The sign of your natal Saturn can give you many clues about your first Saturn return. 

To start with, it can tell you when this astrological transit will occur in your life. Besides, it also provides data on the specific flavor your return will have. 

And the sign of your natal Saturn can be analyzed from different perspectives.

Every sign has an element and a modality. 

In the previous text, I covered the characteristics of Saturn according to its element. 

Now, it’s time to direct your attention to the concept of modality in astrology and its classification by sign. 

After reading this text, you’ll be armed with knowledge about the modality of the sign of your natal Saturn.

Besides, you’ll learn how the modality indicates the way your natal Saturn initiates projects, sustains them, or calls it quits. 

This is the table of contents:

1. Modality in Astrology 
2. Modality Balance in Your Natal Chart
3. Cardinal Signs
   1. Saturn in a Cardinal Sign: Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn
4. Fixed Signs 
   1. Saturn in a Fixed Sign: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius
5. Mutable Signs
   1. Saturn in a Mutable Sign: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces
6. Journaling Prompts to Understand the Modality of Your Natal Saturn

Are you ready? Let’s go!

Modality in Astrology 

Modality is an astrological concept based on the year’s seasons in the Northern Hemisphere. Other ways of naming it are “modes” or “quadruplicities” because each modality contains four signs. 

Currently, most people practicing astrology use the tropical zodiac without making any changes if they live in the Southern Hemisphere. 

Let me give you an example to clarify. Capricorn season in the Southern Hemisphere also takes place partly in December and partly in January. That period of the year is hot in the Southern Hemisphere. Capricorn is a sign associated with the cold. However, the zodiac is not reversed.  

I was born in the southern part of the world and use the tropical zodiac without changing it.

That being said, sometimes I like to think about the opposite zodiac sign. To continue with the same example, I think about Cancer around Christmas.

I do this to grasp some of the symbolic meanings of the modality of the signs according to the seasons. 

But I’m digressing. This is a whole different conversation. 

Related: What Is the Natal Chart? Astrology 101

To keep things simple, remember that the concept of modality in astrology is connected with the seasons as they occur in the Northern Hemisphere. 

There are three modalities, and they include four signs each: 

• Cardinality: The cardinal signs are initiators and, therefore, are at the beginning of each season. Aries marks the beginning of spring, Cancer the beginning of summer, Libra the beginning of autumn, and Capricorn the beginning of winter. 
• Fixity: Since fixed signs are connected with consolidation and rooting, they occur in the middle of the seasons. Taurus is in the middle of spring, Leo is in the middle of summer, Scorpio is in the middle of autumn, and Aquarius is in the middle of winter. 
• Mutability: Located at the end of every season, the meanings of the mutable signs are associated with adaptation and change. Gemini is at the end of spring, Virgo at the end of summer, Sagittarius at the end of autumn, and Pisces at the end of winter. Pisces also marks the end of the astrological year.

Each modality describes the characteristics of the season. Every season starts (the month of the cardinal signs), gets consolidated (during the month of the fixed signs), and then begins to change to mutate into the next season (when the month of the mutable signs takes place.) 

The same cycle unravels in our human psyche. We are not always initiating, or consolidating, or changing and adapting. There’s a season to do each of these things.

In your chart, one modality may be more prevalent than the others. This will indicate that you may have a specific approach to the cycles of life. 

But this approach is not set in stone, either. A variety of experiences, relationships, and transits could make you connect to the modalities you lack.  

Modality Balance in Your Natal Chart

Analyzing the balance of modalities in your natal chart gives insight into how you handle new beginnings, change, and stability. 

Some natal charts have a balanced distribution of the three modalities. But most of them don’t. 

If your birth chart has many planets in one modality, this will manifest as an approach to life that coincides with the characteristics of said modality. 

Instead, if you only have one planet or no planets in a specific modality, engaging with life in the fashion represented by said modality will feel alien to you. Or you may engage with it by overcompensating and going overboard. 

To analyze the balance of your birth chart, focus on the modality of the traditional planets, your Ascendant, and your MC. 

Right now, you should ignore the transpersonal planets because they spend many years in the same sign.

People from the same generation will have these planets in the same modality. This doesn’t “count” when assessing the abundance or lack of that modality in your birth chart. 

Related: Astrology Basics: Your Birth Chart States of Consciousness

These are the planets and angles you have to check out: 

• Sun
• Moon
• Mercury
• Mars
• Venus
• Jupiter
• Saturn
• Ascendant (rising)
• MC

Don’t worry if you have a lot of planets in one modality and a lack of representatives in another. Your life will offer plenty of opportunities to connect with the missing modality (or modalities.) 

Now, it’s time to review the characteristics of the modalities in more depth. Besides doing so, you’ll learn about your natal Saturn by modality.

To mention the concept of modality, I used Bil Tierney’s Twelve Faces of Saturn: Your Guardian Angel Planet.

Cardinal Signs

The Sun visits a cardinal sign during the first third of each season. This visit represents a period of new beginnings and an availability of fresh energy. 

Cardinal signs mark the equinoxes, meaning the beginning of spring and the beginning of autumn. They also mark the solstices (the beginning of summer and winter.)

Cardinality takes action in a definite direction and is interested in forward motion.

These signs indicate a pioneering quality and a devotion to initiating new projects. They also like engaging in challenges, and fighting for their goals. 

The problem with cardinal signs is that they are not the best at following through. After the initial adrenaline rush caused by starting something exciting, their interest can decrease, and boredom can set in. 

Usually, cardinal signs need to embark on a new, shiny project that stimulates their vitality. More often than not, they do it without completing the other project they have already initiated. 

Saturn in a Cardinal Sign: Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn

Saturn is an ambitious planet, and the cardinal mode has drive and push. Cardinal energy moves forward, so Saturn in a cardinal sign is determined and enterprising. 

If you were born with Saturn in a cardinal sign, you feel the impulse to prove yourself to others.

You want to show others you have persistence, initiative, determination, and courage to get to the top of your field. 

A cardinal sign has a “get on with it” attitude. Saturn enjoys being busy, too, but this planet also emphasizes the quality of doing things correctly and seriously.

Related: Saturn in Aries in the Birth Chart

Life will frequently test you, allowing you to demonstrate your competence and capability in seizing the opportunities presented. 

You perceive you are not allowed to feel defeated or throw in the towel. You must persevere. The only way to win the game of life is by playing it. 

You have to assume responsibilities and move around with conviction and decisiveness. Sometimes, this won’t be easy. You may feel that you are not doing the best, but quitting is not an option. If you do nothing, you will feel worse because you will feel guilty and angry toward yourself.  

Cardinal signs like being actively involved in their projects and hate delays. But Saturn sometimes may cause delays to show you that a slower pace creates better results in the long run. 

Frustration can be felt acutely when the fast results that cardinal signs desire do not arrive quickly.

However, these frustrations don’t last long. Cardinal signs soon find their next project to pour their vitality into them and sail to new horizons. 

You need to develop your innate ability to execute. In particular, you must learn to be thorough without becoming too picky or demanding to get immediate results. Good things take time. Saturn will teach you this lesson during your Saturn return or other Saturnian transits.   

Being disciplined, enduring setbacks, and learning to prepare yourself before diving head-on into new projects are some of the lessons to incorporate if you have Saturn in a cardinal sign. 

Fixed Signs 

In the second third of each season, when the characteristics of the season are settled, the Sun is in a fixed sign. 

The fixed signs do not tend to initiate. Instead, they can consolidate the ideas started by the cardinal signs, making them more established and rooted in solid ground. 

Crystallization and preservation are more attractive to fixed signs than change or new beginnings. 

Every fixed sign is loyal, persistent, and perseverant. They possess constant and stable energy and can show endurance, patience, and self-control. 

Fixed energy is stubborn and inflexible. But it is also strong, can sustain effort, and can stay in one place for a long time. This is a necessary trait for achieving long-lasting results. 

Saturn in a Fixed Sign: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius

Most of the prototypical characteristics of Saturn are very similar to those of the fixed signs. They share the qualities of perseverance, endurance, careful planning, committed action, rigidity, and resistance to change.  

If you have Saturn in a fixed sign, you may not be as troubled by delays as someone born with Saturn in a cardinal sign.

Not being able to act quickly is not a significant source of frustration. You tend to feel that you ALWAYS need more time to prepare for the action. 

You may really resent the responsibilities that are thrown at you like unwanted missiles. When you have to solve problems not caused by your behavior, your desire to control every outcome is in jeopardy. 

Saturn in a fixed sign can employ domineering techniques to create some sort of structure from which to operate.

You can become tenacious when dealing with the authorities or people in power.

This can also become an issue in your personal life. You may want to be the “alpha one” in your closest relationships. Doing it can cause friction and tightness with your loved ones.  

Your determination is sturdy, and this helps you work tirelessly through obstacles others perceive as insurmountable. But you also need a dose of adaptability.

Otherwise, you could become too rigid and too attached to your goals. It’s crucial to know when to let go of those objectives that are not meant to be. 

Fear of change is common when Saturn is in a fixed sign. 

You may want to possess a safety net that will last forever. Therefore, you use extreme tactics to preserve that safety net and everything you consider valuable. But, sometimes, it’s unrealistic to pursue safety at all costs.

In some instances, Saturn will send you lessons on dealing with volatile situations. These situations are impossible to predict or prepare for.  

Experiencing a loss or a situation considered a failure could feel devastating for someone with Saturn in a fixed sign. This happens because you hold too tightly to an outcome you are not supposed to control. 

Your internal resistance may create a stiff approach to life. This stiffness could even manifest in your muscles and joints. Relax your mind to relax your body, and vice versa. 

The tendency to fixate on predictability has to be shifted to work with Saturn in a fixed sign positively. Going with the flow is one of the most fundamental lessons you must integrate. 

Related: Pluto in Aquarius and Tips for Saturn in Aquarius

Even though life will show you something different, you may feel that you always have to take care of everything. You may also feel that no one solves problems the way you do, that everyone else is dumb, and that you are wise beyond your years. 

The truth is that you may resolve conflicts more effectively by going within, reflecting, and being self-aware, rather than by acting and staying busy.

This happens because Saturnian energy is internalized when this planet is in a fixed sign. Control and problem-solving strategies should be applied to your inner world rather than to external circumstances. 

Your integrity and seriousness will motivate you to complete your tasks and achieve goals aligned with your true self. 

Mutable Signs

The Sun is in a mutable sign during the last third of each season. The qualities of the season start to slowly shift to give way to the qualities of the next season. 

Therefore, mutable signs are connected with change, flexibility, and adaptability. 

Mutability suggests a state of flow that can be restless and changeable. At the same time, mutable signs can deal with problems as they arise. They can also choose to pivot when the circumstances require it.  

Planets in mutable signs are versatile and adaptable. However, they can also lack direction and experience constant discomfort with their current choices.  

Mutable energy can suggest indecisiveness. It can also cause the feeling of being in a perpetual transition but never arriving at a specific destination. 

The talent of this modality resides in keeping everything fluid and flexible. Simultaneously, mutable signs enjoys the opportunities that offer movement and possibility.

Mutability is the least mundane of the modalities. Mutable signs are not motivated by worldly ambitions or status quo symbols.

Instead, they are deeply interested in learning, studying, teaching, exploring different philosophies and locations, and even serving a higher ideal.

Saturn in a Mutable Sign: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces

Finishing tasks and completing projects could be tricky for Saturn in a mutable sign. 

A constant channel of energy is not one of the most remarkable traits of mutable energy. However, when the right conditions are established, mutability can adapt and adjust to achieve successful outcomes. 

If you have Saturn in a mutable sign, you are definitely smart and sensible. You think twice before acting or assuming a responsibility. 

Nervousness is a characteristic of mutability, and it needs to be channeled through mental discipline to avoid wasting talent.

Related: Eclipse Season and Saturn in Pisces in the Birth Chart

Saturn helps the mutable signs become clear and focused on structuring their thought processes more cohesively.

This makes the natives more selective and discriminating when choosing their food for thought. 

Saturn in a mutable sign will help you reduce the gap between applying logic and following your hunches or intuition. Both approaches offer valuable data when you need to connect with the world or make a decision. 

Being too rational could narrow your perspective and make you oblivious to the subtle messages around you.

But trusting in the unknown blindly can make you overlook essential details.

Saturn will teach you to decide when to be rational and skeptical and when to trust and jump. 

Studying constantly is essential for you.

Engaging in continuous education is paramount. However, at some point you’ll need to get out of your mind and connect with the world outside your books.

Life will guide you toward applying your mental and practical skills in the real world. 

Journaling Prompts to Understand the Modality of Your Natal Saturn

Grab your Saturn Return Diary and answer these questions: 

1. Grab your natal chart and analyze its balance of modalities. Write down the list of the traditional planets, your Ascendant and MC, and next to each of them, put the sign and element they are located in: 

• Sun:
• Moon:
• Mercury:
• Mars:
• Venus:
• Jupiter:
• Saturn:
• Ascendant (rising):
• MC:

A reminder of the signs by modality: 

• Cardinal signs: Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn
• Fixed signs: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius 
• Mutable signs: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces  

2. Is Saturn part of an abundant modality in your chart or an element that you lack?
3. Read again the characteristics of the modality of your natal Saturn. Do you enjoy that time of the year or that season? What do you like doing in the season of your natal Saturn? 

Thank you for your time, and share your thoughts in the comments! Until next week.