Saturn the late bloomer

"Making a decision to go in one direction or the other allows you to focus your energy and your effort. This gives you a clear advantage over someone
who doesn’t know what they are going to do…or when! - Elsa P.

Today and all night is 'Ole Pau on the Hawaiian Moon Calendar, the fourth of four rest and reflect times before the Full Moon in Aquarius squares the Flashy Leo Sun. I began the morning with my walk across the orchard to let the chickens out from their coops. The two black hens and three no-longer chicks are always ready to go and hungry. The black hens are the matriarchs, the old timers who rule the roost, especially Henny who is the one constant layer of eggs. She doesn't make it easy on the young ones and bosses them around like most bullies. Does she realize the chicks are nearly a head bigger than she? Probably, but that still doesn't (yet) turn the tide as far as power goes.We don't interfere with their farmyard politics; but notice the maneuverings and just make sure all five of them get fed and no one is beat up. We have a responsibility to the birds who we have domesticated by caging them.

Later in the morning I checked in with the skywatchers and found Elsa's post, "The Great Thing About Commitment.". The snip of a quote above from Elsa comes from this post. I commented on that thread and wrote:

"...We’ve moved a lot during the diaspora years. That wears and tears. We have committed to each other. And now, illness is less of a focus and rooting is the brand. I have a North Node in Taurus, I’m seeking home and security.With recovering health I’m looking at how to serve, tapping into Saturn’s transit through my 10th House Sun(Public Reputation) in Scorpio. Yesterday I received information to challenge my smooth sailing with a public event in the making. Your post today makes it clear to me: it’s my commitment that’s important. With that, the challenge is not insurmountable it’s a Saturn hurdle and I did sign on for this race."

Saturn and Scorpio are prominent in my natal astrological chart: Saturn conjuncts Mars and Pluto.That conjunction squares my Sun and Mercury in Scorpio. I've learned that deep and long-term hurdles is the life I signed up to live. The tools of makua o'o require a lifetime of use, and astrology helps to sustain me during the deep dips and the soaring highs. So as the 'Ole Moons give me time to reflect I dug this up from Ray Grasse. His insight is a new version of understand Saturn and I especially like his clarity in these descriptions:

"Saturn–Mars
Simply put, this is the struggle for courage. Some of us remember the ads from our childhood comics about the 99-pound weakling who gets sand kicked in his face by the bully at the beach, but goes on to become a body-building marvel who can stand up to anybody. That’s not a bad depiction of the Saturn–Mars dynamic. As a result of feeling insecure about their assertiveness or physical strength, these individuals often wind up working that much harder to develop their muscles, figuratively or literally, and can become surprisingly powerful in the process.

" Saturn–Pluto
One might well call this aspect the struggle to overcome. Pluto is similar to Mars — both are concerned with sexuality, raw power, and matters of control — but with a subtle difference: Pluto’s power is more covert and subterranean in expression, so whereas Mars might be likened to a stick of dynamite, Pluto is more like a coiled-up serpent. That compressed quality gives Pluto even more power than Mars — for either good or ill.
Add Saturn to that mix, and it’s like clamping down on that Plutonian serpent, tightening that already compressed energy — making the potentials for constructive or destructive manifestations that much stronger. For these individuals, the presence of Pluto–Saturn in their lives can often feel as though they’re being forced to contend with titanic challenges, which is hugely frustrating. But with that struggle can emerge a degree of willpower that seems almost superhuman at times. These people can move mountains, if they put their mind to it.

"Saturn–Mercury
This one might be called the struggle to communicate. I know of no better story to illustrate this combination than the life of legendary Greek orator Demosthenes. According to Plutarch, Demosthenes experienced great difficulty speaking publicly while young, because of both a speech impediment and breathing difficulties, which caused him to talk in staggered, clipped sentences. But in classic late-bloomer style, he tackled this problem by working on his diction and projection, using such unorthodox means as speaking with stones in his mouth and shouting into the surf. The end result was that he became what some regarded as history’s greatest orator. One doesn’t get much more Saturn–Mercury than that!

Because of their slow and deliberate way of pondering problems, perhaps, they can mistake their own slowness for stupidity — and occasionally, others do, too. Albert Einstein also had Mercury conjunct Saturn and was thought to be "retarded" as a child. We all know how that one turned out.

As a way to compensate for that sense of inadequacy, these individuals can work hard to bootstrap their way up into intellectual respectability, often through self-education and extensive reading. 

"Saturn–Sun
I call this connection the struggle to shine. The Sun in the horoscope symbolizes our essential identity and the impulse to express that character before the world. When Saturn becomes involved with the Sun, it produces a more strenuous effort in forging our public or professional identity and gaining respect for that creative light. We may feel blocked in this effort, as though we are standing in the shadow of others, be that a prominent or powerful parent, more successful peers or co-workers, or even an intimidating boss.
The silver lining here is that this sense of frustration compels us to work that much harder to "prove" ourselves and step out from behind those long shadows toward greater respect. Remember, there’s almost always a strong element of compensation involved with Saturn: Whatever it touches can be where we feel somehow inadequate or even inferior, and we are prompted to struggle even harder to make up for it. Finally, after much constructive effort, individuals with this aspect finally step out from those shadows and into the spotlight, to be honored for who they really are."

Every moon reflects something and as Aunty Pua Kanaka'ole Kanahele reminds me, "when translating, all definitions must be considered." I study extensively and apply what comes, time and again. Whew. Tired, yet? Yup.

Are you a late bloomer? Where is Saturn in your chart?

**The photo is that of Helennium, a flower that blooms late in the fall.**