Using Astrology Strategically with Hindsight

The biggest divergence of understanding between traditional astrology, even modern "psychological" astrology*, and pop astrology is what astrology is for. The latter in its rapid proliferation of memes and stereotyping of different zodiac signs is primarily interested in entertainment. The former asks, "In what way can I look at where the planets are now or have been historically and make that useful?"

This may seem like a really elementary statement, but many people seem surprised when they find that I expect astrology to be accurate and applicable instead of just calling Capricorn Suns "hyper" or Aquarius Suns "ready to fight" (which, I may note, is not traditionally observed features of either of the Saturn-ruled signs). If you are fortunate to have access to experienced and talented astrologers, you can indeed pay for astrological readings that contain great predictive accuracy. However, even for those of us who have had such life-changing readings, there is still sometimes a need to fill in the gaps between one reading and the next. Because I am not at the level where I am able to predict, I actually go the opposite direction and use tracking and hindsight to inform my choices.

I have talked about this a few times before, but aim now to lay my process out more instructionally. Basically, have you ever looked back on your life and said, "I should have done that"? I know I have. I should have been involved in my high school's theater program. I should have double majored in English and Psychology. I should have looked at other options for my first job. I should have, I should have, I should have...

To be clear: anything you wish you had done, you can still do in some form right now. But if you are feeling overwhelmed and have no idea what to pursue because life is so much, then this technique helps you to look back and break down what you were doing at key points. Doing so will remind you what your values, preferences, and goals are.

Your life is a long-term project—in fact, your longest term project. For that reason, this hindsight exercise works with Saturn. Saturn is the traditional planet who is farthest from the Sun and is the slowest planet from the viewpoint of Earth. Saturn is the big picture, the container, and therefore the narrative of your life. Saturn is also the planet of agriculture and wants you to work long and hard on seeds you have planted so that you can harvest their fruit most effectively.

In order to start this exercise, you first want to know each of the zodiac signs' modalities.

Cardinal: Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn

Fixed: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius

Mutable: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces

As of this writing, Saturn is in the mutable sign of Pisces. That means she is squaring Sagittarius, the last mutable sign she transited, and Gemini, as well as opposing Virgo. If you have access to your natal chart, you may notice you are likely feeling the most friction or restructuring in those four signs as they correspond to areas of life in your chart. But even if you don't, it's fine, you can still use this technique.

Here are the past years Saturn was in mutable signs**:

Sagittarius: December 23, 2014 to December 20, 2017

Virgo: September 2, 2007 to July 21, 2010

Gemini: October 15, 2000 to June 4, 2003

At this point, you want to grab a few sheets of paper and a writing utensil. Recall where you were and what you were doing during these periods and make a list of everything you can think of for each sign. Look at where you are now with Saturn in Pisces and note important events, even motifs if you are able to observe that in your life. Compare what has happened more recently to what happened in your life to these lists and you should discover similarities.

For instance, when Saturn was in Virgo, many important seeds were planted in my life:

1. I was in high school and started showing advanced signs of my depression and anxiety disorder as I awaited college admissions
2. I was part of my school's Gay Straight Alliance
3. I met someone who became an important friend and mentor to me. I consider this to be my first intimate relationship even if we were never a couple. The basis of our relationship was writing and reading each other's queer stories
4. This friend conceptually introduced me to polyamory and kink
5. I vividly recall being shown a documentary on intersex people in my senior year science class

When Saturn was in Sagittarius, these themes echoed:

1. I was laid off from my job and was desperately hunting for employment for a year. I dealt with severe depression from this as well as other factors
2. I occasionally volunteered to fill in the time, including at LGBTQ programs and lived across the street from one
3. I wrote several queer comic books and was in pop culture journalism reporting on other queer comics
4. I went on a bunch of first dates and experienced various dynamics with new people
5. I explored kink for the first time with a friend who later came out as trans partially due to our arrangement

Looking at these Virgo and Sagittarius lists, one thing I did correctly was write a lot. So here I am, writing again. I also noticed that while I was involved in LGBTQ programs, I wished I had been more involved. So I threw myself into volunteering at one of my local centers at least once a week and I love it. It gives the structure I need to my week, purpose outside of job hunting, skills and experience I need for my selfhood as well as my career, and networking opportunities within my community.

Additionally, I can now see the pathways to which Saturn in Pisces has granted me a gender awakening, a new trans masc lens of which to write fiction, explorations into polyamory, and my first play parties. Not bad!

If you try this exercise, I strongly encourage you to do the same for the other modalities as well. The one downside to all this tracking is that stuff that has sucked in the past probably sucks in a similar way now. But! If you see how things have played out in these patterns throughout the course of your life, you remember how you extricated yourself from past pains and the optimism in the fact that change is inevitable. As you gain age and wisdom, you are earning Saturn's best gifts and can navigate her efforts more effectively.

Happy hindsight and best of luck on all your ventures!

*I put psychological in quotes because some of the foundational thinkers of "psychological" astrology are not licensed professionals or even have histories of lying about having credentials. I acknowledge that there are many actual clinicians who are also astrologers, but I take issue with calling that particular style of astrology psychological without caveat given problematic sourcing

**Due to retrogrades, these dates are from the point where Saturn first hits 0 degrees of a mutable sign to when she last hits 0 degrees of the next (cardinal) sign. For example, she next enters Aries Spring 2025, but retrogrades back into Pisces before re-entering Aries in 2026. We can see this as her as narrator doing set up for the next "story," finishing up the current story, and then continuing the next