How to Calculate Your EXACT Saturn Return

Wait a minute. Didn’t we learn how to calculate the Saturn return in the previous post?

Well, sort of.

Hellenistic astrology considers that the Saturn return begins when this planet ingresses to the sign it was in when you were born and ends when Saturn moves into the next sign.

This branch of astrology doesn’t analyze transits using degrees but only signs.

On the other hand, modern or psychological astrology considers the return to occur when Saturn reaches the EXACT degree it was at the time of your birth.

In my astrological practice, I use both approaches.

Related: My Philosophy About Astrology

I consider that the whole process takes 2.5 years (inspired by Hellenistic astrology), but I also like to pay attention to the dates when Saturn reaches the exact degree it was when my clients were born (thanks to psychological astrology).

This is why I taught you how to calculate the bigger picture of your Saturn return in the previous text.

Now, we’re getting more granular. This is the table of contents:

Let’s go.

Calculating Your Exact Saturn Return

To teach you how to calculate your exact Saturn return, I’ll refer to the chart I used in the previous text when I taught you how to get yours on astro.com.

This is it:

As you can see, my client has Saturn at 19 degrees, 53 minutes, and 49 seconds of Pisces.

Once you know the degrees, minutes, and seconds Saturn is parked in your natal chart, you must go to astro-seek.com to calculate the exact return of this ringed planet.

In “Astro tools,” click on “Returns on Particular X° Degree:”

You’ll arrive here:

Complete the form like this:

Planet: Saturn
Returns on Degree: 19°, 53’, and 49’’ (This is my client’s Saturn. Pay attention to the placement of yours)
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):

These are the results I got from the Astro Seek calculator:

In this instance, you can choose your time zone to get an accurate time for the exact Saturn return. My client lives in New York, the city you’ll see in the screenshot.

Choose the city you usually live in or, if you know it, where you’ll be when your Saturn is exact.

My client’s first exact Saturn return is on February 22nd, 2025, at 06:27 New York time.

How Long Does the Exact Saturn Return Last?

Does the exact Saturn return last only one day?

No, because Saturn is a planet that moves slowly and stays in the same mathematical degree for several days.

Usually, Saturn stays in the same degree as your natal Saturn (but not the exact minutes and seconds) for one week to ten days.

The duration also varies depending on whether Saturn is retrograde, stationary, or direct.

But let’s keep it simple for now.

Remember this: When Saturn is in the same degree as when you were born, you’re experiencing your exact Saturn return.

Let’s go back to Astro Seek’s calculator using my client’s chart.

To determine the ending of his exact Saturn return, I have to insert the next degree in the calculator, which is 20°, 53’, and 49’’, because his natal Saturn is placed at 19°, 53’, and 49’’.

This is the result when introducing the data:

On March 2nd, 2025, at 11:48 New York time, Saturn arrives at 20 degrees, 53 minutes, and 49 seconds of Pisces, and it stops being on the same degree as my client’s natal Saturn.

This means his Saturn return is exact from February 22nd, 2025, at 06:27 New York time until March 2nd, 2025, at 11:48 New York time.

Some specific tasks could be performed during the days of the exact Saturn return, and I’ll cover them in future texts.

Can the Exact Saturn Return Occur More Than Once?

As Saturn sometimes retrogrades and travels back through the same mathematical degrees three times (once direct, once retrograde, and once direct again), some people experience the exact Saturn return three times in a row.

Some astrologers consider that people who experience the exact Saturn return three times will have a more challenging process than those with only one hit.

Even though I mention this idea because you could find it interesting, I’m not 100 % behind it. This is a complex transit for everyone.

I believe the three hits some people experience are connected to the same topic. For example, in the first hit, a problem emerges. In the second hit, they are dealing with it, and in the third, some sort of resolution is reached.

It could also be considered like a movie or play’s First Act / Second Act / Third Act.

This is the case of my friend Alma.

Alma has Saturn in the 0-degree of Aquarius with 43 minutes and 40 seconds.

By using the Astro Seek calculator, I could see when her Saturn return was exact:

And the dates when Saturn moved to the next degree:

The first exact Saturn return of Alma took place from April 1st, 2020, at 22:48 Spain time to April 24th, 2020, at 10:23 Spain time.

This first hit is a good example of the variability in the duration of the exact Saturn return. In this case, Saturn spent almost 23 days in the same degree, contrary to the “normal” 10-day period. This is not weird, though. Saturn was moving slowly at this time.

The second exact Saturn return of Alma took place from May 28th at 02:57 Spain time until June 20th at 10:39 Spain time.

Finally, the third exact Saturn return occurred from December 24th, 2020, at 00:35 Spain time to January 1st, 2021, at 22.41 Spain time. Here you can see that Saturn was moving faster.

Before continuing, there’s something VERY IMPORTANT I need you to pay attention to.

In the second instance of the exact Saturn return, you need to first look at the second Astro Seek table and then the first one due to Saturn’s retrograde motion.

Wait, what? What does this mean?

In the second hit, Saturn is retrograde. The table itself shows this with the symbol (R), and being retrograde means “moving backward.”

When Saturn is retrograde, the planet doesn’t go from degree 0 to 01, but from degree 01 to 0.

That’s why you need to look at the second table, which will have the first date in chronological order, and then the first table, which will have the second date in chronological order.

This only applies to Saturn’s visit when it is retrograde (again, the uppercase R indicates if it’s retrograde).

When Saturn is direct, you look at the date in the first table first and then the one in the second table.

This might seem difficult to understand, but I assure you, if you follow the instructions, you won’t have any problems.

What Will Happen to Me During My Exact Saturn Return?

Some branches of astrology consider that the most important revelations of your Saturn return will occur when this transit is exact.

I disagree.

It could happen, for sure. But it’s just one of many possibilities.

You could receive big revelations or tribulations, or, on the contrary, be super chill and experience hardships before this moment or afterward.

I mostly like to calculate the exact Saturn return to put some rituals in place during these dates, but not to have expectations about the occurrence of a specific course of events.

We must embody astrology with curiosity and possibility rather than expecting something particular to happen, be it “good” or “bad.”

Exercise to Start Analyzing Your Exact Saturn Return

Write this info in your Saturn Return Diary:

Day and time when Saturn reaches the degree, minute, and second of my natal Saturn.
Day and time when Saturn leaves the degree, minute, and second of my natal Saturn to reach the following degree.
If Saturn visits your natal degree, minute, and second three times, note these three instances of arrival and departure (check the VERY IMPORTANT note in this text for taking the dates appropriately).
5 ideas for rituals to perform when Saturn will be on the degree of your natal Saturn. Do not overanalyze or spend more than 10 minutes on this exercise. For now, you will not act on these ideas. Simply jot them down.
If your exact Saturn return has already occurred, review what happened on those days. Look through your emails, social media, photos you took with your phone, calendars, planners, and journals. Jot it down. For now, do not analyze the information, just write it down.

I hope you find these instructions helpful! Let me know in the comments if you have any questions.