Saturn in Libra Comprehensive Analysis
Below you will find a comprehensive analysis of the Saturn in Virgo natal placement. Read this and re-read it if you have to. Upon a firm understanding of the study, you will have completed the final step of our Four Part Study to Mastering your Saturn Return!
Saturn in Libra Birth Dates
Those born between November 21, 1950 and March 7, 1951; August 14, 1951 and October 22, 1953; September 22, 1980 and November 29, 1982; and May 7, 1983 and August 24, 1983 have Saturn in Libra, and the last Saturn return was October 30, 2009 to April 7, 2010 and July 22, 2010 to October 5, 2012.
Issues facing Saturn in Libra
If you were born with Saturn in Libra, the issues during your Saturn Return will be about balance. It will also be about harmony and distinguishing equality from equity, compensation, karma. Add to that, justice vs. mercy, relationship dynamics, assertion, and cosmetics in every area of life.
A comparison to the Wisdom of Solomon
Saturn in Libra can be compared to the Wisdom of Solomon.
King Solomon was confronted with two women from the same household each claiming that a baby was hers. One said the other’s dead baby had died in the night. Also, it was said that the mother had exchanged the dead baby for her own. Unable to tell who was telling the truth, Solomon called for a sword. He then declared that he would split the baby in half to divide it between the women. One mother cried out to save the baby’s life. She offered to give it up to the other woman if only the child could live.
The other expressed agreement with the judgment, that if she couldn’t gave it then neither should the other mother. In this way Solomon judged the first woman to be the true mother for she would do anything to see her child lived.
Like Solomon, in the world at large you have the potential of being able to know impartially what is right and fair in any given life situation and would make an excellent judge. On the personality level, you will always seek out the answers to life’s apparent imbalances, especially within relationships. Thus the partners you draw into your life are extremely significant. They will tell you more about yourself than looking in a mirror!
A natal placement full of Karma
Saturn in Libra involves a lot of karma with a lot of people, relationships being great learning devices. Some of the relationships will be with quite weird (unconventional) people. It is also probable that you attract more karmic (difficult) relationships into your life than others. Through developing spiritually and also learning some new social skills you can start to get a feel for this working through process.
People with Saturn in Libra can be preoccupied with “who’s on top” or try to regulate (control) relationships by keeping score or evening the score. They can vacillate from doormat to dictator if out of balance.
Relationships mean a lot to you. But it is difficult to keep the resentment out of them. In order to keep the peace or meet an ideal you have, you can bottle up your emotions to the point that things get so out of balance. So out of balance that you can’t stand to be in the relationship anymore. Saturn in Libra is famous for “sandbagging.” Sandbagging is harboring a resentment until one day you just blow up. When this happens, your poor partner doesn’t know what they did wrong or where your anger is coming from.
Where to find the greatest healing
The greatest healing comes in taking responsibility for creating and maintaining a relationship that you are willing to stay in. You see, the person matters less than the dynamic after a certain point because the desire to keep the peace can cause imbalanced compromises
or just the opposite. Maintaining a workable relationship requires a commitment to honesty that can cause momentary imbalance but a growth dynamic for greater balance later on within the relationship and a healthier overall relationship in the long run.
To accomplish anything of lasting value, or even to make life possible, human co-operation is necessary – and it must be enduring if it is to be effective. But enduring co-operation is feasible only when all parties in a project are dealt with justly; and justice requires mutually accepted rules of conduct and commitment. You have a natural sense of justice and powerful empathy for those who have been treated unfairly.
You know that each person must strive to complete his work and must be responsible to the whole. Most discipline and much responsibility grows out of the understanding that human relationships entail mutual commitment, as in marriage, business partnerships, and close friendships. This is the reason that Saturn is exalted in Libra, the sign ruling relationships.
Saturn in Libra is an Exalted Saturn Placement
In traditional astrology, this Saturn placement is so good and so exalted that great wealth and social honor were predicted because of the innate ability to work with others, an ability that implies diplomacy, reliability, and tact.
In their book Spiritual Astrology, astrologers Jan Spiller and Karen McCoy describe Saturn in Libra natives this way:
You might try to maintain the Libra emotional security by clinging to certain social ideals and always being pleasant. This form of harmony may result in difficulty with being yourself since it cuts off personal expression with others. When you place a limit on your actions with expectations of how others should respond, severe limitations may be felt. The result may be that all of your relationships become burdensome and disappointing.
On the other hand, those who use their Saturn energy well, “have the skill and social responsibility to create relationships that actually work by bringing into manifestation their natural inherent harmony.” You must be willing to brave disharmony in order to create authentic relationships that work.
Relationship Choices for Saturn in Libra placement holders
Zipporah Dobbyns, another famous astrologer, has this to say about the types of relationship choices you must make:
Saturn in Libra is a natural square which calls for integration between activities as an equal and power roles. Life should be big enough for both marriage and a career; but to do justice to both, we have to make compromises. If one person in a partnership is dominant, even if acting as the responsible parent with impeccable intentions, there is no real partnership. In case Saturn is still being experienced as fear of the world’s power, we may marry a father-figure to protect us. If we have enough confidence in our own power to avoid doing that but not enough to deal with an equal, we may pick a partner who will let us play parent as owner of the power and the responsibility. Or, our insecurity may lead to delaying marriage for fear of being dominated, criticized, rejected, or hurt in some other way.
There is another aspect to Saturn in Libra and that is that you may sometimes find yourself without a partner in life. This can be a way to create breathing space and get perspective on yourself and the nature of your relationships. In other words a lifelong relationship may not be the goal here, even though relationships are a huge catalyst for your growth.
Celebrities with Saturn in Libra Natal Placement
Some famous people and historical figures with Saturn in Libra include Genghis Khan, Maria Theresa, Britney Spears, Christine Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Prince William of England, Beyonce, Steven Seagal, Charleton Heston, Mao Tse Tung, Nikita Kruschev, Henry Kissinger, Johann Strauss, J.R.R. Tolkien, Toulouse Lautrec, Pierre Auguste Renoir, and Pierre Cardin.
Prince William
The Prince is a good example of the importance people with this placement put on relationships. He is someone who used the energy of his Saturn Return quite well. William met Kate Middleton while in college. It’s been widely reported she was instrumental in helping him stay in college. She did this by convincing him to change majors rather than just drop out. She was supportive of him throughout his military career.
It seems apparent from the time they met and began dating that William never invested seriously in any other relationship. It was during his Saturn Return that he finally proposed to his long-time love. They also married during that time. Before Saturn left the sign of Libra Kate was pregnant. If you contrast the anchor of this relationship in William’s life with the structure and trajectory of his younger brother’s path, you’ll get a sense of how people with Saturn in Libra work things out through their partners.
Justin Timberlake also courted and married his love Jessica Biel during his Saturn Return, during which time he also took a hiatus from music to focus on acting, another pattern typical of Saturn Return behavior – working out what one really wants to do with one’s life.
Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger (former Secretary of State and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize) is a great example of someone born with Saturn in Libra who eventually exerted great power. According to his Wikipedia biography, “Kissinger was legendary for his ability to find and arrest former Gestapo agents in immediate post-war Germany,“ reflecting the shrewd judgment and keen nature that Saturn in Libra can exert.
During his first Saturn Return, he was at Harvard University working on his graduate degrees. He studied the problems of peace in early 19th century Europe. This was a very appropriate topic for someone with this astrological placement. He served in public office under Presidents Nixon and Ford and was a divisive figure. He was reviled by the Left but nevertheless someone who undoubtedly influenced world affairs throughout the early 1970s. This period was a crucial period during the Cold War.
Like Kissinger, many with Saturn in Libra live an extreme life. The world leaders listed above were certainly extreme, either fanatical in their world view (Genghis Khan, Krushchev, who among Russians was called “the Butcher of the Ukraine”) or extreme examples of their genre, such as Maria Theresa. The artists, however, seem to be seeking and conveying a deep inner harmony and a certain gentle hand in approaching nature and people.
For those born in the 1950s
For those born in the 1950s, your Saturn, along with others of your immediate age group, is complicated in that it is conjunct the planet Neptune. Yours is the age group that did so much to restructure relationships, including the women’s liberation movement which is still sorting itself out. Role reversal, gender correct grammar … these are issues that consumed your age group/generation. You have already lived this and it is only important now should you step outside your age group for a relationship. Those older and younger are not so concerned with these things.
Special Challenges in Finding Relationship Balances
The group of you born with Saturn and Neptune in Libra have special challenges with finding the right balance in relationships. Libra is generally considered to be the real “crucible” in the wheel – a very hard energy to get right. You have it deeply subconscious and also carry it for your heritage and generation. With Saturn and Neptune together you can be dangerously out of touch with reality in this regard perhaps based on some fundamental lies in the childhood family structure. It is almost impossible for your group to tell the bad guys from the good guys.
First of all I would closely examine events in your life looking for issues to do with passive/aggressive. Look at events of drawing doormats or tyrants into your life, or playing one of those roles yourself. Many of you get involved with downright sociopaths as “partners” and never notice it! You may get caught in the “trappings” of relating while somehow always missing the heart and soul of it. Thus the ability to fall for a sociopath or borderline personality in partnering.
Libra is famous for the fine mannerisms, courtly conduct, elaborate expectations. These are all very superficial and damaging in the long run to a marriage or business partnership that lasts longer than the honeymoon stage.
It is difficult to grasp that one must always be responsible for creating a relationship. Especially, a relationship where one will be willing to stay in which requires balancing needs and forgiveness rather than the eternal Libra score-keeping, and how to vent resentment in a healthy way. Sometimes you have to take the smile off your face when someone steps on your feet. And you must do it long before you are absolutely seething with hostility and resentment.
Recommendations for Honest Engagement
For lessons in honest, direct engagement I recommend two things. First, study a good Aries in action (they are actually the best in the zodiac at viable relationships). Secondly, take some martial arts — and take it seriously. For none more than your group, life is a mirror.
Picture yourself on a seesaw. The thing works perfectly when you and your partner are in harmony as to the dynamics of “seesawing”. The other person has an extremely intimate tension with you. You are not the same as each other, but you rely explicitly on each other to accomplish the task at hand. It is through tension, however, not bonding or merging that you achieve success. That is what makes it different. This is the dynamic that you are exploring in this lifetime, together with others around your same age.
During your Saturn Return you may experience upheaval or crisis in many of your relationships. Do not be afraid of disharmony when it occurs. Focus on integrity rather than partnership. When you know yourself, you can be honest with yourself, and this will draw others to you also capable of honesty. Through partnership with them, with those of equal strength and integrity, you will find the spiritual path to success.