First Saturn Return

Hi there! And thank you for being here. 

My name is Valentina.

I was born in 1991 in a small town called Las Rosas in the center of Argentina. This is a very sleepy town.

Growing up, I always thought there had to be more to life than I could see daily.

I started studying English as a foreign language when I was only six. This experience opened up my world in unexpected ways. 

When I was 16, I traveled to Italy with my dance crew. We attended several dance festivals to showcase Argentinian traditional dances, such as tango.

But the organization of the festivals didn’t have official translators. People from all over the world were present and most of them didn’t speak Italian.

Thanks to my education in a polyglot school, I knew how to speak Italian. Besides, I was already quite fluent in English.

So, I used my Spanish, English, and Italian skills to help people understand each other. 

That’s when I realized I wanted to have a job exactly like that when I grew up.   

As a result, I went to college to become an English-to-Spanish translator and Interpreter. At the same time, I became involved in Philosophy studies, yoga, and modern dancing. 

My early twenties were filled with studying, learning from friends, and traveling. However, only at the end of them did I decide to take astrology seriously. I enrolled in the Faculty of Astrological Studies when I was 27.  

Introducing: The Saturn Return in My Life

I have loved astrology, magic, and esoteric things since I was a child. But in my teenage years and early twenties, I didn’t give myself the space to explore them in depth. 

A few years after college, I had a successful corporate career as a project manager for international companies. 

In my spare time, I always read about astrology, tarot, mysticism, Wicca, magic, personal development, spirituality, and related topics. 

Back then, handling these disciplines was something that other people could do. Not me. Even though I was an avid consumer, I thought I could NEVER be an astrologer or tarot reader myself. 

In 2016, I experienced some tragedies in my family. This series of unfortunate events made me realize I wasn’t living a genuine life. I also learned that we can control only so much, and the rest is a mystery. 

I was doing what I thought I had to do or following the path people expected me to follow. 

At that point, I was in a relationship with someone who was 29 years old. I was 24. 

We traveled to the mountains with friends for New Year’s Eve in 2016. And two of them were astrologers.  

My (now ex) boyfriend was absolutely disconnected from me. He feared moving on, taking new steps, and deciding what to do with his life. He was afraid of growing up. 

We were having a conversation about this in the mountains. And then one of the astrologers said: 

Oh, you’re going through the first Saturn return. No wonder you feel like that. 

A lightbulb just turned on in my head. 

I started asking many questions. The first one:

What is the Saturn return?

One of the astrologers told me something like this: 

The Saturn return is a maturity crisis. It’s like a portal where you have to decide the type of adult you want to be. But sometimes, this is not easy because you are scared of what the future holds. And you may have many doubts about your own capacity or talents. 

That answer ignited a spark that has been alive and well ever since. That conversation is the seed of this website and all my work. 

NOTE: If you want to read the whole story about my discovery of the first Saturn return, check this post. 

The Moment I Decided to Become An Astrologer 

After the trip to the mountains, we broke up. 

2017 was a year where I dug deeper into my interest in studying astrology. The same happened in 2018. 

In 2018, I started dating another guy and reading his natal chart. He was also interested in this “spooky” stuff. 

He introduced me to Mayan astrology and told me I was a Blue Hand in the Mayan cosmovision. 

A Blue Hand is a visionary and a healer. Blue Hands can help other people with the talents that reside within them.  

I’m forever thankful to him. He gave me the validation or permission I needed to pursue this path. I could then accept that the gifts that I have always admired in other people were actually inside me. 

I just needed to activate them and believe I could take the necessary steps to actualize those hidden talents. 

We broke up because he feared having a committed relationship with me.

And guess what?

He was also transiting his first Saturn return. 

I had a double realization. There was definitely something going on with this Saturn return thing. 

So, after this relationship ended, I read more and more about this pivotal astrological transit.  

I decided I would NOT be immature when experiencing my first Saturn return. I would prepare myself for that moment. 

Part of that preparation implied studying astrology formally. 

Valentina Goes to Magic School

At the end of 2018, I contacted the astrologer I met in the mountains. 

We had already become good friends after the first New Year spent together.

Even though we didn’t see each other often because we lived in different cities, we had regular contact through WhatsApp. 

I told him that I wanted to become a really good astrologer. So I asked for recommendations. I needed to know about places to learn and meet people with the same interests. 

The Faculty of Astrological Studies, he said. 

All right, now I know what to do. 

I enrolled and started the first module in the fall of 2019. I was traveling through Greece at the time.

For the first time in a while, I felt that my life was coming together. 

In 2020, COVID-19 expanded rapidly, and the school put all the classes online. This allowed me to complete all the modules without the need to travel to London. 

While completing my studies at the Faculty, I launched a blog in Spanish, my native language, about the Saturn Return. 

Related: What Is the Saturn Return in Astrology?

I also used social media back then. I had Twitter and Instagram accounts. They were growing consistently. At one point, I had 15,000 followers on Twitter, and I really loved being there. It was my favorite social media platform. Things were going well. 

COVID was not as bad for me as it was for others. I worked remotely while I nurtured my astrological studies. 

Besides, I had just started a new relationship. I didn’t need to be outside. 

My natal Saturn is in Aquarius, and my first Saturn return started right when the lockdowns became more extreme. But, again, things were going well for me. 

The Twists and Turns of my Saturn Return

Even though the world was in shambles, I was OK in my little privileged bubble. 

I thought: “Well, the Saturn return is not that bad!”

In my mind, all the preparation I had done was drawing me the results I wanted. 

I had some self-doubt and was anxious about the future, but it was not that bad. 

And then my world came crashing down. “Well, now I understand why the Saturn return IS BAD!” I thought.  

My father died unexpectedly at the beginning of 2022. I was 30 years old. 

I understood, quite literally, why some astrologers refer to the first Saturn return as the 30-year-old crisis. 

When my father died, it was not only a period of extreme grief and sadness. His death caused a lot of problems for me. His death opened Pandora’s box. 

There were so many bureaucratic processes to handle. Solving them all would take time, money, organization, and patience. Now, I was the adult dealing with adult matters. 

One year later, my grandmother, aka my dad’s mom, also passed away. She was the woman who raised me. I inherited so much from her, both “good” and “bad.”

She was at a nursery home with dementia. But I think that the death of my father was what debilitated her so much that she couldn’t continue living. 

My grandmother was 90 years old. She was experiencing her third Saturn return when she died. 

The Big Lessons of My Saturn Return

What I realized during 2022 and the early part of 2023 is that you need tools to survive this transit. 

These tools can be astrological. This is why I’m an astrologer. But they must go beyond astrology or using your mind or intellect to capture something. 

Shit happens. That’s just inevitable. That’s just life. At the same time, I’m not romanticizing pain or the challenging experiences you may have during your first Saturn return. 

What I’m saying is that there are some strategies and tools you can implement when those hard times arrive. They will not remove the pain, but could prevent you from collapsing or breaking down. 

Related: Essential Tips to Prepare for Your Saturn Return

And I specialize in teaching the acquisition of these strategies and tools for people going through their first Saturn return. 

The 30-year-old crisis is a prime time to slow down and become a student of life. But it’s not the only period when you can do it. Being a student of life is a life-long journey. 

Why I Focus on the First Saturn Return?

We live in a society that rushes everyone. There’s this idea floating around that your 20s are the best time of your life.

I disagree with this notion. 

Related: My Philosophy About Astrology

You don’t necessarily have to suffer in your 20s. But I also don’t buy into the idea that that decade is the peak of your life. 

You can have many peaks and many valleys during your existence. Astrology is about transits, and people experience transits differently according to their natal chart. This is why some peak during high school, others at seven, and others after their second Saturn return. There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to good and bad times. 

So, my goal for you is to help you feel taken care of and accompanied through your first Saturn return. 

Experiencing pain during this time is absolutely normal. I hear you. I cannot take your pain away. But I can offer you tools, strategies, and resources to help you survive this transit and, maybe, even thrive. 

My Approach to Astrology and the First Saturn Return 

1. I walk the talk. I don’t recommend anything that I haven’t tried myself. 
2. I teach step-by-step and try to make my explanations crystal clear. But there are no magic pills or instant solutions here. 
3. I don’t use social media, and I encourage you to reduce your exposure to it. 
4. I don’t engage in toxic positivity, even though I’m very optimistic.  
5. I will root for you. I believe in your ability to improve, but I will also hold your hand when you feel insecure. 
6. I promote a slow and intentional way of life rather than a hustle, grind, and push-through mentality. Saturn is all about aging gracefully and wisely, not about burnout and heart attacks at 40. 
7. I take a cyclical approach to everything I do and try to honor my body’s needs. I will help you do the same without feeling guilty, shamed, or lazy. 
8. I meet you where you’re at. I’m not pushing you to do something you’re not ready to do. If something doesn’t resonate, feel free to walk away.  
9. I will offer tools that will be helpful during your first Saturn return and every time life gets tough. 
10. I’m not the guru who knows everything and has all the tips and tricks, while you’re just a passive receiver. We are going to work in a dialectic way. This is a dialogue, not a monologue. 
11. I’m just one email away. Contact me: valentina@firstsaturnreturn.com 

Thank you again for being here! And I hope my work helps you navigate your first Saturn return with grace and patience.