Saturn Return in Capricorn: What to Expect

A Saturn return is a momentous event that happens to you every 29.4 years that you are alive. This time, when Saturn returns to the same place in the Zodiac where it was when you are born, brings the major structures of your life up for review.

However, not all Saturn returns are identical. Saturn goes through the same 12 Zodiac signs that the Sun does, but Saturn takes 29.4 years to complete the trip, while the Sun only takes one year. You, therefore, have a Saturn sign that is not necessarily the same as your Sun sign.

If you have Saturn in Capricorn, your Saturn returns in Capricorn may be opportunities for you to seize the stability and status you generally crave. You could accomplish a significant goal that is truly yours. However, you might be challenged to make room for the parts of life that don’t fit neatly on a resume.

The characteristics of your Saturn return in Capricorn may also vary based on the house where Saturn is located in your natal chart. While the first Saturn return that happens in your late twenties is well known, many people also go on to have second and third Saturn returns that revisit similar themes.

First Saturn Return in Capricorn

Your first Saturn return takes place when you are in your late twenties. The first Saturn return gets the most attention because so many big life choices seem to come to a head then. You may begin or end a significant relationship.

You might begin or end a commitment to a particular career. You could even become a parent.

If your first Saturn return takes place in the sign of Capricorn, you may be very eager to prove your place in the adult world. You might check as many of the stereotypical Saturn return boxes as you possibly can – secure career, marriage, home ownership, and even parenthood.

Saturn is especially at home in the sign of Capricorn, so you may genuinely embrace the Saturn return’s push toward structure more than people of other Saturn signs do. Even so, you might need to be careful to distinguish between goals that truly resonate with you personally and things that you think you should do so others will have a good opinion of you. Ultimately, you are the one who must live with yourself.

Second Saturn Return in Capricorn

Your second Saturn return takes place when you are in your late fifties. While your first Saturn return may have had you establishing yourself in your career, your second Saturn return could have you thinking seriously about retirement.

While you may have married or become a parent at your first Saturn return, you could be experiencing an empty nest at your second Saturn return.

At your second Saturn return in Capricorn, you may be in the sort of secure career that you’ve been laboring toward for a long time. You could experience a significant professional achievement around this time, although you might have trouble adjusting to any changes in your field of work.

However, you might also be wondering about life beyond your work.

If you have been neglecting your personal relationships, circumstances may push you to pay attention to them now. More broadly, you could need to look at whether whatever you have sacrificed to get the stability and status you crave has been a good trade. 

Third Saturn Return in Capricorn

While most readers are probably on their first or second Saturn returns, imagining your third Saturn return, when you are in your late eighties, can be a helpful exercise. Where do you want to be toward the end of your life, and what do you have to do now to get there?

Capricorn tends to revere elders and authorities. When you’re finally the elder and the authority, you might wonder whether the status you spent your life pursuing is all it’s cracked up to be. After all, you will still be putting your pants on one leg at a time.

At your third Saturn return in Capricorn, you may become aware that no earthly authority, no matter how diligently they climbed the ranks, holds on to their power forever. You might need to focus on nurturing the sort of love that can outlive you.

Saturn Return in Capricorn by House

Many people born within a couple of years of you will have Saturn in the same sign that you do, as Saturn stays in each sign for about two and a half years during its 29.4-year cycle. However, not all Saturn returns in Capricorn are identical.

Knowing the house in your astrological chart where your Saturn return takes place can help you understand why your experience of a Saturn return in Capricorn might differ from that of some of your peers. 

If your time of birth is known, your astrological chart can be divided into twelve houses, each focusing on a different area of life. The house in your birth chart where Saturn is located is also the house where your Saturn return will take place.

Try looking up your astrological chart below to see the house where Saturn is located.

Saturn Return in Capricorn, First House

The first house is associated with your physical body and your identity. With Saturn in your first house, you may present yourself in a serious and dignified way. You might also struggle with a problem involving your physical body.

Capricorn in your first house could have a similar effect of making you look wise beyond your years. You may finally grow into the image you portray at your first house Saturn return in Capricorn.

Once you get to this critical point, though, you might find that getting old is a bit different from what you expected. Having new insights that change your identity in some way could be jarring, but being adaptable can make you stronger.

Saturn Return in Capricorn, Second House

The second house focuses on money and possessions. In general, having Saturn, the planet of restriction and limitation, in the second house could show that money does not come to you easily. However, you might have a disciplined attitude toward whatever money you do have.

With Capricorn in your second house, you may be careful about your finances. If you have handled this in a balanced way, your second house Saturn return in Capricorn could be a time when your saving pays off, allowing you to afford a major purchase you have been eyeing.

However, you might also tend to think you have less money than you actually do. If your attitude toward your finances tends to fixate on scarcity, you may run the risk of making your fears come true at your second house Saturn return in Capricorn. Being grateful for whatever you have can help you expand your resources. 

Saturn Return in Capricorn, Third House

The third house is involved with communication. Having Saturn in your third house, regardless of its sign, can be associated with feeling like it is hard for you to communicate with the people around you and make yourself understood.

If you have Capricorn in your third house, you may be a person of few words. This might be at least partly due to an ability to clearly see the main points of any subject. Your third house Saturn return in Capricorn could be a time when you really hit your stride in explaining things to others.

You might also be overly focused on being proper in your communication, to the point you are unable to express things that really matter to you.

Another potential danger in this approach is that you could miss out on something important that someone else is trying to tell you because they don’t present their case in quite the right way. A situation of this sort could be significant at your third house Saturn return in Capricorn.

Saturn Return in Capricorn, Fourth House

The fourth house focuses on home and family matters. In general, having Saturn, the planet of restriction and limitation, in the fourth house can reflect that you felt like you did not get the nurturing you need growing up.

With Capricorn in your fourth house, your family may have prioritized ambition over an emotional connection. Your fourth house Saturn return in Capricorn could make you very aware of the soft skills you missed learning on your climb to the top.

That said, Capricorn in the fourth house can also indicate a family that has a basically secure structure, even if it is not always the warmest family. Your fourth house Saturn return in Capricorn may nudge you to help your family when they need you – or they might turn out to support you in some way.

Saturn Return in Capricorn, Fifth House

The fifth house is associated with children and creativity. Some people become parents at their Saturn returns, and a fifth house Saturn return could be especially likely to go in this direction. You might feel like you have to become a parent in order to be a proper adult.

Capricorn in the fifth house could make a serious effort to bring order to something chaotic, like children or the creative process. While this might sound like a doomed quest, you could potentially succeed in implementing your artistic vision at your fifth house Saturn return in Capricorn.

If you are raising or working closely with children at your fifth house Saturn return in Capricorn, you may be challenged to weigh your idea of how things should go against what the children in front of you actually show you that they need. A truly sound structure must pass the test of messy reality.

Saturn Return in Capricorn, Sixth House

The sixth house focuses on your routine responsibilities, like the day-to-day part of your work and what you must do to maintain your health. Saturn in the sixth house can be associated with health problems, but it might just show that you are very focused on staying healthy even if you don’t have an illness to be concerned about.

With Capricorn in the sixth house, you may push yourself hard for productivity in your work and daily routines.

Your focused effort could bring you to a significant achievement at your sixth house Saturn returns in Capricorn, but you might also experience burnout if you have been pursuing your goals in a way that is not sustainable. 

Alternately, you might have a tendency to slack off, especially if you were burned by a parent or other authority figure who pushed you too hard when you were growing up. In this case, your sixth house Saturn returns in Capricorn could help you find your own rhythm for getting things done.

Saturn Return in Capricorn, Seventh House

The seventh house is associated with significant one-on-one relationships including but not limited to marriage, and having Saturn here natally can suggest that you take such relationships very seriously.

Saturn returns can be associated with marriages or divorces, and a seventh-house Saturn return might be especially likely to go in this direction of changing your relationship status.

If you have Capricorn in your seventh house, you may want a partner who can bring stability to your life. At your seventh house Saturn return in Capricorn, rushing into marriage for the sake of settling down could be tempting.

Marrying now might not be wrong, but try to be aware of what you are doing and why.

If you’ve already been in a committed relationship for some time, though, your seventh house Saturn return in Capricorn could be a time when you question whether you are getting all of the security you need from your relationship.

You might feel like you have to choose between emotional warmth and financial stability. Perhaps you can ultimately have some of both, but you may need to develop the courage to ask for it out loud.

Saturn Return in Capricorn, Eighth House

The eighth house is linked with intense experiences like death and sexual intimacy. Boundaries tend to blur in these extreme situations, so the eighth house also handles situations of sharing finances or property.

It can even take in paranormal experiences where the basic structures of the physical world do not perform as expected. Having Saturn here in your birth chart can cause either an inability to get away from such difficult matters or a fear of approaching them.

With Capricorn in your eighth house, you may have a practical attitude toward the financial commitments you make with others.

However, it might be hard for you to acknowledge how emotional you really feel about your money and your possessions. If there is a major imbalance here, your eighth house Saturn return in Capricorn could bring it out.

Also, Capricorn in the eighth house could potentially be refreshingly pragmatic about death. In that case, you might as well use the energy of your eighth house Saturn return in Capricorn to plan things like your will. You may even be called upon to handle someone else’s estate.  

Saturn Return in Capricorn, Ninth House

The ninth house is associated with the systems of beliefs that make up society, like philosophies, legal codes, and religious doctrines. It is also linked to higher education.

A person with Saturn in the ninth house, in general, might be either an especially dogmatic enforcer of such structures or someone who seems to be continually blocked by them.

The organized nature of Capricorn overall fits well with the vibe of the ninth house.

You could achieve the academic degree you have been working toward at your ninth house Saturn return in Capricorn. Your academic journey might tend to emphasize effort and professional ambition rather than passion, and this is fine as long as it works for you.

A potential problem with Capricorn in the ninth house could be a tendency to emphasize the letter of the law over the spirit of the law. If you do this, you might get called on it at your ninth house Saturn return in Capricorn. Embrace opportunities to restructure your thinking in a way that makes it stronger.

Saturn Return in Capricorn, Tenth House

The tenth house is involved with matters of career and status. Having Saturn in the tenth house natally could suggest that your public role in the world is a source of concern for you. With hard work, you may achieve prominence in your profession, but it may also be hard to feel like you have ever done enough.

The symbolism of the sign of Capricorn overlaps substantially with the symbolism of the tenth house, so a tenth-house Saturn return in Capricorn could have a double dose of the basic Saturn return in Capricorn themes.

Professional ambition could definitely be a huge focus of a tenth-house Saturn return in Capricorn. You may be able to achieve a career goal you have been working toward for a long time.

However, any goal you achieve at your tenth house Saturn return in Capricorn might have to truly be your goal. If you were pushed into a particular career by a parent or other authority figure, you may wind up questioning it at your tenth house Saturn return in Capricorn.

Saturn Return in Capricorn, Eleventh House

The eleventh house is associated with friendships and community groups. In general, having Saturn in the eleventh house could mean that finding a peer group is an important focus of your life. Early on, you may feel shut out of social connections, like they do not come easily to you.

Once you hit your stride, though, you may find that your commitments to groups and organizations become overwhelming for you.

With Capricorn in your eleventh house, you could be drawn to friends who are ambitious and go places in life. In a best-case scenario, you might find at your eleventh house Saturn return in Capricorn that your friends are able to cheer you on as you pursue your goals.

However, if you feel obligated to put up a good front for your friends, you may feel isolated at your eleventh house Saturn return in Capricorn. Most journeys toward success include both ups and downs, and relationships, where you can’t be honest about your challenges, might not last.

Saturn Return in Capricorn, Twelfth House

The twelfth house is associated with secrets and things that are out of view. Saturn represents structure, so Saturn in the twelfth house is a hidden structure, a hidden agenda running your life that even you may not be aware of.  

If you have Capricorn in your twelfth house, you might secretly be more traditional than the image you portray to others. This could especially be the case if you also have Aquarius Rising, as many people with Capricorn in the twelfth house do.

At your twelfth house, Saturn returns in Capricorn, circumstances may push you to become more honest with yourself and others about the full complexity of your personality. On the plus side, you might discover you are more practical and organized than you think you are.