This year, Saturn forms a sextile with Neptune, which lasts almost a year and spans 14 to 18 degrees of their signs, harmoniously affecting those with Sun in Earth (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) and Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces). Neptune brings visions, dreams and fantasies while Saturn emphasizes structure, order and attainment of clear goals. When these two connect in an easy, stimulating sextile, wonderful things can result. The script below describes one way it could go, but first, how will you know if this even matters to you?
Does this transit affect you?
If you were born within the following dates, you will feel this transit strongly:
January 4 through 9 of any year
March 4 through 9 of any year
May 4 through 9 of any year
July 6 through 11 of any year
September 6 through 11 of any year
November 6 through 11 of any year
This post is for you if. . .
- You’ve got a vision and you’re open to embracing the limitations of reality in order to manifest it
- You are ready to experience fantasy and reality as mutually supportive instead of mutually exclusive
- You’re ready to live the dream instead of feeling the burden of unlived fantasies—and you’re ready for it to be easy
How Saturn sextile Neptune works
(this part is technical, but brief)
If your birthday falls on January 31, June 18 or November 8, then Neptune and Saturn will have powerful lessons expressly for you in this birthday year, because those are the days this year when these two powerhouses connect precisely.
Saturn will sextile Neptune 3 times this year. The first pass happens on January 31, 2019, while Saturn is direct at 14º Capricorn and Neptune, also direct, is at 14º Pisces. If you have anything in 14º of an Earth or Water sign—like your Sun, Moon or Ascendant—you will feel this (see diagram for pass 1).
The second pass happens on June 18, 2019, while Saturn is retrograde at 18º Capricorn and Neptune is still direct at 18º Pisces. If you have anything in 18º of Earth or Water signs, you will feel this (see diagram for pass 2).
The third pass is where this transit ends, on November 8, 2019 with Saturn direct at 16º Capricorn while Neptune is retrograde in 16º Pisces. This will affect you if you have anything in 16º of an Earth or Water sign (see diagram for pass 3).
What could this harmonious planetary aspect mean? The following story illustrates one way it could go. . .
A famous designer named Neptune in Pisces has won a grant from her city to build a monument in honor of the city’s 500th year anniversary. Needless to say, Neptune in Pisces is brimming with ideas and has every creative channel flowing well. We find her in her studio, wearing her distinctive Versace cape, which is impractical but gorgeous. To get her project going, Neptune goes to Yelp on her computer and looks up the most highly rated contractors in the area. She finds the perfect candidate: The Capricorn Construction Co. She phones the number.
Ring, ring!
“Hello?” says a gruff voice on the other end.
“Hiya, darling! Is this the Capricorn Construction Company? If so, whom do I have the pleasure of speaking with?”
“My name’s Saturn, and I’m the general contractor.”
“Terrrrific! Boy, I’ve got a job for you! I just won a grant to design a monument for our city’s 500 glorious years of existence! This will be my magnum opus. I want to build a tall, magnificent, winding tower which unites the earth with the sky, so it will probably have to have at least 500 stories… Omigod! A building level for every year of our city! I’m brilliant! I also want the whole tower to scintillate by reflecting starlight, as if it were part of a constellation itself!”
“Ahem,” Saturn butts in. “500 stories tall? There’s no building on earth like that—” But he is quickly cut off by Neptune, who interjects, “Yes, and it needs to be made of mirrors to reflect the starlight from every star in the sky.”
“AHEM,” Saturn blatantly interrupts. “Not even a 200-story building could be made from mirrors because the pressure would blow out the glass.”
Neptune is not deterred. “I’m not really sensing a ‘can do’ attitude here, Saturn. You have excellent reviews on Yelp. What do YOU think is possible for an eternal monument?”
“Why don’t we create an underground dome? I’ve built many tunnels, and it’s quite practical because it wouldn’t take up space, and you could even build houses over it.”
“A DOME?! An underground DOME?! Would you travel halfway around the world to visit some dank subterranean structure? This is supposed to bring our city pride! Now I’ve won this grant because I’m a visionary, and a 500-story tower is what I envision. It absolutely must touch the sky!”
Peeved that his dome idea got shot down, Saturn now realizes that Neptune’s wild ideas needed to be tempered somehow. “Neptune, I’ve got an idea. I think the firm we hire to make the actual plans will make all the difference. Let me make a call and set up a meeting.”
Saturn then calls his favorite architectural firm to work with and secures their help to discuss how design could meet feasibility. Then he closes the loop by emailing an invitation to the meeting to Neptune.
The next day, at a big, beautiful downtown building. . .
“Neptune! Thanks for meeting me here,” says Saturn as Neptune enters the building through the magnificent entryway right under the sign that reads “Sextile Architecture.”
“Hopefully we can get somewhere today!” trills Neptune, swirling her cape with habitual flair and shaking hands with Saturn. They enter a room which hosts a team of architects and is equipped with state-of-the-art design model software. The team lead on the project receives both of them warmly.
“You can call me Mr. Sextile,” he says.
“Oh, you’re the head of the firm!” replies Saturn, gratified to be working with someone with real clout and authority.
“Is that true?” asks Neptune, shaking hands and delighted to be working with someone who really understands the power of vision.
“Yes indeed, we at Sextile Architecture believe your project is the most important one of the year. Neptune, would you like a glass of wine?”
“Why, yes, that’s exactly what I’d like—how did you know?”
Mr. Sextile turns to Saturn and asks, “Saturn, would you like a nice charcuterie plate with some artisanal breads, meats and cheeses?”
“I certainly would, and it’s very nice of you to offer,” says Saturn. Both Saturn and Neptune are feeling well received at this point. When everyone has the snacks of their choice, Mr. Sextile asks them what they want out of today’s meeting.
“I want my monument to be a reflection of eternity and of all things everlasting—not ephemeral and transitory, like the material world.” Neptune explains. “Therefore it must be made of glass so it can reflect the stars.”
“I’m not so sure that will work,” Saturn chimes in.
“Riiiiight,” says Mr. Sextile, who is taking notes. “Now Saturn, what do you want?”
“I want to produce a building that’s grounded solidly on the earth and that will not fall, no matter what. A really strong structure, built to last.”
“Yes of course,” muses Mr. Sextile. “Now how can we make these agendas fit together?” He assembles his team and they form a huddle to brainstorm some ideas, then he returns to Saturn and Neptune. “I think we have isolated the problem and figured out how to resolve it. And most importantly, we’ve discovered a theme you both agree on.”
“Woo-hoo!” hollers Neptune.
“That is unexpectedly good news and I will doubt it until I learn more,” says Saturn in his typical reserved tones.
“The best news of all is that neither of you will have to make a lot of sacrifices,” says Mr. Sextile. “But you will have to stretch toward each other.”
He turns to Neptune. “Neptune, what you really want is for this building to connect earth with sky, right? You want your pie-in-the-sky visions, fantasies and imaginings to have a path all the way down to the earth, so they can become part of the physical world. Is that right?”
Neptune says, “You astonish me. That is absolutely right.”
Mr. Sextile adds, “And this is because you believe in the permanence of metaphysical eternity, right?”
Neptune, “Of course I do. I don’t know what could be more self-evident than that.”
Mr. Sextile then turns to Saturn, saying, “and Saturn, you want this project to be grounded solidly in the physical, without having its structural integrity compromised by Neptune’s otherworldly vision, is that right?”
“Yes, actually, that’s an accurate depiction of my approach.”
“And,” adds Mr. Sextile, “it’s because you believe in the permanence of physical reality, yes?”
“Well, obviously,” replies Saturn, “I thought that was clear.”
“Ok then,” continues Mr. Sextile, “we need to think of this building as a bridge between earth and sky, a sort of dream factory where imaginings are made real. It will connect the two realities—the physical and the metaphysical, drawing on the permanence of both. The building will have a great deal of strength and self-reinforcing structure and it will have an archetypal quality so that everyone who encounters it will feel this is the very quintessence of itself, the tower they’ve always dreamed of, an instant classic.”
“Wow!” enthuses Neptune.
“That’s beyond all right!” says Saturn, getting a bit excited.
Mr. Sextile continues, “it will be a medium-is-the-message kind of project. We’ll start at both ends and they will meet in the middle, just as both of you will accept some limitations from the other in order to make your contribution to this work.”
Neptune asks, “What kinds of limitations are you talking about?”
Saturn interrupts, because he knows the answer to that. “You’ve got to restrict your dreams to the ones that CAN become real and not allow yourself to be distracted by all the possibilities.”
“Hmm,” comments Neptune. “I think I can do that, if it means more people get to experience my vision.”
Mr. Sextile then turns to Saturn and asks, “Do you know what limitations you’re going to have to accept?”
“I suspect I’ll have to become more flexible and relaxed during this project than is my usual habit. But I’m willing to do so, as long as it will yield the solid, measurable results I want.”
“You can count on that,” says Mr. Sextile, taking notes.
A few weeks later they begin building. Neptune sits atop the scaffolding which will soon be filled, brick by brick, until completion. “This way to eternity!” she calls to the workers, to inspire them, “Heaven is right up here—just keep building, you’ll get there!” She pours a cascade of dreams from above while Saturn’s workers dutifully catch them, and then shape them into reality. As they do so, a glorious tower is built, blindingly beautiful and dizzyingly high—but supported at both ends. Saturn’s strong foundation in the physical combined with Neptune’s link to the metaphysical have joined heaven and earth.
And when it is finished, they put up a plaque that says, “Dream Factory.” Mr. Sextile has been invited to speak at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“Neptune the Visionary and Saturn the Builder and I created this monument to let all the Human Beings know that this is the place where dreams come true—not by merely dreaming them, but through effort and realistic thinking and structuring of the dream, without losing its essential vision. This tower was built on an unshakeable belief that the physical form of a dream is merely the tangible-world reflection of an archetypal form which has always existed in the eternal, metaphysical world and was only waiting to be born into the physical.”
Neptune and Saturn shake hands and agree there will be no fence, no wall, no gate around this place because it’s available to all who work and imagine.
If you are feeling this transit
and want to understand its meaning in your life,
an astrology reading will clarify this and much, much more.
How to find out more
You can read more about Neptune’s activity this year here.
You can read more about Saturn’s activity this year here.
You might also try Are You Currently In Transition?
And to get oriented to the many transits going on this year, check out Transits This Year.
