Saturn will be in the same minute of the same degree for the next 8 days. It is stationary now, and when it moves again it will change direction from backward motion to forward. The pivot occurs this Friday night. Right now my housemate of many years is moving out and knowing about Saturn's movement is a strange comfort. It has been a long time since I thought deeply of Boethius and Consolation of Philosophy. Now it is at the front and center of my mind.
I am wondering over and over about my temper and pondering the future. I'm worried about whether I am failing a good friend of many years. I'm recalling our years together....
Saturn is the planet of integrity. I was introduced to astrology over 20 years ago by a customer. When she used the word integrity in association with Saturn I was always a bit put out. What does that mean? I would think to myself with a snort of irritation.
It means past, present and future are seen as one. It means seeing how our actions affect the world around us and acknowledging those connections. Within the 27+ year cycle of Saturn we see how life evolves and how we as individuals gradually change according to our experiences, how we are held fast in the web of time and space more certainly than the most enduring buildings designed and built by people of great genius, and ambition for humanity.
Saturn is a serious planet. Its symbol is the cross of existence over the crescent of the soul. The progressed Moon moves just a shade faster than transiting Saturn. When we compare these two cycles, the development (or as they say in Spanish desarollando-unfolding.....like a gift being unwrapped or a seed rolling out its magic miracle) the development of an individual soul on Earth compared to the trials that particular soul is destined to face as Earth wheels around within the confines of Saturn's wide orbit....this is the significance of Saturn.
Then there's Jupiter. It was rising this morning as my old friend was packing her things. She sounded angry, but happy too, as though she is ready to be free of me and move on to other possibilities, as though she sees something good in the future for herself by taking this step. The crescent of the soul ruling over the cross of existence is Jupiter. Its cycle is 12 years. We have known each other a little bit longer than that. This moment in our lives is filled with memories and uncertainty.
But I love that when worry circles in my mind like the ghost of some rejected traveller crossing an ancient plain that stretches for hundreds of miles with scarce food or shelter, when worry scratches at the door repeatedly, I look at Saturn, in the chart, and tonight in the dark sky and feel the consolation of philosophy.
