You may have been wondering why I didn’t mention Saturn in Part 1 or 2 when writing about Miyazaki’s planets. Well, it just didn’t jump out at me as an influence behind his creative genius. That said, I also know that no planet is unimportant or somehow ‘not’ involved. (That would be impossible.) So let’s look at Miyazaki’s Saturn.

At first glance, Saturn is in what my second teacher calls an exaggerated condition in that it is debilitated in Aries and retrograde. Its debility can make being organized, structured, and disciplined a challenge while Saturn’s retrogression can create difficulties in relationships with elders or grandparents. The good thing about a challenged yet strong planet, especially Saturn, is that the experiences, the growing pains and dealing with ups and downs become the yeast brewing and bubbling up heartfelt story plots in the imagination of a writer/artist. In this respect, Saturn is both troublemaker and muse.

Saturn is conjunct Jupiter, the indicator of children, giving Miyazaki a serious foundation upon which to explore the truths of childhood and coming of age- a theme depicted in many of his films, where we typically watch a young, naïve child at the beginning of the story transform through provoked challenges or life-changing events to emerge victorious and altered—altered into a wiser and more loving human being.

Saturn is in Bharani Nakshatra which is where we find film-makers and writers as well as people interested in the occult or metaphysics. We see this side of Miyazaki in his most popular movie Spirited Away. Bharani is ruled by Venus.

One last thought about Miyazaki’s Saturn (conjunct Jupiter) is its position from the Moon. While I don’t know which house is involved without his birth time, the Saturn-Jupiter conjunction is second from Moon-Ketu, creating a Misra Anupha yoga, which supports the creative Piscean Moon-Ketu by providing a deep foundation upon which Miyazaki can explore his feelings and create art that is both provocative and innovative.

If you haven’t already, I invite you to explore Miyazaki’s films, especially if you’re in the right mood or frame of mind to (safely) escape from the world for a few hours. He might sweep you away for awhile. If it has Miyazaki’s name on it or Studio Ghibli, rest assured there’s award-winning quality work and the whole family can immerse themselves in new and unusual places filled with adventure and heart.

Renate Maria Bell is a certified Vedic Astrologer, Jyotish Visharada, and approved teacher with the Council of Vedic Astrology. She can be reached at renatembell@aol.com

Image of Saturn courtesy wikipedia commons