Grey Spaces of Saturn

 

We often see Saturn as a hard cold reality, difficult decisions we have to make, elements of our lives that are clear-cut. Our western culture celebrates the Saturnian illusion of realism, matter-of-factness, firm predictable structures that keep a firm grip on chaos…

That’s not all there is to Saturn.

Saturn stands in the opposition to the Sun, the unifying principle. Saturn rules over the opposition, it is of dual nature, it has two faces. As the gatekeeper between the visible and invisible world, it has a foot in both worlds, the material world of Fortune that we inhabit, the reality we can grasp and explore with our senses. 

But Saturn has also access to the invisible world of Spirit, the part of the reality that is elusive, that we can’t put our finger on, that escapes any attempt to be clearly defined, described and categorized. Saturn fills the transitional, in-between spaces, the grey areas outside of clearly defined categories. Mysticism, nebulousness, dissolution, confusion, deception and illusion just to name a few. This side of Saturn gets often overlooked as in modern times these associations were stripped from Saturn in favor of Neptune.

What else has been forgotten about? Saturn’s connection to water. It is hard to imagine that the water and earth (the traditional element associated with Saturn) could have anything in common. They seem like separate entities. But how do you decide where the water ends and the land begins? There are no hard lines here, it is impossible to differentiate one from the other, they are merging into each other, they are inseparable….this is also Saturn, the Shape Shifter, the quicksand of coastal areas…Saturn is not as predictable as you might think.

Saturn represents the NO that we receive from the world over and over again, the pain of rejection, the negative experiences that shape us and that define who we are. These are negative spaces of Saturn where things don´t have clear boundaries.

Saturn heavy periods often feel like a harsh reality check, like a moment of sobering that forces us to deal with what’s right in front of us. At the same time though, there is lots of murkiness present in our environment, it seems like we’re out of this world, like we’re moving behind the veil. Saturn has its joy in the 12th house after all. 12th house is a dim hazy environment of our unconscious.

The path of the 12th house is not a straight one. We’re proceeding in an unpredictable fashion, not sure where the path is heading and there are many distractions that lead us astray. We are like wanderers, moving around aimlessly from one place to another.

There is no light to lead us forward through this dim place. Sun's rays can't reach this space as Saturn is the most distant visible planet from the Sun. This is a place of shadows where so much can be hidden, concealed not showing its true nature.

I feel this illusive, shapeshifting nature of Saturn is going to be an important theme of Saturn´s transits through the sign of Pisces that starts in March 2023.

Go outside, let your feet sink in the sand as the sea comes in and feel the sand shifting under your feet… mutable times are coming…

Keep hope alive, keep dreaming.

Petra