Saturn in Leo

5/6/07 – 5/12/07
by C. Zaitz

Sometimes I take comfort in the thought that, as crazy as life gets here on earth, the planets are making their planetary journeys ‘round the sun in their own time. Each planet has its own pace, and the slowest, calmest naked-eye planet is Saturn. Right now Saturn is passing in front of the constellation Leo. Some folks say that this fact can be life altering.

For fun I looked up what astrologers have to say about the planet Saturn being “in” Leo. Because Saturn orbits so slowly, it spends more than two years in any one of the zodiac constellations. Saturn was the god of change, of destroying the old to make way for the new, so astrologers say. In his modern personification, he’s a teacher, and his tests are often difficult and life changing.

Astrologically, people born when the sun was “in” Leo tend to be leaders, and very involved with ego. So to have such a “destructive” planet in Leo seems to spell disaster for the top cats. But astrologers also say that if you are willing, Saturn’s life-changing presence can open up new doors and clean your inner house. That’s a lot of deep advice from the distant gas planet and the even more distant, boiling hot gas stars that make up the constellation of Leo. Recently I showed Leo to some 4th graders. They said that Leo looks like a smiley face or a pony or a balloon. This is not a very distinguished description of Leo, but nevertheless, kind of true. In general, constellations like Hercules or Sagittarius look nothing like a giant hero or a centaur. So to assign such lofty characteristics to a group of stars scattered through space is amusing to me. Of course, it’s crafty humans that come up with the characteristics, the shapes and the connections. And it’s searching humans that read their horoscopes and make connections with their own lives. It’s kind of interesting that not only do planets reflect sunlight back to us, but they reflect our own hopes and dreams, problems and possible solutions, back to us from afar.

As far as Saturn being “in” a constellation, right now is about 8 times the distance from the earth to the sun. It takes light about and hour and half to reach us from Saturn. Stars are much farther away. The brightest star in Leo, Regulus, is nearly 80 light years away from us. The planet actually moves “in front of” the stars of the constellation as it orbits, but it sounds more mysterious and inviting to say Saturn is “in” Leo, especially if you call that part of the sky a “house.”

If you want to see Saturn in Leo, look toward the south after sunset, about halfway up the sky, and look for the “sickle” or the backwards question mark shape of stars. That is the front part of Leo, if we imagine the round sickle blade as his head and golden mane. Saturn will be just to the right or west of the sickle. This spring, Saturn’s rings are prettily displayed for anyone with a telescope. Whether or not Saturn brings life altering events for you, you can still let the beauty of the reflected light dazzle your eyes and your mind. And that can be life altering as well, especially if it moves you to use the credit card to buy a new telescope!

Until next week, my friends, enjoy the view.