What Causes Depression?

depressed womanI have a theory about what causes depression, based on logic and my observations over the years.

I have long seen that people who do not express their Mars energy, aka their anger and ambition, tend to become depressed.  This makes sense because Mars (raw male energy), by it’s nature is overt. If it is repressed it can do nothing but pervert. Most commonly this manifests as depression.

Mars likes to go and do and win and conquer. When people are depressed they tend to feel lethargic and want to sleep all day. You see the correlation.  Some depression is anger, turned in on the self.

Saturn in combination with the Moon or the IC, in the natal chart or by transit has long been associated with depression, for good reason.  In 40 years of astrology, I’ve not seen even one person with a Saturn Moon contact, natally or by transit that has not dealt with depression on some level. But this seems to be of a different flavor than Mars-based depression… it’s cold.

I realize some depression has a physiological basis. I am talking about depression that might be treated without drugs. It seems if you can isolate the cause it would be easier to address the situation.

Here’s more on this:

Anger, Depression And The Expression Of Your Mars Energy

Do you tend to be depressed?  Can you define your suffering? What’s the astrology?

129 thoughts on “What Causes Depression?”

  1. Though I haven’t suffered from serious depression in many many years, I have recently learned VERY clearly that the more active I am, the healthier I am. The healthier I am, the happier I am. Where did I learn this? 6th house stellium including Mars, Saturn, Pluto, Jupiter.

      1. Yes! Me too! I have Mars conj Neptune in the 12th house. I feel much better in Nature. Also using my Neptune in solitude-doing Art, dancing (alone!) and having a good cry 😢…
        I get depressed when I can’t express myself.

        1. I have natal sun sq Saturn, natal moon sq Saturn and Pluto in the 12th house all cause depression that I’ve had all my life.

          1. Hi Amy
            I just wanted to say that I read your post and it made me feel deeply for you. I’ve had/have depression too. I don’t know what else to say. I’m thinking of you.

  2. “Sometimes I cry thinking about the kind of cruel devouring world we are born into as innocent babies.”

    Me too, though I try my best to switch the channel when that happens. ((milano))

  3. Of course we all go through ups and downs, I don’t know if I can say I have ever been “depressed.” I’ve definitely had some depressing days/weeks, mostly due to Saturn transits. But I think its due to the fact the I have a well aspected Saturn natally and lots of cardinal/fire in my chart that prevents this. My Mom actually has Scorp Saturn 1st house square Aquarius Moon 4th house. Although I don’t think she gets depressed very often, at least she doesn’t admit to it and I have never observed that of her. I think her Sag sun with Gemini jupiter opposing in the 9th house really helps!!

  4. Most exact aspect in my chart is Saturn quincunx Moon, also have Mars conjunct Neptune. I’ve been diagnosed as depressed twice & I bought into it & took the meds, But I really don’t think I was ever depressed – I was OVERWHELMED. Big difference between petrified & being depressed.

  5. Your Natal Mars is your ikigai. If someone blocks your Mars, you will indeed be depressed. When this occurs, think long-term. If you can, work towards getting your ikigai UNblocked. And, if you have to be stuck like that for a while, plan for when you remove the block later on, it’ll make you feel loads better than if you just be caught in the now.

    Avoid being in the company of people with whom you will have to fight to fulfill your ikigai. (Mars Conjunct Mars Synastry is one of the markers of that. I just looked up stuff on it… They point out you match each other in goals and desire for it, but are not pointing out that means yo will fight, fight, fight! over it with neither winning.)

  6. I have Saturn, natal, exactly on my IC. The only time I was really ever depressed is when Pluto made the transit past my IC and Saturn. That was horrible! Felt like it lasted forever too.

  7. Yup Saturn is transiting my Libra moon, so I feel the “cold” brrrrr.

    Natal Mars/Saturn conjunction in Scorpio. Fair to say that it has created alot of hardship and depression in the past. Wonder what Saturn in Scorpio later this year and my saturn return will mean for me. IM trying to ride out the t. jupiter sextile sun.

  8. yep, it was definitely mars. not good for an aries girlie to squish her mars. the more i assert my needs, the happier i am. funny, that.

  9. Natal Saturn in Scorpio conjunct my IC exactly, and I have a lot of hereditary depression to deal with. Suicides in the family, etc. When transiting Pluto crossed my South Node at 19 I was hospitalized for it.

    Transiting Saturn is currently transiting my Libra moon and I’ve been ill with both a recurrent sinus infection and anxiety/depression (Uranus sq. Sun = not helping), but I can’t say I mind this transit as much as I thought I would. Saturn is stabilizing my emotions instead of aggravating them and I am able to tolerate the medication for the first time.

    I do agree w/ the idea that there are different forms physical vs. a kind of spiritual depression and for those I use alternative therapies in conjunction w/ allopathic meds for the physical.

  10. I am starting to feel the way I did when I was 17 again. debililitated gut pain deep mourning ride the waves to ride it out pain. pain. pain of insecurity. feeling not loved. forgotten. dreadful. no hope. like nothing will change and always be the same. dread. nausea. bodily symptoms. deep pain panic paranoia. like nothing will change. like i will be alone. like i will have no outlet, no sympathy, no love, no friends, no job, no partner, and no true understanding. like on the surface. everyone will think i am nice and things are well but i am dying inside. screaming and no one can hear. they are ignoring my scream and my pain. no one to understand me. no one to truly love me. lonely, to the depths of my bowels. and panic set in. the echoes of feelings from when i was 23. and i met that evil person and evil people and became full of despair and no body loved me nobody heard me nobody understood nobody cared. no friends. in the basement. cold and shivering and alone. horrible body symptoms. because nobody cared and i was alone. nobody heard or saw or understood my pain. but they judged me. strangers judged me. and nicknamed me. and laughed. they devoured my weakness and it became their strength. evil people. the unborn child. aborted from me. and cruel aborted dreams. and unborn people. evil people. they take but they do not give. they gaze but they do not see. or do not want to see because they do not care. they care for themselves and their consumption. they care for their vain imaginings and ideals. but they do not care. they do not care about me and they never have and they never will because they are evil and takers and i am a giver and they see me as food. but when the food supply runs out they go away in search of more, others. others they can consume and destroy. empty vile depression shell. nobody understands. if only somebody wanted to go that deep with me. i would be in heaven not hell. but this earth based on appearances is hell for the deep souls out there. because nobody understands. nobody understands the depth of our pain and our love and we hide it behind pretty masks. and everybody cries alone at night in the dark. why is this like this. people want to get not to give. to consume and not be consumed. to be loved but not to love. to be admired but not for anything soul deep. only skin deep. and they will look upon your made-up dying flesh, and say beautiful. when underneath you are dying. you are dead from despair and the illusions of this world. and everyone can see but no one can see. and no one can understand and they dont want to. to understand would be to care and they dont care. they care for themselves and they care for their illusions and that is it. what a painful world. i am feeling it today. and i dont know why. release what had become stuck, frozen trauma maybe? hopefully its old trauma and not new because I have dealt with enough in these years for many lifetimes. and i am still healing. still sickened by the world and people very rarely. today is one of those days. i am deep and the wound is deep. nobody understands. God heal me.

  11. Thank you, as a native with Saturn conjunct Asc. and a retrograde Mars I have always had a heavyish turned inward experience but recently a depression has settled in that is rattling me. Transiting Neptune is squaring natal mars and right after that will oppose Pluto right before it trines itself .( I have never been real clear about how my natal Mars(R) square Pluto expresses itself.) I am about two weeks out from this transit becoming exact and I am more or less psychologically paralyzed and hosting what seems to be a sinus infection as I become so dizzy at times I have to hang on to something so as not to fall over. The fog of Neptune is not the most fun place to be. If I can manage not to give up on the more damanding calling of my life as a painter, perhaps, in her time, Neptune will be generous with some imaginative vision.

  12. Hi! Like Elizabeth, I have the natal Saturn (0 virgo) conjunct my ASC (24 leo). I also have mars retrograde (natally at 11 leo) in the 12th house. So battling depression has been a life-long battle I tend to be good at hiding. Currently, it’s just to the point of – enough of this already. My sag placements in my chart tend to help me, on the one hand, by giving me the ability to always find something to make me smile, to perk up my mood but on the other hand, it seems that the more I lean on those things that make me smile or perk up my mood, the stronger the depression builds up. I’m probably missing something here or maybe I’m intentionally attempting to ‘run away’ from the depression when in facing it, maybe it will go for good? Right now, I have transitting Saturn (in 4th house) biquintile my natal moon in aries (16 aries – 9th house). I believe the transitting Saturn is also square my natal Saturn. It’s really getting on my nerves today. I feel much like this is all way too dramatic for me – even if I am a late leo ascendant. What the hell do I have to be so depressed about?

  13. I was reading this just before it was (re)posted by Elsa today! (Thanks to @Warped)
    I have both Mars in 12th and Saturn oppossite Moon and have indeed felt depressed at times. I’ve had the “acute” sort (at early adoclescence), then there is the low-key, non dramatic type, which is less “painful”, can drag on and on, but is very debilitating.
    @barb sais “I’ve learned that depression is anger that is not only repressed, its anger that one feels one does not have a right to have.” I agree completely!!! For most part I wasn’t even aware that I was angry. I think it is very helpful to recognize this. It doesn’t necessairiy make the stuff go away, but it is much less frightening. It is always better to be able to name unconscious things.

  14. Moon-Saturn (MO180SA), definitely… It is cold, and the world is harsh and cruel; you basically lack something, and feel nostalgic for it, but you can rarely pinpoint what.

  15. No mention of Saturn opposite the Sun/Mercury midpoint? Ego hits taken on a regular basis. Saturn near my MC causes this to happen in the career/reputation sphere so I have to fulfill my ego needs through home activities and private hobbies. The outer world makes me want to stay home! I’ve had to develop some tough skin over the years to avoid depression over other peoples issues mostly.

  16. I’ve been dealing with functional depression since I was five and now that I’m almost 29, the final battle is about to unfold. I want to dethrone depression and inthrone melancholy.
    Lately I’ve been resisting an ugly thought that astrology does not work on me because I’m not a member of Western civilization, I come from wasteland devoid of archetypes and all the breakthroughs, epiphanies, rites of passages are not for me. Jung once called my people “dull,unhappy lot” – somewhat rude but partially true.
    I’m currently having incredible once-in-a-lifetime transits yet nothing happens. Maybe that is how depression manifests: it blocks other energies, no matter how strong they are.

  17. I have Chiron conjunct Mars in Aquarius. But trine Mercury and Uranus. When I say, hey let’s try it this way, I’ve already thought about the best action a LOT, even if it seems like it only took a nanosecond. (G)

    And my Saturn is in a grand cross with the Moon, Mercury, Jupiter/Pluto. So once again serious feeling, thinking, action. Thank you God that my moon is in a double grand trine with Venus, and Neptune conjunct mid heaven, descendant. But I notice that without company on the journey, I “loose my sparkle”.

    It happens. Like right now during my second Saturn return. : (
    But, I know, “this too shall pass”.

  18. I have natal Mars in Pisces square Uranus/Asc/Venus/Saturn in Gemini. The Venus/Saturn is opposite Moon in Sagittarius. I used to cry a lot instead of getting angry. Now that I’m older, I’m more likely to boil and fume and maybe feel like a victim! Finding a good philosophy of life helps. Getting involved in detailed work (Virgo) grounds the whole thing–writing helps. Studying astrology steadies me. So does spiritual work and paying attention to intuition and subtle realms/healing. Singing is essential! (Taurus Sun.) Taking the Pices/Gemini/Sagittarius and acknowledging all of it saves me. Depression, frustration, yes, have been working with it all my life.

  19. This is so relevant to me Elsa. My Mars in Leo is tucked away in the 12th, opp Saturn and Squared by Neptune.Healthy and straightforward expression of Mars energy has been so difficult and thwarted into helplessness at every turn until very recently.My mars was so hidden and diffuse, I myself was unaware of what I wanted and up to a point still am.When I was a younger woman I was very depressed and used to compulsively sleep to kill the pain. I now know at very least I have to seek to be of service to become aware of my own desires. Thank you for your thoughts on this, i think it could be very helpful to other sufferers.

  20. I experience the Mars/Saturn depression through my relationship with my husband. I have a strong Mars, in Aries to boot. My Mars does not like to be thwarted and that’s an understatement. I have learned quite a bit, though. I learned to slow down and think before acting. I also have Saturn on Scorpio conjunct the IC (on the “dark side” of the IC apparently – 5-6° applying to IC in H3- or so I have read somewhere). I have it conjunct Pluto and opposite Venus. I project it and blame others for making me depressed- go figure. At least I am aware of it.

  21. Just had a convo with the med student about that last night. I wish I could remember the lingo. Will re-check with her. It has something to do with low activity in the front part of the brain. The way information routes or something. Part of a larger convo about molecular pathology class and different conditions. So since it involves the way info is processed or not processed I would assume mercury is involved. She did agree with me though that the brain can be re-wired. Depression has been described to me by others as something undesirable happens and sticks in the brain, and then another undesirable and it gets it becomes a landmark on that same route, and on and on. It’s an internal highway to hell.

    I don’t think I have had serious depression. Even when I had my nervous breakdown due to a succession of external knotty events. It was just darn uncomfortable. Perhaps my mars trine saturn pulls me through. Don’t know. But repetition of stuff gets old with me and I begin to feel locked into a really bad circle game. I do not like feeling fenced in and I have to break loose. Why would I repeat the same depressing situations that produce the same depressing results. Oh yeah, it’s my duty to others, to the societal norm. Must stay in the lines.

    Brain health takes work. It affects the mind. But it can be done. It was reinforced by my mother’s condition. Her form of dimentia went like this. Her blood pressure spiked, got really irritated, then got a serious pain in her head, couldn’t remember anything, slept for 24-72 hours, woke up fit as a fiddle. Brain capillaries, or whatever they are, were collapsing and affecting her information highway. But her brain was able to re-route after a period of rest. And then she died of something else. Oh well, 91 ain’t bad.

  22. I have natal moon sesqui saturn. Whatever could that mean? I understand the mars uranus sesqui to mean to slow down and not move too fast for conditions. To conciously act instead of reacting. But moon saturn sesqui I just don’t know. Oh well, question has been asked. The answer will come.

  23. My saturn is 2O degrees away from IC,no contacts with moon. My mars is a good old strong Cap mars, although sextile saturn? and trine Ura/Pluto.Moon is in cold Aquarius,a reputation for eccentricity at least,semisquare Ura/Pluto but with a healthy sextile to sun.
    I think my bipolar depression has more to do with a badly aspected Mercury (the mind, after all), combust,square Ura/Pluto, square Saturn (denied self-expression) and Midpoint between Neptune and Venus (my manias used to be about unreal/unrequitted love)

  24. I wholeheartedly agree unresolved anger and thwarted intentions bring on depression. I saw this in many people in my circle – Mom, Dad, numerous girlfriends, wife and myself. Those who got their anger out or were able to get their way, tended not to be depressed. My brothers ran the herd and seemed happy enough. Learning to forgive, accept and let go is the way I’ve found to release the anger and rise out of depression. To forgive, a person has to learn to take the offenses less personally, even though they were intended personally. It’s that person acting out their inner turmoil and you happen to be the one they’re venting on. If a person is cruel, they’re screwed-up and disconnected from God’s love. That’s no way to live. Accept it for what it is and move on if possible. Often though, we’re stuck with those people. Realizing that everyone is on a learning path, some are less further along in their spiritual journey. God loves them too. The important thing for me was to realize that I wasn’t attacked because I was bad, stupid or deserved it. I was attacked because those people all had issues.

  25. I am by nature depressed and I almost do not know anything different, so it’s normal to me. I have Saturn in Scorpio (conjunct Pluto) on the IC. Sometimes it’s worse than other times. I used to blame my depressed states on others because I’ve got Saturn opposite Venus. So i would feel lonely due to Saturn on IC and a lack of love (venus) from others. It especially sucks sometimes that I’ve got love with a capital L written all over my chart and with a strong Neptune flavor so for as long as I can remember I always longed for an escape from this through Love. And trust me, I believed I would get it. I dreamed hard, so hard that I would at times waste away my life and my potential. Its kinda tragic, but anywag, in my 30s, I’m finally getting a handle on it somewhat even though I do slide back.

    I can say that my mars has been my saving grace. I’ve got a strong Mars that’s expected harmoniously which, when it kicks in, I am really unstoppable and I’ve had moments where I felt I could concur anything and do anything I choose, absolutely anything I put my mind to.

    1. Oh and my strong Mars is a double edged sword because I would also use it to lash out at people. It desposites my Venus. So any wrongdoing towards me and look out. I can have the worse temper you’ve ever seen. But I’m starting to see where it seems from, which is acute sensitivity due to Neptune 8th house and that old familiar ‘no one loves me’ problem. I’m so proud of myself that I’m starting to think twice before I lash out and I haven’t done it in a while. My husband and I are actually doing better than ever. Oh maturity isn’t it grand lol.

      1. But I’m actually not a mean person even though I can have a temper. I’m one of the softest and sweetest you would meet. In very accomodating, very kind, pleasent, gentle, non judgmental, etc etc, so when the rage comes out, its always a surprise to people. My dad always said that he could never believe the anger that could come out of me since I’m always so sweet…he actually warned my husband before we got married. He said have you seen her temper yet? Just making sure. Lol

        1. Conquer* pleasant* I’m*
          My dyslexia is super bad these days. All week while taking notes in class, I was writing d’s and b’s backwards etc….I just actually wrote ‘right’ instead of ‘write’. I may need to get more sleep or something.

  26. Avatar
    ScottishFoldSoul

    I read somewhere that when a mother is depressed or ambivalent about being pregnant, the developing child absorbs it.

    1. In the old days they called it marking the baby. That happened to my sister as Mom was terribly upset by other events while carrying her. She grew up a nervous wreck. I’ve suffered depression much of my life and wonder if it was not partially due to Mom’s state of mind. She’s a gentle soul but feels responsible for everything.

      1. Avatar
        ScottishFoldSoul

        GTO I never heard of that expression, “marking the baby.” Am sorry you’ve also struggled with depression, it’s a very tough thing to overcome.

        1. Thank you for your kind words. I’m fine and grateful for the experience. It was truly a hard beginning but the longer I live the happier I feel. I don’t blame the past or people anymore. It’s water under the bridge. Today is a new day and I have a choice. Since I’m not stupid, I choose to be happy. : )

      2. @to both Scottish and GTO
        Agree about upset mothers. Mine did not want children. My brother was an accident & I was doubly unwanted because born 13 months later and being a girl. That was really full of shit.
        These days I’m not so much depressed as sad. It was all just karmic stuff, I suppose. Now have to make sense of it, hopefully. Nobody to blame, maybe not even myself.

  27. I have Saturn inconjunct Moon natally and transiting Saturn has been chasing my progressed Moon now for almost 20 years. I’ve always had a pessimistic mindset and a tendency to be emotionally cold and aloof. I grew up feeling unloved and I still sometimes feel like that. However if I had to pigeonhole my issue it would be unstable personality rather than depression (I also have Sun/Uranus conjunction).

    Or who the hell knows, maybe after Saturn stops chasing my Moon I’ll realize I’ve been depressed as f***. Currently though this is just who I am and I’ve gotten used to it.

  28. I agree completely: depression is linked to (repressed) anger.
    You’d like to bash faces, but can’t. It’s not a suffering, but it’s a slight frustration.
    I wish I were big and brawny enough to scare people, but I’m not.
    Just hope that something bigger and uglier than them will trip them up.
    That’s how angry I am!!!!!
    Thank gods, most days I forget about all this!
    Agree also that those who are able to apply their anger onto others (not even necessarily those who “deserve” it) are not often depressed. They are super-clean. For some reason. It’s always someone else’s fault. I admire this capacity for evacuation.

    1. Ya, people w/ no self reflection skills probably are the most content. They can blame everything on someone else and scream and yell at them and feel better!

    2. Avatar
      ScottishFoldSoul

      Satsun, I empathize and agree so much with what you’ve written here. From what I’ve seen, at least in some cases, life does tend to trip up people who consistently displace their anger onto others. And the consequences of their decisions ultimately do bash them in the face sooner or later.

      1. Yes, probably! But they’ll blame it on someone else, not them! 🙂 Therefore will not be depressed!
        But I’m not out for revenge. Just let them be what they are & try not to get entangled with people like that.
        “Living well is the best revenge”!
        (But yeah, that’s not always easy either…)

    3. Avatar
      ScottishFoldSoul

      Satsun, I empathize and agree so much with what you’ve written here. From what I’ve seen, at least in some cases, life does tend to trip up people who consistently displace their anger onto others. And the consequences of their decisions ultimately do bash them in the face sooner or later.

  29. I’ve been through both.

    Saturn related depression is the worst because it feels hopeless. It’s like living life on auto pilot; out of sync with your inner being. It makes life become one responsibility after another. No joy. No color.

  30. I get down/depressed (I dont mean James Brown get-down) when my Mercury/Saturn 27/27 degrees each get aspected within the 3 degree applying area. I could be though naturally depressed anyway because of that conjunction. But its just more noticable when they are aspected. I may not even feel depressed, but it will come out in my communication.

    Some years ago now when both chiron and neptune were at the final stages of aquarius they aspected the merc/sat. It was when chiron hit the midway point for a day or two that I felt completely empty. There was nothing there. Mind you I had been low on energy for all the fourteen years more of less that neptune uranus and chiron went through aquarius.

  31. GTO says “Realizing that everyone is on a learning path, some are less further along in their spiritual journey. God loves them too. The important thing for me was to realize that I wasn’t attacked because I was bad, stupid or deserved it. I was attacked because those people all had issues.”
    Well said. I’ll have to remember these words of wisdom! Thanks for this positive view.
    Wanted to add also (but it’s a general statement and not specailly linked to the thread): it’s amazing how depression can trip you up in many areas of your life. Sometimes you don’t even realize it. It (dis)colors you whole life. The other interesting thing is how people who DON’T have depression think it’s just some sort of common cold, not very important.

  32. Definitely from repressed anger. I discovered this years ago at the domestic violence shelter I was in and the following support group meetings I attended. When one is in that kind of relationship one has to repress their anger as it is too dangerous to release it.
    So the depression makes one suicidal which is crazy because you are
    depressed because of the fear of dying.
    That crazy scorpio is like if anyone is going to kill me it will be me..Lol Mars in Libra.

  33. Some kinds of depression, yes, depression is not exactly the same for all people. It can be a thwarted Mars. If your depression is the kind where you feel helpless, then possibly you are not owning your Mars.

    Other types of depression can be Neptunian, the fog. Or Uranian, the shock of the new.

  34. Owning and expressing our Mars can aid in the treatment of mental and physical illness. Exercise is now often prescribed to both depressed and diseased patients. The psychological and biological benefits of action/movement is off the charts. We have to express our mars outwardly or it builds up inwardly. *runs to treadmill* ?‍♀️

  35. PurpleStarGirl

    Ooh yes. I was diagnosed with depression and have been on meds and to therapy to treat it. I have a heavy Capricorn stellium with Saturn conjunct my natal Sun (both in Capricorn), which I think is the astrological signature of mine.

  36. Yes, I’ve suffered from mild depressions to suicidal depressions to mania. I’ve got Saturn conjunct my Cancer ascendant. My Mars is in the 12th opposite Neptune: martial arts and dancing or singing, and writing (Mars in Gemini) are healing. I’ve practiced all of those one time or another.

  37. guess this is even more so for me with an Aries Ascendant.
    My Mars is in opposition to Saturn, and square with Jupiter/ Pluto (a T-square). Saturn also makes a sextile with my Moon and trine with Venus (and these two suckers are in opposition).
    My natal Saturn is in 11th house. I have always found it hard to feel belonged to groups, or any particular ideals. Found myself even rejecting all ideals, just because they are all flawed in one way or another.
    Guess I am gonna simply fight to not get involved in anything at all, though the 8th house concentration seems to suggest I can never do so..

  38. I would agree in my case. An astrologer highlighted to me the importance of mars in the kite in my natal chart. I suffered depression for decades. It is a complicated illness and many factors were at play. However speaking specifically mars, I could feel the energy building but didn’t know how to deal with it. Keeping it in made me ill. Recognizing when this energy is surging within me I now take action, physical action. Learning to consciously work my mars energy has been more beneficial to me than yoga, meditation or medication (this is just my personal experience, everyone is different I know). My natal mars is retrograde in taurus, capricorn ascendant, saturn conjunct south node, moon trine saturn. I’ve also just come through my mid-life transits and am currently in the midst of pluto & soon saturn transit my ascendant. A huge inner transformation has been taking place. Firstly, I came back to astrology (an interest from my teen years which fell by the wayside when life took over). I completely immersed myself in my passion and a strange thing happened. After a year or so I found I was unable to access the self hatred that I previously had on tap. This amazed me. I had inadvertently NLP’d my brain and the connections have been re-routed. I actually cannot think in the way I used to. It is quite incredible. So far, I have not returned to the awful place that kept me prisoner for so many years. I offer this as a note of hope for anyone suffering.

  39. Avatar
    Lauren Swartz

    This really resonates with me. I experience depression to varying degrees throughout my life. Sometimes it’s a blah, apathetic nature, and other times it’s physically gut wrenching. I have a cluster chart where everything falls into one quarter of the chart- Scorpio through Aquarius. As far as depression goes, I have Mars conjunct Saturn in Sagittarius… Moon (unaspected) in Capricorn (and the 6th!), and Sun/Merc/Venus/Jupiter in Aquarius(7th). With Capricorn and Aquarius being Saturn ruled, and Saturn conjunct my Mars— I really struggle at times. I’ve found aside from therapy and medication; that I must move my body and stay physically active in order to not slip into a depressive state:

  40. I never knew about the connection between depression and Saturn/Moon contacts in the natal chart. My natal Moon is 25 degrees Virgo and natal Saturn is 24 degrees Capricorn. This year, the year of my Saturn return (conjunct with the transit Saturn-Pluto conjunction in January 2020), has really sent me into a depression like one I’ve never experienced before, never could have dreamed of. I almost wonder if it’s a “Dark Night of the Soul”, it’s so unforgiving. I wonder what the solution would be if an aspect in the natal chart suggests the depression is predetermined?

  41. I have moon in cap 4th house squaring saturn in aries and my libra ascendant.
    I have suffered from paralyzing emotions my whole life.
    Its been the strangest thing bc i am a 9th house gem w mars venus and merc. So my essence is jovial and my shadow is depressed. Its been hard to figure out. The antidote is the same u gotta work at it w all these fine self help tools we have and the more u work at it the lighter u become.

  42. “I realize some depression has a physiological basis. I am talking about depression that might be treated without drugs. It seems if you can isolate the cause it would be easier to address the situation.”

    I work in trauma recovery. The might sound dire but its actually great work because I work WITH THE BODY. And it is all about releasing stuck energy that often has resulted in stuck patterns of reacting or defending – all expressed via unconscious movement or non-movement, chronic tension, holding the breath etc. While I do not refute the ‘physiological basis’ of depression – how could I, we are mind/body creatures – I think the mainstream health people got it the wrong way round. What we experience, internally or external, is creating reactions, mainly defensive but who can fight or flee, really. We have to suck it up big time, we are conditioned to do that. This chronic tension in our body ( yeah, it becomes the ‘new normal’ until we don’t remember that it can be different) causes the release of stress hormones and, as an antidote because we also need to sleep and rest, opioids in doses that unbalance the organism even more. We can all help ourselves around these changes (uppers or downers please) but there is a limit to what the body can do. Mainstream pharmaceutical advice picks up on the changes in biochemistry (which are real) but totally neglects the cause of these changes. Because for that one would have to loot at ‘what happened to you’ and that belongs into the realm of what is called ‘psychology’. In the meantime, we are alone to sort this out, because the division between ‘mind’ and ‘body’ is a commercial construct, not a reality. You can hear, I am passionate about this. Because it really makes a difference ! Maybe also because I am a Sag with a lot of Scorpio and a lifesaving Capricorn Mercury. And Cancer on the MC, I am known to care. Depression is suppressed anger – and anger is a fright response. Without being afraid of anything we would have no need to be angry, it is a defence response. Depression is over-compensated, inward turned anger AND the inability to feel the body, a numbness to sensations. Thank you Elsa for your great post ! In the Natal chart Saturn on the Moon is hard, Saturn on Mars even worse, Mars unconscious or unexpressed also difficult.

    1. Wow, Su, wonderful post! Your empathy and understanding really shine through, I was nodding along like a, well, nodding dog, lol!

      1. Thank you Plutolover. Do you really love Pluto or is it your plutonian love ? Very few people know how much astrology helps me navigate my clients needs. Very few astrology friends know my trauma work. Seems time to change that 🙂

        1. I do love Pluto! Much as it hurts at times, I feel it has given me the core of strength to persevere during dark times. You sound so sensitive to your clients’ needs, and yes! astrology really does add layers to our understanding of many things.

  43. Elsa,
    Utterly brilliant topic and bringing it up now is so timely.

    Terry,
    Brilliant theory, and I agree with you.

    I have enough Sag so I seem to get low for a few hours only from sad-making exterior causes, such as feeling sorrow for others who are going through something — and I might feel low if I feel I cannot help them with their situation enough to dispel some of their problems. Yes, Virgo stellium here sweeping over my 12th and 1st houses. My Saturn and Moon are in Sadge. —- I find taking positive action is a swift dispeller of my low moods, even if I can only clean or organize or work while I think about how to do more. Maybe that is a Sag thing.
    But if for some reason I have to box up and withhold the anger or concern, and do nothing. (for logical reasons of timing, for example, or “place/time”), and must withhold those feelings for a long period of time, yes, I find I can start to feel low…..

    I equate it to a warrior with hands and feet tied up. At that point, I will try to work on something else, channel the strong energy elsewhere into something useful….or use the time to muddle through ways to sort of use my strong feelings as fuel for a workable solution or helpful outcome. Other times, I strategically go quiet with a particular subject and wait, knowing there will simply “come a day” when I can say something. I think this topic is on point now, because I have noticed some people at work/friends/family feeling low, and the lowness comes from feeling silenced by the times we are in whether by worry, fear, or expectations. I worry about them and am happy to listen to them when they feel like opening up about it — at least that is a small way to help.

  44. Su,
    Such an excellent post. Thank you for the work you do with people.

    This: “…..mainly defensive but who can fight or flee, really. We have to suck it up big time, we are conditioned to do that. This chronic tension in our body ( yeah, it becomes the ‘new normal’ until we don’t remember that it can be different) causes…..” ……. is so on point.

  45. Great post, Su! I’ve often thought that women are not raised with any healthy way to express anger, that we naturally repress it to the point where we don’t recognize it for what it is. The default is to think we feel “sad” or “down” and I think that is because there aren’t a lot of healthy role models for women who deal with angry constructively. I remember when the Alanis Morrisette song “You Oughta Know” came out and how LOUDLY women would sing along. She was pissed! And rightly so, and we piggy-backed along with her anger. I remember my daughter singing the loudest of all and she was 10 years old! What did she know about a cheatin’ man?! As a kid with three grand trines in fire, Sun, Mars, and ASC in Aries and a Leo Moon, that song strummed her little firey heart strings!

    A few ways I counsel my daughters (both Aries!) and students or even friends is to tell them, “Get out of your head and into your body.” I hit a heavy bag off and on most of my life. It just feels good to beat the crap out of something! Again, as a 57-year-old woman, you should see the looks when someone asks why my knuckles are all scraped up! First you have to be able to identify anger and allow yourself to be angry. Second, you have to deal with it and let it out–just moving your body helps! It’s not the full answer, but it helps get some of it flowing and moving! Great post, Elsa!

  46. Do you consider Capricorn moon, Saturn moon combo or in this case specifically by aspect?

    I agree about the cold differentiation

  47. Cancer moon/mars IC opposition to Saturn In Capricorn MC
    Diagnosis major chronic reoccurring depression
    But none of their medicine ever helped me …
    It made me worse – it disconnected me from my soul .
    I am not depressed – on the inside (at 60)
    I learned I may present as depressed but I am ok
    Doctors, readers, empathy, say are you depressed?
    I have learned natural coping methods – and realized that’s just who I am
    I need alone time, space out time , yoga time, nature time
    I can usually manage my emotions and comfort myself w/o harm
    My animals help too

    1. yes Mes. i empathise with you. i also relate to the sort of ‘shrug’ its just my thing. nothing else interfering i can do except for nature is my therapy. i DO NoT do well if i dont live IN the nature. suburbs /city are my soul death

  48. HA Ha ha haaaa…. o_O 🙁
    i say from the seat of my IC mars & sun less than 2 degrees apart & square 1H saturn..
    and my biggest stellium resides in the IC gallows too… and more of the laugh is its libra mars.
    🤪great posT elsa ! 👏✨️

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