In The Simpsons episode Moaning Lisa, young, serious, ambitious Lisa Simpson is gripped by existential angst over the suffering of the world (such as the fate of coal miners in West Virginia). Her father, the immature and ignorant Homer Simpson, does what any loving father would do – he offers to bounce Lisa on his knee.

Lisa can’t be comforted with such infant-soothing acts and instead plays the sax to relieve her soul of “the blues.”

Sixteen year-old Greta Thunberg of Sweden might have chosen the same path – the saxophone or maybe medication or some other addiction that provides temporary relief and comfort. Instead she chose to challenge the world by demanding responsibility with regard to global warming.

Saturn and Capricorn

The “world” is everything you perceive and the astrological Saturn represents the boundaries of that world. In your dreams, you fly over the trees. But upon waking that is a physical impossibility – that’s Saturn.

In love, you want to merge body and soul with the person of your affection. You can merge bodies, and possibly souls, but can never be one entity. You are still two – that’s Saturn.

You’d like to just lie on the beach and “be” but people interrupt your path – you’re on private property, the beach “closes,” you have to have identification, the food you need costs “money” – that’s Saturn.

Saturn rules the sign of Capricorn. The “young” Thunberg has both her sun and moon in Capricorn. The sun is the conscious self and the moon the reactive self. A double-dose of Capricorn brings a double-dose of seriousness.

The Adult World

It’s not uncommon for those with lots of Capricorn in their charts to be seen while young as “little adults.” Thunberg, if you haven’t been reading the news, has been organizing school strikes for climate change. And she’s been effective – globally.

Being effective has put the adult-like Thunberg in the adult world of politics where she’s experiencing a “grown up” world response – character assassination.

What does a 16-year old girl know? Isn’t she supposed to be worrying about 16-year old girl things like the prom and getting into a good college? Why isn’t she giggling and expressive like a 16-year old girl should be?

Capricorn is ambitious which Thunberg is demonstrating in two ways: 1) challenging the entire world; and 2) protecting her own future. In her own leaflet words: “I am doing this because you adults are shitting on my future.” Her comments imply preservation, not altruism. She’s practical – another Capricorn trait.

Responsibility

Responsibility is what Thunberg is demanding, another keyword of Saturn and Capricorn. If you have ever organized a group of people, even for a simple dinner outing, you know that it is not easy. You’ll have discussions over venue for days, people not showing, people coming late, complaints afterward.

Now imagine planning a dinner with the entire planet. Thunberg is asking for something Capricorn extreme – she asking for a mass of people to work together across physical, mental and emotional boundaries. She’s also asking (although she doesn’t know it) for the world to reinvent its economies.

Thunberg is uber responsible, uber adult in a world where we rely on others to make decisions. So the “adults” are dismissing the “child” because the adults simply don’t know how to respond to what she is asking.

The older we get, the more “adult” we become, the less inclined we are to change. It’s the young that initiate changes. The “young” Thunberg is a double Capricorn and is representing that change now involves increased adult, responsible behavior.

There are many on the planet now who were born with Uranus in Capricorn (early-mid 1990s), Neptune in Capricorn (mid 1980s-mid 1990s) or Pluto in Capricorn (2008 to present). Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are the outer planets that represent societal shifts. As Pluto entered Capricorn in 2008, it triggered for these people the need to change society’s structures.

While we watch The Simpsons, we laugh at Homer’s ignorance. Bounce Lisa on your knee? What are you thinking? You need to talk to her, to respond, to assure her that the adults will take care of these terrible problems.

But when the young Greta Thunberg approaches the world, we have a Homer reaction. Maybe it’s time for the adults to step aside and let the “children” assume some responsibility; responsibility they want to take to preserve their own futures.

That’s Saturn.