What Is Saturn Return and Does Life Improve Once It’s Over?

One night not long ago, a close friend and I met up for the first time in a couple of years. A few minutes into catching up, we realized both our lives seemed pretty…messy. Between the two of us, there’d been breakups, job layoffs, moves, parents divorcing, family member deaths, recurring health issues, and a smattering of finished friendships.

We didn’t need to wonder why.  We looked at each other and simply said, “Saturn return.”

The legendary astrological event that occurs in your late 20s is known for flipping the status quo like it’s a table on the Real Housewives of New Jersey. Everything you thought you knew? Think again! Saturn’s influence has you grappling with changes and questioning literally everything.

But it’s all for the greater good, say astrologers, influencers, and famous singers (Kacey Musgraves’s “Deeper Well” and Ariana Grande’s “Saturn Returns Interlude” are about the emotional upheaval of this period). So that evening, my friend and I celebrated the fact that our growing pains were seemingly over. We’d both recently turned 31 and expected our lives to magically upgrade.

Still, I couldn’t help but wonder whether our post-Saturn return optimism was sorta delusional. Would life really start making sense again after the unimaginable twists and turns? Of course, it’s never that simple when it comes to the stars.

What Is Your Saturn Return?

Saturn return happens about every 28 years, beginning when you’re in your late 20s. The planet Saturn moves to the same placement in the sky—and the zodiac—as at the moment of your birth, explains astrologer and yoga instructor Ashley White. It’s similar to how, on your birthday, the Sun returns to the same position it was when you were born.

If life is a scenic roadtrip, then Saturn return is the peskiest of passengers, adding every possible detour to your route, begging you to pull over to the most desolate rest stops, and dangerously placing its hands on the wheel to veer you off the path you meticulously laid out for yourself. The vibe of Saturn return is the same as the planet itself, which is known for influencing boundaries, structure, and maturity. White recommends looking at your birth chart for which zodiac sign and house Saturn is in to make sense of where Saturn is pushing you to grow.

For me, the Saturn return signs were pretty classic—there were sudden endings, conflicting emotions, and a sense of being stuck in the same pattern. Over the approximately two to three year period, I moved back in with my parents, was laid off from my job, and got dumped. (Thanks, Saturn!) And if you look at my chart, these lessons make sense, with Saturn in Pisces (hello, emotions!) and my 10th house (career and reputation!).

Maybe you’ve heard people say that Saturn is known for taking away things that were never yours to begin with. In other words, it alters your life in a way that forces you to be brutally honest with yourself. In my case, that meant admitting that I’d been itching to leave city life for a calmer environment, I hadn’t been happy with my job, and the guy I was dating? Let’s just say, bless his heart.

It makes sense why Saturn return has earned itself a cutthroat reputation. But there’s a deeper meaning underneath the changes. “The challenges faced perfectly match the ways we most need to mature and grow during that time period,” says astrologer Emily Ridout.

Saturn return works for you, not against you. All of its changes are meant to help you become stronger, more authentic, and less preoccupied with things that don’t actually matter. Consider it a cosmic leveling-up. Although that doesn’t necessarily mean things get easier right away.

What About After Your Saturn Return?

In anticipation of the end of Saturn’s reign, I tracked the exact date its placement shifted—which, in my mind, meant I’d feel aligned in every way. No anxiety! No existential dread! No fear!

That’s not at all what happened.

The day my Saturn return ended was anticlimactic—in no small part due to my incredibly unrealistic expectations. Life was still life, complete with its struggles and self-doubts and roadblocks. I didn’t wake up and float out of bed to rest on my enlightened cloud of self-realization. However, Saturn did deliver. Just not in the way I expected.

That period in my life took things away. At first, they were things that were incredibly obvious from the outside: my apartment, my career, and my social life. It took a few months after my Saturn return to realize that I’d lost even more, albeit less noticeable things: hinging my self-worth on where I lived, my intense preoccupation with getting other people to like me, and pushing down how I really felt for the sake of blending in or seeming like an easier person to be around. I ended my Saturn return losing a lot of things—and liking myself a lot more.

Finally, I understood what astrologers meant when they referred to an emotional and spiritual leveling-up that tends to occur after the return. It’s not that life gets easier, explains Ridout. “We are simply more adept at facing it head-on. Think of Saturn as equipping you with real-life skills you previously lacked,” says Ridout.

And it doesn’t end there.

A second Saturn return happens at around age 56 or 57. This one involves facing off with your life’s purpose. Whether your focus is career, a spiritual practice, your role as a parent, or a life adventure, you’ll experience “relief from the suspicion that your life’s work isn’t going to make any difference,” says Ridout.

The third Saturn return, in your 80s, is “a relief from all worldly expectations,” says Ridout. “But these small reliefs were won through hard effort.” In any era you experience Saturn return, it’s a wake-up call to remind you that, even as you change and the world around you changes, you matter.

3 Things to Think About After Saturn Return

Saturn is NOT the teacher I wanted, but I came out of her obstacle course much stronger than I was before. And I’ve learned there’s never a bad time to channel some of this planet’s signature shake-things-up energy into committing to myself and my life’s vision.

1. Self-Trust and Self-Compassion

All along, I kinda thought Saturn would change me into a different person—one who could achieve everything in life I’d ever envisioned. But then Saturn was like, “I’m pretty sure you don’t even want everything you’ve ever envisioned. And you’re pretty great as you are. Let me show you.”

I now know I can trust myself to make decisions and be a soft place to land for myself when things don’t work out as I planned. By no means am I perfect in either of these skills, but I do a lot of weird and amazing things like talking to my inner child and hugging myself—they’re ways that I’m being intentional about how I show up for myself, which Ridout says is a trademark after-effect of Saturn return.

2. Releasing “Shoulds”

The darker moments of my Saturn return still leave me questioning everything. I’m continuing to employ that curious spirit to make sure I’m saying what I really mean and doing things I really want to do. Otherwise, I practice setting the boundaries that protect me from everything I don’t want in life.

Astrologer Sam Reynolds calls these the “shoulds.” “Some of those ‘shoulds’ are what you’ve inherited from your family, peers, and community,” he says, “Like having a corner office by 30. Saturn, figuratively, shows up in your life to face the truth of those shoulds, so your heart (and life) can be more authentic,” he says.

3. Celebrating Life

My friend and I weren’t wrong to celebrate the end of the return. Now, I make it a point to acknowledge and do something fun in honor of all the changes and growth I experience.

Maybe I’ll take White’s advice and host post-Saturn return festivities that look similar to a birthday party or a high school graduation. “It’s like you’re watching all the video clips of your years as an awkward teen and realizing how much you’ve blossomed,” says White.