Saturn in Capricorn: Winter is Coming

Friday March 16th 2018

This video was made during the one-day workshop held in January by The Oxford Astrology Group here at Trinity College, Oxford.

I took a look at the UK chart during the talk as well as touching more generally on Saturn, Capricorn and the shape of 2018. I note that the comment on UK property prices may already be coming to pass.

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  1. Vesta says:

    This was excellent! Although, I think a microphone for you would have been good, as the audience coughing or talking over you kind of drowned you out. I’m going to listen again anyway! Especially as my chart angles are exactly the same as the UK’s.

    I do remember the last time Saturn was in Capricorn, I have natal jupiter in Cancer. 🙂 haha So the recession was hitting businesses very badly and work was increasingly hard to find (for the time, today it’s even harder), so I started temping. I never had a permanent job ever again. Temp work paid more, it’s flexible, and for a long time there was plenty of it, so it was stable. I joined the precariat. I think zero hour contracts began some time in the mid 90s, so I was ahead of my time with that one.

    My last permanent job was with the BBC, which I left in 1989 when saturn was exactly conjunct my IC. The recession forced them to make cuts, and a lot of what they did was I think neoliberal – in that they cut teams they needed, who went off and formed private companies, who the BBC then hired back at a higher rate. We all thought it was very stupid at the time. Nobody talked about neoliberalism then, so it was a bit puzzling. But your point about follow the money applies here. We now know that some of those private companies have offshore accounts.

    I remember those years as being uncertain. There was a lot going on for me personally which demanded my attention, not least of all moving home, obviously! This was also when I decided it was time to do a bit of travelling, seeing as the ground was disappearing from beneath me and my health wasn’t great after having a nasty flu. I had no ties, so why not. So I was busy organising that and working every hour I could. So I left a permanent job, and then I left a permanent home for the unknown. It was partly my decision, and partly I remember being forced into it. Like, all other avenues were being closed down for me and this was my only way forward. If there’s an insight for the years ahead, I think this is an important one.

    Politically, I don’t remember much except for the poll tax and water riots in 1990. Everyone forgets it was about water too. Water had been privatised in 1989, if I recall correctly. Thatcher was eventually thrown out, the Conservatives suffered so badly, they never recovered. Literally, they never recovered. What we’re seeing today is the truth of that. Neither the poll tax nor the new water rates were reversed. Poll tax became council tax. Neither of them have been fair.

    The audience comment about inheritance was interesting. I was glad to have heard that. That’s worth reflecting on.

    I might have more comments when I listen again, there was a lot to take in. And I don’t want to crystal ball about what might lie ahead. It’s easy to speculate and then end up believing your speculations. To me, the unknown means a blank slate. The only known is there’s a piece of chalk and maybe a broad outline or sketch of what you’re working towards. When I went off travelling, the only plan I made was to meet up with a friend of a friend. I let the rest of the story write itself. I think that’s an important point, to get out of your own way and let things unfold without controlling them, and not to be afraid. So politically, we know that as we look ahead, climate change is a priority, as is housing, inequality, we need to look again at what passes for democracy and put it right. And we need to write new stories, new narratives. There’s an urgency to these and many other issues. What I absolutely love about the younger generation coming up now is their attitude of zero tolerance. They don’t even tolerate taboos. Good.

    I also just wanted to post this song which I think is very Lilith and MeToo. It’s Petrol Girls, Touch Me Again https://youtu.be/M8TZsBGgoMc It’s punk! And powerful.

    Oh I just remembered something else about the last time Saturn was in Capricorn. Summer 1990 was the first time we hit 100F. Culturally, towards the end of the 80s, people were going to raves and taking ecstasy, which the Tory government didn’t like because they have this massive fear of hippies and people being free, because then they can’t be controlled. So there was a push/pull between authority and the people. Musically and in fashion, we had grunge. All rules went out the window, high fashion was just rags and utilitarian boots. I loved it!

    In the States, New York introduced zero tolerace to tackle violent crime. Turned out to be stupid, it didn’t work in the end, but I remember people talking about it at the time like it was a good thing.

    I just looked up 1990 in Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990
    The internet! So that goes back to your point about freedom of speech and curbs/laws, which would be stupid if we create laws about online abuse when the issue is bots and paid trolls on troll farms. In these intervening years, ordinary people have had an outlet to meet, share and talk freely. The internet has no borders, so it’s difficult to apply laws. There are no international laws about online abuse or anything like that, and local laws are still being worked out. Authorities haven’t been able to control what information we see, and that’s where print media and television (old media), fake news comes in. Because in these intervening years, we have seen propaganda step up and intensify to such a degree, established journalists have been quitting their jobs to join the precariat or just blog to get the real news out. We’ve seen a blurring of conspiracies/truth. I think the reality check coming up, if we do it right, is clarity on all that. Pluto might well have burned away the bs. Although we are in the midst of a hybrid war with Russia that I don’t think many people are aware of that’s being conducted partly in social media. So that’s another reality check that’s coming.

    I shall stop reminiscing and speculating. Thanks again! 🙂

  2. 44 and counting says:

    Another good video about what’s coming up. Very interested by your comments about likely recession. I think once Uranus moves into Taurus it’s as guaranteed as you can be with predictions that something will happen and begin to make us take a look at our values.

    Personally speaking Saturn into my 9H Capricorn has already been wonderful. My clarity of thought and understanding as it approaches my MC are really beginning to come together. Everything I’ve learned over the past 20+ years is falling into place like the pieces of a jigsaw and I’m articulating it with confidence where previously I’ve been riddled with self-doubt and questioning. I’m really getting the integrity thing – integrating everything and living from that.

  3. Gilly says:

    Thank you so much for posting this. I’ve just watched it through twice, it was so absorbing and completely fascinating and so much synchronicity. Just a couple of things I found particularly interesting, why do you describe Capricorn as a shamanic sign, and what makes Oxford a Capricorn town?

    • Christina says:

      Oxford is given to Capricorn by William Lilley — goodness knows where he gets that from, but it does fit. It is old, cold and settled in its ways — although underneath, of course, it has a fish’s tail.

      Capricorn is a shamanic sign in the sense that it links the earth to the spirit, or spirit to earth. Capricorn is neither human nor animal, a mythical creature… And sometimes, Capricorn types can even bring others with them on that journey.

      • Gilly says:

        Thanks so much for that, that is fascinating. I have 7 planets and points in Cap – almost went to uni there, and maybe I should move there (though Cambridge is almost as old and definitely much colder! :D). I’m a writer, and, as as my second Saturn return grows closer and Pluto is about to conjunct my Sun, I’m finishing up the first novel of a trilogy about a very reluctant shaman who journeys into a parallel world. If I can write a book a year, I should finish them all as Pluto actually hits my Sun. I’m making it all about me again. Sorry. That’s Capricorns for you. 😉

      • Anonymous says:

        It’s interesting you should say that about Capricorn. A very gifted shamanic worker I know wears the “face” of Capricorn on her AC/1st house, with Saturn also in Cap/1st. I’ve never seen a chart so well set up for working as a healer of the Shadow as hers is, with Sun Mercury in the 6th, Uranus/Pluto in the 8th, Moon/Venus in Scorpio/10th. Saturn was also traditionally known in some circles as “the god of the Witches.” Her birth info is also quite interesting: 6/6/60 at 9:09 PM. I got a big kick out of that when she told me the info. ?

  4. joan says:

    Thank you, Christina, for sharing this session so that those of us who live far, far away have the opportunity to be informed by a highly skilled professional astrologer.

  5. Severne says:

    Yes! Thank you for sharing. It is a joy to feel connected to those sessions and so helpful. Last time Saturn was in Cap (transiting my 4th) I was quite young.. I moved ‘back to my home’ and started studying astrology!

  6. Iris says:

    Very interesting thanks Christina. I love these talks you give. They remind me of Jeff Jawer’s and Rick Levine’s talks. I hope you keep doing them and posting them. So informative and thought-provoking.
    Something I heard about an effect of the plague was that (as well as redistributing property) it fundamentally dismantled the feudal class system. So many died, anybody with any skill was in demand. Serfs left the land to become trades people earning wages, able to charge what they thought they were worth. Upper classes could no longer maintain control over their landed wealth, without the serfs to work land virtually for free. That fundamentally shifted the power bases and feudalism ended.
    Interesting to ponder how social wealth is operated now, what the power base of it is, what/who is exploited to make that dynamic work, and how that structure might be wiped away, and then re-ordered. I think major climate change could potentially have some of that effect.
    Interesting to read this, in terms of your thoughts on restriction of media (and the throning of the plutocrat/who is in charge): https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/cambridge-analytica-facebook-influence-us-election
    A quick scan of Wikipedia’s list of what happened in 1982 (the last Sat/Plu conjunction) makes interesting reading. Jupiter was in Scorpio that year too. A few standouts:
    Surplus of oil caused gas prices to collapse
    Thames barrier was publicly demonstrated (a transformative barrier)
    Falklands war started
    Lebanon war started (and later the Sabra and Shatila massacres)
    International Whaling Commission decides to end commercial whaling within 5 years.
    The Mary Rose is raised from the Solent.
    A ‘brief but severe’ recession in the US.
    China becomes the 1st country to have a population of more than 1 billion.
    A few car companies went out of business.

    • Gilly says:

      Though, the death of feudalism came as a result of the previous great plague, the Black Death of 1350 on (lasting about , which killed 1/2 to 1/3 of the population of Europe. The 1665 plague was much more contained, mostly affecting London with a few other isolated outbreaks (Eyam being one of the most remembered) and the population recovered quite quickly. I would say more major effects came from the great fire of 1666, which meant London had to be rebuilt to more modern, healthier standards; there were few outbreak of plague after that died out in Britain shortly after. Current genrations have been saved from such things by antibiotics, of course, but maybe not for much longer.

      • Gilly says:

        Sorry for the dodgy edit. Not paying attention. Clearly, I cannot multitask.

        • Vesta says:

          Thank you, Iris, Gilly, much appreciated. 🙂
          The other thing I was going to look up was the history of the Conservative party (Conservative and Unionist party). Because they’re inextricably linked with the rise of the merchant classes and business becoming the be all and end all, to the extent that people realise they live to work and struggle to balance that with having a life. Individualism has only made it harder. I think things have peaked. These people have succeeded in destroying lives, countries and our future. Obviously, also a huge factor is the East India Company, Clive of India, the British Empire and how they made things worse, basically. From here, we get white supremacy, which arguably began before then but certainly stepped up under them, and also fascism.
          I read this today, which is further food for thought https://www.vox.com/2017/12/20/16772670/baby-boomers-millennials-congress-debt
          This is what I meant about new narratives. The ones we’ve been told are bs. For me, the old narratives have utterly collapsed. I feel like I’m looking at a jigsaw puzzle piled in a heap and I’m having to figure it out.

    • Vesta says:

      I was reminded of the Jeff Jawer and Rick Levine videos too, Iris. 🙂
      That’s exactly what I was thinking about the end of feudalism and how it happened. If I recall correctly, many of those families who became the new rich then held on to their wealth for generations, and still do to this day. This was also the time when the merchant classes rose to become a class and gained influence, eventually getting the vote. I’ll have to look it up to confirm, but I think this is when we get guilds and other organisations that support business. This is an area worth studying now as it’s all being shaken up. Inequality is directly linked to this. If you have any good links to read, I’d be interested! 🙂
      Cambridge Analytica is a very important story right now. I’ve been watching that happen for years, and it’s not just the USA, other elections were influenced too. Brexit of course, but before then, the 2012 UK local elections weren’t normal. Cambridge Analytica are twisting facts and weaving lies right now. They mentioned Labour in a recent interview, but from what I saw, it was the Tories and Brexit Leave campaign who really used them. That’s my allegation based on observation, only a matter of time till it’s proven. From what I saw and remember, I think this particular story goes back to about 2010/2011, around there. There are troll farms in Russia, but they’re in other countries too. This story is worldwide.

      • Iris says:

        Wish I could recommend some reading Vesta but this was some time ago. Change on that scale’s so hard to conceive of. Who’d have foreseen that as an outcome of the plague? It’s fascinating.

    • Christina says:

      Yes, I’ve just been reading that Guardian report & I thought the same thing. The interview with Wylie, the whistleblower, is fascinating. One of the things he says is that, to paraphrase, “If you want to rebuild a culture, you first have to shatter it. The purpose of Bannon and Mercer’s internet campaign was to create a weapon of mass cultural destruction — and they succeeded.”

    • Iris says:

      Oops too many ‘interesting’s. Edit fail.

  7. Christina says:

    I didn’t quite expect the late snow-dump when I wrote that headline!

  8. 44 and counting says:

    I’m wondering if the Saturn-Pluto conjunction of Nov 1982 which occurred in late Libra is about neoliberalism?

    That’s when it really started to move from being an economic theory to actually taking off under Thatcher and Reagan who were the key players in the 1980s. In Britain the privatisation of British Telecom occurred in 1984 but was first announced in July 1982. And with its success it opened the floodgates to all the other utilities and the rest of the national treasures being up for sale.

    I’m sure there’s some Plutonian kind of appeal to Libra’s fairness and equality in telling the people you can pay to become a private owner in something you already own and in the process actually handing control of those things to all the big banks, pension companies and billionaires who hold the biggest tranches of shares.

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