We’ve talked a lot about “now” this year.
And since slow-moving Saturn just rolled into Aries - the home of Now with a capital fucking N - we can safely expect to enjoy the slow burn of Now for the next three years. Thankfully we’ve all had some time to digest the heaping pile of Now that March and April brought, and Saturn in Aries is already helping me look back at the eclipsonox™ with a sense of wisened appreciation. Through these gloriously ringed glasses, I can see how:
The Sun in Aries showed us the transformative Centrality of Now 🔥
Mercury in Aries taught us the unapologetic Language of Now 🔥
Venus in Aries connected us with the human-centered Value of Now 🔥
Neptune is Aries invited us into the all-powerful Infinity of Now 🔥
Saturn, of course, has its own agenda with Now. Saturn is the planet of stewardship, responsibility, dedication, commitment, devotion. It shepherds us through life with a delightfully long-term view, and as a consequence is far less concerned about whether a valuable life project promises more immediate experiences of pleasure or pain. Saturn will never turn its eyes from the bigger picture, and in Aries - as we looked at last week in Part Un - it will lovingly insist that we find our spark to stay the course for races that speak to our soul.
Saturn isn’t doing this because it needs you to finish. It knows that finish lines aren’t the end, that they are just stripes we paint to encourage forward movement. And Saturn doesn’t need you to win, either. It knows that you already are a winner, that the whole point of running a race in the first place is to realize just that. The real result has nothing to do with your time or place and everything to do with the person you become.
And the thing about becoming is that is has to happen Now. Change cannot happen in the future, and - as much as you can try to plan ahead - all choices must ultimately be made in the present. So if you want to get wiser, you have to do it Now. You cannot imagine your way to a sage conversation in a rocking chair, you have to live your life Now in a way that makes this possible later. This means that whenever your mind strays away from the sumptuous tapestry of the present moment, you must pull it back to Now and make a conscious choice about what foot you want to put forward.
In other words: If you want to get better at life, you need to become a Master of Now.
I can personally testify that this sounds easier than it is, and I am so grateful that Saturn in Aries is here to guide the way. I imagine that you are as familiar with the delightfully Now-ish underpinnings of mindfulness as I am, and I applaud its fundamental aim to create a permanent passport to Now. It is also wonderfully Saturnian because an intellectual understanding of mindfulness counts for diddly squat in the school of life. Mindfulness is not available in thinking about mindfulness, it is only available in actually being mindful. And that’s something you’ll have to do Now.
The biggest shift I experienced in my own mindful journey was the stark realization that all I have is Now, so I damned well better learn to love it. I know this is true because it would be absurd to tell my children that I’ll wait to love them until they grow up. So it must be equally absurd to say that I’ll wait to love my life until I’m more mature. This means I need to find love right here in the present moment, and - for starters - I’d be very wise to stop judging it in the negative.
In other words, as David Ghiyam says: “Be present. Be present in every moment, and know that the moment you are in is good.”1
Saturn in Aries is here to hammer this message home, and it will have some help from its new neighbor Neptune. As the furthest planet visible with the naked eye, Saturn focuses our attention on the world as we perceive it with our physical senses. Neptune, however, draws our interest into the world beyond these senses where matter is but waves of possibility that are observed into creation. So Saturn in Aries will show you what you see Now, and Neptune in Aries will remind you that how you see it shapes what it is.
This is why I love these two planets together. Saturn grounds Neptune’s tendency to transcend these beautifully embodied lives we are here to lead, and Neptune slows Saturn’s jump to judge our experiences simply on the basis of what is manifest before us. Together they can help us learn to live in the perfectly present pause between what we see and what say - this moment where our life exists without a label - and we can claim the power to assert that all is well. Because if we learn to assert that all is well Now, then it always will be.
Saturn will be in Aries this year until September 1 when it slides back into Pisces for a few months to close out some fishy business. It’ll return to the ram next February just in time for Valentine’s Day, and then we’ll have 26 magical months together to become Masters of Now. I look forward to following this with you, and - since the action this summer will all be centered around the Aries Point midheaven in my birth chart - I’m also really curious what’s going to happen in my public life. Rest assured that you will (literally and inescapably) be the first to know.
Love,
Patrick
PS: Workshop sign up is still open (for Now), join me in person to Power up for Summer and celebrate the Solstice if you’re here in London! Book below.
PPS: If this post helped you get more mastery over Now, please do share it! ☄️
Power up for Summer
Saturday, June 14 at 4:00 pm @ Yoga in Hampstead
There is electricity in the air as we approach the Summer Solstice. Join us to set the stage for summer with a session on deeply empowering emotional transformation.
We'll breathe, move, meditate, journal and practice yin yoga to connect with seasonal and astrological insight. You'll leave feeling more relaxed in your body, mind and spirit, and you'll be ready to welcome the best summer yet.
Summer Solstice Workshop
Saturday, June 21 at 9:00 am @ Three Age Moon in Dartmouth Park, London
The Summer Solstice is the perfect invitation to embrace this, to (re)connect with the life force that runs your body in every single moment of your day. Join us to calm your nervous system and align yourself with full vitality through restorative yoga, energy work, guided meditation and an optional sacred walk to a powerful Earth energy site in nearby Hampstead Heath.
We’ll honor the Summer Solstice together with seasonal and astrological wisdom, and we’ll celebrate the fullness of the lives we already lead. You’ll leave feeling more alive, and you’ll be ready to enjoy the longest day of the year.
Special thanks to my friend Paula for sharing this gem! 💎
Spot on, as always, Patrick. Love your Oprah magnet too! It's one way I remind myself not just to take actions toward a goal, but also to get consistent rest. A good night's sleep tonight helps me show up healthy and happy NOW and in the future. ;-)