In Greek Mythology Saturn was called Kronos. He was depicted with a sickle, which would later become the famous soul reaper’s scythe. With his weapon he castrated and then deposed his father Uranus, beginning an era of horror. Like him he didn’t love his children, to say the least. Shortly after their birth, he devoured them in order to prevent a possible dethronement. Castration, power and suppression are three key words that introduce us to this feared force.
Saturn as a Force
A crystal is a fixed structure, a shape born from a solution that had slowly cooled down. The crystallization process describes precisely what Saturn does: it solidifies things, slowing them down to their freezing point, bringing them to the solid state. A chaotic liquid is turned into a steadier, ordered form which can be easily observed and understood.
Saturn is the cold force of reason and critical thinking that looks at things objectively. He doesn’t like personal views or sentimental perspectives—it wants you to see things for what they really are. Hence, it is a precious force for rational matters such as planning, scheduling or scientific research, but it’s tragic when it comes to feelings.
Actually, Saturn doesn’t really care about what you feel: you must adapt to reality, no matter how tough it is. There is no place for illusions or false hopes: sooner or later you’ll have to face the truth. And the hardest truth to accept is the fact that you’re alone. As cold separates each drop into single snowflakes, so does Saturn with human individualities. You don’t belong to the Mother-Sea anymore, you’re one and alone with yourself.
In the cold structure of a role-based society, you have to find your place. Your role (employee, project manager, father, politician, priest, etc.) gives you responsibility, and with that comes hierarchy, chain of command and ultimately power.
Power, Fear and Control
In traditional astrology Saturn was known as the Great Malefic. This is no surprise since it represents personal castration, waiver, deprival, responsibility, endurance and winter—the time of the year once related to those symbolic meanings.
He is the Lord of Winter. He rules both the adjacent signs of Capricorn and Aquarius, two of the three Winter signs. And since its rulership lasts two months—from December 22 (Capricorn beginning) to February 19 (Aquarius ending)—Saturn is also related to concepts such as slowness and duration. In addition, its revolution cycle around the zodiac is very slow, lasting almost 30 years.
But the main reason for he’s considered the Great Malefic is because he induces fear in us. Fear blocks us as the cold grip of frost, making us cautious and aware. Since water is a symbol for emotions, we can think of fear as the “ice of the soul”. And as we all know, it’s when we are afraid of something that we try to own it—or at least to gain over it a little bit of control.
We can’t worry about everything, but we still need to have a certain amount of control in our lives. You can think of Saturn as the car’s breaks: you couldn’t drive without them. If we don’t take responsibility fear is going to knock to our door. And this for your own good. Or would you rather prefer to live your life thoughtlessly and without restraint? Saturn makes us farsighted and moderate.
When we have control, we are captains of our ship. In other words we have power, or at least that kind of power which comes from fear and control. It may not always be an healthy kind of power, but it works just fine.
Key Words
- coldness, duration, distrust, individuality,
- endurance, patience, perseverance, tenacity, discipline,
- ambition, power, justice, authority, law, planning,
- father, maturity, seriousness, responsibility,
- detachment, caution, circumspection, temperance, measure,
- awareness, thinking, logic, rationality, realism,
- fear, failure, loneliness, deprivation,
