Yes, this year both Mercury and Saturn enter their respective "shadow zones" on the same day, meaning they're both preparing to go retrograde at different points in the near future! Lots of threshold action ahead!

The shadow zone is defined by the span between where a planet goes retrograde, and where it goes direct after the retrograde period. In this case, Saturn goes retrograde at 2 Aquarius on May 10. It will retrograde back to 26 Capricorn, where it goes stationary direct on September 28. (In an interesting coincidence, Saturn goes SRX on Mother’s Day, and SD on Yom Kipper. It would seem Saturn does have a strange sense of timing this year…..)

That puts the shadow zone between 26 Capricorn and 2 Aquarius, and today Saturn enters 26 Capricorn, the degree where it’ll go SD in late September. So this year Saturn takes us to the edge of where the individual, mental, and spiritual group work sector of Capricorn meets the actional contribution to a greater future in Aquarius. And it makes a lot of heavy aspects along the way!

The big news of course are the themes set into motion at the conjunctions in January involving Sun, Mercury, Saturn, and Pluto will all be expanded by Jupiter throughout the year, with Mars activating all of them AND the Jupiter conjunct Pluto in March. This run culminates and the energy begins long term shifts when Saturn enters Aquarius for the first time on March 21, followed by Mars conjunct Saturn at 1 Aquarius on March 31, heralding the major changes coming when Jupiter and Saturn both square Uranus beginning January 2021.

The transits in Pisces will make productive sextiles with Saturn, showing a lot of things can get done despite Mercury retrograde the first part of March. Interestingly, it will be in Aquarius by the time the Sun and Mercury are in Aries, indicating especially favorable sextiles and quintiles to Saturn. However, the squares from the Sun and Mercury in early Taurus to Saturn herald the intense conflicts of 2021, so take note of any disruptions and begin to take measures to mitigate the potential conflicts which will dominate late this year and pretty much most of 2021.

Saturn direct helps us express mature responses to our world; Saturn retrograde gives us a different understanding, or a different angle of approach. Saturn RX can bring us echoes of old duties and responsibilities in new forms, or the return of attitudes of accepting “the wage of age.” Because it’s in the sector of the zodiac where the personal power of Capricorn meets the group cooperation and vision of Aquarius, the rest of this year will help us reorganize our individual, mental, and spiritual internal and external structures so we can better fulfill our part to play in the greater evolutionary pulse indicated by the coming Aquarian energies.

The Saturnine understanding you receive over the next 3+ months will be clarified after the Sun opposes Saturn and then Saturn’s SRX degree in late July. That should help us understand what is expected of us in some public way after that. Just be aware that the oppositions to Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto this Summer allow for the awareness required to deal with the massive friction of Mars direct, retrograde, and then direct again making squares to Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto at a time when transits in Libra are creating a massive Cardinal T-square with Cancer as the void!

So during the Cancer oppositions, find healthy Libra perspectives and responses. These “Libra rehearsals” will serve you in good stead during the T-squares with Mars requiring healthy Cancer responses. So from now through the end of March, take a look at your individual spiritual life structures to see how to make a greater contribution. Get glimpses of that contribution in April, May, and June, and then do your final reorganization between July and December.

When Saturn goes SRX in May at 2 Aquarius, it will bring us all forms of a “liberation from adverse conditions” due to a “cosmic visitation” which will “galvanize us into action” due to “spectacular events.” Again, take note specifically of what comes up the last 10 days of April and the first 2 days of May to get the signs and signals of future hard edged times. I’ll write more about this in a few weeks.

if you want to know more about Saturn and your ability to re-shape your responses to take command of your life and destiny, if you haven’t already please consider getting your copy of Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend. That work offers all you need to claim your ability to move through the chaos of the world fearlessly, with discipline, maturity, patience, and power. Here's the Amazon link to where you can order Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend, and if you want a Kindle ebook copy you can get it there as well, or if you prefer, go to B&N's site and get their copy in Nook.

Enjoy the entrance into the main phase of this year’s Saturn lessons. This is an important time to demonstrate our willingness to train to be spiritual adults in the coming unstable times.