Saturn, The Knot of Destiny
How do we approach conflict? How do we handle stress? How do we perceive setbacks and losses? Depending on how willing we are to find higher meaning behind life's disappointments reveals how well we will fare under stressful Saturn transits. That is not to say that we don't grieve or express anger when facing loss. Grief and anger are appropriate responses. So is acknowledging the root of our pain. But the way we negotiate the overall process can mean healing at a deeper level or stagnation through attachment to the past.
Saturn is responsible for "matter." In other words, Saturn is the
vehicle that compresses matter into a physical body. When the soul incarnates, it is forced to stay inside the vehicle. Once we're here, we're here. Only fatal illness, homicide or suicide will get us out ahead of schedule, (unless you see this as part of the Plan). Since no one gets to play hooky in Earth School, sooner or later the errant entity will be called back by Saturn to engage in another round of the karmic dance. That is true whether "Elvis left the building" by his own hand or not.
Saturn has been likened to the spirit entity Shiva, the destroyer and separator. Saturn, visible and known long before Pluto's discovery (1930), accepted the Shiva role and carried the burden of Plutonian transformation solo. Balancing the world like Atlas on our shoulders, biting off more than we can chew, and being saddled with responsibilities we deem "not ours," is akin to Saturn's ancient role of Moiria, or fate. Saturn's function is to define the limits of physical reality, to make us painfully aware that we cannot always have what we want when we want it. Saturn's delays and denials are calls to our psyche alerting us that more soul work needs to be done. Saturn concedes nothing and dogs our every step until the lesson is completed. Yet once the lesson is integrated, Saturn rewards us like no other task master. Its gifts reside in permanent change that alters karma. We are free from the illusions that held us in bondage.
Saturn is also linked with conscience and the super ego. Conscience and healthy shame are built-in mechanisms that alert us when we are deviating from the path. We feel pangs of guilt when catching ourselves in a lie, when stealing, or coveting our neighbor's spouse. The Ten
Commandments are strongly Saturn-Mars. Saturn equates to "rules" and Mars is the ruler of the Ram, the symbol of the ancient Jews. The tribes of Israel roamed the desert in search of the promised land during the planetary age of Aries. At that time, the tribes engaged in the
cleansing ritual we call scapegoating. Once a year a young goat was endowed with all the sins of the people and driven off a cliff to its death. The ritual was enacted to propitiate a vengeful, jealous God, an irritable God, who was not unlike Saturn in Aries. If you remember the story of Abraham and Isaac, you will see that a shift in consciousness occurred. When God stopped Abraham from sacrificing Isaac, we received the gift of enlightenment. Finally, humanity perceived truth: it is possible to have a personal relationship with a compassionate creator. God does not want the stench of our guilty sacrifices, only the perfume of our loving surrender.
Scapegoating (Saturn/Capricorn) today is enacted by our blaming people, places and things for that which lurks in the shadow part of our own unconscious. It is the "guilty ritual" of finding an external reason for why we perceive failure. The truth lies within the unhealed and scattered fragments of our psyches. Projection is the indicator that we are not yet at home in our At-One-Ment. Driving ourselves over the edge with anger, desire, denial, and fear is the modern equivalent of scapegoating. We leap from the sacred into the abyss of the profane
every time we project onto another or denigrate ourselves.
To befriend Saturn is to say that it is okay to be shy, sad, vulnerable, insecure and to flounder. It is an open acceptance of one's humanity. It is the acceptance of the human condition in all its unpleasant as well as pleasant manifestations. It is having the courage to look within and
take responsibility for our perceptions, beliefs, and defenses. To befriend Saturn is to accept the body regardless of its current state of beauty or decline. We are all evolving images of Aphrodite, Hera, and the Crone. It is also to embrace the The Three Fates and the Goddess of
Necessity. We weave the thread of our lot within the time and destiny given in which to reach the ultimate goal -- union with the higher Self. The journey cannot be completed without the vehicle and the limitations which define the lesson. The ultimate "separation" is that which comes from releasing egoistic self pursuit in favor of that which honors the
soul's calling.