While every life is spectacularly one-of-a-kind, have you ever noticed that we tend to go through similar trials at similar ages? That’s because each threshold of human development holds astrological significance. Every planet orbits the Sun in consistent numbers of years — for example, it takes Saturn 30 years to complete this journey, while it takes Uranus 84. When the planets reach key stations in their treks around the zodiac, they correspond to major moments in our lives. Those “key stations” include every time a planet returns to the position it first held in our birth charts, as well as every time a planet squares or opposes that position, representing a significant growth edge.
Since some of the faster planets return to their starting points every single year, we’re going to focus this article on the planets with longer cycles — i.e., Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. As you read on, reflect on the age range you’re in now, or think about past experiences you’ve lived through. You can also compare the information here to the lives of people you know, such as friends, siblings, parents, grandparents, etc. Note that all ages listed in this article have some wiggle room, depending on the planets’ retrograde patterns. For precise timing, you can track your Transits in the CHANI app.
Now, let’s get started.
To find out where your natal planetary placements are, check out the Me tab of the CHANI app, or use our free online chart tool.
Your childhood years
Age 7–8
Following your birth, the first pivotal astrological event happens around the age of 7 or 8, when you reach something called an opening Saturn square. (This is sometimes referred to as the “first quarter” or “waxing” Saturn square, but we’ll stick with “opening” to avoid confusion.) This transit occurs when Saturn travels 90° from its natal position. Saturn is the planet we associate with the limits of reality, so when it squares its natal position, we realize that there is a lesson or challenge we need to integrate. Around this age, we begin to self-actualize as individuals that exist outside of the orb of our caregivers. This transition can be scary — maybe we’re shy to talk to other children, or maybe we miss the constant presence of our parents — but surmounting such hesitations is a crucial part of growing up.
It’s important to note that opening Saturn squares happen every time the planet of discipline reaches the 90° mark from its natal position, meaning it will occur around the ages of 36 or 37, 66 or 67, and 96 or 97 as well. You can think of these moments as testing grounds. It’s when we bump against new limits, learn to grow past them, and become all the more resilient in the process. These thresholds also reveal information about our natal Saturn placements, including what it is we’re here to commit our energy to.
Age 9
The next major moment in your childhood years is called a nodal opposition, which happens nine or so years after birth (and again after every nodal return). This is when the nodes of the Moon reach the opposite points in the zodiac from which they started, signifying the halfway point in the journey of whatever you’re striving after and releasing. The first time this occurs, around age 9, we experience a subtle shift of priorities. We start to form more complex friendships outside our homes. Maybe we’re bored of hanging out with our toddler sibling and are curious about who or what else is out there. During this period, we also become aware of our body image for the first time, hair sprouts in all those weird places, and we begin to care more about what others think.
Because nodal oppositions happen every nine years after your lunar nodes return to their starting places, this moment will recur around ages 27, 45, 63, 81, and 99. These are years when we reach crucial turning points in the stories of what we’re hungry for and what we’re ready to shed. Our primary concerns may swivel, but we experience deeper sides of ourselves as a result.
Your tween and teen years
Age 12
Every 12 years, you go through something really special: your Jupiter return. This is when the planet of abundance and wisdom (Jupiter) returns to its natal position, imbuing you with the sense that you are protected and maybe even invincible. Cue the fearless 12-year-old leaping into a lake from a rocky cliff. Or the one skipping lunch in favor of a bag of gummy bears. Jupiter returns aren’t known for caution or deferred gratification — rather, they inspire rapid growth, confidence, and discovery. This growth can be physical too, as our first Jupiter return corresponds to the years when breasts and bodies begin to bud, and many people with uteri receive their periods for the first time — an initiation into the Jupiterian themes of fertility and wisdom.
Because Jupiter returns to the same place every 12 years, we experience sequels to this growth spurt around ages 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84, and 96. These are bold, expansive years when our energies shift toward learning, growing, giving, and living life to the fullest. We also come to understand our natal Jupiter placements more deeply with each return, if we pay attention. This is what enables us to identify the wisdom, joy, luck, and abundance we’re here to experience and spread around.
Age 14
Two years later, around age 14, we enter our Saturn opposition. By this point, the planet of discipline and commitment has moved 180° from its starting place, which represents a culmination of those themes. If our bodies didn’t already start to mutate on us during the nodal opposition or Jupiter return, puberty is now in full swing. As a result, and partly due to mounting social pressures, many people around this age reckon with the realities of mental and emotional wellness for the first time. Saturn can bring up insecurities, so this is a period when we may lack confidence, feel depressed or anxious, or stress about achievement at school. But this is also the time when we deepen our thought processes, learn about the consequences of our actions, and generally train to be fully-fledged adults — all gifts Saturn has to offer us.
We experience Saturn oppositions every time this planet reaches the 180° point from its natal position, which happens around ages 44 and 74 as well. These are periods of life when we get to know the impact of our choices more intimately — in both positive and challenging ways. Whatever we work through at these ages will strengthen our resilience for years to come.
Age 18–19
There’s one more initiation rite that happens in our teen years: when the nodes of the Moon return to their starting places. The lunar nodes take approximately 18 years to sweep through the zodiac and when they do, it could feel as though the wheel of fortune has spun and pointed directly at you. This astrological event occurs between the ages of 18 and 19 (and every 18 to 19 years after that), and it’s called a nodal return. The South Node return reverberates themes of release and letting go, while the North Node return stokes new desires and appetites. So it makes sense that it corresponds to such a threshold age when it comes to pursuing our life’s mission and calling. It’s around this time that many people leave school and/or home and embark on new chapters in college, work, or travel. Eighteen is also the age of majority in many places, when we are considered legal adults for the first time and we get to do all sorts of “adult” rituals, like vote or sign contracts.
The lunar nodes also return to their origin points around ages 36, 54, 72, and 90. These returns nudge us to assess our core values and reclaim the parts of life that are most significant to us. They’re occasions to celebrate the goals we’ve already accomplished and plant seeds for future ventures.
Your twenties
Age 21–22
Around age 21 or 22, the planet of discipline and reality squares its natal position once more before coming home. This is called a closing Saturn square, because it closes the loop on Saturn’s 30-year journey around the zodiac (though it’s sometimes referred to as a “last quarter” or “waning” Saturn square as well). It’s the next major ordeal or trial before your first Saturn return, and it coincides with a time when we learn to overcome obstacles in a whole new way. If you continued education after high school, your time in college wraps up around this period and you may be preparing to enter the workforce or choosing to continue on with post-graduate studies. If you didn’t go to college, you may have been working full-time for a few years, but you’re starting to recognize which jobs you find gratifying, and which ones you’d rather move on from. Remember: Saturn can dredge up our fears and insecurities, so these leaps could feel daunting at first. But as we meet each challenge, we get to know our own strength and perseverance. This closing Saturn square tests our mettle, but it’s gratifying to pass those tests and prove to ourselves how capable we are.
It’s important to note that we undergo closing Saturn squares around ages 49–50 and 79–80 too. Just like this first occurrence, these periods introduce growth edges in boundaries, commitments, and labors of love that need to be apprenticed before the next Saturn return.
Around the same age as our initial closing Saturn square, we enter our opening Uranus square. As much as our early twenties can feel terrifying, they’re also enormously freeing. As the first planet beyond rule-following Saturn, Uranus represents freedom and disrupting the status quo. This is a period when you’re invited to let your inner weirdo out to play. If you hid your love of Dungeons & Dragons when you were a teenager because you worried how others would judge you, your Uranus return is where you meet your fellow adventurers. Whatever made you odd and uncool as an adolescent now makes you interesting. This is a time to enjoy the ride.
Age 24
A few years later, around age 24, we enter our second Jupiter return. This is a golden year where we don’t yet feel totally saddled with the responsibilities of adulthood, but we’re starting to be more confident as independent agents. Even if we still experience the same old insecurities, this season brings a sense that the future is ours and the world is at our feet.
Age 28–30
Then comes the famous Saturn return, which lasts from around age 28 to 30. Because Saturn tends to represent rules, restrictions, and reality checks, the first Saturn return corresponds to years when we feel like certifiable grown-ups for the first time. Some people have children around this time, while others finish grad school, refine their career focus, or suddenly get curious about 401(k)s. Though our resolve is often tested during Saturn returns, this period is when we’re reminded how resilient we are. Nothing wins Saturn’s favor like determination and persistent effort over time.
We experience a second Saturn return around ages 58–60, as we’ll discuss later, and a third around 88–90. Each Saturn return builds upon the last, fortifying our roots, foundations, and conviction. Arguably, each return gets a little smoother too, as we’re able to lean on the hard-won wisdom of our past.
Your thirties
Age 36–37
After the big initiation rite that is your Saturn return, the next major moment is the nodal return, which occurs around age 36. Just like the first nodal return that we experience around age 18, this is when the points of striving (North Node) and release (South Node) circle back to their starting places and reaffirm whatever we are in the journey of seeking and purifying. This is a time when we often clarify what we’re hungry to pursue and offer to the world — whether through our career, public roles, family roles, or chosen vocation. If you haven’t already had children, this is a period when many people decide to take the plunge — or decide for keeps that that plunge isn’t for them. It’s also a year known for career transitions and refining how and where we want to dedicate our energy.
Life can feel very “real” at this age, which is partly attributed to our second opening Saturn square, which happens around age 36 or 37 as well. We covered the highlights of this earlier, but the important thing to note is that this is the first major test of Saturn after our initial Saturn return. If we haven’t been making the adjustments that Saturn highlighted for us around age 30, this square will nudge us to interrupt those outdated patterns and course-correct.
Age 36–42
As we reach our late 30s, the farthest planets in the solar system — Neptune and Pluto — start arriving at the key stations in their orbits, beginning the so-called “midlife” transits. The first of these is the Pluto square, which occurs between the ages of 36 and 42 (there’s a big range here because Pluto’s transit through the signs is so variable). When transiting Pluto squares its starting position in your birth chart, it ushers in a period of rebirth and regeneration. Pluto is the planet of power, mystery, deep psychology, wealth, death, and the underworld, so these themes will be activated during these years. Because of this, this is often a season when we come to terms with the fact that life won’t stretch on forever and it’s vital to make the most of the time we’ve got. If there are shadowy aspects of your psyche that you haven’t yet addressed — whether that’s your fear of success, or your need to control uncontrollable outcomes — you’ll be asked to work on those patterns now. And since Pluto rules the subterranean realms, any processes that take you into the depths of your mind or heart will be extra supportive, including therapy, meditation, free-writing, and dream-journaling. This is a time to honor your agency, take on the roles you haven’t felt worthy of before, and/or recognize the ways you already show up as a leader.
The second of these transits is the Neptune square, which happens when transiting Neptune squares its starting position in your birth chart around age 39 or 40. These can be a confusing couple of years, where we start to doubt the paths we’ve followed until now. Maybe we’ve stayed in a relationship or professional role too long, and it’s no longer inspiring us. Maybe it’s been a decade since we actually nurtured a certain passion or talent — and how did time pass so quickly? Or maybe we’re realizing that instead of holding a corporate job, it would actually be more gratifying to live out of a van, learn how to sail, study permaculture, join a coven, or write a memoir. Because Neptune is the planet of escape, fantasy, imagination, and delusion, we can lose our sense of direction during this square, but it can also lead us to explore re-enchantment — to rediscover the paths that light us up and feel aligned with our dreams or ideals. If we go into this stage of life requiring clear answers, we’ll feel more stuck. Your only mission during this time is to be open to asking questions.
Your forties
Age 42
All the fruitful confusion of the Neptune square leads to another reckoning around age 42: the Uranus opposition. Uranus represents the people and experiences that break through barriers, interrupt the status quo, and defy conventions. As such, this is the transit that corresponds to the famed “midlife crisis.” Uranus loves authenticity and freedom, so if you’ve been checking your own needs at the door to match someone else’s criteria of what life should look like, this opposition ruptures that pattern. You’re not just dreaming of abandoning the corporate job; you’re announcing your resignation. You’re not just Googling cities on the other side of the world; you’re buying one-way tickets. That said, if you’ve been a good listener to the discontent that’s bubbled up in the past and adopted pivots along the way, the changes that this transit brings could be a lot less drastic. In fact, it could be an affirming time, when you recognize that the risks you took to follow your mission statement are starting to pay off.
Age 44
Not to be left out, the planet of reality checks comes out to play shortly after this Uranus opposition. Around age 44, we experience our next Saturn opposition. This is a time when we’re tested on all of the lessons we absorbed during our first Saturn return. By this age, we often know the direction we’re headed in with regard to our professional, personal, and/or family lives. But that doesn’t make these aspects of life easy. We’re still learning to search within for the answers to life’s conundrums, rather than deferring to outside sources all the time. This could also be an age where we realize that our health and wellness aren’t always a matter of fate or “good genes,” but active decision-making. When you go to bed, what you feed your system, and how you release stress start to inform the quality of your life more noticeably than before. If you’re someone with a uterus, you may also notice the shifts that come with perimenopause during this time, and over the next few years.
Age 49–50
The next major transit happens around age 49 or 50. This is your Chiron return, when Chiron — the minor planet that represents healing and teaching — comes back to its starting place in your birth chart. Chiron is often known as the “wounded healer,” thanks to the mythology of the Greek centaur Chiron, who was a prolific healer unable to mend his own wound. Our natal Chiron placement can reveal the area of life where we feel tender, but also where we unlock the greatest healing and wisdom. All of these themes are emphasized during your Chiron return. If you have Chiron in the 10th House of career and reputation, for example, you may not always feel comfortable as a public figure or leader. While that discomfort could reiterate itself during your Chiron return, you’ll also be reminded of the ways you’ve worked through it in the past and witness how much you’ve evolved since then. If you have kids, this could be a period when they leave home for the first time, which brings up all sorts of knotty emotions. But you’ll still be there to cheer them on as they continue their own journeys. Mythological Chiron was a powerful mentor, so this might also be a time when you lean in to a mentorship or role model role like never before. You’ve gained so much wisdom in your half-century on this Earth — it’s now time to share that knowledge with others.
Your fifties
Age 50–51
Your fifties are a time when you’re likely to feel more established in whatever paths you’ve chosen for yourself. But that doesn’t mean life’s suddenly easy. The Saturn square that happens between the ages of 50 and 51 is the reality-bringer’s last test before you enter your second Saturn return at the end of this decade. Just as the Saturn transits of our youth corresponded with puberty, people with uteri experience major hormonal shifts during this time, if they haven’t already. When this square occurs, you may be on the other side of menopause or right in the middle of this passage, contending with all the gifts and challenges that the metamorphosis has to offer. Because it’s Saturn, we know that this moment will also relate to your responsibilities, commitments, and boundaries. This could be a period when you assess your monthly spending patterns and decide: If I’m going to pay off my mortgage / ease my transition toward retirement / help my kid through college / etc., I’ll have to tighten my budget. Or, it could be a time when you have to make other tough choices to support your future, or someone else’s. Saturn’s all about deferred gratification: making sacrifices now to bolster something really meaningful down the road.
Age 54
Astrologically, all of the transits we experience in our fifties, we’ve experienced before. An example of this is the nodal return, which happens around age 54. Like the previous nodal returns that we covered in “Your tween and teen years” as well as “Your thirties,” this return will likely echo the same themes. If helpful, you can look back over old journals, diaries, calendars, photo albums, etc. to remind yourself what you were experiencing at those corresponding stages of life. If one of those periods was particularly challenging, don’t worry — history never repeats itself exactly. The rest of the sky is totally different now, and this experience will be too. Plus, you’ve learned a whole lot since then, which will make this chapter even easier to surf. This is a time to honor the initiation rites you’ve lived, reflect on the challenges you’ve endured, and remember that everything you’ve apprenticed in the past will support you in and through this moment.
Age 58–60
Welcome to your second Saturn return. Like any astrological return, this can be a period where what once went around is coming around again for part two. Reflect on what you experienced between the ages of 28 and 30, during your first Saturn return. If you had kids then, you might become a grandparent now. Or you could be transitioning toward the end of your career, starting a new path of volunteer work, or going back to school as a mature student.
If you’ve had trouble recognizing your expertise or authority in the past, it will be easier for you to acknowledge it by the end of your fifties — especially if you’re called to share your knowledge with others. That’s another gift of Saturn: earning your stripes and becoming a wise elder or mentor. Maybe you’re coaching someone on how to take care of little ones. Or you’re a leader in your field invited to distribute your know-how through a new podcast. Regardless of how you perceive your wisdom, you’ve experienced nearly six decades on this Earth, so there’s no doubt you know a thing or two about life. Others are lucky to glean your perspective.
Your sixties
Age 63–64
The main transit to note in your sixties is the closing Uranus square, which happens around age 63 or 64. You experienced your first Uranus square around age 21 or 22, and those themes of claiming your freedom and letting your inner weirdo out to play came to a head during the Uranus opposition around age 42. Now it’s time to close out the cycle. Hopefully, by now, your inner oddball has a seat of honor at the table. Whatever idiosyncratic or unique details you used to feel shy or embarrassed about when you were younger are part of what makes you a learned elder, wise crone, and/or esteemed expert in your field. This is also a period when many people move toward retirement, so you may be experiencing freedom in a whole new way — without kids at home or a day job to report to. The lack of structure could feel unmooring at first, and not without its difficulties, but this is a season to dream up how you’d like to spend your days without answering to anyone else. That could include spending more time in the garden, cycling through Spain, or protesting a pipeline. It’s up to you.
Age 66–67
Come age 66–67, it’s time for another opening Saturn square. Review the sections above to reflect on how those themes manifested in the past and remind yourself how they could show up for you now. Again, they won’t reiterate themselves in the same exact way, but you may glean insight into what touchpoints will re-emerge — as well as a whole new appreciation for how ready and capable you are at handling the experiences that do arise.
Your seventies
Age 72–74
Between ages 72 and 74, we experience three transits around the same time — all of which we’ve lived through before. That’s the nodal return (which we experienced around 18, 36, and 54), Jupiter return (which we experience every 12 years or so), and Saturn opposition — the halfway point between Saturn returns. Review those corresponding sections in this article to remind yourself how those themes may manifest now.
This is a time when certain life experiences feel like they come full circle. You might find yourself as a caregiver for your grandkids, or for someone else in your life who needs your support. Alternatively, you might be out of the workforce but are still called upon to offer your wisdom and ideas as a respected elder. Whatever the case may be, you’ll be reconciling any adventures, emotions, or stories that have yet to be integrated into your life. And doing so will be fulfilling, illuminating, and liberating all at the same time.
Your eighties
Age 82–83
Though we won’t ever live to experience a Neptune return (which happens every 165 years), we do get to experience transiting Neptune opposing our natal Neptune placement. This is called a Neptune opposition, and it occurs around age 82 or 83. Neptune is the planet of fantasy, dreams, delusion, imagination, spirituality, and escape, so this transit causes these themes to culminate in some way in our early eighties. We could be reflecting on what comes next — on what it means to have a “good death,” or on what (or who) is waiting for us on the other side, if they are. Or we could feel more inner peace and acceptance, which will help us relax into the end-of-life transition that is approaching in the next decade or two.
Age 84
Then comes your Uranus return around age 84. Talk about full circle. If you live long enough to experience Uranus — one of the farthest planets from the Sun — return to its natal position, you’re a lucky one. After eight and a half decades on this planet, you are now certifiably an elder. A wise one. And you know what? You’re probably happier than you’ve been before. People in their eighties tend to be less stressed and worried than their younger counterparts. They’re no longer hustling for some abstract definition of success. They’ve experienced loss, and they’ve learned how to cope. They live in the moment — and what could be more freeing than that?
The medicine found in reflecting on these cycles
These are the main phases of the human life. While some people will live a decade or two longer, all of the transits they’ll experience will be repeats of the ones they experienced earlier, allowing them to further integrate those themes.
No matter what phase you’re currently in, reflecting on the astrology of a lifetime can be both rich and rewarding, because it not only provides meaning to the stage of life you’re in now, but it illuminates the ways you’re connected with others. And not only others your age, but others who are decades older or younger who are experiencing the same transit. It’s another reminder — if you needed one — that you’re never ever alone.
Astrological Timeline
Age 7–8
- Opening Saturn square
Age 9
- Nodal opposition
Age 12
- Jupiter return
Age 14
- Saturn opposition
Age 18–19
- Nodal return
Age 21–22
- Closing Saturn square
- Opening Uranus square
Age 24
- Jupiter return
Age 27
- Nodal opposition
Age 28–30
- Saturn return
Age 35–37
- Jupiter return
- Nodal return
- Opening Saturn square
Age 36–42
- Opening Pluto square
Age 39–40
- Opening Neptune square
Age 42
- Uranus opposition
Age 44–45
- Saturn opposition
- Nodal opposition
Age 47–48
- Jupiter return
Age 49–50
- Chiron return
- Closing Saturn square
Age 54
- Nodal return
Age 58–60
- Jupiter return
- Saturn return
Age 63–64
- Closing Uranus square
- Nodal opposition
Age 65–66
- Opening Saturn square
Age 72–74
- Nodal return
- Jupiter return
- Saturn opposition
Age 79–80
- Closing Saturn square
Age 81–83
- Nodal opposition
- Neptune opposition
Age 83–84
- Jupiter return
- Uranus return
Age 88–90
- Saturn return
- Nodal return
Age 96–97
- Closing Saturn square
- Jupiter return
Age 99
- Nodal opposition
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