The Question: Hi. Just wondering about something I heard this past week. I was told that Saturn was turned somehow to make it dark for the past couple of weeks. All I really know is that myself and about 10 of my friends have had the worst last 10 days. As in, the worst things that have ever happened to us have happened just recently, all independantly of eacho other. I am all about taking personal responsibility, but I also know that nature gives us patterns for a reason. I would like to know what Saturn was doing through the middle of April so that I might take more care if it ever comes around again. Thanks.

The Answer: First of all, thanks for your question and I invite comments from other Astrologers always! I found a few resources about this online. But first of all, Saturn changed directions in April. It stationed and turned Direct on April 20th - so most likely what you are referring to is the impact that this had on all of your charts.

Since you are talking about a group of friends who are probably close in age, I expect that all of you either share a generational Signature in your chart - such as Pluto, Uranus or another slow moving body OR you have other cross linking aspects with each other. Generation Y has Pluto in Scorpio (which would have been very hard hit by Saturn) - but most of them are still children. It sounds like all of your friends were transited at the same time by Saturn. Since Saturn made it’s Station Direct on the 20th - the days before and after would have had the greatest influence; that would be from the 15th-25th. Then, for you and your friends who had planets or sensitive points at 15′-21′ degrees of Leo, Taurus, Scorpio, Aquarius, Pisces or Capricorn this would have been a very challenging time period. I happen to have 2 Taurus planets and 1 in Scorpio that were hit by Saturn then, and I wound up with an allergy attack that’s kept me sick for 3 weeks! And I never get sick. Sometimes different Astrologers use different language to describe the same thing, and you may have read something about Saturn entering or exiting it’s Shadow - which is another element of what I am talking about here. This may be what you are referring to as ‘dark.’ As you can see from the links below, Saturn is actually quite bright. But if you really want to know what was happening then get an Astrology Report for that time.

As for it coming around again, the planets are always on the move, so something is always happening - but you’re not likely to get that same transit (influence) again for a long time.  But you’re right that understanding it can help you be prepared if it comes around again.
Here are a few astronomical links: This link talks about how bright Saturn has been: http://skytonight.com/observing/ataglance

This link shows where it’s been in the sky:
http://soc.jpl.nasa.gov/viewing.cfm
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astrology,saturn,horoscope