Businesses regularly turn to personality assessments such as the DiSC profile, Myers Briggs or the Enneagram to assess and build team dynamics. However, what I consider the original personality assessment is making a rapid return to the workplace, and I am here to encourage you to consider utilizing the ultimate tool for understanding human potential — astrology.
Let’s focus on the planet Saturn. Where it falls within a birth chart can tell us a lot about someone, including their level of discipline, work ethic and how they respond to having responsibility. It is said timing is everything, and that is particularly true when considering the energy of the transiting Saturn and its potential implications in the workplace.
Saturn is a force of reality that can ground us and lead us to our true path in life. However, during certain times in our lives, Saturn’s influence can be challenging to navigate. In this article, we will explore the different Saturn cycles that occur during the working years and how it might be playing out in your office.
In this article, I am going to focus on the working years to midlife and briefly describe what we can generally expect not only from ourselves, but also those on our team.
The Saturn cycles occur every 7-8 years and can be broken down into four sections each.
Second Saturn Square Saturn
Ages 21-22 are typically a period of transition that often coincides with the end of the college years. Whether you have finished college or not, there is often a feeling of pressure and desire to go after something. This influence comes from our societal disposition, and what we think we “should” do along with our early conditioning. It’s a good age to hire because there is an eagerness to explore, even if it’s not the right path. But if it is the right path? Congratulations! You just might have hit a home run with the hire.
Saturn Return
At 29.5, the Saturn Return occurs, which can feel like a stripping away of what doesn’t belong to us. It’s a time of endings, and it can be tough to hire someone during this period. When I speak to entrepreneurs, I often get knowing nods followed by a story of someone leaving the corporate world and starting their business during this time.
To truly understand the impact of the Saturn Return, we must look back at our earliest Saturn transits. At this point in life, we have been conditioned by family (Saturn at ages 7-8), peers (ages 14-15) and society (ages 21-22). You are inching toward aged 30 and almost 75 percent of you belongs mostly to your family, peers and society. But what about YOU? What do you believe? What do you crave?
The Saturn Return is here to strip away the façade of what doesn’t belong to you, and sometimes in Saturn’s deeply conservative fashion, this will put a heavy dose of reality for you to carry on your back, often in the form of an unexpected ending. At this point in our journey, if we simply align ourselves to what is trying leave us and let it go without a fight, this period can be less tumultuous. That being said, most of us equate familiarly with what is right, and we fight against change during the Saturn Return. Because of this, it is very tough to hire someone around this age, and it’s also a time when you can lose employees either through their own major life change, or lack of motivation because subconsciously, they know their heart is not in their job.
Saturn Square Saturn
At ages 36-37, people are developing their true self-image. If the person has ignored this internal calling for true authenticity and continues to work on patterns that limit them, they can find themselves stuck.
In reality, much of the healing at this age goes back to the first Saturn Cycle from when you were 7-8 years old, an age that typically we were the most authentic, and we begin to gravitate toward more of our true nature.
When interviewing potential new employees, pay attention to those who have worked at their previous job for five years or more and are seeking a challenge. If they spent a significant amount of time in their last role, and are making a change on their own, this is a good candidate to consider. In the interview, you want to see a focus on how they have bettered themselves, or how they are seeking more of a challenge.
Be wary of those who spend the interview trying to convince you of their worth. This signals that they are still struggling with their own self-worth, and potentially life is asking them to change careers and do something else. You want to see a candidate that is self-reflective by this age.
For current employees hitting ages 36-37, be on the lookout for coping mechanisms to stay motivated. Sometimes an employee asking for more money is a way they are trying to drum of more energy for something they are no longer happy about and it is the easiest way to make a change, when ultimately, their purpose is best fulfilled elsewhere.
Saturn Opposition Saturn
At ages 44-45, people are much clearer about who they are and what they want. It’s a good time to hire hungry new employees who are motivated. There are other big astrological happenings that lead up to this point, and adding Saturn to the mix really puts us in a blender if we aren’t stripping away self-deceit. This is the midlife crisis we hear so much about.
The years leading up to this time can be really liberating, or it can feel like the rug has been yanked out from underneath you. Rest assured that on the other side of age 45, when the dust settles, this can be a time of great courage and freedom. I often see clients with the confident to finally focus on things that truly move the needle of their soul. This time will free us from our blind spots and send us on our way.
Saturn Square Saturn
Ages 52-53 are when we get to apply our hard-won knowledge to patterns that align. We also become more honest with ourselves and worry less about what others think — but only if we have been paying attention!
This can also be a time when we come to the realization that our youth is completely behind us. In many ways, this realization can make it easier to clear out the emotional clutter from our lives. For many, worrying about what others think becomes less of an influence. There is more of a personal honesty that will continue to peak into the next cycle comes seven years later. This is often when business owners begin to think more seriously about their exits and if they are on the right track.
Second Saturn Return
At ages 58-59, the second Saturn Return occurs, and we are considered astrologically a sage.
This means we have experienced both Saturn Returns that represent the end of our ego identification and the personification of our spiritual or authentic representation — and all before the age of sixty!
This is a time of black and white choices, and we can choose to retire or continue to work with clarity and purpose. With clear eyes and less fear, we have an opportunity to make our own free will choices, while still striving to be the best versions of ourselves.