Saturn Square Venus: The Good, The Bad And, The Ugly
Introduction
Happy Venus day! Today topic of discussion focuses on my experience of the transit Saturn square Venus. For those of you who may not be familiar with planetary rulers and the days of the week, each day of the week is ruled by a planetary body and Friday’s are ruled by Venus.
In Roman mythology, Venus is the goddess of “love, beauty, desire, sex, fertility, prosperity and victory.” But Venus can also represent our values and beliefs. I would describe this energy as the bonding glue necessary for close and personal connections, be it platonic or non-platonic Venus is the glue that keeps the spark and interest alive. Over the course of this Saturn square Venus transit, I have also come to realise how intertwined Venus is to one’s self-esteem and self-worth and you cannot look at your relationship with “typical” Venusian traits without assessing your esteem and how you feel about yourself.
Disclaimer!
My personal account of this transit does not mean that you will experience the transit the same way I did. I am simply writing, to share my experience and guide those of you who may be entering into this transit or are already in the peak of the transit. Whether you are pre-Saturn return or not, I share these words with you not to fear monger but to shine a light on the realities of the square aspect and pray that you also walk away from this blogpost with an awareness and better understanding.
Defining Key Terms
Before I begin detailing my experiences, I would like to start by explaining what a square is. Eastern Astrologer James Braha in “How To Be A Great Astrologer” notes that, the square is the “90° aspect” which is often regarded as the most difficult planetary aspect.” This is typically because the energy/interaction of these planetary bodies do not mesh as well and this could be down to the sign the planet occupies or the element/modality it is in.
To me, the square speaks energy that perhaps requires more effort in order to override the disharmony. It is said to be the harsher planetary aspect but this does not mean that it is all doom and gloom.Braha states that “squares are characterized by a lack of awareness…and the problem is caused by their own inharmonious and unintegrated psyche and behaviour.”
Upon reading this interpretation for the first time, the “inharmonious and unintegrated psyche and behaviour” part replayed in my psyche for a while. I was taken aback but at the same time I knew that there was some truth to this. There was some kind of cognitive dissonance I was experiencing during the Saturn square Venus transit, which reiterated Braha’s explanation above.
Saturn Square Venus Transit
On the 7th March 2023 Saturn ingressed into Pisces, but prior this I had already begun to feel the transition/change a few weeks before Valentine’s day. I have come to understand through experience that hard Saturn transits can indeed be painful. There is this a stripping away which occurs, and we often hear about the limitations and the blocks that come with saturn transits both physically (in our lived experience) and internally (mentally and emotionally) but the stripping away of things/places/things we had access to once so freely is seldom talked about and is a humbling experience to both witness and see.
I also purchased a Saturn transit reading to help me navigate the next few years, which helped serve as a guiding tool. But, nothing could have prepared me for the wave of depression that was about to hit. As mentioned above, Venus is closely interlinked to our self-esteem and values system. It’s the feel good factor that speaks to the things that make us feel valued and fulfilled, and depending on the sign and degree Venus occupies this could represent various things for various people. For example, Venus in Gemini might embody Venusian energy as a pursuit or love for sharing knowledge and communicating through different mediums to learn about different places/things/cultures, whilst Venus in Capricorn may find that beauty exists through solid foundations and set plan that is actually followed through.
My Venus is at a Taurus degree and in the first decan, I have always taken pride beauty and skincare. During this transit, my skin deteriorated and my overall beauty maintenance fell apart. There was a heaviness that I couldn’t shake off which accompanied this transit and a depression surrounding my physical appearance, my inability to make money like I once did/lack thereof of the flow of money and being able to travel like I once could really broke my spirit.
To help depict this stagnation, I will draw on examples from my own birth chart. Venus rules my 2H and 9H, my natal venus is in the 10H, with natal saturn in the 7H. Unemployment and the ability to call in finances felt like someone was intentionally backballing my CV and applications. In terms of money, this transit further highlighted that I felt uncomfortable with the lack of finances and resources I had at my age and my position in society.
Venus in the 10H wants to be recognised for their efforts and contribution towards societies development and their career, but I didn’t have a career and unlike my peers who had established careers I couldn’t even land an interview for administrative roles that I actually had the experience for. The square transit amplified the feelings and intrusive thoughts of being a failure and not amounting to my goals/dreams/aspirations.
And whilst this transit didn’t last forever, during the months Saturn was squaring my natal Venus on and off, I did go through periods of depression, questioning my identity, feeling isolated, and withdrew from people because I did not feel worthy to be amongst my peers. As you can see the trending pattern, this stemmed from my lack of finances (Saturn squaring my career house) and was directly tied to my self-esteem (Venus). This also impacted my personal connections with others, and it became easier to identify the faults with my romantic partner which others could not see nor understand.
Things the transit taught me
As a result of this transit, I have learnt how to make peace with that which I cannot change. Now a forewarning, this is not me saying that I have mastered this principle in all areas of my life but when it comes to my career, my money, self-esteem, and beauty I have learnt to release the tight grip I once had in relation to these areas of my life.
Whilst the square aspect can exacerbate hardships or personal challenges, it is also not all doom and gloom. Often times, there are soul lessons that the native is required to learn and evolve from.
Possibilities will find you if you allow them to and may be surprised to find how innovative you can be in the midst of trials and tribulations. The solution which I found, was to release my grip over the particular area of my chart the square was aspecting and make peace and accept that which I could. Often time, the solution that will come to you will come when you least expect it and it is that very thing that can provide some relief in times of strife. Braha speaks of the disharmony of the squares, but harmony can be found if you are willing to listen to the teacher and embrace the particular message that the square transit is trying to communicate.
For example, whilst I had always been the type to research deeply about skincare, I had to approach my new challenge with a new strategy. 1) I had to scale in terms of cost as I was working with a limited budget & 2) a lot of products that I had purchased on a whim weren’t addressing the root cause. I had to trust the process, release my grip or expectation that my skin will heal instantaneously. I had to start afresh and take my time (notice here also how Saturn is the God of time and dtime became an important factor in re-starting again). Time to research, time to get specific about what I wanted my skincare to do for me.
Yes, it took time for me to come across the right Korean beauty products that could help my skin journey, but it really hit me this month how I was finally finding the right products that didn’t make my skin irritation worse. They were soothing and gentle for my skin.
My Advice
Whilst your Saturn square Venus transit may not directly speak to your finances, your esteem, travel ability or skincare, I hope that you are able to embrace the lessons shared in this post and apply them more specifically to the areas of your chart that are relevant to the transit.
Just like me, you may be in the thick of multiple heavy transits, or maybe you are not and you’re just curious about this transit. Whatever the case is, I pray that in the face of trials and tribulations you honour the feelings that come up for you.
The good, the bad, and the ugly and allow yourself to sit with those thoughts and try not to run from them.
Opportunity presents itself to those who are willing to open their hearts and minds to change.
