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Saturn is the ruler of Capricorn,
cardinal earth, and shares rulership of Aquarius, fixed air, with
Uranus. Saturn is exalted in Libra, wherein it becomes gentler and
more merciful, for of itself Saturn is the planet of strict justice
that demands full payment for all that it bestows. It is the planet
of the concrete and practical, and gives a vivid sense of material
values and what are called hard facts. When strong it gives most of
the virtues of what may be called the “self-help” type,
such as patience, perseverance, hard work, thrift, concentration,
solidity and reliability.
The true Saturnian usually believes that nothing can be won without
hard work, and he has both the virtues and the vices of this belief.
It is the planet of real worth, as apart from show and make-believe,
and gives to all things their permanent and lasting qualities. Its
action is slow, thorough and inevitable.
Saturn wants stability, loyalty, restraint and decently old-fashioned
but non-hypocritical honour. Saturn protects the self by surrounding
it with order. The Saturnine cynic can on occasions be both wise and
witty, and the traditional sadness of the clown or “funny man”
is usually Saturnine.
Saturn energy does not represent truth or absolute reality. It represents
a reality that is created socially, operates within a social universe,
and has its greatest effects upon an individual in a socially defined
context.
It is not pleasant when reaching out to grasp something to be told
it is not attainable. It is not pleasant to encounter one’s
limitations the first time (although it is helpful to know them and
live according to them without resistance). Nor is it pleasant to
encounter the natural consequences of one’s mistakes.
These well-known difficulties with Saturn energy result from not understanding
either one’s limitations or the rules of the game. While Saturn
permits and even strengthens certain aspects of personal reality,
such reality cannot come into conflict with social, collective, or
consensus reality. When it does the rules of collective reality work
with an almost automatic quality, such that one seems to be only suffering
the consequences of one’s actions. From this come the ideas
that Saturn brings what one deserves, or that Saturn is the lord of
Karma. Although often painful, it is such situations that cause one
to mature.
Every time we do what is untrue to our nature, acting not from a real
necessity but rather to fulfil what others may expect of us, we commit
a crime against ourselves that is peculiarly Saturnine.
As the planetary embodiment of the forces that shape our lives and
give them form in the context of a social universe, Saturn is strongly
connected to the symbolism of the father.
A strong Saturn often indicates a particularly powerful experience
of the father principle (though not necessarily the biological father).
The father principle is experienced in all situations that call for
learning a discipline, growing into a social role, or learning the
rules. School is Saturnine. So are teachers and guide figures, and
often one’s boss or employer.
Many of the major crises of adulthood are represented at least in
part by Saturn transits. These are times when one has to make decisions
and pass up one path in favour of another. In this way Saturn energies
actualise our lives and at the same time limit future possibilities.
Another Saturnian principle is control and this too is often attributable
to fear, for when we are frightened we attempt to control whatever
is going on. We also want things to be clearly defined. When Saturn
touches a planet we do tend to crave those things that that planet
represents. With the Sun we may crave recognition, with the Moon nurturance,
a home and family; with Venus, love and affection, and so on.
The purpose of all this denial and restriction is often to test the
validity of what we are doing or what we think we want. Saturn contacts
generally get better as an individual gets older.
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