> I'm due for my Saturn return this year (since it is going to go retro it will
> actually retro back and forth on me...what significance does that have
> for a return?)

The retro-ing back and forth has no significance, in my opinion. I'm not sure retrogradation even exists in "transits" to the chart, as opposed to apparent planetary movements in the sky. What I do for Saturn transits is take the period of a year or so during which it's more or less centered on the thing being transited. Basically, the period of the Saturn Return is from about 28 1/2 to about the 30th birthday. It might be somewhat broader than that, it might be narrower, but I think that's in the ballpark. Although there are particularly significant periods within the larger period of that (or any other) Saturn transits, they're due not to retrograde-fuelled recrossings but to the transits of some other planet, usually Mars, within the broader period of the Saturn transit. Such transits are subordinate both temporally and meaningfully. That is, the Mars transit, say Mars conjunct, square, or opposite its natal place, will time an episode within the larger Saturn-timed event, and the effects of that episode, generally a decision or commitment that changes your daily routine, will make sense in terms of that larger event and well manifest it on a more immediate and concrete level. For instance, if your self-image changed during the Saturn transit as you came to see yourself as a professional astrologer, the Mars transits would time decisions, such as putting an ad in the yellow pages and making other arrangements that would lead to you DOING, on a day to day basis, the things that a professional astrologer does.

> I don't have any sense of what will be going on in my life at that time right now.
> My only guess is that it could have something to do with my dad as we are kind
> of starting to think of options for how to best care for him...and he is changing fast...

The Saturn Return will have you thinking a lot of what YOU want to do with your life. If your dad declines drastically or dies during it that will obviously affect you. Having something like that happen during your Saturn Return rather than some other time makes a difference, but the Return is ultimately about you and not your dad. It might be that what happens with him will impact your thinking about what kind of career you want or think you can have. It might cause you to think about what having a career means to you. It might, for instance, energize you with the thought, Life is short. If I want to make my mark I'd better get serious about it.

> But there is no way to tell what the return will touch on right now is there...
> Because I am also going through a big stage of inner growth in the realm
> of relationships...(this too is tied up with my dad in some ways...from watching
> my dad and mom's relationship mostly...and for those who buy into such
> things I have uranus=saturn/venus midpoint in my chart)

It will touch on the roles you want to play in society. There is the career role and there are other roles, such as spouse and parent, student, accolyte, etc. that are possible. During the Saturn Return you will be motivated to decide which of these different KINDS of roles are most important to you, as well as fixing on a particular primary role. Ideally, the role(s) you commit to will involve activities you enjoy and things you're good at. I seem to recall that you have a degree in math. Is that correct? If so, you might well come up with a way to leverage your degree and/or talent in your career.

> But the return is going to happen in virgo in the 4th house-my Dad is a virgo-libra
> cusp...saturn in virgo 4th house makes me think "dad"

If something happens to or with your dad of major importance that might well impact your thinking about career, but this has nothing to do with Virgo or Libra, the 4th house, etc. It's YOUR transit, not your dad's. Where it occurs in the signs is irrelevant, in my opinion. I don't believe in signs. Where it occurs with reference to the Nonagesimal, the point 90 degrees above the Asc, which I think of as where YOU are, is relevant, but not in the sense you're thinking. It's more in the sense of whether you're finding your career footing while you're in a public phase or a private phase, to put it oversimplistically.

Spock

wow...Dad did just pass this morning at 4:30 am after all...I'm kinda stunned...kinda relieved cuz it was pretty hard for him at the end...got that pain deep inside....like part of me is dying with him >.<

transiting saturn:

saturn return:
conjunct natal saturn 5 degree orb

kite formation:
sextile natal vertex <1 degree orb
sextile chiron 2 degree orb
opposing mars and ceres 2 degree orb

forming a yod with mercury and venus 2 degree orb

When my Saturn returned I was awoken. Nothing was like I wanted to be when I will be 30. So I started to change. Yes, I was very involved with what I really want of my life. But now I really feel like he loosen his grip over me (I got the conjunction of Saturn & Venus in Leo in 8th house). For, example - sexual pleasure was something that I had problems with. Now, much, much, much less. And it's better every day. But I did break up with my longstanding partner who is by the way father of my son.

oops, that was for RB

i think the most prominent is 29.5 years.. and again.. at double.. so around.. 60