*Note: I use sidereal chart, whole signs, Lahiri ayanamsa in this entire post.

Saturn entered Aquarius on the 30th of April coinciding with the solar eclipse in Aries. For cancer ascendants, this meant the entry of Saturn into the 8th coincided with a harsh truth being slowly revealed about your professional/career life (the solar eclipse fell into your 10th house). This harsh truth of your 10th house will need to be addressed by the lunar eclipse in your 11th house. By the end of May, you may have to reassess and face the reality of your profession and your dreams/wishes associated with it. Some adjustments will be needed to realign your vision with the reality of your life. For instance, you may have wanted a promotion at your current job, however, you have realised that your organisation is struggling/will lay you off and you may have to find another job.

Cancer Ascendants have not caught a break since 2020. The past 2+ years have seen Saturn rip through your 7th house in Capricorn. Even Jupiter’s presence did not really help as Jupiter was in its fall and was controlled by Saturnian energies. Your one on one relationships may have been affected acutely. Your marriage may have been shaken up a bit. Your entire belief system may have been threatened.

If you have flowed with the changes Saturn brought into your life, you may be in a better mental space to experience its transit through your 8th house.

Water Signs and Karma.

However, being ruled by an extremely sensitive luminary, this transit will require a great deal of courage and strength, the proverbial leonine courage drawn from the Sun, the brightest luminary in our solar system.

The Moon is sensitive luminary who reflects light, rather than creates her own, who rules the night, is shimmery, elusive and hides behind clouds and trees. And being represented by a crab, who resides in liminal spaces- one foot on earth and one in water.

Water, in astrology, is the repository of Karma, and watery signs are said to carry the burden of ancestral and past life karmas.

To transmute and transcend the karmic memory of water, one needs to change the state of its matter from one that clings to the earth to that which can rise up and above. How and what can make water change its state of matter from water that holds dense memories to that of air which is light, quick and agile?

I’m no physicist and I may be incorrect on the terminology, but maybe it involves purifying ourselves through heat. Heat source can be our own thoughts and actions. Intensity of our emotions can be akin to heat. So our intense emotions burn off anything unnecessary for our well being, leaving only what is truly significant and important. (This is the positive expression)

Anyways, I digress. The point is that water ascendants with or without other inner planets in water, have a subconscious need for purification. stemming possibly from memories of multiple lifetimes or memories encoded in our DNA through generations. Humans are, after all, made of 75% water element.

Sign of Cancer and Karma

The sign cancer is adjacent to the Sun ruled Leo. 29 degrees of Cancer (like 29 deg of Scorpio and 29 deg of Pisces) is known as a ‘gandanta’ point or a spiritual knot where the soul has to burn off its karmas and rise up.

This transit may need you, cancer ascendants, to gather your courage and transmute and transcend your ancestral, family and individual karma. Transmutation of karma is not straightforward or simple. It involves sieving through memories, some of which may not be your own individual memories, to discard those that have no place in your future. It involves making amends with those who have been hurt by your actions in the past. It indicates forgiving those who have hurt you in the past.

Even if one does not have a planet in the 8th, this transit will bring one face to face with ones debilitating fears, insecurities and phantoms from the past. Saturn will force us to deal with whatever has been buried or has been pushed into the recesses of our lives. What we have been afraid to look at. Quite like the unused or unecessary items we store away in the attic, hoping we don’t have to deal with the decluttering.

Transit Saturn results for cancer ascendants*

* Regardless of Moon sign and placement

One never knows what might be brought up to be dealt with during this transit.

Because the 8th is the 2nd from the 7th, it might bring up crippling fears and doubts about your partner. Maybe something happens and you begin to question your marriage/partnership.

Because the 8th is the 7th from the 2nd, it might bring up issues and challenges related to joint finances. What is yours and what is not yours to claim? Maybe you were dependent on joint income, but somehow that joint income is under threat. Or maybe you have loans/mortgage and suddenly the interest rates go up and threaten your financial security.

Because transiting Saturn aspects the 10th from the 8th (with its 3rd aspect), you may begin to question, doubt your professional reputation or authority. Saturn is in its fall in your 10th house of Aries, so it amplifies the urge to be noticed and recognised (Aries) as well as creates obstacles and challenges in this pursuit (Saturn).

These nagging doubts create further fears in your mind: Can you really establish yourself in your field or were you being delusional?. You may find that you run into opposition when you initiate an idea or a project at work. You may feel frustrated and devoid of hope.

As transiting 8th house Saturn aspects the 5th house(with its 10th aspect), it makes you question your self expression. Any artistic pursuit begun as a hobby will be examined for its worth. Any business venture begun before this transit will be scrutinized for its profitability or longevity. If you’re planning to have children, you may wish to mentally prepare for delays and disappointments in conception. If you’re a student, you may face unexpected obstacles and disappointments in your education.

Check your sidereal cancer ascendant degree. Then see the description below to pinpoint the peak stress period in the next two years.

If your ascendant is between 0 to 5 degrees

If your ascendant is between 0 to 5 degrees of cancer, you will feel the effects of the 8th house saturn transit starting 1st May 2022 until 13th July 2022 when Saturn retrogrades back into your 7th house in Capricorn. It moves forward into the 8th house again on the 18th of January 2023 and reaches 5 degrees by first week of March 2023.

If your ascendant is between 5 to 10 degrees

Cancer ascendants between 5 and 10 degrees will begin feeling the intensity starting 10th March 2023 until April end 2023. And during the retrograde- 9th August 2023 to end of November 2023

If your ascendant is between 10 to 15 degrees

April 16th to August 22nd 2023, it includes the direct motion as well as retrograde. January 12th to March 3rd 2024 in direct motion.

if your ascendant is between 15 to 20 degrees

25th February 2024 to 15th April 2024 is peak intensity for these five degrees. A relatively short time. However, because these are the middle degrees, and planets are supposed to be very powerful in the middle degrees, expect intensity x 100.

If your ascendant is between 20 to 25 degrees

7th of April 2024 to 25th February 2025. Saturn will spend the most time transiting back and forth within these five degrees. However, once its done, its done.

If your ascendant is between 25 to 30 degrees.

If your ascendant is towards the last 5 degrees of Cancer, 1st peak would be around 17th February 2025 to 29th March 2025 in direct motion. This last week of March when Saturn transits the 29th degree of Aquarius will be very intense for those with their ascendant at 28 or 29 deg. However, once Saturn enters Pisces in April, there is no returning back to Aquarius for another 29-30 years. So, think of it as a 6 week trial by fire.

Transit Saturn in Aquarius results for Cancer ascendant +8th house moon.

How you experience this transit depends on where your Moon is placed. If your Moon is placed in the 8th house, you have cancer ascendant with Aquarius Moon. The next two years may be intense or intensely healing. Take your pick. As an Aquarius Moon you may struggle with letting go of past memories, of people who you’ve outgrown or who have outgrown you, and with staying optimistic. Your usual detachment may, combined with the isolation of Saturns transit, make you a hermit or a recluse. Do watch out for your mental well being the next 2-3 years.

Create a safety net for this transit.

Release your past.

Not many placements can hold on to the past like strong Cancer energy. (Scorpio comes close). Holding on to the past also indicates holding on to a range of issues. From perceived insults, slights to actual trauma. These next two years are a gift to you to release the past. Release those grudges. Release the victim mindset that you may have been endorsing all this time without realising it.

Release the ‘what-ifs‘ . Release catastrophizing an event because you went down a spiral of ‘what-ifs’. Release the burden of mistakes- yours and the other’s. Release, release, release.

Allow yourself to shed micro-layers of your old personality to let the butterfly emerge.

Forgive yourself and others.

Let that shit go. If its the past, leave it in the past and do not allow it to color your present. You will need to make peace with the ghosts and phantoms of past regrets, mistakes, gaffes, blunders. Yours and others. If you don’t release your past by the time Saturn completes moving through your 8th house, you may lose out on the favorable 3 years it spends in your 9th house in Pisces. If you’re still holding on to clutter in your life, you may not be able to soar or fly high as you will be weighed down by 8th house matters.

Focus on movement

As Saturn transits your 8th house in fixed air sign of Aquarius, you may feel stuck, physically and mentally. Keep a steady, unwavering focus on progress and movement. Whether it is mentally freeing and liberating yourself form a traumatic past or physically relocating/traveling to introduce fresh energy. Keep taking that next baby step, and the baby step after that. Keep your eyes and mind focused on the high perspective always. Saturnian energy will envelope you from time to time and make you feel all is lost. It isn’t. Nothing is lost for good. Remember the Law of Conservation of Energy. All of life is temporary, so allow yourself to relax. Chill. Don’t take life too seriously. Invite joy and freshness into your everyday routine in minute ways. Shake up your routine (in a good way). Maybe change your brand of coffee/tea. Maybe begin your mornings with a brisk walk outside. Maybe commit to doing nothing for an hour everyday.