhood
comic books about the 97-pound weakling who gets sand kicked in his face by the bully at the
beach, but goes on to become a body-building marvel who can stand up to anybody. Thats
not a bad depiction of the SaturnMars dynamic. As a result of feeling insecure about their
assertiveness or physical strength, these individuals often wind up working that much harder
to develop their muscles, figuratively or literally, and can become surprisingly powerful in the
process.

One of my male clients with a conjunction between these

planets was tormented as a child by a neighborhood bully, who constantly called him "wimp."
This led him to begin an intensive regimen of martial arts training, and he eventually earned a
black belt in karate. A similar dynamic is portrayed in the film Rocky, where Sylvester
Stallones character manages, through sheer grit and determination, to climb his way from
underdog status up through the prizefighting ranks toward respect and prestige. Bruce Lee,
who was born with an opposition between Mars and Saturn, worked his way back from a
crippling injury to become arguably the most famous martial artist of the 20th century.
Another real-life example of this pattern is writer Ernest Hemingway, who had Saturn square
Mars. As a child, he was surrounded primarily by women, and his mother even sometimes
dressed him up in frilly girls clothing. One doesnt have to be a psychologist to realize there
may have been compensation behind Ernests macho posturing as an adult, including his wellknown penchant for boxing and big-game hunting. Yet, for all of that, those who knew him
well attested that he was a genuinely courageous figure who showed no fear in the face of
danger (an attitude that may have stemmed partly from an out-of-body experience he had on
the battlefield during World War I). Rightly or wrongly, for many of his generation,
Hemingway became a living symbol of courage and virility quite a contrast to the girlish
"mamas boy" this sensitive Cancer seemed just as likely to become early on.
Others with SaturnMars connections: the original "97-pound weakling" Charles Atlas
(conjunction), Ted Turner (opposition); Michelangelo, Jack LaLanne and John Dillinger
(trine).

SaturnJupiter
We can label this one the struggle for meaning. Here, the slow-developing dynamic of Saturn
tends to express itself in spiritual or ideological ways.
Consider the example of my friend who was raised in an ultra-religious environment, which
had the unintended result of causing her to disavow religion entirely and become a "borderline
atheist" in her 20s. But like a prodigal child returning to the fold, she slowly rediscovered

religion and eventually became an ordained pastor herself. When friends from her 20s meet
her now, she says, they cant believe shes the same person they knew back in the old days.
Its worth mentioning that some believe that both Buddha and Jesus had this conjunction in
their horoscopes; if so, that would fit this dynamic well, since both broke free from their
received religions in order to form their own spiritual traditions.
In a more general way, Jupiter governs ones opinions and beliefs, as well as the urge to
express these to the world. The combination of Jupiter and Saturn is therefore one of the chief
indicators of a spiritual teacher or professor. Beatle John Lennon had the conjunction between
these planets; he not only underwent major shifts in his attitude toward religion (think back to
his falling out with the Maharishi, for one), but also wound up experiencing enormous
backlash for his public comments on religion. When he said in 1965 that the Beatles are
"more popular than Jesus," it led to protests around the world from religious followers and
leaders, who misinterpreted the comment completely. In some ways, Lennon is now
remembered almost as much for his political and spiritual views as for his musical output.

Individuals born with this combination can be forced at times to

take a stand regarding their ideological principles, in ways that might entail sacrifice or
setbacks. Yet, ultimately, such challenges often have the effect of strengthening their moral
resolve, or can even lead to greater things later on. Early in his career, African-American actor
Sidney Poitier (with the square) was offered an acting role that he felt was demeaning to
blacks, so he refused it despite the fact that he and his wife desperately needed money. But
as difficult as this choice was, he knew it was the right thing to do and later described it as a
turning point in his moral growth, while also pointing out how it paved the way to better
acting roles.
Jupiter also governs institutions of higher learning. One client of mine with SaturnJupiter
square described being sidetracked from obtaining a degree during her college years, then
eventually going back to school in her early sixties to finally obtain that much-sought
diploma. As is often the case, the Saturn influence didnt so much deny a dream as delay it
and in her case, that delay gave a deeper appreciation for the real meaning of education and
knowledge than most younger students probably ever experience.
A variation on this theme is visible in the life of psychedelic guru Timothy Leary, born with a
conjunction between Saturn and Jupiter. Fired from a teaching position at Harvard, he
eventually wound up spreading his ideas to a far larger audience than the school ever provided
which included (ironically) going on lecture tours to college campuses across the country.

The dicey chemistry between Saturn and Jupiter can also be seen in Learys lifelong battles
with the law and judges, which culminated in various arrests and his serving time in prison.
Others with SaturnJupiter combinations: Sigmund Freud (square), Sting (opposition);
Krishnamurti and scientist John Lilly (trine); Galileo
and Bob Dylan (conjunction).

SaturnUranus
This pairing might be called the struggle for personal freedom. Uranus governs ones sense of
individuality, so when Saturn couples with this planet, there can be a battle between
conformity and rebelliousness, between the urge to fit in and the urge to be free. These people
can experience repeated problems trying to forge their own idiosyncratic path, in the effort to
"do their own thing."
Yet, over time, those same developmental tensions can spur them to develop an even stronger
sense of who they are, and such individuals may even become a force for change in the arts,
science, or politics. Theres an important lesson here about the value of Saturn, in terms of
how the roadblocks it creates force us to become stronger or at least clarify our perspective.
And without those restrictive structures to butt up against, we wouldnt develop nearly as
clear a sense of our own values or boundaries in that area. As they say, the ringed planet is a
hard taskmaster sometimes, but its a great teacher.

Rock-and-roller Sting has a square between these planets, with

Uranus being the focal point of a t-square. In his memoir, Broken Music, he describes the
frustrations of working in a regimented classroom job teaching at a girls school, but then
throwing caution to the wind by relocating with his family and joining the rock band The
Police. But even that began to feel restrictive for him, prompting him to again break free and
chart his own course as a solo act. Its been a path of increasing individualism and personal
freedom, and it probably wouldnt have happened if Saturn hadnt provided the limitations
that prompted Sting to crystallize his personalized vision.
Bob Dylan was born with a conjunction between Saturn and Uranus. Early in his career, he
ignited controversy in the musical world by breaking loose from the folk community so he

could head off into more personal directions, climaxing in a literally electrified performance
at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. In a still broader way, though, his entire life has been a
struggle with the whole issue of freedom, since finding his own personal space in the midst of
massive public scrutiny has taken on growing importance. With his natal Moon sandwiched
between Uranus and Saturn (a planetary trifecta that can make relationships especially
challenging), its easy to imagine the frustrations hes experienced dealing with the pressures
of countless people wanting a piece of his time.
Both Dylans and Stings careers illustrate another way the Saturn Uranus combination can
manifest over time namely, the struggle to reconcile old and new. One may feel torn
between the limitations of tradition and innovation and can even teeter-totter at times between
these extremes. Yet, sometimes that late-bloomer dynamic can result in an effort to synthesize
these opposing forces into an original fusion, reflecting the influences of both old and new
simultaneously. In Dylans case, he didnt abandon traditional musical forms so much as
incorporate them into his newer experiments. Likewise, though Sting has worked largely
within the rock-and-roll genre, hes managed to introduce progressive and jazz influences into
his music along the way, while occasionally dabbling in more traditional musical forms as
well, as with his 2009 album, Songs from the Labyrinth and his 2014 Broadway musical The
Last Ship.
Others with SaturnUranus aspects: Karl Marx and Dan Rather (square), Elvis Presley
(sextile), Barbara Streisand (conjunction).

SaturnNeptune
This combination might be described as the struggle to transcend. Sometimes referred to as
symbolizing "the mystic urge," Neptune fuels the desire to escape the shackles of ordinary life
in order to pursue loftier ideals or experience more ethereal feelings. The coupling of Saturn
with Neptune can therefore bring about disappointments or disillusions as one grows older
and discovers that certain closely held dreams and desires are actually illusions or simply
unobtainable.
Yet, that same suffering and disillusionment can bring about a profound sensitizing of the
soul, which can then be channeled through creative, spiritual, or social avenues. Consider the
case of Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, born with Neptune widely conjunct Saturn; he
took the innate pain and heaviness of this aspect and funneled it into brilliant films about lifes
weightier matters, such as The Seventh Seal and Scenes from a Marriage. In a way thats
similar to SaturnMoon combinations, the innate pain of hard NeptuneSaturn aspects may
further serve to fuel creative activities because of the need to find constructive outlets for
bottled-up emotions.

The career of another filmmaker, Kathryn Bigelow, illustrates

how this planetary combination can sometimes produce a slow ripening of aesthetic impulses,
not unlike SaturnVenus. A member of the early 1950s generation that had Neptune and
Saturn conjunct in their charts, she reached her greatest success at the ripe young age of 58,
when she became the first female ever to win an Oscar for Best Director at the 2010 Academy
Awards shes a cinematic late-bloomer, you could say. Saturn rules discipline, so when it is
linked with Neptune, there can be extraordinary discipline directed toward other Neptunian
arts, too. Fred Astaire had a tight opposition between Saturn and Neptune, and the long years
of hard work he devoted to mastering his footwork (Neptune) led to extraordinary success as
one of the premier dancers in the world.
For the more sociopolitical side of SaturnNeptune, we can always look to the case of
Abraham Lincoln. Born with a conjunction of these planets, its clear from his biographies
that he experienced considerable suffering early in life, due to assorted professional failures as
well as serious relationship issues and bouts of depression. Yet, that same suffering probably
fueled the spiritual side of his personality along with the political decisions hed eventually
make. His attitude toward slavery changed considerably over the years, shifting from being
ambivalent about it to advocating emancipation. Its not hard to imagine that his growing
sympathies on this issue stemmed at least in part from the suffering he himself experienced
throughout life.
Neptune also rules drugs, so its interesting to see how the late bloomer dynamic of Saturn
Neptune sometimes manifests with clients in terms of their relationship with drugs or alcohol.
At least two of my clients with tight SaturnNeptune aspects went from being heavy drug
users in their younger years to becoming drug counselors, and both are now clean and sober.
Others with SaturnNeptune connections: Cecil B. DeMille (conjunction); J. S. Bach, the
Dalai Lama, Mozart, and Vclav Havel (all with the opposition).

SaturnPluto
One might well call this aspect the struggle to overcome. Pluto is similar to Mars both are
concerned with sexuality, raw power, and matters of control but with a subtle difference:
Plutos power is more covert and subterranean in expression, so whereas Mars might be
likened to a stick of dynamite, Pluto is more like a coiled-up serpent. That compressed quality
gives Pluto even more power than Mars for either good or ill. Add Saturn to that mix, and

its like clamping down on that Plutonian serpent, tightening that already compressed energy
making the potentials for constructive or destructive manifestations that much stronger. For
these individuals, the presence of PlutoSaturn in their lives can often feel as though theyre
being forced to contend with titanic challenges. But with that struggle can emerge a degree of
willpower that seems almost superhuman at times. These people can move mountains, if they
put their mind to it.

Consider the example of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who

was born with a conjunction between Saturn and Pluto. Its well known that Schwarzenegger
faced obstacles in his youth that would have stymied most mere mortals, including an
impossibly long and guttural name, a thick accent, freakishly angular features, and
questionable acting skills, at best. Yet, he prevailed over those challenges to succeed in
various careers as a body builder, real estate developer, and box-office megastar marrying
into a prominent family (the Kennedys) and, last but not least, getting elected to a high office
in the United States. With each hurdle, his psychological muscles seemed to become stronger
and more durable. In fact, theres some affinity here with his signature movie character, The
Terminator: Both share that indomitable drive so common to SaturnPluto that keeps them
coming back time and again, no matter what gets thrown at them.
We also see this pattern in Ernest Hemingways horoscope, as part of a t-square involving the
SaturnMars aspect mentioned earlier. Hemingway rebounded from various tragedies and
brushes with death, and his Nobel Prizewinning novel, The Old Man and the Sea, embodied
the SaturnPluto dynamic to a "T." It tells of an old man matching wits with a powerful
creature of the deep, but persevering in the end and finally towing the tattered remains of his
prey back to safe harbor. The story has sometimes been compared to Moby Dick, by the way,
which tells its own tale of someone doing battle against a huge creature and not too
surprisingly, Herman Melville had Saturn and Pluto aligned as well (conjunct).
Theres no escaping it: Pluto involves sexuality, too. So, when Saturn joins hands with it, the
dynamics of passion become complicated at times, maybe even explosive. Famed lothario
Warren Beatty was born with these planets trine, and his first major "breakout" role was in the
Elia Kazan classic, Splendor in the Grass, playing a sexually repressed young man.3
Surprisingly, theres some resonance between this screen character and Beattys own life,
since he supposedly remained a virgin until age 20 then apparently spent the next 30 years
making up for lost time. When the power of Pluto is unleashed, it is indeed a force to be
reckoned with.
Others with SaturnPluto connections: Friedrich Nietzsche, Bruce Lee (square), James Dean
(opposition); Walt Whitman, Alan Watts, Orson Welles, Oliver Stone, Jack Lalanne, and
David Letterman (all with the conjunction).

Final Remarks

Weve seen just a few of the ways Saturn can influence the planets in ones horoscope,
although we could also look to the house or sign placements of Saturn, any planets in
Capricorn, and the houses Capricorn falls on. In other words, all Saturn-related energies in the
horoscope tend to have a late-blooming quality to them, unfolding far more slowly over time.
For example, Saturn in the 7th house may seem to deny marriage or partnership (which is
exactly what some of the older astrological texts ominously portend), yet in reality, it more
often simply delays it. And in so doing, it sometimes opens the door to a stronger marital bond
than if the person had exchanged vows earlier on, like everyone else in their circle. Going
back to our earlier example, Warren Beatty was notoriously shy about committing himself in
relationship during his early years, but he finally surprised everyone by tying the knot with
Annette Bening when he was in his 50s! By all accounts, theyve managed to raise a happy
family in one of the most divorce-prone areas of the U.S. Hollywood.

Similarly, Venus in Capricorn, Saturn in Libra, or

Capricorn on the 7th house may produce struggles or frustrations with partnerships early on
but with the long-range possibility of greater success in forging stable, satisfying relationships
sometimes as a result of having learned the hard way what not to do. In any event, one has
to carefully study the aspects involved to truly grasp the likelihood of either success or failure,
and to zero in on what challenges the client most needs to work on.
One last thing: I feel that understanding this side of Saturns influence is important for
refining not only how we interpret charts but also how we counsel our clients. Countless times
through the years, Ive watched as clients became visibly relieved to hear that the struggles
theyve been dealing might well lessen with time, or lead to successful outcomes. As one
young client with both Saturn and Capricorn prominent said to me after our session, "The
most valuable thing I got out of this reading today was simply hearing that its going to get
better. Ive been thinking that my entire life is going to remain this hard, so just knowing there
could be a light at the end of the tunnel makes me feel like a weight has been lifted off my
shoulders." Thats not an atypical comment by any stretch. We shoulder great responsibility as
astrologers in helping clients to reframe the challenges in their lives, in helping them to see
those problems in a more positive light. Grasping the late-bloomer dimensions of Saturn, I
believe, offers an especially valuable tool toward that end.
Notes:
1. With a little help from famed astrologer Alan Leo, British composer Gustav Holst displayed
uncanny insight into the archetypal nature of the planets when he composed his popular
orchestral suite, The Planets. Listen, for instance, to his composition "Saturn: Bringer of Old
Age," and youll hear the slowly unfolding, late-bloomer dynamic in exquisite action: The
work begins at a plodding pace, heavy as cement and morose as a funeral, but midway
through, it shifts gears and blossoms into a spaciously beautiful cascade of strings still slow

and slightly "heavy" in tone, yet transformed by a sweetness that is almost Venusian. All of
Holsts planetary passages are beautifully conceived, but to my mind there are special insights
to be gleaned from his take on the ringed planet, which echoes the ancient symbol of the
cornucopia namely, that hidden riches sometimes lie within the brittle, somber shell of
Saturn.
2. How can we tell whether or not someone will express the more constructive qualities of a
dominant Saturn? Thats an immensely complicated question and can hinge on many things.
For example, I know two people born around the same time and date, with very similar
horoscopes and both with SaturnNeptuneVenus conjunctions in Libra. The one person has
taken that energy and become a successful musician, while the other has sadly drifted into a
life of alcoholism and self-pity, largely over failed relationships. What made the difference?
The only major distinction I can make out between their horoscopes was that the first person
had a more powerful Jupiter (closely trining the Moon), which possibly gave her more
positivity and resilience for coping with the difficulties of Saturn. But whether thats the key
factor is impossible to say for sure, since some individuals overcome their challenging
horoscopes even without the benefit of supportive aspects. In the end, it seems to come down
to that mysterious factor called "attitude" and that may or may not be something ultimately
encoded in the chart.
3. Oddly enough, Beattys second major breakout role in the film industry, as Clyde Barrow in
the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde, was again as a sexually frustrated figure. Its ironic that a
sexually notorious figure like Beatty would rise to fame through such libido-challenged roles,
but its reminiscent of that other SaturnPluto figure, Ernest Hemingway. He, too, gained
fame for being associated with a sexually impotent character: Jake Barnes in Hemingways
first novel, The Sun Also Rises.
About Ray Grasse: