All about Saturn in Capricorn or in the 10th house

The placement of your Saturn sign can reveal some of life’s toughest lessons.

What your Saturn sign means

Here’s where your dutiful side kicks in and makes you modest and process-driven. Perfectionism and self-criticism can stall progress. Restriction and suppression are Saturn’s signature moves, so you may constantly hold yourself back in this area of life. Understanding your Saturn sign can help you identify your blocks and make your ascent.

Although you may never be totally free from Saturn’s iron grip, learning how to push past inner (and in some cases, outer) judgment can launch you to the highest heights of success! You may not realize how hard you’ve worked to figure this out—and years later, boom, you discover that you’re an expert.

Where have you become excessive? When is enough just…enough? The whistleblowing planet of integrity reveals where you need to set better boundaries. But don’t give up! Taskmaster Saturn applauds perseverance and shines a light on where you need to keep on pushing!

This is the planet that rules structured Capricorn, the zodiac’s Sea Goat (a “WTF?!” creature if ever there was one). With its mermaid tail and two front legs, the Capricorn Goat makes an unwavering ascent to the top of the mountain for the win. Maybe that’s why there’s so much hidden magic to Saturn’s process. One minute, you feel like Sisyphus rolling an interminable boulder up the hill. Then, your hustle yields a breakthrough and you’re living the dream!

It’s worth working with a master teacher to develop a Saturn-ruled craft. Practice definitely makes perfect in this area of life. Don’t worry about knocking it out of the park the first time up to bat. (You won’t.) Wax on, wax off. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Victory!

Natal Saturn or Saturn Sign

Whatever zodiac sign and house Saturn was orbiting through at your time of birth determines your “natal Saturn” or “Saturn sign.” More specifically, this will guide you in the following ways:

Time: Where you’ll take your time and let things develop organically
Karma: What past-life lessons you are facing again this time around
Ambition: Where you’ll hustle and compete to become the best
Authority: Your leadership style and where you take charge
Boundaries: Where you set firm limits—possibly limiting yourself in the process
Challenges: What hurdles you are here to overcome
Perseverance: Where you’ll never, ever give up!
Providing: What you provide for “your people” and where you’re the rock for them
Suppression: How you restrict yourself, holding yourself back from growth

Saturn is one of the outer planets, housed between Jupiter and Pluto. Because of its distance from the Sun, it has a longer orbit to make. Saturn takes 29.5 years to circle the Sun, spending an average of three years in each one of the zodiac signs. Every 29.5 years you will have a Saturn return, a cosmic rite of passage associated with adulting, mastery and triumphing over challenges.

What’s your Saturn sign?

Use our cosmic calculator to discover what zodiac sign and house Saturn was in when you were born. To accurately determine the house, you will need to know your birth time.

What if the zodiac sign and house are different?

This is common! Read both the sign and house description below. Do these interpretations pull you in two different directions? That’s not unusual. We human beings have range. Astrology is an interpretive dance, a tool which provides a fascinating layer of self-discovery. Do some “astro mixology.” Reflect on how you can work with both energies to enhance your life.

Find your Saturn Sign

Calculate Yours!

Special positions of Saturn

Retrograde:

Saturn turns retrograde for five months of every year, so it’s not unusual to be born with this planet in reverse. You may have to work harder to muscle through its lessons, but once you nail this planet’s energy, your additional effort may actually lead to a rock-solid mastery of working with Saturn in your life.

Domicile: Capricorn

The planet’s home base, an easy flow if placed here in the chart

Detriment: Cancer

Opposite sign of home base, may need to work harder to integrate the planet’s energy if placed here in the chart

Exalted: Libra

The planet’s most powerful position; indicates ease and added fortune with using the planet’s energy if placed here in the chart

Fall: Aries

Opposite sign to the exalted position, can indicate struggles with utilizing the planet’s energy if placed here in the chart

Saturn in Capricorn or the 10th House

Lucky you! Saturn in Capricorn means the high-achieving planet is right at home in its native zodiac sign, or the 10th house. If you weren’t born with an elevated sense of ambition, you’re sure to develop one by the time the planet makes its first return (full orbit through the zodiac) in your late 20s. The trick? Find something you love doing so much that you lose track of time.

Traits of Saturn in Capricorn

True, Saturn, AKA Cronos, is the cosmic clock-watcher, however you have special permission to play the long game. Take your time, polish your skills, learn how to do it the right way. Rising through the ranks is your destiny, and many with this Saturn placement become captains of industry, like Grammy-crushing chanteuse Adele and gender-revolutionary RuPaul.

Saturn, Capricorn and the 10th house are all associated with prestige and authority. These clout-chasing placements can give you quite the competitive streak. You’re attracted to prestige, status and winners, but not the kind that people are born into. People who have earned their place in the VIP room are the ones you respect! And you’ve undoubtedly hustled to get there yourself.

The catch-22? In your zeal to prove yourself, you can easily become a workaholic, burning yourself out and alienating family, who are lifeblood to people born with this traditional Saturn placement. Barack Obama, born with Saturn in Capricorn, has been candid about his regrets for putting wife Michelle second to his work and the strains that put on their marriage. The two are open about doing couple’s counseling, even before his presidency.

Saturn in Capricorn careers

Big business could call your name, and you might aspire to one day return to school for an MBA or get promoted to a director’s position. You could even open up shop on your own venture. Hello, founder! Billionaire magnate Warren Buffet was born with Saturn in Capricorn. The Berkshire Hathaway CEO is famous for his storytelling, financial predictions and has nearly 50 books written about him. His famous quote, “Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago,” speaks to the patient planning powers and resilience that you are here to develop.

Saturn in Capricorn relationships

Capricorn and the 10th house are associated the father. While you long to have a great relationship with yours, Daddy issues are a big theme for many born with Saturn challenging this zodiac sign or house. You may have a strained or distant relationship with your father. Perhaps your dad was stern and authoritative, making it difficult for you to express yourself in his company. If you were lucky enough to have a solid father figure in your corner (who could just as easily be an uncle or stepdad), he may be the one who always believed in you and championed your success.

While your hustle is unstoppable, how high are you raising that bar? Self-expectations can rise into dangerously unrealistic territory for Saturn in Capricorn. As you fixate singularly on crushing a goal, you may lose sight of everything else, including your own quality of life. Sure, you can achieve more than most mere mortals, but is that really the point of life? Regular perspective checks are essential to ensuring that you live a healthy, satisfying life. It can help to plan a quarterly vacation/retreat, where you turn off devices, screen out work and just relax. When you’re feeling balanced, ask yourself this: What do I truly need to feel satisfied? Hint: It’s probably a lot less than you expect when you’re immersed in your work.

With Saturn in Capricorn (a family oriented sign), having time to spend with your nearest and dearest is essential to your internal balance. Starting (or joining) a business with relatives is not a bad idea, since you’ll combine two of your favorite things: working and enjoying their company.

This earthy Saturn placement imbues you with a deep sense of responsibility toward the environment. Climate change, environmental justice, conservation and other issues could be part of your dharma work.

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