Saturn: Time, Heritage and Substance

By Melanie Reinhart

Material on Saturn, Lord of time, structure, manifestation and the preservation of what has already been established. Traditional meanings of Saturn are explored in the context of our contemporary condition of rapid change, and how this affects our relationship with Saturn.

This book is a transcript of a live seminar given in London while Saturn was in Pisces, and the themes covered will illuminate this 'signature', as well as deepen your general understanding of Saturn in aspect to Neptune. If your astrological chart has these planets in aspect, or you were born with Saturn in Pisces, Saturn in the 12th house or Neptune in the 10th house, you will relate in a particularly intimate way to the material.

The interface between individual and collective is explored in a variety of ways. Mythological images discussed include the Greek gods Kronos and Pan, Parsifal and the Fool, and the processes of Alchemy and Karma. The traditional domicile of Saturn is reviewed, its transit cycle is explored in detail, and the final section includes discussion of Saturn's position through the 12 houses.

First published in 1996 by the CPA Press as part of their seminar series, this book contains the edited transcript of a seminar which was part of the Diploma programme of the Centre for Psychology Astrology in London. It was originally published under the title "To the Edge and Beyond: Saturn, Chiron and the Centaurs", together with material on Chiron and the Centaurs. This is a stand-alone version of the first transcription, a seminar on Saturn, specifically oriented to the Saturn-Neptune signature. In preparing this new edition, extensive revision was avoided, to allow the material to retain the freshness of the spoken word, as in the original edition.

(Printed edition containing both topics is still available.)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Melanie Reinhart
• Release date: Feb 27, 2013
• ISBN: 9781909580107

Melanie Reinhart

Melanie Reinhart is best known for her book 'Chiron and the Healing Journey', and her work on Chiron and the Centaurs Nessus and Pholus. She is a prize-winning diploma holder of the Faculty of Astrological Studies in the UK (Margaret Hone Award 1979), of whom she is also a patron (since 2007). She was awarded the prestigious Charles Harvey Award in 2004, given by the Astrological Association of Great Britain for 'exceptional service to astrology'. Her work is an unusual combination of intuition and meticulous research. Melanie was born in Zimbabwe, whose night skies inspired her vocation of astrology at an early age; she began studying the ancient Wisdom Traditions at the age of ten. She holds a B.A. Degree in English, Music and Drama, and has been a professional astrologer since 1975, this being a natural extension of her interest in soul, consciousness and the spiritual life. She has wide experience of many different psychotherapeutic approaches and spiritual traditions, and has studied with a number of fine teachers. Melanie was initially self-taught in astrology, immersing herself for many years in the work of Dane Rudhyar. Later she had the benefit of learning from the many gifted astrologers in the rich milieu of London, and that journey of learning continues. She has taught for many highly esteemed astrology schools, in the UK and abroad, including the Centre for Psychological Astrology, the London School of Astrology, the Faculty of Astrological Studies and Astro*Synthesis. She has also presented astrological seminars, lectures and experiential programs in the UK, Europe (Holland, Germany, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Ireland), South Africa, USA, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Bali, Hong Kong and Taiwan. In addition, she has written a number of highly acclaimed books which have been translated into several languages, and in 2010 she started her own publishing imprint - 'Starwalker Press'. She is published in several magazines, including 'Link Up', 'Caduceus', the Journal of the Astrological Association of Great Britain and The Mountain Astrologer. Currently living in rural Bedfordshire, Melanie maintains a busy consulting practice with an international clientele. This intimate use of astrology as a vehicle for personal guidance is the heart and soul of her astrological work. Melanie belongs to the following organisations: Faculty of Astrological Studies (Patron) Astrological Association of Great Britain (Recipient of Charles Harvey Award 2004) Organisation of Professional Astrologers (Life Member) Association of Professional Astrologers International (Fellow) Publishers Association (member) Society of Authors (member)

Book preview

SATURN: TIME, HERITAGE AND SUBSTANCE

An edited transcription of a seminar given on 15 January 1995 at Regent’s College, London, as part of the winter term of the seminar programme of the Centre for Psychological Astrology.

Introduction

Today we are going to explore Saturn, and I am going to approach it by taking into account the current condition of Saturn, which is now in Pisces, in mutual reception with Neptune in Capricorn. This is a bit like a permanent background aspect between them, as they are thematically linked for about twenty-seven months, from January 1994, until April 1996. Anthony Louis in his book Horary Astrology calls this a ‘hostage situation’, which is perhaps a rather apt description when referring to Saturn and Neptune!

As I explore Saturn in a Piscean way, those of you who have natal Saturn in aspect to Neptune, or Saturn in the 12th house, or transiting Neptune aspecting your Saturn will perhaps resonate especially strongly with the material. And additionally, those of you currently experiencing your Saturn Return, or born between early 1952 and late 1953, when they were conjunct. That is a ‘mini-generation’ or ‘soul group’ whose lives are strongly expressive of Saturn–Neptune themes. If none of this applies to you, I hope that today’s material will help you to understand this Saturn-Neptune theme, which you will anyway meet at some point when considering transits.

In addition to this mutual reception, there are several other features of our recent planetary landscape which I want to draw your attention to, because this also provides the background for how I am going to approach Saturn today. Saturn is about manifestation, the preservation of what is already there and what has been created. By natural principle, it seeks to preserve and guard, to hold and protect the form and structure of things, and thus to ward off change. Now we are living through times of enormous change and transition. So what we are looking at today is what Saturn is like in a process of change. From a Saturnian point of view this is the stuff of one’s worst nightmare, right?

So, think about it, going back into the 1980s, Saturn was conjuncted first by Pluto, then by Uranus, then Neptune. In addition, Neptune and Uranus were conjunct in Saturn’s sign, Capricorn. As well, between 1986 and 1995, there was an ongoing chain of oppositions of Chiron and Saturn, roughly every six months, and this pattern is unique to this period. As Chiron is both an inner and an outer planet and there are times in its orbit when it actually crosses over the pathway of Saturn and is therefore located between Jupiter and Saturn. It is there now. So at those times, it is as if the rings of Saturn are symbolically pierced and something from the outer solar system enters in. Almost like the wounding of the Saturnian principle. All of this adds up to the same thing, which is the relentless pounding of the waters of change (Neptune), the winds of change (Uranus), the earthquakes (Pluto), upon the rock of Saturn. The coherence of structures on a variety of different levels has been punctured, eroded, or overturned completely.

There are various stages in what I would call the Saturnian process, both archetypally and also as we experience it individually. We are now living through a stage of the Saturnian process which is very much like the last dregs, the end of days. The mutual reception of Saturn and Neptune is perhaps the epitome of this, because the next step will be Saturn moving into Aries, accompanied by Uranus and Pluto, having recently moved into Aquarius and Sagittarius respectively. So from 1981 until 1996, we have been gradually accumulating more and more weight to this theme – of endings and the requirement to let go of the old. And looking further ahead, Uranus and Neptune will be in mutual reception from 2003–2010; as this ends Saturn enters Libra, its sign of exaltation, perhaps ready to participate in the building of new structures. Soon after, Uranus enters Aries, after a long period of oppositions to Saturn, like the final stand-off between the old and the new.

Of course change is the very thing that we find difficult to do around where Saturn is in our chart. It is the nature of Saturnian energy to grasp and to hold, sometimes to very good purpose and sometimes to its own detriment. Saturn is a fascinating planet to explore because it has many facets and is very complex. I will focus both on ‘inside Saturn’ and also on ‘outside Saturn’ and on what for simplicity I am going to call ‘old Saturn’ and ‘new Saturn’. I am not meaning anything apocalyptic with these phrases, but rather a way of approaching the paradoxes in the Saturn process. I’ve also invented a verb, ‘to Saturn’, which you will hear me use frequently today!

This morning I will lay out quite a lot of material, and then in the afternoon we will work in small groups according to the house position of Saturn in your charts. I hope we will also have time for some closed-eye work to end with.

So, to clock in with Father Time, and start by presenting a slightly different face of Saturn, I would like to read a very ancient Sanskrit prayer. It is a prayer to Saturn.

Saturn, Shani, Servant of the Light

A Dark Son of the Sun

Son of Rudra, the Lord of Tears,

I turn my face at the same time

Towards death and immortality.

I am named Shani, he who moves slowly

Devoted to attachment and stability.

I am also Shani, the root of peace.[1]

I think this is a very interesting perspective on Saturn. When we study the multitude of differing expressions of the planetary energies, it is useful to realise that as the energies manifest in ever-increasing density and variety through different levels of our experience, they take on peculiarities and distortions which can be seen to reflect the purity of the original energy, but they are not quite the same thing. There’s always the danger that we lose the wood in looking at the trees. We can endlessly describe the permutations in experience of a certain planetary energy, but there are times when it is useful to try to get back to something more pure. And in case you haven’t spotted it, what I have just said is very Saturnian, although at first hearing you may not have associated it with Saturn!

‘I turn my face at the same time towards death and immortality’. We could perhaps say, ‘I turn my face at the same time towards mortality and immortality’. From the Saturnian point of view, one is the gateway of the other, like the Roman God Janus who looked forwards and backwards simultaneously, and from whom we get the name of this first month in our calendar year, January. I think this image is central to the meaning of Saturn, which I’d like to explore now through some further themes.

Themes and Mythic Images

As we continue exploring, we will create a kind of word tree which I’ll write on the board, adding to it as we collect up all the substance of association, theme and meaning that go with Saturn.

Saturn/Kronos in Greek Mythology

Firstly, a brief mention of the mythology. In the Greek pantheon, Kronos is equivalent to Saturn. He was a Titan, the earthy offspring of the primordial pair, Gaia, the Earth Mother and Uranus, the Sky Father. Uranus was constantly disappointed with his progeny, of which there were many. He found them despicable in their imperfection and grossness, and would throw them with contempt into the Underworld. Eventually his wife, Gaia, got tired of this. There she was, giving birth to all these children, and they were all just cast aside.

In Uranus, we have a primary energy of creative possibility not concerned with the material plane of manifestation, or of development and nurturing. He leaves that to his wife! He does not really father his children – he only conceives them. He doesn’t even like them when they are born. Eventually Uranus was overthrown by his wife Gaia with the help of Kronos. It is said that one night while he was peacefully sleeping, Kronos and Gaia took a crescent-shaped sickle and crept up on Uranus and castrated him, whereupon Kronos took over the kingdom.

Already this tells us something about the negative side of Saturn. Yes, it is an energy that goes towards manifestation, and that wishes to bring down that which is rarefied, abstract or existing as an idea, and give it form. Thus, Saturn is a further stage of the creation process. But negative Saturn can do that by castrating the creative impulse or potential, through taking ownership of it, and so a feeling of hollowness, sterility and paranoia can develop as a result.

The myth continues by Kronos understandably feeling afraid that he might suffer the same fate as his father. He was actually warned by an oracle to that effect, and he thought, ‘Oh no, this is not going to happen to me, I am going to take control of the situation.’ So, to try and ward off the inevitable, he began swallowing his children. He didn’t just cast them into the Underworld like Uranus, his father before him, he swallowed them whole. So there is Saturn, personifying the tendency to choke back or swallow down that which needs to be expressed, to issue forth creatively from us and be born, whether it is physical, emotional, mental or spiritual.

The next bit of the story involves Zeus, who is astrological Jupiter. He was ‘the one that got away’ because just like Gaia before her, Rhea, Kronos’ wife, likewise got tired of this destruction, this swallowing down of progeny. So when Zeus was born, she tricked Kronos. She wrapped up a large stone in swaddling clothes and gave it to him, pretending it was Zeus, and Kronos duly swallowed the stone. Meanwhile Zeus was secreted away to a remote part of the country, and looked after by various nymphs, significantly Amalfia, the she-goat. So we have Capricornian imagery coming in there too. The fact that Zeus’ foster-mother was a she-goat, thus linked with Capricorn-Saturn, also tells us something important about the function of Saturn as guardian and foster-parent of our potential. More about that later...

In due time, Zeus returned and did overthrow Kronos who was banished into Tartarus, and we don’t really hear of him again. He disappears into the nether regions (of Pluto’s domain!) never to be heard of again. This sequence has an interesting and multi-layered significance when we start exploring what Saturn represents in the horoscope.

The Planetary Glyphs

Let’s consider the symbols for these three planets: Uranus, Saturn and Jupiter. You can see them as reflecting the main dynamics of these stories. All our planetary glyphs, as most of you probably know, are composed of a few primary symbols: the circle, which is said to represent the wholeness of Spirit, the half-circle which is the receptivity of Soul, and the cross, which represents matter. A line refers to the process of linking one thing to another, so in the Cross of Matter, we see both the vertical and horizontal planes linked together, or radiating from the centre where the lines cross.

Glyphs.1.png

With the symbol for Uranus, the Cross of Matter stands on the circle of Spirit, flanked by two vertical connecting lines. Here we have matter enlisted for the purpose of manifesting something of the Spirit. No Soul lines! That is not what Uranus is for. He is the lightning rod of

Reviews for Saturn

[callms · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

concise but very good book on Saturn. some new insight you may get