In the last post I wrote on how many of us were feeling as if we are just “stuck” in some area of our lives due to the Saturn/Rahu conjunction.  I also mentioned that this is a long-term conjunction due to the slow movement of Saturn and Rahu.  Rahu is the north node of the eclipse points and will stay in a sign for eighteen months while Saturn will stay in a particular sign for approximately two and a half years.  The eclipse points, Rahu and Ketu will leave the Aries/Libra axis on July 13, 2014 and Saturn will leave Libra on 11/1/2014. 

It can seem like we still have a long way to go and we do but there will be various degrees of intensity. At the time of this post (6/30/13) Saturn is retrograde which tends to cause a higher than usual amount of delays. The fact that Saturn and Rahu are approaching their close conjunction in mid-August (exact on 9/15) adds to the intensity.  Another year is a long time but the energy will not be this intense during the entire year – I’m looking at the peak of this energy to take place from mid-August until mid-September.  After that time period the energy will be somewhat lighter.  The planetary positions are much like a weather report and like the weather there can be a difference between a cold day in December and one in February.

Saturn is one of the strongest indicators of karmic situations of all of the planets and often the house placement of Saturn will indicate the areas of life that a person will focus on throughout their lives.  It is those areas of mundane life that will indicate personality and ego traits that tend to thwart our efforts and/or will indicate areas of both responsibilities and abilities.

In addition to the natal placement we all experience periods of time when Saturn will focus on certain situations as indicated by house placement and those situations can be filled with responsibilities, challenges and some really good life lessons. 

This particular Saturn cycle includes the energy of Rahu which will bring in not only delays and responsibilities but also, due to the nature of Rahu, opportunities to break through and change something within ourselves and/or in our lives.

If someone has a Taurus ascendant the current transit is going to take place in that person’s 6th house and will also influence their 8th, 12th and 3rd houses.  Because both Saturn and Rahu are in the 6th house the challenges will be very strong in 6th house matters – work, health and enemies are common attributes of the 6th house. If the person’s situation brings about health concerns Saturn will indicate that the health concern can be  chronic or longer term health problem and Saturn will demand that effort be put into the health problem. Since the 8th house rules insurance one will be dealing with health insurance companies. If the person has no health insurance the 12th house of unexpected and unavoidable expenses will come to the forefront or as the 12th is also hospitals one may even end up in the hospital due to the illness. The 3rd house is considered a house of energy and effort an illness would cause the person’s energy levels to be much lower and their efforts at other areas of life can feel blocked by poor health.

The above is on a basic mundane level.  But, Saturn is always a teacher and the higher purpose to the transit may actually be showing the native that it is time to pay attention to what she is doing to keep herself healthy.  Saturn will teach that there are consequences to poor food choices, over-indulgence and lack of physical exercise. What is valuable to this particular transit is that Rahu is involved and Rahu will push all of us towards a different approach.  For instance, suppose a chart with the Taurus ascendant is the chart of someone who has always taken an antibiotic for chronic infections.  Rahu likes a more alternative approach to health care and could lead this person to investigate diet and herbs to increase the strength of the immune system,  yoga to decrease the stress levels that weaken the immune system and herbs or foods that are known to strengthen the part of the body which is more prone to infections. 

The positive side of this conjunction is to look at where the challenges and responsibilities lie and to use the energy of Rahu to do something different because Saturn will generally be trying to show someone how it is their own quirks which brought the frustrating situation in their lives.  Astrology is always a weather map and it is always in our own power to choose to carry an umbrella when rain is in the forecast.