Would you like to live in a world without suffering? Where people live in Harmony and health? Where there are no suicides? Where everyone feels free? What is the meaning of Saturn in astrology?
It is possible, but it requires something in return from each individual. It demands responsibility and a deep realization of the TRUTH about HARMONY. In reality, there is a mechanism responsible for maintaining harmony – karma, and a planet that manages this mechanism – Saturn.
Now, imagine that each reality has its harmonic vibration – a range of vibrations optimal for the functioning of the entire reality. Whenever someone deviates from the harmonic energy of their reality, it's as if one musician in an orchestra began to play discordant sounds. The whole orchestra suffers. The music starts to sound worse. Someone needs to teach this being to play better on their vibrational instrument so that it resonates harmoniously.
I'll ask you to imagine one more thing – this time, imagine that HARMONY is optimally expressing your energy. Every expression that is excessive or insufficient (either too little or too much) creates a wave of energy that begins to fluctuate (like a pendulum). Such a wave of energy causes an equal amount of excess to return to you in due time. This is how we see karma returning to us. We only pay the negative consequences for the lack of harmony, and we are rewarded by fate for remaining in it.
I would now like to focus on Saturn, which is key to understanding the issue of suffering and harmony. Astrologically, it is the factor that imposes certain limitations on our lives and free will (the Sun). These are situations in which we feel that something slows us down on the path to the life of our dreams. These are situations where the themes of responsibility, judgment, and suffering appear. Saturn plays the role of a strict teacher and judge, showing us the consequences of a lack of structure and responsibility. It reminds us of the importance of morality. The Connection of Saturn with the Archetype of the Judge:
Saturn acts as a cosmic judge, ensuring that our lives are by universal principles of love and the harmony built with it. If we regularly face similar judgments from the external or internal environment, it could be said that Saturn is trying to guide us back to Harmony. It does this through an inner voice and other people. Such criticism and judgment can then become a tool with which we diagnose personal energies that have fallen into disharmony.
The most common type of shirking responsibility in this case is: avoiding any criticism or lingering in passive guilt.
The mechanism to develop within oneself is: accepting criticism as a signpost, which doesn't define your core but shows the current excessive or insufficient energy potentials in your field (e.g., narcissism or its opposite – echoism).
The Connection of Saturn with Cronus and the Archetype of the Teacher:
As Cronus, the lord of time, Saturn decides when and what we must work on now to harmonize our energy. It shows us the excessively active or excessively passive aspects of our being, which require work at a given time. It's not up to us to say what time has come for. Cronus takes care of that. The more we trust his wisdom and humbly approach the lessons set before us, the faster he will reward us, and karma will begin to work in our favor. It's crucial to listen and take responsibility for how our energy (thoughts, imaginations, actions, words, emotions) affects our environment.
The most common type of shirking responsibility in this case is: creating the appearance of being busy and considering one's selfish desires more important than harmonizing one's karma, which also harms the environment.
The mechanism to develop within oneself is humility and trust in the lessons that life presents to us.
The Connection of Saturn with Satan and the Symbolism that Indicates This:
In some traditions, Saturn is associated with Satan, symbolizing limitations on the liberated expression of our Self (the Sun). This is related to imposing certain limitations on our life. In Indian mythology, Shani (Saturn) rules beings from lower dimensions, dispensing justice to those who step beyond cosmic harmony using them. Saturn-Satan uses beings from lower dimensions when we cling to disharmony, try to defend it, or have proudly stayed out of harmony for a long time.
The number 6 is also associated with Saturn. Saturday means the 6th day of the week. On Saturn, we can find a hexagonal layer of gases visible through a telescope (I recommend checking out what the hexagon of Saturn looks like). In occultism, the hexagram is also linked to Saturn. The number "666" is often associated with the number of Satan, and yet Saturn has the power to manage beings from lower dimensions. Additionally, numerologically, the number 666 reminds us of the need to reduce obsessive attention to something, which results in building excessive potential (leading to karma). It reminds us of the necessity of returning to Harmony. Virgo, as the sixth sign of the zodiac, also reminds us of how important it is to serve the world, keeping in mind the balance of mind and body. As we see, all this is interconnected.
Interestingly, it is to the Age of Pisces, known for avoiding responsibility, that Saturn took the form of Satan, onto whom the believers (faith is also a typical feature of Pisces) shifted their lack of responsibility. This created an extremely harmful way of understanding this energy and a collective mechanism for escaping from one's disharmony. Instead of hearing Saturn's judgment, people began to accuse it of being the evil that causes problems. This way they became karmic prisoners.
The most common type of shirking responsibility in this case is: blaming Satan (Saturn) for everything; and various forms of escapism, including fleeing into alternative states of consciousness. Instead of trying to understand the karmic lesson, one tries to escape from it, convincing oneself that some external evil is the problem, not one's disharmony. This leads to increasingly severe karmic consequences and a higher potential of encountering demonic beings.
The mechanism to develop within oneself is submission to the harmonization process, and trust in the guidance of Saturn.
With the arrival of the Age of Aquarius (whose ruler is Saturn), correctly understanding this energy becomes the key. When we all take responsibility for our impact on the environment, the world will reward us with the possibility of living in Paradise. Leaving Paradise stems from our irresponsibility. The real problem is an inflated ego, egocentrism, and human selfishness, which ignores the whole surrounding world in the name of "I DESIRE / I WANT". With the great power of freedom comes great responsibility. Unfortunately, most people want to be free but do not want to take responsibility. This creates a cycle of being enslaved by suffering and one's own decision of selfishness. The ego can be disarmed through the Consciousness of Unity and Humility.
Remember, karma only maintains Harmony. Trust it, and you will go back to the Paradise. Trust the lessons of Saturn, Cronus, and also Satan, even though there is so much dogma made of religious irresponsibility. Do not cast your misfortunes upon Satan. Understand that the Universe also has its limits and will not allow you to continue breaking universal laws, disturbing reality, and negatively affecting your environment. Saturn is that aspect of the God-Father who must make difficult decisions for the good of the entire reality.
Saturn first warns, offers suggestions, and obstacles in the way. Later, it begins to send external and internal criticism to you. If you do not listen, it starts to isolate you socially. The next step is creating problems in your body, which metaphorically relate to what you are avoiding responsibility for. If even this does not work, it leads to your death by accident or suicide. It's better to destroy a unit carrying disharmonious patterns than to allow it to spread these patterns throughout the environment. That's how Saturn works. However, notice that humility and a willingness to cooperate will ensure your success, while running from and fighting Saturn will lead you to increasingly difficult places. You can live in Harmony full of Freedom or in the Slavery of a Disharmonious and stubborn EGO (even if it's a spiritual ego).