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Michael Landis

Awakening

Saturn’s Not The Bad Dad!

In astrology, Saturn tends to be painted as this dark, lowering outsider who shakes his finger at us, tells us to behave and get to work, because we’re all gonna die.

He’s not that bad.

The myth of Saturn

Saturn the Roman god is a combination of both Greek and Roman mythologies. The Roman god Saturn has been sourced back to legends of him both being indigenous to Latium and also being expelled from Greece and being welcomed by Janus as a co-creator of Rome. Saturn was both an agricultural god and a supernatural one, helping with the farm as well as having the powers of lightning and life and death. He brought civilization to Rome.

Saturn is painted as both a life-giving and -ending figure, bringing the harvest and the frost. His feast, Saturnalia, is a celebration of the harvest, and also one of the times of the year when social order is relaxed and anything goes. He is depicted as a god of liberation who is kept in fetters for most of the year.

The astrology of Saturn

In Hellenistic astrology, Saturn reflects many of the godly attributes described in his myths. The planet represents the influences of order, discipline, and patience. It also represents constraints, fetters, endings and beginnings.

In addition, Saturn lends its physical characteristics to its impact on astrology. It is the furthest planet from the sun that was visible in ancient times, making it dark, a slow outsider. It was also the closest planet to the fixed stars, to the heavens, and farthest from the center of reality, the sun.

These characteristics makes Saturn something of an enigma in astrology. Its rhythms are influenced the most by the heavens than any other planet, yet the god was a god of the earth. It is the master of rules, yet was released yearly to allow him to break them.

Capricorn: Saturn’s feminine home

Saturn rules two signs, one in a feminine/yin manner, one as a masculine/yang ruler. The feminine sign, Capricorn, is known for having a mastery of the world. Capricorns tend to create great works through diligence, hard work and time-honored principles. They tend to be straightforward in their communication and manner, and work well within the structures of society.

Aquarius: Saturn’s masculine home

Opposing the solidity and pragmatism of Capricorn, Aquarius is the rule-breaker, the subversive, the one who releases us from society’s stifling influences and demands that we try to go beyond our grandfather’s ways. Aquarians tend to be witty and engaging, yet aloof outsiders. They tend to view humanity in the abstract, rather than desiring to interact with people directly.

The paradoxes of the homes

It always struck me as fascinating that Capricorn and Aquarius are something of gender switchers. Yin energy tends to be associated with the ephemeral and unseen, emotions and volatility, the present moment, the certainty that the only thing that never changes is change itself. And here comes Capricorn, one of the most grounded and steady signs in the zodiac.

Meanwhile, yang energy tends to be fixed, intellectual, physically oriented, focussed on categorizing and making things static. It sees things from its perspective, always at the center of things. And here comes Aquarius, one of the most disruptive and ephemeral signs of the zodiac, aloof and distant.

Saturn as the provider of the longest view

It seems to me that, as we get closer to the heavens, further from the center of the mind, we’re going to gain a much wider view of things. Aquarius is known as being aloof and distant, feeling apart from the rest of humanity. Meanwhile, Capricorn’s femininity is a more distant, “We’ve got chores to do” kind of farmwife perspective (as opposed to, say, the “come sit with me at the table while the bread is baking” Cancerian view).

As we look at the world from the furthest view. we can see how everything is related to everything else, and how everything holds its own balance. Those zodiacal planets closest to the center, the Sun and the Moon, are the quintessential Yang and Yin. As we reach the furthest reaches of space, however, Yang needs the reminder that Yin is vital, and Yin needs the reminder that Yang is vital.

Saturn is the dot in the center of the each spiral of the yin-yang symbol.

Saturn as a benefactor

Saturn is frequently seen as the bad guy in the zodiac. He demands hard work and sacrifice to get what we want. We think he’s the one telling us we must do things according to the rules. He both warns us that time is short, and also tells us we have to wait for it. He brings death, endings, constraints, limitations…. Stop, Saturn. Just stop.

What we tend to forget, though, is that he isn’t doing these things capriciously or even to keep us “in our place.” We forget that Saturn rules Aquarius as well as Capricorn. He is a rule breaker as well as a rule maker.

What makes his rule breaking different from, say, Aries or Scorpio, is that Saturn is the master of rules. He’s gone beyond expertise, knowing the rules, to mastery, understanding their purpose. And by understanding their purpose, he understands when they must be broken to expand.

Saturn’s rules are not rules of society. They are rules of this universe. Rules such as:

As Capricorn, these rules are applied directly to the tasks of the world. As Aquarius, these rules are applied to break the societal rules that prevent us from applying them individually.

Structure and constraints are necessary and vital to growth. The largest mobile creatures all have skeletons, to focus muscle energy into specific planes of action, at the sacrifice of other planes of motion.

Muscles only strengthen when they are used repetitively and strenuously. The same goes with all aspects of our life.

Saturn is not our prison warden.

Saturn is our fitness trainer and biggest cheerleader.