The dates for Saturn in Virgo are (approximately every 29-1/2 years for 2-1/2 years): 2000s
Sep 2, 2007 Ð Oct 29, 2009, Apr 7, 2010 Ð Jul 21, 2010 1900s
Sep 19, 1948 - Apr 3, 1949, May 29, 1949 Ð Nov 20, 1950, Mar 7, 1951 Ð Aug 13, 1951
1800s
Oct 7, 1889 - Feb 25, 1890, Jun 28, 1890 Ð Dec 27, 1891
Saturn in
Virgo periods:
Associated with a founding or increase in democracy (authority to the workers)
Associated with increase in freedom (anti-slavery)
Thought control, suppression of facts, censorship attempted (limits on facts)
New media get solid, practical start
New scientific and medical techniques become practical
Labor difficulties and strikes
Border disputes
Overextension followed by health crash at the Leo Ð Virgo cusp
Saturn represents the energy of old age, of seriousness, of limitation, of defensiveness and fear. However, it also is the power to get it together, to accomplish, to conserve, and to focus. When Saturn transits a sign, people get serious about that sign and decide they need structure in that sign. Saturn is like an old man or a conservative banker - each step is taken carefully since any misstep can create problems that last for years. Saturn transits make you feel tired and slow, like old age. The image for Saturn is Father Time - he is the headmaster for the school of hard knocks. Saturn is the planet of experience.
Virgo rules health, details, service, labor, cleanliness, and orderliness. The image for Virgo is that of a maitre de, a waitress, a nurse, an orderly, a public school teacher, a burly worker, or an accountant. If Leo is the party animal, then Virgo is the day after when you have to clean up. Virgo can have a ÒvinegaryÓ old maid quality. Where Leo sees what is great about someone, Virgo can see the faults. Just as you need a creative writer (Leo) you need a good editor (Virgo) and fact checker (also Virgo).
Virgo is associated with bureaucracy and meritocracy. This sign will often feel conflicted or hang back from getting involved with others, hence the virgin quality. Purity and, more difficultly, puritanicalness is also Virgoan.
When any planet approaches the Leo Ð Virgo cusp, there is a chance for overheating while on the Leo side followed by a need to slow down on the Virgo side. If there is no slowing down, there is often a crash, usually involving a health issue. Two recent examples are the 1929 stock market crash when Neptune crossed this cusp and the 1919 stroke of Woodrow Wilson when Saturn crossed the cusp.
Where Leo is creativity, Virgo is technique. Virgo needs all the facts to be accurate. Nitpicking is definitely a Virgo trait, that can be negative but oftentimes is a positive trait for accountants, maitre des, editors, nurses, etc. You want your nurse to read your blood pressure right and your accountant not to make any errors.
Workers are represented by Virgo and difficulties and limitations are Saturn Ð put them together and they sometimes spell labor difficulties. Often, this is because labor feels limited Ð and when labor feels limited it goes on strike. But, since Saturn also represents the establishment and where established power springs from, Virgo gives more power to the working class in the halls of power.
Virgo is the cornucopia for a reason, the distribution of income is Virgoan. So when Saturn enters Virgo, income distribution and how some are kept from getting a piece of the pie becomes a political issue. Often, political power is distributed more broadly as a result.
With Virgo representing hard facts and solid figures (it is an earth sign ruled by Mercury), when Saturn is in Virgo those facts and figures may be hard to come by since Saturnian fear makes the establishment try to repress them through censorship and thought (Mercury ruler) control (Saturn). Examples: McCarthy, HitlerÕs storm troopers, ÒNineteen Eighty-FourÓ talking about T.V. sets that monitored peopleÕs thoughts.
One up side of Saturn in Virgo is that new techniques (Virgo) in health, science, and the media come down to earth (Saturn) and become practical (also Saturn). Examples: the first Òtest tubeÓ baby, T.V. sets took off, first moving pictures, and first penny daily newspaper.
Border disputes and countries breaking and separating off along boundaries are a part of this passage. Virgo has to do with borders and boundaries and Saturn ossifies and creates difficulties, limitations, and fears in that area.
On a more personal level, Saturn in Virgo is a time of fear, but also accomplishment and getting-it-together in your job. Of course, everyone is doing this. Saturnian fears can be particularly strong in Virgo, and create self-fulfilling prophecies. These are often times of witch hunts: Carter and the Iranian hostage crisis, McCarthy, and the Red Scare of 1919-1920 happened in the last three times Saturn was in Virgo.
Let's look at some Saturn in Virgo periods, starting with the most recent:
John Paul II first non-Italian pope in 456 years
U.S. dollar falls to record low against other currencies
First Òtest tubeÓ baby
Bakke case and Òreverse discriminationÓ
Proposition 13 in California cuts property taxes (especially for corporations)
Jim Jones murder-suicide of 907 people
Camp David mid-east peace talks
Ayatollah Khomeini assumes power in Iran
Margaret Thatcher becomes prime minister
End of Jimmy CarterÕs presidency (Ronald Reagan elected in Nov, 1980)
Iranian hostage crisis
Moscow Olympics boycott due to Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
Lech Walesa and Solidarity comes to power through strikes in Poland
Iraqi-Iranian war starts over border dispute
Communist PeopleÕs Republic founded in China, founding of Israel
NATO founded
Berlin blockade lifted
USSR tests first atomic bomb
ÒNineteen Eighty-FourÓ about thought control by government
Height of McCarthy attempt to suppress freedom of thought in name of suppressing communism
T.V. sets go from 1.5 million to 15 million in one year and color T.V. introduced
League of Nations founded
Conscription abolished in Britain (army under Virgo)
19th amendment gives vote to women (spread of democracy)
ÒSpace, Time, and GravitationÓ
ÒSpace, Time, and DeityÓ
18th amendment, prohibition, goes into effect (prudery associated with Virgo)
HitlerÕs storm troopers begin to terrorize opponents in August, 1921 Ð Hitler had become the leader of the Nazis in 1919.
BBC founded
Structure of Milky Way discovered
October 2, 1919 Woodrow Wilson has massive stroke from overwork (typical of Leo Ð Virgo cusp and hitting Saturn, the head of the established order)
First general election in Japan
Luxembourg separated from Netherlands
First moving picture show in New York
First entirely steel-framed building erected in Chicago (technique (Virgo) established (Saturn))
Global Influenza epidemic (health)
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (observation of small details)
Start of U.S. Civil War (fixing (Saturn) of splitting along boundaries (Virgo))
Italy proclaimed a republic
Emancipation of Russian serfs (workers gain strength)
U.S. introduces passport system (limits (Saturn) on boundaries (Virgo))
Dunant proposes Red Cross (founding (Saturn) of health organization (Virgo))
Gustave Dore (detailed etchings), Manet, Louisa May Alcott born 1832
First reform act enfranchising upper middle class in England (spread of democracy downward)
Andrew Jackson reelected (working manÕs president)
Mazzini founds Italian Youth organization
New England Anti-slavery founded in Boston
New York Sun, Sep 3, 1833, first successful penny daily
Health and Morals of of Apprentices Act in Britain protects labor in factories (Health, Moral,s and Labor are all Virgo)
Introduction of atomic theory by Dalton (individual particles = Virgo)
Napoleon consolidates power
Louisiana purchase (France gave up on controlling colonies in the New World)
ÒImprovements in Education as it Respects the Industrious ClassesÓ (workers = Virgo)
Technical College, Prague, founded (technical = Virgo, founding = Saturn)
copyright 1993 - 2007 by Ed Rose