With this first installment we inaugurate a series in which we will explore the meaning of the planets both within the traditional astrological system and in alchemy and, therefore, also its relationship with the different aspects of the human psyche.
We begin with Saturn, a planet that has a special ancestry these days, since the Sun has entered the sign of Capricorn this December 21 at 10:48 PM, ruled by this planet. Saturn is the planet of the seventh sphere according to the Ptolemaic scheme, the one closest to the fixed stars and divinity. Paradoxically, this proximity to eternity makes Father Cronos (Saturn) the most difficult of the planets, suggesting that in order to reach the highest levels of consciousness the most arduous patience is necessary in order to overcome the toughest obstacles, in fact it is It is necessary to be able to give everything, since only by abandoning himself can the individual dissolve into the universal consciousness of which Saturn is the jealous guardian.
Saturn, in addition to Capricorn in traditional astrology, governs the sign of Aquarius and is linked to lead, the base metal that must be transformed into gold. It also marks the initial stage of the great alchemical work, known as nigredo, in which the raw material for the work of transmutation is obtained through putrefaction. We find an association with the earth element linked to Saturn and melancholic humor (black bile) and the very origin of the word alchemy, which some authors take as a reference to kheme, Egypt, the black earth. The melancholics, taught antiquity via a pseudo-Aristotelian text, are the people most prone to the study of the hermetic arts. Marsilio Ficino, who had Saturn as ruler of his ascendant, and who suffered from depressive episodes that led him to devote himself to the study of philosophy and religion under the auspices of the Medici family, says of this planet that «it cannot mean the quality and the common lot of the human race, but marks the individual who has been separated from others, divine or brute, blessed or lashed by the extremes of misery». Ficino, to whom we largely owe the popular notion that links genius with melancholy, tells us that we are subject to Saturn through leisure, solicitude, illness; theology, occultism, superstition, agriculture, magic and mourning.» In a way, Saturn takes away from us the energy that we could use to participate in the common world and in the vanities under the Sun, to force us into the depths of the soul.
In ancient astrology, Saturn is spoken of as one of the two great malefics along with Mars and is generally feared as the punishment of an inexorable father is feared. The astrologer John Frawley associates Saturn with the energy of contraction, something that also links it with the earth and of course with the winter retreat, the cold, reflection, isolation. The astrologer Austin Coppock considers that the key word of Saturn is the «structure», the old Father Time is the one who provides the skeleton to be able to build our lives in an integral way and according to the law (Saturn is associated with the bones in the anatomy according to astrology and according to Chinese medicine to the spleen and stomach). Modern astrology has given him the nickname «Lord of Karma», as he seems to be the highest authority that distributes punishment for acts that disobey the laws of nature. It is also said that Saturn is the destroyer of illusions, and where he appears he makes reality appear; it is because of our fantasy and our lack of acceptance that it seems so negative to us, when we might as well think that showing ourselves our flaws and forcing ourselves to face our problems is a blessing. Saturn, John Frawley tells us, is the planet of justice, a justice not only mundane but also in its superior cosmic aspect.
Saturn’s day is of course Saturday and it is not surprising that it was linked in the Jewish religion with the supreme divinity. Saturn has its exaltation in the sign of Libra and its detriment in Cancer and Leo (the opposite signs of Capricorn and Aquarius). This means that after Capricorn and Aquarius, Libra is where Saturn feels most comfortable; Cancer and Leo is where he finds himself afflicted. Ficino recommends tempering a Saturnian excess or affliction by using Jupiter’s grace to mitigate Saturn’s baleful influence. This can be achieved by using herbs, talismans, music, or hours of the day consecrated to Jupiter.
Among the great minds that have been born with a prominent Saturn we can include, in addition to Ficino, Plato, Kepler and Newton, among others.
Macrobius writes in his Commentary on Somnium Scipions that the human soul, upon descending from the intersection between the fixed stars and the Milky Way (the place where, according to Plato, souls chose their lot before reincarnating), «takes from the sphere of Saturn reason and understanding, called logisticon and theoretikion«. In the hermetic text poimandres It is said that the soul in its inverse process, as it ascends towards the eighth sphere, abandons before Saturn «the lie that sets traps» and crosses the Gate of Chaos, ascending through the angelic orders until merging with divinity.
John Frawley in his book Royal Astrology notes:
«The last of the planetary spheres lies immediately within the fixed stars. This is the sphere of Saturn and carries in part the same meaning as that of the fixed stars, as a doorway to and from the divine. While the fixed stars are active only occasionally in each of our horoscopes, Saturn is in constant operation. It is the planet of justice (hence its exaltation in the sign of the scales, Libra), and therefore it is not very popular. And it is that our idea of justice – a belief that in the end everything will work out no matter how we live – is not the idea of justice upon which the cosmos is built, that is, the inexorable truth that if we identify with essence we will inhabit essence , and if we identify with the material we will die with the material. Saturn is the door to the divine, but it is a difficult door to open and narrow is the path that leads to it.»
Saturn is also the ruler of agriculture — the god of the Golden Age, before Zeus, in divine Arcadia — and there is some poetic justice in this since we live in a world where we inexorably «reap what we sow.» His great teaching is patience. James Hillman tells us that there is an old alchemical phrase that says «in patience is your soul.» In the end, if we follow the cosmic rules, the harsh Saturnian voice suggests, and if we live according to universal values, it will be equally inexorable that we will reap the fruit of the soul and we will be able to grow beyond death.
Author’s Twitter: @alepholo
Alexander Martinez Gallardo