I first heard of the Saturn Return during a date. It’s true. We matched online and met up at a local dive bar. He had just finished getting a tattoo of this very topic—the Saturn Return, that spanned his entire upper arm. Even though it was a 6-hour tattoo session, he popped a few ibuprofen intent to finally meet me. We sat at a pub table and swapped stories. I adore getting to know folks. He’s a bassist, in healthcare technology, and had a penchant for piercing right through me to the parts of myself I usually keep at arms length. One word – scary! He shared about the astrological phenomenon of Saturn Return in that when we’re about 29 years of age, the planet Saturn returns to the same placement in your astrological chart as when you were born.

The significance? This can rattle the inauthentic parts of you and set you on a collision course with the potential to carve out a path truer to you. The real you. The you beneath all the “shoulds” that you or others have placed upon yourself as you grew up.

Any choices you’ve made that don’t jive with your inner self, will be shaken and stirred, giving you the opportunity to choose differently this go round.

You have a choice, you always have a choice, as far as how to proceed: burrow your true self deeper or finally let her breathe as you actively listen to what you really want in life.

A note on astrology. There’s a lot out there and I’m not sure if it’s all accurate, but I do believe we’re bathed in a flow that is affected by astrol bodies (e.g., planets, stars).  Suffice it to say, that the placement of such astrol (astral) bodies at birth can affect that flow of information and leave an imprint on each of us.

I’ll share a story as it has more impact, often, than information.  In 2010 my chart matched a man’s chart in the shape of a kite with the progression of an asteroid in our House of Gemini for exactly 2.5 years. Guess how long he was physically in my life?

Yep, right about three years. We’re both writers and served as spiritual partners to help further our growth and development. Oh, and we fell in love. I’m talking Earth shaking, stars align, soul mates + we have a metaphysical connection that transcends space and time.  We have since parted ways, but occasionally connect in metaphysically to let the other know we’re here and that we still feel each other.

I’m sharing about Saturn Return for a few reasons: One, your soul speaks in symbols (it’s not literal) and two, you may be entering or finishing up your Saturn Return. It may not span a decade as mine has, but the intent is the same: choose you, return to you and live that truth daily as best you can.

I’ve been seeing Saturn images crop up this past month. At first, I looked up what Saturn means spiritually or symbolically on the internet. But nothing felt right.

I then looked at the novel I’m writing, specifically at the chapter titled: The Jewel of the Milky Way. It’s all about the two angels resting atop the rings of Saturn as they gaze at a star nursery. A few lines stood out, but I didn’t get that tickle in my tummy letting me know I’ve found it. That tickle is physical resonance with that which guides us from the unseen. Soul, spirit, source… it doesn’t matter what you call it. The point is we’re equipped with the ability to connect in and allow that to guide.

Finally, it hit me, there are about 42 days left in this decade. And my return to Saturn began in 2008 in becoming a mother, rippled into 2009 when I unexpectedly changed jobs and started writing my novel, Glow, with final actions taken in 2010 to get a divorce and fully delve into the realm of spirit as I fell back in love with myself. All the ripples converging with the intent to course correct my life, me, and my purpose being me with the unencumbered expression of my soul.

It’s been quite the decade and it’s been preparing me for this next phase of life. Living the inner changes fully expressed on the outside. The reason I’m here in this moment of time.

I’ve been resting on my laurels this month, this year, and the universe and my soul ensured I was nudged. It’s time to finish the last bits of the my Saturn Return. I’ve come too far to remain at the threshold. I’m ready to welcome all the blessings bestowed when you’ve make this harrowing journey. It’s not easy, it’s riddled with darkness, pain, the unknown, and grief, just as much as joy, peace, love, and wonder. But if you can take the good, the bad and the ugly and let it flow through you as you stare down anything but love that surfaces, you will make it through.

We each are here for a purpose. The purpose to be our whole true self and allow that truth to ripple out into our life. What is nudging you? What is trying to capture your attention to the flow of life, your soul as it wants to be lived through you?

May your choices be your ladder to the stars and may you be a bright constellation of all your hopes and dreams.