There's a temporary feeling of relief as Saturn moves into retrograde motion for a while. A period of testing is coming to an end, and it's time to put our feet up - to give ourselves time to process and review the journey so far.

We hear lots about Saturn's role as gatekeeper, task master, teacher and general karmic overlord, but precious little of Saturn's role as provider and giver of rewards.

Yes - you heard it right - the giver of rewards, the presenter of the certificate saying 'well done - your hard work has paid off'!

Many years ago, Saturn was said to rule the 'Golden Age' in Crete - known interestingly as the 'Mellow springtime of humanity'. Isn't that a lovely concept?

Here, Saturn was often depicted in ancient texts, standing next to a Cornucopia - indicating the symbolic fruits of our labours - or perhaps the harvest or reward for a job well done.

But let's not loose sight of the fact that we can only harvest - that which we've symbolically, planted and tended.

So now much of Saturn's hard work is done - all the experiences, effort, the lessons, testing of ourselves and obstacles overcome have been part of Saturn's process of wisdom gained from challenge and experience.

And as we take our foot off the pedal and slow things down for a while - perhaps it would be helpful to meditate on the following questions.......

So - what if - just what if - you're doing much better than you think you are?

What if you're further along your path than you'd imagined?

What if - all the struggles and hard work are slowly beginning to bear fruit?

What if - you are becoming to be the mistress or master of your destiny and not the servant?