Saturn Season Astrology

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Category: Mental Illnesses & Mental Differences

  • Moon/Mercury Contacts of the “Harder” Variety

    A question that I get asked often has to do with mental illnesses/mental differences, and if I’m able to see things like that in the natal chart. The answer to this particular question is yes and no. The natal chart is like a blueprint of possibilities for the person (and the soul) in this lifetime. Just because something “difficult” shows up in one’s natal chart regarding mental illness (or anything, really) doesn’t necessarily mean that the person will ever manifest that particular difficult energy into reality. Though, if the propensity *is* there for mental illness to occur, whether or not it actually occurs depends on a number of factors (such as biology, environment, and nurturing), as well as heavier transits hitting the aspect in question, thus activating it. Since I am specifically talking about mental illnesses & mental differences, certain aspects made between The Moon and Mercury (specifically the square, opposition and conjunction) seem to cause people some issues in the areas of mental health. The specific types of mental health issues that these hard aspects between Mercury and Uranus tend to produce are anxiety (either full blown or just some general nervousness), and moodiness (all the way to the extreme end of the spectrum with intense mood swings). This is a trend that I have noticed time and time again, and I suppose the part of me that finds mental health and psychology fascinating wanted to discuss it 

    **Just for a bit of reference……Mercury is essentially the mind of the natal chart, where we think and learn in a concrete way, and where we communicate. It is traditionally quick and logical. The Moon represents our feelings and our emotions.**
    ***Also, as a disclaimer, I am in no way, shape, or form saying that people automatically have mental issues and differences by default when they have these harder aspects in their natal charts. I’m only saying that the possibility could exist of something like generalized anxiety disorder occurring in their life if one of these aspects is in the natal chart of the person. Just want to make that part really, really clear.***

    Moon/Mercury Conjunction: Out of all the harder aspects in this post, this is usually the easiest for the native to carry. With the Moon and Mercury in conjunction, this causes a natural merging of the mind and the emotions. The typically rational mind may have a more emotional bent to it here, and this can cause some confusion for the person. They may become overly attached to things (especially things having to do with the house where this conjunction falls). There is also usually an above average emotional intelligence that these people possess which helps them to communicate with other people (and to communicate internally with themselves). Mercury tends to be more anxious and nervous by default, and the Moon here feels this, making the person possiby more emotionally and mentally anxious. You may also be more emotionally sensitive as well, for your emotions here are very changable; the Moon is changable anyway, and so is Mercury. This can add to this anxiety you may feel, as well as any anxiety that you feel from being an emotionally sensitive person. Anxiety can also creep into the native’s mind and life when the merging of the two planets causes conflict. There are times to use your emotions and times to use your rational mind (and then times to merge the two), and the key here is figuring out how to pull one or the other out and use them independently. The tighter the conjunction here, the harder this will be to do.

    Moon/Mercury Opposition: With the Moon and Mercury in opposition, this can cause there to be natural tug of war between your emotions and your rational mind. Issues can creep up dealing with how you process and think about your own emotions. There can be an over emotional quality to this aspect, and also an over rationalization (though not usually in tandem, until the native gets a handle on these energies). There will be times that you will be pulled more towards Mercury, and times that you will be pulled more towards the Moon, and it will be be an situational appropriate match. This can also end up happening in the opposite way that it should, such as you should really be operating through Mercury and your rational mind in a certain situation, but the Moon takes over instead, so you operate out of emotion instead. There can also be some general moodiness (to intense mood swings) and changability in thought because both planets want to have their own way here and aren’t operating in harmony. There could also be some issues with how to communicate with people, and when to do this, and what to communicate. This disharmony naturally can cause quite a lot of anxiety in the person and moodiness (even more than with the conjunction). They key to this aspect and tempering the anxiety that comes along with it is finding the balance between The Moon and Mercury, and knowing when to use one or the other (or when to use both at once).

    Moon/Mercury Square: Out of all the harder aspects in this post, this one is by far the most difficult to deal with. The square is constant tension, so with this aspect there is probably a constant tension between the person’s rational mind and their emotions. This can cause the native to be incredibly anxious concerning their own emotions and emotional state and how they process these. Decision making can be incredibly difficult for the person, especially if either the head or the heart needs to be used exclusively for the decision to occur. The person knows that this tension between the two exists (even if it isn’t on a conscious level), and naturally has some difficulty in this area. Communication may not always be as effective, either. This can be communication that the person has internally with themselves, or it can be communication that the person has with other people. They may have difficultly really expressing how they feel and why to other people, and have difficulty understanding their feeling themselves. This tends to rear its head most often in intimate one-on-one relationships/familial relationships, where people are more likely to need to share and communicate their emotions and feelings freely. The mood swings here can be on a much grander scale, as can the anxiety that they may feel. If any of this is prevalent in the life of the person, it is very important that they consciously are aware of when to operate out of one planet or the other. By operating in spite of the tension, they are able to ease a lot of the anxiety and moodiness that may naturally accompany it.

    Links to other posts in this series for your reading pleasure 🙂
    Squares to the Sun
    Mercury/Uranus Hard Aspects
    Mercury/Saturn Hard Aspects

  • Mercury/Saturn Aspects of the “harder” variety

    Questions that I get asked often have to do with mental illnesses/mental differences/learning differences, and if I’m able to see things like that in the natal chart. The answer to this particular question is yes and no. The natal chart is like a blueprint of possibilities for the person (and the soul) in this lifetime. Just because something “difficult” shows up in one’s natal chart regarding mental illness, learning differences, or anything really, doesn’t necessarily mean that the person will ever manifest that particular difficult or different energy into reality. Though, if the propensity *is* there for mental illness or learning differences to occur, whether or not it actually occurs depends on a number of factors (such as biology, environment, and nurturing), as well as heavier transits hitting the aspect in question, thus activating it. Since I am specifically talking about mental illnesses/mental differences/learning differences, certain aspects made between Mercury and Saturn (specifically the square, opposition and conjunction) seem to cause people some issues in the areas of mental health and information processing/learning. The specific types of issues that these hard aspects between Mercury and Saturn tend to produce are being overly critical of oneself, overly restricting the things that one says, possible learning differences dealing with information processing (though these people are usually very smart regardless), and depression/depressive ways of thinking. This is a trend that I have noticed time and time again, and I suppose the part of me that finds mental health and psychology fascinating wanted to discuss it 

    **Just for a bit of reference……Mercury is essentially the mind of the natal chart, where we think and learn in a concrete way, and where we communicate. It is traditionally quick and logical. Saturn tends to represent hard work, perseverance, seriousness, and yes, restriction.
    ***Also, as a disclaimer, I am in no way, shape, or form saying that people automatically have mental issues and learning differences by default when they have these harder aspects in their natal charts. I’m only saying that the possibility could exist of something like depression occurring in their life if one of these aspects is in the natal chart of the person. Just want to make that part really, really clear.***
    ***Also as a disclaimer, I am in no way saying that learning differences are mental illnesses, and I never would. I only lump them together here because these harder Mercury/Saturn aspects can cause either/or; this aspect can indicate the possibility of one or both of these manifesting in the life of the native. To know for sure which (or both) are actually a possibility in someone’s life, you would need to take the whole chart into consideration. ***

    Mercury/Saturn Conjunction: This conjunction blends the energies of Saturn and Mercury together, and depending on how tight the conjunction is, it may be quite hard to discern them from one another (the tighter the conjunction, the harder this will be). Saturn here can cause Mercury (communication and thought) to be more serious, more focused, and possibly more restricted. This restrictive influence could cause one to really censor what they have to say (and sometimes this could be to the native’s benefit, depending on other aspects in the chart). If it isn’t a good thing though, this can make the person extremely cautious about what they say, how they say it, and who they say things to/speak with in general. There can be issues with communicating anything at all, but especially things dealing with the native themselves, and their own emotions (and this will be magnified even more if the Moon is somehow tied to this conjunction/depending on other aspects). Because this aspect causes one to be more serious-minded, it is important that they stay mentally busy and of productive use. Being overly negative in thought and thought patterns is definitely a possibility here if Saturn isn’t kept productive and the mind is allowed to stay idle too long. All of the above can give the mind more of a depressive bent. But unlike the opposition and the square, all of this will feel natural to the native; there is no tug-of-war or tension feeling with the conjunction aspect.

    Mercury/Saturn Opposition: This opposition shows up in people that are incredibly smart, but there may be issues in how you communicate and think about everything that you know and want to share. The ability that you have to censor yourself may not feel as natural here in the sense that there may be a tug-of-war quality about it; there may be times that you know it would be in your best interest to NOT censor yourself, and can see what you need to do to not do this, but there can be issues in actually acheiving this and not doing it. Because of this, I feel that this is the one of these three aspects where anxiety can creep in. There can also be a real tug of war in terms of the way that you process information and learn new things. Mercury wants to learn things quickly and wants to share this newly learned information just as fast, but Saturn here in opposition says “hold up, let me really take in this new information I’ve learned.” While extremely smart, you may not process things quite as quickly or in as fluid a way as other people at times, which can leave you feeling less than. The same thing can be said about the way that you communicate this information; it may be a little slower (and you may even speak slower, more deliberately, when you do speak), as a way of really getting your thoughts across in a clear manner. Too much self-censoring, and feeling less than, can leave you feeling depressed. This possible depressive inclination is exacerbated by the seriousness of the mind here, and it’s inclination to lean more towards the “negative.” Learning to consciously balance the mind here, (kind of consciously allowing Mercury & Saturn to come through at times), as well as giving yourself grace to operate differently from other people (we are all unique!) is key here.

    Mercury/Saturn Square: Out of all these aspects, this one is probably the most difficult to have in your natal chart. There is no merging here, no give and take, just pure tension all the time, and one has to learn to live and operate in spite of this tension. Mercury is quick, wanting to take in everything that it can learn and always curious. Saturn never really wants to give in to Mercury here, and is constantly “restricting”. At the same time, Mercury never really wants to slow down enough to appease Saturn. Having this aspect can cause some real issues with a lack of self-confidence, shyness (and possibly even loneliness) due to this lack of self-confidence, negative/depressive thought patterns, and a variety of learning differences. Because of Mercury and Saturn not ever seeing eye to eye here with this aspect, the mind (while again, usually very intelligent), may need extra time to really catch up and process in some way. You may have a different way of needing to learn certain concepts (nothing wrong with that, we’re all different!), and one of the ways to take on the challenge of this aspect is to embrace this about yourself if it happens to be the case in your life. The censoring that you can do to yourself here in regards to how you actually communicate can be crippling. It is massively important for any depression that you may suffer from, or for any intense shyness and loneliness that results from this, that you actually do force yourself to communicate your thoughts to the world. I’m not saying you have to turn into Chatty Cathy with anyone and everyone, but communicating when you have knowledge that you want to share (of which you have oodles), or something that you really want to say…..try just saying it. You could start out doing this with people that love you and have your best interest at heart, and slowly widening your circle. By just dipping your feet into the shallow end of communication, you may find that some of the depression, self-criticism, and loneliness that you may suffer from are alleviated some.

    To read more on the subject of mental illness & mental differences in the natal chart, here is the link to a blog post of mine about Mercury/Uranus Hard Aspects:
    https://saturnseason.com/2019/02/15/mercury-uranus-aspects-of-the-harder-variety/

  • Mercury and Uranus Aspects of a “Harder” Variety in a Natal Chart

    A question that I get asked often has to do with mental illnesses/mental differences, and if I’m able to see things like that in the natal chart. The answer to this particular question is yes and no. The natal chart is like a blueprint of possibilities for the person (and the soul) in this lifetime. Just because something “difficult” shows up in one’s natal chart regarding mental illness (or anything, really) doesn’t necessarily mean that the person will ever manifest that particular difficult energy into reality. Though, if the propensity *is* there for mental illness to occur, whether or not it actually occurs depends on a number of factors (such as biology, environment, and nurturing), as well as heavier transits hitting the aspect in question, thus activating it. Since I am specifically talking about mental illnesses & mental differences, certain aspects made between Mercury and Uranus (specifically the square, opposition and conjunction) seem to cause people some issues in the areas of mental health. The specific types of mental health issues that these hard aspects between Mercury and Uranus tend to produce are anxiety (either full blown or just some general nervousness), ADHD, all the way over to schizophrenia (among other things). This is a trend that I have noticed time and time again, and I suppose the part of me that finds mental health and psychology fascinating wanted to discuss it 🙂
    **Just for a bit of reference……Mercury is essentially the mind of the natal chart, where we think and learn in a concrete way, and where we communicate. It is traditionally quick and logical. Uranus goes far beyond the concrete mind and basic logic in a lightening fast, revolutionary, sometimes shocking and universal way. **
    ***Also, as a disclaimer, I am in no way, shape, or form saying that people automatically have mental issues and differences by default when they have these harder aspects between Mercury and Uranus in their natal charts. I’m only saying that the possibility could exist of, say something like, generalized anxiety disorder occurring in the native’s life if one of these harder Mercury to Uranus aspects is in the natal chart of the person. Just want to make that part really, really clear.***

    Mercury and Uranus in a Conjunction: Conjunctions naturally fuse together the energy of two planets, and they don’t usually operate independently of one another, if they are able to operate independently at all. You would be able to tell this from the orb of the conjunction; the tighter it is, the more fused together they are and the less of a possibility of them operating independently. Here you have two planets that actually very much like one another and get along, but they are both vying for the attention of the native, trying to make their independent presence known and express themselves. If any planet wins out in their bid for attention, it is usually Uranus; Uranus likes to shock and stun. There is usually a lot of nervous and anxious energy with this conjunction due to both planets being so quickly mentally inclined. Mercury, while fast, is pushed way beyond its regular quickness capacity with Uranus here. There may even end up being some jumbling and scattering of thought processes at times, and communication could be a little screwy, due to how quickly both think about things, and how quickly they desire to say what they think. The conjunction between Mercury and Uranus is (probably) the easiest of the “harder” aspects to work with. Depending on other factors (such as “positive or negative” aspects to this conjunction) in one’s natal chart, this conjunction could produce someone with a really genius and visionary mind, or someone who is quite genuis and visionary but can’t slow their mind down enough to make sense of their thoughts and communicate them effectively.

    Mercury and Uranus in an Opposition: With any opposition aspect, there is a natural “push/pull” or tug-of-war that occurs between the planets. One planet wants to do things it’s way by sign and house, and the other planet wants to do things it’s way by the opposite sign and house. There can be a real frustration here; Since these planets do naturally like each other there can be some irritation between the two with each one trying to get the other to come over to “their” side of things (and not understanding why the other planet won’t play along with them). Both are very quick, so the tug-of-war nature of this aspect can cause the person to feel incredibly mentally scattered, and quite frankly, at times mentally worn out. This can be quite anxiety producing for the native since both planets are so quick. There is a lot of great potential here for the genuis inside the person to emerge if they can learn to balance the energy between Uranus and Mercury in their natal chart. Knowing when to utilize the visionary, off-beat, and mentally light years ahead qualities of Uranus, and when to utilize the concrete mind and effective communication of Mercury. The balance is actually possible here, though it will take a lot of effort (and will be made easier or harder by way of the house and sign that each of the planets fall in). It may even end up feeling like less of a balance between the planets, and more like them “calling a truce.” However you want to think of this, once you acheive this you get both planets to quit their constant back and forth, and shut the fuck up….some of the time, at least.

    Mercury and Uranus in a Square: With any square aspect, there is usually nothing but tension. This tension can either serve as a driving force in our lives (as something to overcome), or it can serve as a crippling agent. Mercury square Uranus operates exactly this way. Here you have someone who is unusually smart (possibly even brilliant or genius), but the square causes issues with how the person is able to easily manifest these qualities in reality. On one side of the square you have Uranus in all of its revolutionary glory, with all of its visionary ideas. On the other side you have Mercury trying to communicate and think as clearly and effectively as it can. Oh, and let’s not forget that both planets are trying to do their thing at a rapid pace. With the tension here, it can cause someone to not be able to clearly process their own thoughts and communicate all of their many ideas effectively. This can lead to massive amounts of disorganized, bizarre, and/or scattered thinking, massive amounts of anxiety (in the extreme this anxiety could fall over into the realm of paranoia), and to someone who is just labeled as quite eccentric. How lightly or severely these qualities appear in the life of the native will depend on the rest of their chart. The goal with this particular square aspect is learning how to operate inspite of these differences. The person with this aspect will probably have their own unique way of doing so (and figuring out what works and how easily it works will have a lot to do with easier or harder aspects in the chart made to these particular planets, and the houses and signs they fall under). Once the native release some of this tension by operating inspite of it in a functional way, they are able to really let all their real brilliance shine through.

    If you would like me to read your natal chart for you (or any kind of astrology chart!), get a reading from me here 🙂 Also, if you are more of a watcher than a reader, head to my YouTube channel where I have a bunch of content!