I am not one that looks for death in the natal chart or horoscope When someone passes away I do look to see what was happening at the time but I don’t linger. To be honest when I think of death I think of the planet Pluto. Pluto after all is associated with Scorpio and the 8^th house of sex death and taxes. Pluto I am beginning to think more often than not  doesn’t refer to necessarily a literal death but can be a spiritual or metaphorical death. The symbolization of Pluto is the phoenix rising from the ashes if you have a heavy Pluto like I do you are continuously going through this purification process where parts of you keep dying and you keep being reborn though quite frankly I hardly feel like a phoenix.

I had made note a while ago mentally that when someone I love dies I usually am having a Saturn transit (not a Pluto transit), sometimes its people that pass away and other times it’s a part of myself that has died. They say the hardest transits of Saturn are though the water houses

The water trinity represents the beginning of life (4^th house) the end of life (8^th house) and the afterlife (12^th house)

4^th house rules mom/home/family the 4^th house is also the root of the chart so when a planet transits here it digs up whatever is buried. The 4^th house is associated with cancer and rules the cradle to the grave Saturn placed here often indicates hardship in childhood there can be blocks to allowing others to get close to you

The 8^th house is governed by Scorpio and here we find deep sharing, this is also the house of transformation, sex and other people’s money. Most importantly it governs forces beyond our control. Saturn restricts whatever it touches so sometimes here we miss out on a inheritance, or we have trouble completely bonding with another but most importantly I think this can be a person that resists change. Saturn is the authority in astrology the Lord of Karma this is the house of the underworld ruled by Pluto. These are two heavy hitters, but Pluto IMO trumps Saturn there is only one constant in life and that is –change- to resist it is futile.

The last water house Is the 12^th house ruled by Pisces this is the house of self undoing, this is the last house in the natal chart and is associated with endings.  Whereas the 4^th house rules the cradle to the grave, the 8^th house rules death here the 12^th house is associated with life after death. A lot of things die when a planet transits this house. I had been inquiring about a man and every time I pulled a tarot card or anyone else did it was the 8 of cups. I ran his chart and he has Saturn transiting his 12^th house, this card is associated with Saturn in Pisces I love when life connects like that, effortlessly. This Tarot card is associated with the dark night of the soul , it is also known as abandonment  and in the Thoth deck indolence. When Saturn transits here just as in the figure we have to leave many things behind. Saturn or any outer planet transiting here calls to our attention the things we  have stuffed in the closet, the parts of ourselves we chose to not look at. And once we have faced these things and said many goodbyes we have our new beginning when Saturn crosses the Ascendant-that will be our life after death.

I have been thinking about death lately, maybe because parts of me feel like they are dying. I had an eclipse fall in my first house but I have Solar Arc Pluto sitting exactly across from my Ascendant, there is little literature on this aspect but I have no doubt it is relevant because I am unraveling at godspeed.

I have been thinking that Pluto has a more so of a regenerative quality to it with its endings and Saturn maybe has more permanence, and perhaps when Pluto strips parts of us or removes something from our lives it had more of inevitable feeling to it. I always take Pluto over Saturn, I am comfortable in a way in darkness, in changing, and even though I am unraveling at god speed I would still take Pluto over Saturn transits any day.

I always say

With Pluto you can climb out of the fiery pits of hell but at least you will be reborn.

Saturn rules karma it is considered the great malefic with Saturn being associated with Karma and some say the results of past life actions you don’t know what you are being served. Saturn is often associated with the Grim Reaper historically, he is known as father time, Saturn the word itself is very closely associated with Satan I don’t know much about word origins but I have no doubt that something about Saturns influence can be merciless. Some say the rings around Saturn represent the idea of Karma or what goes around comes around. I have heard other people refer to Saturn’s rings as protection  or what keeps people at bay….any of us that have Saturn Angular know this well.

I happen to find my father’s death certificate the other day and was semi surprised or semi not surprised at how influential Saturn via transit was in his chart, my chart and my mother’s chart on the day he died.

My father died on his first Saturn return  ( I do not have a time of birth) A Saturn return occurs the first time around the ages of 28-30 this marks the time that Saturn returns to the same position it was at your time of birth This period is often notable for the result of past actions up until that point.  Heath Ledger is someone that comes to mind that passed away during his first Saturn return, Amy Winehouse was another.  There is a long list on the internet of people that died at 27 just prior to their Saturn Return Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison.  Karmicly speaking they say you come into this incarnation having already chosen the path so maybe some people fulfill their life’s purpose in a shorter span of time.

In any event my father died during his Saturn return. Here is his chart

On the day he died you can see Saturn literally just entered my 8^th house so here you have the grim reaper of astrology entering the house of death Saturn along with the Sun and the Midheaven are all related to the father. Saturn was opposite my moon and square my sun. Saturn in Libra is historically a very difficult transit for me I had it in 2010/2011 as well. Parts of me died during that time I will never get back

My mother’s chart for the day my father died

She had Uranus planet of unexpected conjunct her moon the moon rules her 8^th house of death. People often overlook this in transits. So yes Uranus conjunct moon is unexpected (Uranus) emotional (moon) news but about what???? You have to look to see what house the moon rules. Here it is the 8^th house.

My mom also had Saturn in Libra squaring her Capricorn sun just like I did. The sun rules the men in your life Saturn to Sun transits are always difficult. Things likely do not go your way you are low on vitality, you often feel depressed and burdened.  Perhaps you meet men (sun) you have past life (karmic ) ties with. I was once advised never marry someone during a Saturn Sun transit when It is over you will wonder what the hell was I doing?

Saturn/Sun here we have death meets men, lord of time meets us, The sun is our vitality, our ego and our identity when someone close to us dies before their time or what we deem as before their time I have no doubt perhaps that a part of us dies with them.

Which do you find more accurately depicts death Saturn or Pluto?