I have consistently found that when Saturn in retrograde conjuncts the ASC tightly in a horary or consultation chart, the client will be unhappy with the consultation or reading. This guideline is stated in William Lilly’s Christian Astrology. Truth be told, I didn’t follow the guideline in my first few years of practice. When I learnt of the rule, I revisited the few consultations which were particularly challenging. Of the hundreds that I have done, there were 3 I think. Guess what? Saturn (I think it was in retrograde in 2 instances and direct in 1 instance) was indeed smacked on the chart’s ASC!
I was amazed by that observation. And yet, I didn’t follow the rule strictly until I had another challenging reading where the client asked for a refund. This is despite me stating at the beginning of the reading that “There is a possibility that you will be unhappy with this reading.” Since then, I have declined consultations when Saturn conjuncts ASC to avoid grief on my part. It’s not logical to invest your time and energy into a consultation when the client turns out to be ungrateful and you might not get paid as well!
I had two instances recently Saturn is in Capricorn in retrograde while the ASC is in Sagittarius. As Saturn is in the 1st house (and Mars is in Aquarius in the 1st as well for one of the two charts), albeit in a different sign from the ASC, I thought the above-mentioned rule will apply as well. So, I warned the clients that they might be unhappy with the reading and whether they would like to go ahead with it? They said yes and one of them actually was rather satisfied with the reading. I have yet to hear back from the other person.
My current thought is that when Saturn is in the first or 12th, conjuncting the ASC, if it is of a different sign from the ASC, the Saturnian influence is less dominant when compared to Saturn in the same sign as the ASC. So, it could be safe to consult for the client then.