Saturn is the planet of order, organization, ambition, caution, discipline, and hard work. It limits and restricts (or tries to) any other planet which it aspects.
Saturn Aspecting the Sun: The harmonious aspects simply incline the person with them to be practical, conservative, and orderly. When Saturn makes harmonious aspects, it seems to give benefits grudgingly, and these only have to do with stabilizing things shown by the planet it is aspecting. The STRESSFUL aspects are where Saturn really goes to work. With Saturn stressfully aspecting the Sun, there are usually the following difficulties with the father: (1) he isn’t there, either due to a long work schedule, separation, divorce, or death (2) he is there but he is so aloof, distant, and unfeeling, he might as well not be (3) he is there, but he is always sick, or (4) he is there but he is always strict and a disciplinarian.
Saturn Aspecting the Moon: Can give a mother who is efficient, but a little distant emotionally. This is especially true of the stress aspects. As is always the case with Saturn, the good effect of these aspects is to make you work hard and prepare for the worst, which, you are sure, is just around the corner. Lighten up already! Keep repeating to yourself over and over again: "It’s IMPRACTICAL to be miserable".
Saturn Aspecting Mercury: Can give a serious mind, usually much too serious. You may sometimes appear mentally "slow" but that is not due to lack of intelligence. It is because you are cautious and fearful of making a mistake. All Mercury-Saturn contacts deepen the mind. There is little patience for small talk, so if you have this combination, you may appear anti-social. You aren’t, really. You just don’t want to waste time. The stressful aspects tend towards brooding and depression. The cure is (like for most Saturn stress aspects) is to keep busy doing something useful.
Saturn Aspecting Venus: When stressful, is another of the so-called "hypoglycemic aspects", the others being Venus stressfully aspected to either Uranus or Pluto. This one also causes a tendency for the blood sugar level to fall. Get it checked by a doctor. People with stress aspects between Venus and Saturn fall into two distinct types. One seems to have an allergy to success, always blowing their big break just before it’s in their hands. The other type becomes successful beyond their wildest dreams, but has difficulty enjoying it because they are too busy. Bill Gates has Venus and Saturn in conjunction in Scorpio, sign of extremes, which makes him even more driven. Oprah Winfrey has the square between these two. In her case, Venus is sitting close to the Sun, which gives her charm. But make no mistake about it. Saturn, planet of efficiency and organization squares both of them and it is the one calling the tune here. Venus-Saturn people also tend to be extremely loyal, sometimes beyond all reason ("Well, I know you just burned down my house and killed my family, but you did something nice for me 5 years ago, so I’ll forgive you"). Ok, maybe not THAT loyal, but you get the idea. These folks frequently suffer from what I call "Free-floating guilt". If they see someone else doing something wrong, somehow they feel responsible. If you have this aspect, try to rid yourself of the belief that you have to suffer before you can enjoy anything.
Saturn Aspecting Mars: The Harmonious Aspects between these two give you the ability to pace yourself so that you can keep going long after everyone else drops from exhaustion. This is similar to having Mars in Capricorn, the sign that Saturn rules. The Stressful Aspects can do this too, but they have some problems. For one thing, Mars will tend to keep stepping on the gas while Saturn hits the brakes. You have to move foreword in sort of a jerky fashion, constantly stopping to check and make sure that everything is ok. If you don’t, things can fall apart behind you. You can’t afford to burn your bridges behind you if you have stressful aspects between Mars and Saturn. With this combination, you never know when you have to make a sudden retreat. It does give discipline. Another astrologer (Mary Downing I think) mentioned in a lecture that all of the men in her family had this one. Her son, for instance, was on the swimming team and he would practice swimming for hours on end, perfecting his stroke. Women with stress aspects between Mars and Saturn tend to attract cruel men.
Saturn Aspecting Jupiter: I call the stressful aspects between these two the "Jekyll-Hyde aspect". It is seldom a problem for the person who has one. It can be a big problem for everyone around them. When I was in graduate school, I had a mentor who had the opposition between Jupiter and Saturn. I came into the lab one day and another grad student said to me: "I can’t figure him out". "Who are you talking about?" "Our mentor. he came into the lab yesterday and screamed at me for sitting down." "What!" "Yeah, for sitting down. I told him I was writing up an experiment, but he said that I had to write it up on my own time. In the lab, I had to WORK,WORK,WORK. He just came in again today. Naturally, I was sitting down writing up the same experiment. I saw him coming, I jumped up and started to work. He says to me: ‘Why are you working so hard. Come on. Let’s have a game of chess. Jupiter expands. Saturn contracts. Jupiter is "Let’s have a good time". Saturn is Got to keep working". When they are in stressful aspect (particularly the opposition) you swing from one extreme to the other.
Saturn Aspecting the Ascendant: The Ascendant shows how you start things. Saturn will tend to make you cautious and careful here. Even an "charge-right-in" sign like Aries on the Ascendant will be slowed by this one. The stressful aspects also incline to extra delays in the marriage and partnership area. If you have a stressful aspect of Saturn to the Ascendant, don’t get married before your first "Saturn return". This is the time when Saturn returns to the place it occupied when you were born, and it occurs between the ages of 28 and 30. This aspect is similar to the effect of having Saturn in the 7th House. A marriage before age 28 has an increased chance of failure. The affection slowly decays until there is nothing left. Tell your fiancée they will have to wait.
Saturn Aspecting the Mid-Heaven: Is excellent for business, even the stressful aspects. After all, this is the planet of organization and practicality. Saturn also inclines to any profession requiring lots of hard work, attention to detail, and discipline, both before you enter it and afterwards, such as doctor or research scientist. Bill Gates has the trine and Walter Annenberg the conjunction. Marie Curie had the trine as well. The harmonious aspects give parents who are solid, if unexciting. The stressful can give parents who are TOO solid. Reserved, strict, etc. These also increase the possibility that there will be little contact or affection from at least one parent, just like Saturn in the 4th house (divorce, separation, death, or the parent was either too busy or cold and withdrawn).
