Why’s life so gloomy when Saturn’s around? Why do star signs begin at birth? And when will Librans get a break? Neil Spencer has the answers.
Astrology pages are different. Commonly, they are the only part of a magazine written in the second person, where the ’I’ of the columnist and the ’they’ of the feature writer are replaced by the ’you’ of the reader, the star of the ’your stars’ show.
As a sun sign astrologer of several years, I often feel that I’m having a conversation with my readers. It’s an odd, one-sided conversation, but I try to talk to, rather than at, the long-suffering Cancerians, Capricorns and the rest (most signs feel they are long-suffering, except perhaps Leos). I couldn’t possibly do the purring intimacy perfected by the late, much emulated Patric Walker. I’m more of a pull-the-reader’s-leg astrologer.
The letters I received were, then, the other side of the conversation. Any remedies for a Capricorn’s depression? Any chance of a break at work? Why are you so saucy towards Librans? There were anxious twenty-something singles, fiscally challenged second marriages, and a significant preponderance of Virgoans and Pisceans (must be that Uranus transit). Astrology is no bridge-builder’s science, but I’ve tried to answer every one in the belief that, to quote psychologist James Hillman, ’Every experience has its archetypal reason.’
Your questions
Q. I admit to being a sceptic, but am interested nevertheless. Why is birth the defining moment in astrology? Time of birth can be affected by a number of factors, many artificial and/or deliberate. Surely the instant of conception is one’s start in the grand scale of things? Will Lang
A. A point that has exercised astrological scholars for aeons. Ptolemy, writing around 100BC, claimed that the position of the Moon at conception showed what kind of birth chart would result, including a baby’s gender, and laid down complex rules about the so-called ’pre-natal epoch’. For most of us, birth is a big enough event ... and more reliably located.
Q. Is it possible to have a ’Saturn Return’ outside of the 28- to 30-year cycle? Are there any positive connotations to Saturn? I am accustomed to thinking of it as an influence to fear. Joan McNamarra
A. You aren’t alone in fearing Saturn, but no planet is all bad, and when you’re under saturnine skies you can and should undertake something big which demands patience, exactitude and strength of will. Saturn ’returns’ (ie completes an orbit round the Sun) at ages 28-30, 58-60, 88-90, but the quarter and half points of the cycle - ages 7, 14-15, 21, etc - often show up as challenging and transitional times in people’s lives.
Q. I’m a Pisces, born 28/02/69. I remember reading about two years ago that Uranus had arrived in my sign and that I now had the world at my feet. What happened? My bank balance is hurting, and I don’t want another nine months like the last. Jane Mornington
A. Blimey, who told you that? Your travails are indicated by skinflint Saturn messing other planets in your chart (Moon in Cancer, Saturn in Aries). I’m struck by the nine months time frame - Saturn ground to a halt last November. You’re back at that same point right now, and over the next month will be completing the issues in play. I expect money and work issues to lighten up accordingly.
Q. You’re always insulting Librans. You’re turning us into the joke of the astrological community, and I’m getting mightily sick of it. Librans are sweet-natured, considerate and awesomely intelligent. Pack it in. Rebecca Andrew
A. You forgot to mention that Librans are also perfectly balanced - ’with a chip on both shoulders’ - and prone to vanity. With jolly Jupiter transiting your sign, you should be able to shrug off the odd leg-pull. With Saturn off your case, so am I.
Q. I am a Pisces. Sensitive, yes, but these days oh so bolshie and shark-like. Will I stop biting people’s heads off? Will I find a lover who can handle all this behaviour? (Born 17/03/65 at 21:40) Leila Lemarr
A. I’m surprised you have only recently turned bolshie. With three planets in Pisces opposing the historic Pluto/Uranus conjunction of the mid-Sixties, you have a lot of friction to handle. Kurt Cobain had much the same configuration, for example. As the revolutionary planet Uranus recently moved into Pisces and is buzzing your natal Saturn until next spring, whatever is happening isn’t going away just yet.
Q. Should I consider myself a Sagittarian or a Capricorn? I was born at 10.30pm in London on 22/12/65. My true love is a Libran and as Capricorns and Librans aren’t supposed to be good love matches, she thinks I must be a Sagittarian. Mariah Buckley
A. You are a prime Capricorn, being born on the new Moon, with both Sun and Moon in Capricorn, plus an exalted Mars there. Why would you get on with a Libran? First, because you have Venus and Jupiter in fellow air signs. Her Libran Sun slots in happily. Secondly, I suspect her chart has planets contacting your three Cap planets. Thirdly, Librans and Caps often get along - they are both ’cardinal’ (dynamic) signs. Fourthly, people are always bigger than astrology!
Q. I have in the past 10 years visited 12 psychics, clairvoyants and spiritualists, all of whom have told me that writing is my path. Is there anything in my horoscope to support this? (Born 10/3/62 at 19:55) Catherine Emilia, Sussex
A. As you were born with a Cancer midheaven, Saturn in your fourth house and Moon in Taurus, your chart is very creative - all those planets in the fifth house with Mercury conjunct Jupiter. But that combination can as easily be about other creative tasks, like education. Concentrate on your desire. This is an important year. Jupiter crosses your Libran ascendant. Liberation! Joy! Saturn completes its half-cycle. Maturity!
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