"Breaking up, burning out, rebuilding, and being in bliss. That's life!"
Four more readers on their Saturn Return.
Welcome back to our Saturn series, featuring Health Gossip readers who have recently finished their Saturn Return. Today, we’re hearing from Savannah Galvin, Chelsey Forbes, Francesca Kritikos, and Tess Manhattan. Read the previous edition here.
Savannah Galvin
Savannah Galvin is an artist based in New York City. She writes the health, wellness, and beauty newsletter, Seasonally.
What were your expectations going into your Saturn Return? On a scale of 1-10, how invested were you in Western astrology?
Going into my Saturn return, I had heard a lot of stories from friends who had already gone through theirs, so I had a general sense of what to expect. It made sense to me that it tends to happen right before entering a new decade, especially your thirties when so much naturally begins to shift. I enjoy Western astrology and find it fun and insightful, but I don’t hold it too tightly. If I had to rate it, I’d say I was about a 6 out of 10 invested in the narratives around Saturn returns.
What house is your natal Saturn in? How did these themes play out during this period?
My natal Saturn is in Pisces, conjunct my Sun, and the beginning of the return was definitely the most intense. I experienced a lot of anxiety around my identity, who I was becoming, and which parts of myself I had outgrown. There was a noticeable energetic shift before it even fully began. It’s hard to describe, but suddenly I was questioning everything: whether I was doing anything “right,” if I had made the wrong decisions, or if I had somehow messed things up. There was a lot of overthinking and self-doubt, and even moments where I wished I were less creative and more logical.
What were some of the most unexpected or surprising moments?
One of the most surprising moments was getting a dog. I had always wanted one, but I didn’t expect it to happen during this period. In hindsight, it makes complete sense. Saturn is about responsibility, commitment, and care, and that choice reflected all of that. Over this past year, I also made new friends, which can feel surprisingly difficult as an adult. Those friendships have become incredibly meaningful to me, and I cherish them deeply.
You can either sink or swim through it, and honestly, I’ve felt both.
Another major theme was the evolution of my relationship with religion. Over the three-year span of my Saturn return, that relationship became much more honest and peaceful. It also helped me clarify what kind of girlfriend, wife, and partner I want to be, and what kind of partner I want in return, how I can show up for others without spreading myself too thin, and what balance actually looks like for me.
What were some of your biggest takeaways? How has your life changed?
One of the biggest takeaways has been making peace with endings. I feel genuinely okay about past relationships and friendships that have ended; they all brought me to where I am now and were part of the journey. That said, old memories would surface and sometimes send me into a panic, this fear of I’ll never experience that again. At times, that realization felt heavy and depressing. But with time, a calmer voice emerged that could say: No, you won’t experience that again — and that’s the point. You’re meant to stretch and grow during this period. You can either sink or swim through it, and honestly, I’ve felt both.
What advice would you give to someone newly entering their Saturn Return?
If I had to give advice to someone entering their Saturn return, it would be this: don’t compare your timeline to anyone else’s. Everyone’s path unfolds differently. Social media can make this especially hard. It feels like every other week someone is announcing an engagement or pregnancy, which is beautiful, but can also create a strange sense of pressure that you should be “there” too.
A Saturn return doesn’t mean everything falls apart but it does ask you to grow up in a very real, honest way.
Practically speaking, journaling helped me a lot. I know everyone says that, but unedited, stream-of-consciousness writing especially first thing in the morning was grounding. Create some sort of morning routine or some time in your day that is dedicated to exercise, whether it’s 30 minutes, is better than nothing. Through this period there were points where I was so in my head and not in my body enough; movement would’ve been beneficial. Having a few close friends and family I could talk things through with made all the difference.
The end of your twenties can be unexpectedly hard. You think you’ll be in them forever, and then suddenly you’re 27 or 28 and thinking, what is happening? A Saturn return doesn’t mean everything falls apart but it does ask you to grow up in a very real, honest way. And on the other side of it, there’s much more clarity, self-trust, and peace.
Chelsey Forbes
Chelsey (@goodcheech) is a Katonah yoga teacher and spiritual storyteller. She has been featured on the newsletter before.
What were your expectations going into your Saturn Return? On a scale of 1-10, how invested were you in Western astrology or narratives around the Saturn Return?
I’m at an 11. I’m at a 22. I have always been witchy and of the spirit. I’m Caribbean. I feel like my Saturn return started when I was 13.
What house is your natal Saturn in? How did these themes play out during this period?
Saturn in Pisces in the 10th. I feel immediately, deeply. I’m going to pull a bit from CHANI [Nicholas] because I just love her:
I am extremely mistrustful of traditional forms of authority, I have an insane work ethic, I am charming, capable, I often get in my own way. I do not appreciate being told what to do and I get sensitive when other people’s restrictions are placed on me. A lot of dreams came true when I leaned into devotion and being myself; a lot of nightmares came true when I took illusionary investments personally.
Saturn was retrograde when I was born, so this is the work of my life. I am constantly revisiting, reviewing, revising — setting boundaries (mostly for myself) and then remembering that I am human and allowed to allow. My commitments are heavily informed by my political, philosophical, and spiritual beliefs.
All of these themes played out for me to eventually understand that these are not the ways of the world and that it’s okay to be disliked or to disagree. Saturn really demands focus and hard work, not perfection. Self worth is a huge thing for me and I think understanding that my superpowers lie in my own truths as well as owning them by going after what I want puts me in charge of my life. Acceptance is a really beautiful thing. Staying curious is the portal to being. CHANI — please call me, I need to record some meditations.
What were some of the most unexpected or surprising moments?
To be totally honest, no real surprises. Desires that didn’t come to fruition, sure, but nothing phases me anymore. Love was lost in a lot of ways but I’m finding real love by not seeking. No outsourcing. I have so much love around me and it is a reflection of my heart. It’s fucking incredible! It makes life surprising and magical.
My resilience often surprises me. Life experiences are not malicious and they have to run their course. Breaking up, burning out, rebuilding, and being in bliss. That is life! Savor every second and then really let shit go. What’s real will return. I may feel like my world is ending in the moment, but it never does because I have something called integrity.
The only thing that has changed is my relation to privacy. Intoxicating intimacy is no longer for everyone.
Breaking up, burning out, rebuilding, and being in bliss. That is life!
What advice would you give to someone newly entering their Saturn Return?
Stay in the body. Stay dedicated and you will create whatever you want in life. Be authentic regardless of the communal applause. Lean into your creativity. Center your humanity by starting with yourself. Communicate clearly by talking as well as listening. Be open to the fact that there are people that have done this before and there is no original thought, sure. You also know what you know and there is value in that. Don’t doubt it. More listening, though.
Be open to rejection. Welcome rejection with OPEN ARMS. Rejection is your BFF.
When people want to be around you, they will show you. Then you get to decide who’s in or out.
Be open to receiving love. The more you give, the more you get.
Francesca Kritikos
Francesca Kritikos (@fmkrit) is a Greek-American writer based in Chicago. She is the editor in chief of SARKA, a journal and publisher focused on works of the flesh.
What house is your natal Saturn in? How did these themes play out during this period?
Saturn is in the third house for me, “the house of siblings.” I’m the eldest daughter in my family, and there’s been this immense pressure to keep it together, to be the responsible one, for as long as I can remember. To stay shrouded, private, quiet. The most important thing I learned during my Saturn return is that I want to be the one who gets to let go, who gets to be taken care of. My life, to be what I want it to be, had to completely invert.
What were some of the most unexpected or surprising moments?
The moments that I learned I can laugh instead of cry when being confronted or attacked, because I know that I am right, and that is enough.
What were some of your biggest takeaways? How has your life changed?
I learned that just because you do something for someone else, it doesn’t mean they’ll do it for you. And there’s no point in trying to force them to reciprocate that care or devotion or attention or love. It’s like that saying, Never wrestle with pigs, you both get dirty and only the pig likes it.
Now I extend to people the grace of giving them the opportunity to show up for me. I won’t force it. Sometimes, I’m pleasantly surprised. The other times, that’s information, and information is currency.
What advice would you give to someone newly entering their Saturn Return?
During confusing periods in life, I think that dreams are some of the most fertile grounds we can look to. I started writing down my dreams every night, and looking back at them days or weeks later. What seems insignificant upon waking may turn out to be symbolically potent, crucial even. I don’t know that we should let our dreams lead us, but they without a doubt have much to teach us about ourselves, what we value, what our fears and desires are. We don’t have to subscribe to the versions of ourselves represented in our dreams, but we should know who they are. Keeping a dream journal is like carving a sculpture of your unconscious, in a place where you can finally hold it up to the light and see it for what it is.
Tess Manhattan
Tess Manhattan (@the.realrealreal) is an artist living in New York. She hosts the Narrative Podcast.
What were your expectations going into your Saturn Return? On a scale of 1-10, how invested were you in Western astrology?
I was pretty invested, maybe an 8 out of 10. I was positivity-pilled at the beginning of my return and thought the whole experience would be amazing.
What house is your natal Saturn in? How did these themes play out during this period?
My natal Saturn is in the second house, so the themes center around wealth, stability, and self-worth. In both my 9–5 job and my artistic practice, I realized how much I was doing for other people and not for myself. I would agree to things I didn’t want to do because I felt bad saying no. I didn’t want to lose opportunities, so I took everything that came my way, which often led to burnout.
For most of my twenties, my coping mechanisms were weed and shopping. During my Saturn return, I realized how both were preventing me from building value in myself. Shopping in a literal sense, and weed in a spiritual sense.
Lead with your heart. Trust yourself. That’s the only way things really happen in this crazy, beautiful life.
What were some of the most unexpected or surprising moments?
During the first week of my Saturn return, I posted this crazy list of people I wanted to have on my podcast, which didn’t even exist yet, and tagged a bunch of people, from Lil Xan to Farrah Abraham. The painter Josh Smith responded and said he would do it. That recognition inspired me to keep pursuing podcasting and also pushed me to begin painting.
There were a lot of surprising moments. I was able to predict that a Kanye West concert would happen in Miami before it was announced, and ended up in the front row. I was chosen to ask a question during the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson press conference. I met Trisha Paytas, and she got down on her knees to pose with my tattoo of her. All of these moments taught me to follow my intuition and not doubt myself.
What were some of your biggest takeaways? How has your life changed?
I realized it’s not what you do, it’s how you do it. The energy you bring to anything, work or play, is what you take home. Lead with your heart. Trust yourself. That’s the only way things really happen in this crazy, beautiful life.
What advice would you give to someone newly entering their Saturn Return?
I did The Artist’s Way, which really helped me see where I was holding myself back, as well as celebrate what I was already doing for myself. After finishing the 12-week course, I kept up with morning pages, which are three pages of handwritten stream-of-consciousness writing every morning, and artist dates, which are weekly solo adventures.
Birdwatching has also been really grounding. A good pair of binoculars is life-changing. It’s literally like watching bird TV. Holotropic, or a similar breathing practice, was something I began during my Saturn return, and it helped me move past certain traumas and thought patterns that were holding me back.
Birdwatching has been really grounding. It’s literally like watching bird TV.
Just because you don’t solve all your problems during your Saturn return doesn’t mean you’re doomed. Saturn encourages slow growth. Be patient with yourself.
Note: these responses have been edited and condensed for clarity.
much needed, thank you <3
i love this series lily!