The Planets: Saturn

Under the classical planetary scheme, Saturn represents the border of what is known, what is accessible to humans from their stranded position on Earth. It is limitation itself – the gate between Earthly reality and the heavens beyond. It is Metatron, the Guardian at the Gate, and in Gnostic associations, represents Sophia, the feminine wisdom, as well as Ialdoboth, the demiurge – the highest and lowest. A body of dual associations, he is the beginning and the end, and was regarded as the greatest of the planets in classic times. As the slowest moving of the classic bodies, he was assigned great importance and great power. When reading him in a horary chart, or placing him in an electional chart, you want him out of the way unless he is strongly dignified.

Astronomically, Saturn is fascinating – the second-largest planet in the solar system, it is famous for its rings and its many moons. It is the 6^th planet from the Sun, and the 7^th astrological body. Less well known, but deeply significant to the occult mind, Saturn has at its North Pole a permanent hexagonal-shaped storm, which remains an unexplained mystery. A team at the Technical University of Denmark managed to replicate polygons in a whirlpool effect, but the mechanics of that experiment seem difficult to extend to a storm 100 times the size of Earth. Classically, Saturn has been associated with the six-pointed star, the Star of David or the Hexagram – interesting, considering that the ancients had no idea about the storm raging at its pole. The Golden Dawn associated it with Binah, the second divine emanation of the Tetragrammaton and the steadying, divisive and settling principles of Creation. It is the highest of the emanations save for Kether, the crown, but also represents the greatest tragedy – the split from the Monad, the singularity, in which all things were united with the Source.

In modern astrology, Saturn is referred to as a ‘taskmaster’, or as a father figure steering individuals to their long term destiny. Not the sort of father I would want, I must admit – Saturn classically rules death, chronic disease, depression, famine, infertility, dark places, underground settings, crypts, locks and bars, and two of the fundamental aspects of the body – the skin (its outer limit) and the bones (its inner structure), both of which Saturn represents on the macrocosmic scale.

Saturn is a harsh planet, the Greater Malefic, which is a term that has fallen out of favour with modern astrology despite its still being deeply relevant, especially on the mundane scale. Nowadays, the tendency is downplay Saturn’s role as the body which oversees suffering – suffering is a bad word for most these days, and we as a general culture disparage and attempt to conquer suffering at all turns. Suffering does not engender respect for experience – only fear.

We – and I refer to the majority of readers from affluent Western nations here – have been showing a trend to attempt to live in a germ-free, ageless, technologically advanced world. The Enlightenment carried with it a sense of boundless optimism, that human beings were and are capable of mastering the world if only they can work out the mechanics of it. Science still holds this view to the exclusion of all others, a brittle materialism that looks for its proofs only within very particular experimental parameters. Of course, our apparently peaceful societies have rocketing levels of depression, strain and stress…mental fatigue (Saturnine by its nature) is ubiquitous, and we work our jobs long and hard. Meaning seems increasingly difficult to find in the day to day of life, though epiphanies do occur – however, they are unlikely to occur because of our lifestyles. Retreats, meditation, our periods of withdrawal are what facilitate them – I am yet to hear of someone who has discovered inner light from working at a cheap fashion label countertop. During, perhaps…because of? Not that I’ve heard.

In denying suffering, we simply repress it. Saturn, lord of time and the rise and fall of cities, countries and peoples simply continues his operations underground with grand patience. We can defer our suffering to other countries, wreak war, employ cheap labour so that we do not have to do it, and yet Saturnine principles remain. A quick glance at the child mortality statistics of Bangladesh or the toll from the latest round of earthquakes, tsunamis and famines around the world confirms that we do not, in fact, live in a cotton-wool shrouded world in which Saturn has been reduced to the stern but paternal CEO of the solar system. The world is still a deeply harsh place for half the world’s population, and unfortunately, out of sight is not out of mind. Our fear of disease is breeding super-bugs resistant to antibiotics, our fears of lack causing great environmental damage and psychological damage to ourselves.

However, a malefic is not, by its intrinsic nature, evil. Saturn is in many ways the testing angel, the angel of Job and the guardian of Eden in biblical literature. He is Ammit, the eater of unworthy hearts, and Ereshkigal, the Sumerian goddess of the underworld to whom we all must, eventually, submit to to move beyond what we already are. Samael Aun Weor (not usually a man I like to reference, but good in this instance) says in one of his writings that “In order to ascend, we must first descend”. There is no progress without initial descent. When Saturn is respected, treated with openness, he demonstrates qualities of wisdom. We are now inclined to see death as some kind of final end – even the very pious are often afraid of it – but death happens on many levels, in many ways.

Saturn is the Greater Malefic primarily because he deals with the things that we, as human beings, do not like very much. In nativities, he shows where we are most restrained, where we suffer and fall, but also where we have the most to learn. He shows where we are wholly unfortunate, how and where we may become chronically ill. On a larger scale, he is the planet most responsible for the way in which our nations and communities influence us – an afflicted Saturn hanging over a country indicates the fortunes of that country, whether or not it is stable and healthy or if it is sick. This is something to consider with astrology – it is not merely the individual in the chart, but rather, the whole nation and indeed the world.

This may all seem rather grim. Fortunately for us, Saturn is not the only influence in the world – he is balanced by his brother/son, Jupiter, the Greater Benefic. Incidentally, the Saturn-ruled (of which I am one!) are not intrinsically doomed to misery, though an afflicted Saturn can indeed cause great hardship. However, when considering Saturn in the chart, it is wise not to downplay those things which he happens to represent – they are an intrinsic part of our lives, and if repressed, he simply becomes the Demiurge, the lock on our ability to see the God within ourselves. Liberated, treated with reverence, Saturn becomes Sophia – the wisdom gained through experience that cannot be rushed. It is an interesting exercise to consider Saturn in light of the closest planet to the Sun, Mercury, ruler of knowledge, learning, communication…and keys.

Links:

The experiment at the Technical University of Denmark

Universe Today – An article on Saturn’s Polar Storm

The Classical Significations of Saturn