Anne Vick: Saturn Age Arcs in Forecasting

The Saturn age arc is a technique that was popular before computers made secondary and solar arc progressions the long-term forecasting methods of choice for many astrologers. Anne learned it from Buz Myers. Its rationale is that, since Saturn has to do with time, its movement in a person’s horoscope reflects the evolution of a person’s life. The rings around Saturn suggest that time is cyclical, that patterns repeat themselves; therefore, you can’t consider just one point in time when making a decision. You must consider what came before and what will be. Saturn age arcs help you do this.

The Saturn age arc is based on the amount of time it takes for Saturn to make one cycle within a person’s life. Over many years of experience, Anne has learned that the number will fall somewhere between age 28 years, 6 months and age 29 years, 10 months. If you divide that number by 12, you will have a Saturn age arc as it moves through each house.

Do not confuse the age arc with Saturn’s current transit through the houses. It is an increment of time that represents Saturn’s movement, but unless you have Saturn very near the Ascendant, it does not coincide with Saturn’s actual transits.

Go to the ephemeris and find out the month and year Saturn returned to its natal place. Take the first hit. Example: a person was born June 1944 and had their first Saturn return in December 1973.

Subtract June 1944 from December 1973. The result is 29 years/6 months, or 29.6 on the table.

Look at her handout (see link) and find the closest Saturn age arc on the tables. Generally, the one you need will be one of the four listed. Otherwise, round off to the closest one. For example, if your arc is 29.1, use the values for 29.2.

If you want to be more exact, use the data on the bottom of the handout.

Start with 0.0 at the Ascendant. This shows the family conditions when you were born. (The 12th house is your mother’s pregnancy.) If the Saturn age arc is 29.6, on the second house, you would put 2.5 (two years/five months); 4.11 on the third house, 7.4 on the fourth house, etc. For the first 15-16 years of your life, you are below the horizon, because you are under the influence of your family.

As the Saturn age arc moves through the houses, it encounters angles, planets, midpoints, parts, the prenatal eclipse point, and sometimes, even significant solstice points. Anne uses all of these if they seem to be significant. If there are planets in the house, you will get in touch with those energies when the Saturn age arc reaches them. If those planets are part of a configuration, the entire thing will be set off, and major events in the life will occur. If there are no planets in the house the arc is moving through, look to the ruler of the house to see what lessons are most relevant during that time of your life.

What happens if a house is intercepted? Anne uses Koch houses, and simply uses the houses that are shown in the chart, just as if there were no interceptions.

One of the many real-life examples Anne gave was that of Bill Clinton. She uses the Rodden data: August 19, 1946, 8:51 AM CST, Hope Arkansas. She believes this chart is accurate because Bill’s Part of Fortune is conjunct Hillary’s Ascendant. He married on his first Saturn return.

Bill’s age arc is 29yr.2mo. There is a stellium in the first house, and a lot was going on in his family during the first years of his life. In 1956, his brother was born. Bill was working out of his fifth house by age arc, and the ruler of his fifth is Uranus—-a fair description of Roger Clinton. In 1963, when he was 16 and a half, he met JFK. At this moment that set his destiny, he was working in his seventh house, and the age arc was near his Vertex.

At age 33, Clinton became Governor of Arkansas. He was working out of his second house, and the age arc had hit around 1° Sagittarius. Bill’s Jupiter is in his first house, conjunct Spica, a fixed star denoting good luck. At the age of 45 years and 2 months—just into his seventh house—he announced his candidacy for the presidency. His seventh is ruled by Mars: new beginnings. The next year, as he was working out of his eighth house, his mother died. At that time the age arc was just coming off Clinton’s natal Moon-Saturn square.

He was re-elected when he was 50 years, 3 months old. He was working off the Sun/Vertex midpoint, which is conjunct his Part of Fortune at 22° 55' Gemini, said to be a degree of politicians. In 1998, when he was working off his tenth house of reputation, the Monica scandal broke. His prenatal eclipse, 6° 48' Cancer, falls into this house and was activated at the time of the scandal.

Bill Clinton’s second Saturn return will occur in August 2005. Currently, he is working out of his twelfth house, which is probably why we have heard so little of him lately.