The Saturn return is an astrological phenomenon. It occurs when the planet Saturn transits through the same zodiac sign it occupied at the time of your birth.
This process happens approximately every 28-30 years.
The second return occurs between the ages of 57 and 60, and the third occurs around 88-90.
The first Saturn return is what popular culture knows as “the 30-year crisis.”
This period serves as a cosmic rite of passage. It marks your transition into adulthood and a time of profound personal growth.
But how can you know when your Saturn return begins and ends? This is one the questions I answer in the following text.
Here’s the table of contents:
- The Duration of Your Saturn Return
- How to Calculate Your Saturn Return
- Exercise to Start Analyzing Your Saturn Return
Ready? Let’s go!
The Duration of Your Saturn Return
The Saturn return begins when this planet enters the zodiac sign of your natal Saturn. And it ends when Saturn moves into the next sign.
This process lasts, on average, 2.5 years. This is how long your entire Saturn return will be.
Saturn retrogrades every year. Sometimes, it can return to the previous sign for almost 5 months (135 days, to be more exact.)
Related: Saturn Return With Natal Saturn Retrograde
Your Saturn return can start, and pause when Saturn goes back to the previous zodiac sign. Then, your Saturn return continues when Saturn re-enters the sign of your natal Saturn.
In the following section, I’ll teach you how to calculate the dates of your Saturn return.
How to Calculate Your Saturn Return
This recipe is divided into two parts: first, I’ll explain how to create the natal chart on astro.com.
Secondly, I’ll tell you how to calculate when the return will occur.
You can go directly to step 2 if you already have your chart.
1. Get Your Natal Chart
Go to astro.com, the most accurate site for calculating natal charts and other astrological matters.
Click on “Free Horoscopes.”
Click on “Charts & Data.”
Click on “Extended Chart Selection.”
You’ll see this:
Now the paths diverge a bit.
If you’re very interested in astrology, I recommend that you register for free on this website. This will allow you to upload up to 100 natal charts. If you don’t want to, you can use the site as a new visitor (the first option).
Related: What Is the Natal Chart? Astrology 101
Next, I will offer instructions for those who don’t have an account on astro.com. The steps are the same for those with an account and those who use the site as a new visitor. However, the order varies slightly.
To avoid confusion, I will focus on how to enter the data for those who don’t have an account. You’ll find the different steps mentioned easily if you already have an account.
When you click on the “For new visitors” option, you’ll get here:
Now it’s time to get your natal chart!
At this point, it’s REALLY IMPORTANT that you know your time of birth.
But why?
Why Is It Important to Know Your Time of Birth When Calculating the Saturn Return?
The time of birth determines the Ascendant (rising sign). And the Ascendant determines the distribution of the houses in your birth chart.
Saturn’s return will occur in a specific house. It will also touch on themes of one or two more houses, depending on the sign of your natal Saturn.
It would be desirable to have your birth certificate to review the time you were born.
Of course, birth certificates are sometimes inaccurate, and the time may have been recorded incorrectly. There are no certainties in this world.
Related: The House of Your Natal Saturn And Its Role During Your Saturn Return
However, an inaccurate birth certificate may be more reliable than the memory of the people who raised you.
If you don’t know the precise time of your birth, you’ll still be able to analyze your Saturn return.
Let’s continue assuming you know, at least approximately, the time of your birth.
Once you’ve entered the data, in the next step, astro.com “invites” you to register. You’ll have to fill in this information:
Then, astro.com takes you to a record of the chart you created earlier.
Before clicking on “Show the chart,” you have to choose the following parameters:
- Chart type: Natal Chart Wheel.
- Chart drawing style: Web default style (Note: this is up to personal preference. I like this style, so I choose it, but you can experiment with the different options.)
- Start date: Leave it as it is. We don’t need this function right now.
In the “Zodiac and houses” section, choose the following:
- House system: whole signs (Once again, it’s also up to personal preference. I like this system for its simplicity. Besides, it’s very accurate for the Saturn return, but I understand that many people prefer to use Placidus. The choice is yours.)
- Zodiac: Tropical (If you prefer Vedic astrology, you must choose Sidereal.)
Now you’re all set up. Click on “Show the chart”:
Voilá! That’s your natal chart. The pleasure of meeting it is all yours.
For the sake of this example, I’m going to show you the chart of one of my clients done with the instructions I shared above:
As you can see, he has Saturn at 19 degrees, 53 minutes, and 49 seconds of Pisces.
You need to capture this information about yourself to proceed to step 2 of this recipe.
1. Calculate Your Saturn Return
Once you know where your natal Saturn is located, you can determine when your Saturn return will occur.
To calculate the return, you’ll go to the website astro-seek.com.
In “Astro tools,” click on “Returns on Particular X° Degree:”
You’ll arrive here:
Complete the form like this:
- Planet: Saturn
- Returns on Degree: 0
- Sign: The sign of your natal Saturn (In the example I’m using is Pisces.)
- From Year: Pick a year when you were between the ages of 5 and 20 (In my example, I picked 2006 because my client was 10 years old at that time.)
- Tropical/Sidereal: Tropical (Choose Sidereal if you prefer Vedic astrology.)
This is how I completed the form using the example provided (remember to complete it according to your natal chart):
After clicking “Calculate,” you’ll see the day Saturn enters the sign it was in when you were born. This ingress marks the beginning of your Saturn return.
This table shows the three Saturn returns you may experience in your life. The first return occurs at approximately 29 years old. The second, at approximately 59 years old; and the third, at approximately 88 years old.
Related: Returning Home: Facing Tough Times During My Saturn Return
Why will Saturn cross the 0 degrees of Pisces three times during this person’s second return in 2052 and 2053?
Saturn retrogrades every year and sometimes goes over mathematical degrees it has already covered, returning to the previous sign. When it goes to the previous sign, you have some sort of break during your Saturn return.
Then, when it starts moving directly again, it re-enters Pisces. Then, the second Saturn return of this client will be resumed.
I know it’s a lot of information. Don’t worry about it for now. I’ll explain everything in future posts.
What you need to know is the start of your Saturn return. If you were born in the 90s and have Saturn in Pisces, your Saturn return begins on March 7th, 2023.
How Do I Know When My Saturn Return Ends?
Your Saturn return ends when this planet moves to the sign of the zodiac that comes after the sign of your natal Saturn.
This is the order of the zodiac signs:
- Aries
- Taurus
- Gemini
- Cancer
- Leo
- Virgo
- Libra
- Scorpio
- Sagittarius
- Capricorn
- Aquarius
- Pisces
With this information, let’s go back to the Astro Seek Calculator.
Since the person in my example was born with Saturn in Pisces, his return ends when Saturn moves to the next sign, Aries. The planets move cyclically, so after Pisces, the zodiac wheel starts again with Aries.
This is what I put in the calculator:
These are the results obtained:
The first Saturn return of the client used as an example ends on the 25th of May 2025. On that day, the first Saturn return of the people born with Saturn in Aries starts.
As I mentioned earlier, sometimes Saturn retrogrades back to the previous sign. Hence, the beginning and ending of the Saturn return is not as straightforward as with the example here involving Pisces.
If you were born with Saturn in Capricorn, for example, your Saturn return didn’t end when Saturn ingressed into Aquarius on 22nd March 2020. It actually ended on 17th December 2020, when Saturn ingressed into Aquarius and didn’t return to Capricorn.
People with Saturn in Capricorn had a little break from the end of March until the 1st of July 2020. In July, Saturn retrograde returned to Capricorn to give the final lessons of the return to the Saturn in Capricorn generation. On December 17th, 2020, it re-ingressed Aquarius, marking the end of the return for the Saturn in Capricorn crew.
This can be confusing. But don’t worry. I got you. Let’s take it little by little.
For now, focus on the date your Saturn return begins and the day it ends.
Exercise to Start Analyzing Your Saturn Return
I suggest you have a dedicated notebook for your Saturn return. You’ll use it for the whole transit duration, meaning approximately 2.5 years. It will be your companion, your confidant, and a tool for reflection, planning, and studying. You won’t regret having one.
Once you have chosen your Saturn return diary, I want you to write this down:
- Sign of my natal Saturn
- Degree, minute, and second of my natal Saturn
- The date on which my Saturn return begins
- The date on which my Saturn return ends
Complete these bullet points with the data you’ve obtained by following the instructions I shared in this post.
You’ll have more journaling exercises in future texts.
Was this helpful? Let me know in the comments!
First Saturn Return 
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