Saturn in fall is an interesting placement. There is a lot of hopelessness to how we think about planets that are in their sign of fall. However, planets in fall are not hopeless. In fact, they are planets that take on the task of creating hope as a mission because they cannot find hope in the world.

Another word for fall is depression. A planet in its fall is a planet in its depression. We have to treat that planet as if it were depressed, sunken, and in a shadow place.

Contrary to how a planet in its fall is defined, I often see people with Saturn in Aries who carry a lot of expectation. Saturn in Aries is often the person in the family who is expected to not only throw off the family’s issues but also to solve them and to lift others out. Sometimes, Saturn in Aries is the first person in the family to go to college. Other times, they are the first to world a white collar job. Sometimes, they are the first to marry or the first to divorce.

I’ve said this before: Saturn in Aries is a Saturn that is expected to change the systems of the world but is also expected to succeed within those same, very systems. It is a Saturn that is tasked with a contradictory mission. It is a Saturn that grieves what it cannot do because it understands that so much of what the family hoped for in the past no longer has a purpose in the present.

But, still, Saturn in fall is afraid of disappointing those very systems that it feels that it must attack to change. It carried the fantasy of escaping harm by appeasing those who harm. This fantasy is not trivial and cannot be brushed off. It is a heavy fantasy.

Part of what makes Saturn in Aries remarkable is that it understands its duty for success. However, it does not choose to succeed. Instead, Saturn in Aries sees the beauty in failure. It decides to do things the hard way not because it wants to struggle but because it wants to change.

For Saturn in Aries, change is a duty. Change is not always a happy duty because change requires the giving up of options. Saturn in Aries grieves every option that it has given up. It grieves every crush that could have been and it grieves every hobby that could have become a lifelong pursuit.

It is very hard for Saturn in Aries to dilly dally but that is what it must learn to do. It must learn that not every pleasurable thing has to become an overwhelming need to succeed. It must learn that starting things does not curse one to a lifelong obsession. It must learn that it is okay to fail and that failure is a big part of enjoying something.

What Saturn in Aries is about is survival. It is a Saturn that disposes of what cannot be carried because it senses that it must remain light on its feet and mobile. It’s an adaptable Saturn. It seeks to cram the family inheritance, all of the troubles and hopes and memories, into a backpack. It doesn’t believe in the necessity for nonessentials.

But without learning how to dilly dally, Saturn in Aries starts nothing. It fears that every nonessential hobby or pleasure will end up taking too much space and time. It believes itself to only have time for the essentials. It anticipates failure when starting because it tries to play things safe. Why start something when you aren’t committing to it as a career path, trying to monetize it, and are just doing it for fun?

When Saturn learns how to dilly dally, it also learns how to stumble. Saturn in Aries must learn the grace of the stumble. When Saturn learns to stumble, it learns how to forgive itself.

Saturn in Aries can be a Saturn that is cruel to itself. It is a survivalist and survivalists don’t luxuriate. However, to survive is to hold space for failure. To survive means that you give yourself enough time to live. Saturn in Aries—Saturn in fall—is a Saturn that knows how to survive and, joyfully, is also learning that it knows how to live.