Planetary Boulevards

Saturn in Cancer

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Saturn's leaving Gemini will be a welcome relief for the mutable signs of Pisces, Virgo, Sagittarius and Gemini. As Saturn travels through Cancer, those with planets in cardinal signs, Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn, will be visited by the Great Taskmaster. Saturn often gets something of a bad rap. Saturn IS serious business, but he represents "hardship" only insofar as we have not taken adequate responsibility. Saturn demands that we grow up in the area he touches. Saturn's visits may feel like heavy weights, but work well done is rewarded and a sense of satisfaction and achievement can be garnered. Saturn will be in Cancer until July 2005.

On a collective level, what can we look forward to with Saturn in Cancer? Cancer represents home, family, tradition, emotional vulnerability, emotional roots and childhood issues, how we nurture self and others, and personal myths and endings. When Saturn was in Cancer in 1944 - 1946, Dr. Benjamin Spock published his book on baby and child care, which changed the philosophy of child rearing. Parenting became more child-centered with less rigidity than before. In 1974 - 76 when Saturn was in Cancer, the USA was mired in the Watergate scandal and the resignation of President Nixon. War in Vietnam caused us to look at our methods of being in a caretaker role for other countries. Movies that took us back into nostalgic looks at the past such as "The Sting", "Papillon", "Chinatown", "Lenny", and "Godfather II" were hits at the box office.

As Saturn enters Cancer again, we may be waking up to ways in which we have been remiss in parenting. Has the norm of both parents working outside the home and increasing numbers of single parent families had consequences on child-rearing? Have we allowed television and computers to do too much parenting so that we have an epidemic of overweight children who are reluctant to pick up a book? How we feed ourselves and others may become concerns. Do we lead such hectic lives that we take too many fast-food meals on the run and forget what a family dinner is like to experience, except maybe on a holiday? Do we fail to really connect with members of our families, so that our homes feel more like hotels? Saturn in Cancer will encourage us to take stock of what family means and what feels like "home". If we have seriously neglected such concerns, Saturn will require that we work on them. We may see more concerns about our Homeland Security. Is it adequate? Solidification of this new government agency in the United States, a Cancer country, may be in the forefront. Feeding others - in areas of drought, in homeless shelters, and through welfare programs will likely be concerns. And, as in 1974 - 1976, nostalgia may feel satisfying.

On a more personal level, wherever Cancer rests in our charts, we will be challenged to take responsibility for our own emotional vulnerability and for our own self-nurturing. Do we spend too much time trying to take care of others at our own expense? Do we take care of others out of a need to be needed in such a way that we create dependency? Saturn in Cancer will make us accountable for appropriate nurturing and caretaking. Saturn in Cancer may also bring up issues around our own emotional roots in looking at how we were shaped as children and how that patterning enters into our adult lives as positive or negative. We will take responsibility for our emotional selves and create appropriate structures to live fuller, more healthy emotional lives. We will be more attuned to our homes and sense of family. We may want to find out more about our heritage and ancestry. We may learn more about who our real family is. We may find that our physical homes need attention and we will want to create homes that support and sustain our sense of security. What does it mean to be "at home"? To whatever extent we have already handled Cancer themes responsibly, we will see the rewards. Whatever needs work will get our attention.

Children who are born during Saturn's transit of Cancer will arrive with strong security needs and perhaps walls of defense around the potential for emotional hurt. They may carry fear and doubt patterns about forming emotional closeness with others. They will need encouragement around gradually shedding the tough but protective Cancerian shell in order that they can give and receive tenderness and nurturing. When they learn that they can trust others with their hearts, they will find satisfaction in bonding with others - satisfaction from a source that seemed once terrifying. For those of us who are already here, and especially those who have Saturn Returns during Saturn in Cancer, these themes will loom large.

Uranus in Pisces

On March 3, 2003, Uranus, the planet of sudden shock, freedom, rebellion, sudden insight, and revolution, enters the waters of Piscean imagination, mysticism, compassion, escapism, the unknown, and spiritual wisdom. It will reside there until March 0f 2011, except for a brief backtrack into Aquarius from September 16 until December 30. This energy will be quite different from Uranus' transit through its home sign of Aquarius where it kept things speeding along and revolutionized technology through computers and the explosion of the internet.

Uranus last passed through Pisces from 1919 to 1928. Changes were seen in drugs, ruled by Pisces. For example, Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, Vitamins D and E were discovered, and insulin was isolated to treat people with diabetes. Rebellion against alcohol showed itself when

Prohibition was adopted. Television and radio exploded, and Walt Disney

created his first cartoon, opening doors to both Piscean escapism and imagination. Albert Einstein, himself a Sun in Pisces, revolutionized scientific thinking with his theory of relativity, which opened doors to probing both the scientific (Uranus) and the mystical (Pisces). So, what can we expect?

It is likely that we will see more scientific discoveries around these same issues. Technological "virtual reality" may take on new meaning. We may see more acceptance and insight into alternative methods of healing. Drugs will be in the forefront. Drugs and alcohol when used as escape routes will be highlighted; substance abuse counselors will be busy as those with addictions will be awakened to their destructive patterns. We may see the FDA in the news, as new medicinal drugs will emerge, and perhaps new insights into drugs that were previously thought to be safe. Fashion and style may take on more dreamlike, ethereal qualities. We may see water in the forefront - adequate water supply issues, floods, droughts, water pollution, etc.

Dreams and illusions are likely to be shattered wherever it is that we need to wake up. Because Uranus carries group consciousness, some may be drawn to groups with like-minded ideals. Those who followed Hitler during the last Uranus in Pisces transit absorbed his dark consciousness in pursuit of an abysmally misguided ideal. As always, discernment is vital. Note through which house in your chart Uranus in Pisces will be traveling. Where will you gain freedom from illusions? Where will your imagination be awakened? Where will you gain intelligent, insightful inspiration and spiritual wisdom? Where will you learn greater compassion?

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