“The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.”~Maya Angelou, All Gods Children need Traveling Shoes
The Astrological Meaning of Saturn
One of the great things about the planet Saturn as it relates to astrology is maturity. Saturn is about growing up. Saturn is identified with responsibility, hard work, hardship, endurance, focus, determination, discipline.
Saturn asks that we pay attention to not avoiding. It demands that we notice our limitations with the goal of moving beyond them. Saturn is a planet often feared and that is why. Our limitations are the product of our fears. To overcome our limitations we must face our fears. This gives Saturn a bad rap. People bemoan the ‘Saturn square’ or the ‘Saturn return’ because it will ask that you examine your relationship with life and being here as it relates to your particular journey. It feels like hard work but only because change, even for the better, is not always easily embraced.Saturn is considered the last of the personal planets while Uranus, Neptune and Pluto relate to expanded awareness. Saturn is the gatekeeper to our highest aspirations and greater awareness. Aspirations change throughout life and awareness deepens. Often that lofty vision means reaching beyond what we have already accomplished. Into the realms of the unknown! Both exciting and daunting. The way forward, into uncharted territory, is by coming to terms with insecurities. Saturn represents the structures that allay those insecurities. We appreciate these structures that support our existence and allow us to move through life with success. We have become very familiar with these structures and the patterns that are associated with them. We repeat these patterns out of habit.
When an Old Pattern No Longer Serves You
At some point we may come to see that the structures/patterns meant to provide us with peace of mind do not accomplish that. Perhaps they do the opposite. Upholding these structures may become exhausting. This is when the voice of Saturn nudges us toward examining the thoughts that stream through the mind that define our life. When Saturn is particularly active in an astrology chart by transit there may be a level of inner stress, instilled by the need to look at a pattern of behavior that does not align with our highest aspiration. One wishes to escape the traditions in which comfort was once found. Your back is against the wall or you find your self standing at the edge of your courage. The trust that we seem to innately possess pushes us over that edge. The wall collapses. We fly away.
“When you walk to the edge of all the light you have and take that first step into the darkness of the unknown, you must believe that one of two things will happen. There will be something solid for you to stand on or you will be taught to fly.” ~Patrick Overton, The Leaning Tree
That trust to leap, is generated by the ever flowing stream of energy that moves through us and moves us eternally. It is presence, beyond our notion of birth and death and any words to define it (presence). Until we have realized the extent of our limitations based upon our adherence to past and a desire to know the future, we will not accept our true nature; that which Saturn pushes us, often unwillingly, toward.
Where Saturn Guides Us
Saturn is the teacher. Eventually the student surpasses the teacher. We find our selves free of the constructs that at one time felt empowering. Knowledge leads us to the door of the unknown with wisdom to proceed with enthusiasm. We seldom look back. There will be tugs provided by the ego to remain enslaved to its bidding. However, once our Saturn lessons have been learned there is no going back.We are faced with the realization that there is nothing here to which we can attach; that all structures are a part of physical reality and will at some point cease to exist. It can be a frightening place, the transitional place between Saturn and the next step of the journey and people ask, “What is next?”Now you are in a place of apparent inertia—the past no longer exists. You have no idea what the future is. There you are in the present moment. All action delayed. That is the realm of Saturn also. To have patience. Everything comes to pass with patience. It is not always possible to know.
So...What Next?
Initially this creates a good deal of discomfort as we are used to doing. Doing is not possible because you no longer know what to do. All that you know? What is not serving you. Perhaps you have an inkling of what will serve you. Perhaps not. In answer to the question “what is next?”--acceptance, surrender and willingness. Willingness to let go of all to which you are attached—to “jettison your cargo”. Freer, one ‘attunes’ to the stillness there. Where? Where the mind is not, between the thoughts, under the thoughts, in the midst of the thoughts that no longer have such sway over us.Through the many life experiences we discover what does not serve us. The wisdom attained through life’s many adventures elevates us to a view that offers us more clarity. This is a gift of Saturn. Once we reach the pinnacle of the structure, so sure are we of our ‘way’ (surety provided by the glimpses of ‘light’ that we see along the way) that we no longer need anything to hold on to. The light is our guide and a strong call to realize Self; that which is peace, everything and nothing. Peace comes when we realize there is ‘no effort required’. Everything unfolds as the ever flowing stream that moves through us, brings to us everything.
Saturn and the Tarot
In the Tarot there are 3 cards that represent Saturn and the complexity of its task—elevating one to the pinnacle of physical existence and an understanding of the nature of duality through lessons that are often considered a hardship.
The Emperor IV is an expert builder, knows how to manifest in physical reality that which serves to give us a sense of security. Four is the number of stability and provides a firm platform from which to venture on. Fours typically in Tarot represent a comfortable place where we have achieved some success but in order to grow and discover new opportunities we must move on.
The Hierophant or High Priest V is the alchemist. Five is the number of change. The alchemist knows how to turn ‘lead into gold’ or in other words how to transcend a defined existence of suffering. Lead is the metal associated with the less favorable aspects of Saturn. Gold symbiolizes the purity of spiritual knowing. The Hierophant has advice that will guide us toward transcendance; to peace and the ease and grace that is ‘home’.
IV + V=IX The Hermit who in silence and wisdom based on having ‘been here and done that’ repeatedly has no words to describe the journey. He merely lights the way for seekers . He teaches by Being. In the silence is an opportunity to ask questions—self inquiry. A process by which we eventually arrive at one important question in our quest for home. “Who am I?” Whatever the Hermit’s light touches and wherever it lands that is ‘I’. ‘I am that’. This is home. Being at ease and grace with one Self.It can be instructive to look at your natal chart and find where Saturn is placed, what aspects the Lord of Karma has to angles and other planets. This can give you a sound understanding of where challenges are in your life, how you will surmount those challenges and attune to what is deeper calling you home.(Saturn is called the Lord of Karma because he guides us to realize that repeating patterns in our lives generates ‘karmic debt’. When we are free of the patterns and ‘karma’ we no longer suffer ‘for our sins’. We abide in peace, pure awareness.)Anna is available to guide you through astrological questions and your Saturn signature. Arrange an appointment in advance with Paradise Found.
