Moon Saturn Aspects – The Karmic Legacy

Let’s face it, Saturn has gotten a bad rap. This planet has been known to bring restrictions, limits, endings, blockages and all those things we humans have trouble embracing. Saturn can loom like a dark cloud, but he also possesses the function of ripening and maturing whatever he touches.

The planet(s), house(s), and sign(s) Saturn touches in one’s chart has the potential to become better with age, like a good bottle of vintage wine. This is not an easy task though. To get the best out of Saturn, we must act with patience, discipline, and responsibility….we’ve got to grow up! Saturn is our karma after all, and working through our karma is never an easy task.

The Moon represents our past (childhood issues), our family, the mother, our emotions and needs, what we crave instinctively (what nourishes and nurtures us), how we respond instinctively in life (behaviours), and inherited familial behavioral patterns. So, if you pair Saturn with the Moon you will likely feel restricted, blocked, or limited in some way with regards to the above Moon representations.

Many times with Saturn/Moon the mother was going through something heavy and/or depressing during the child’s youth, so the typical mothering and nurturing energy was hard to come by. Perhaps the child remembers the mother as being either depressed or anxious for a time, burdened with worry. Another possibility could be that the mother (or other primary caretaker) worked a lot and was not available to give the child the nurturing he/she needed. She may have had to carry the burden of supporting the family, leaving the child to learn self-care.

Another very common scenario with Saturn/Moon is the child acting as the “mother” for his/her own mother, for whatever reasons. The child is never able to feel supported or taken care of, rather, she ends up performing that function herself. Many times, as children, these people have had to restrict or hold back their emotional expression or essential needs for the sake of the parents/family. Perhaps the family was in crises or too burdened to attend to the child, so the child learned to hold back or repress. In any case, the family can act as a depressing influence in some way.

The above scenarios actually shape the child’s perceptions and behaviors which are carried into adulthood, as these early experiences are crystallized (Saturn) within the cellular memory (Moon). As a result, all emotional issues, family issues, nurturing issues are colored with a Saturnian flavor. This can have many consequences for the person that carries the burden of this aspect. Emotional repression, denial of needs, lack of self-care, being a doormat-type personality, low self-worth, depression and anxiety, loneliness, being overly responsible, and pessimism are just some of the manifestations of the Saturn/Moon legacy.

Saturn energy can feel very chronic, stubborn and repressing. Father time wants us to pay our dues…be responsible…pick ourselves up by the bootstraps!! But, like I said before, Saturn has the function of ripening and maturing. The more we put in, the more we get out. With Saturn, we have to grow up and accept our Karma, our responsibilities. When we can be at peace with our responsibilities, and accept them like adults, we are freed! So, its worth discussing how to best work with these energies, so as to mobilize the “higher” manifestation or positive potential of this combination.

With this pairing, Saturn teaches the Moon not to depend on anyone or anything, to be self -sufficient for its emotional nourishment, which can build a great depth of character in a person. To go around always expecting everyone to meet all of our needs (as adults), is immature, and can create codependency and other dysfunctions. We all have to grow up sometime, and Saturn here demands that we learn to develop our “inner mother”. For many, this can be a painful process…having to wade through the pain of lack and abandonment.

But this is Saturn’s karma, and doing what is required (developing self-care, self-nurturing and healthy emotional expression) really does bring great rewards in the end. Just because we were treated a certain way as a child, does not mean that we have to continue to treat ourselves that same way. It’s called self-responsibility. Saturn says: “The chain must be broken”. It is important with this planetary pairing that we learn how to re-mother or re-parent ourselves, as that was lacking early in life.

Saturn restricts, and paired with the moon, could mean emotional repression. Saturn is also notorious for causing health problems. Blocked and repressed emotions can certainly cause health issues for people with this aspect. Therefore, healthy emotional expression must be learned. E-motions are meant to flow, not stay stagnant and crystallized in the body.

On the flip side, some people are overly emotive and become obsessed with “processing”. It may help to look at emotions from a Buddhist perspective, which views them as a natural part of the human condition….yet transient, passing phenomena. They teach how to hold these fleeting emotions in simple loving awareness….to just observe and feel, without reacting. Respect the emotion, contain the emotion, without being taken over by it or suppressing it. This practice can help Saturn/Moons develop a healthy rapport with the emotional realm, which can feel foreign and frightening to them.

Many (not all) Saturn/Moon’s are very sensitive, understanding, conscientious souls. They know what it’s like to suffer from lack, to get pushed to the back of the line…to want. The depths of their souls have been touched by these early experiences. As a result, they have the ability to treat others with gentleness and kindness, knowing all to well what it feels like to be wounded by others indifference.

Being understanding and conscientious certainly has its advantages, but can be taken to extremes and cause potential problems. Saturn/Moons can turn into doormats, doing for others at their own expense. Because many of them are forced by circumstance to adopt the “care-taker” role as children, this patterns usually follows them into adulthood. They learn to deny their own wants, needs and emotions, while putting others ahead. They become secondary, while those close to them become primary.

Boundaries and balance with self and others needs to be established. You really cannot be there for others effectively until you take care of yourself first. These souls must get in touch with their “deserving-ness”…and cultivate an attitude of abundance. They must reclaim their worth, which was taken away from them in their youth. Cultivating loving kindness towards themselves is essential. Again, they must break the chain, and download new patterns and attitudes into their psyche.

Above all, Saturn/Moons must learn to laugh and play a little (or a lot), and not take themselves so seriously. They are prone to anxiety, depression, and pessimism. A cloud of gloom can follow them wherever they go…if they let it. Laughter really is the best medicine for these people! A little spontaneity wouldn’t hurt either.

It can be a sad and lonely path for Saturn/Moon’s, but once they see the higher purpose of their karmic legacy (to develop emotional maturity, self-worth, self-care) and put forth the required effort and discipline, they can claim the gold at the end of their journey.

See also:  Moon – Saturn Aspects – The Call of the Hungry Soul

Last updated on May 27, 2015 at 3:44 pm. Word Count: 1241