The Scythe of Saturn
A Consideration of Cyclical Aspects of Saturnic Work
I was recently reading
’s post The Germinating Saturn and it reminded me a lot of my own work with Saturn. Currently my relationship with Saturn is on hiatus, but I know I’ll swing back around to working with both the planetary energy and the eponymous deity because it’s an ongoing relationship that has been around in various forms for most of my life. Even now, in my ongoing space/time magic and the unfolding of my current iteration of life identity, there is an element of Saturnic power at work that is aiding in the transformation…In light of the aforementioned author’s post, I thought I would share some of my previous writings on Saturn to contribute to the dialogue. I found her article fascinating because of the realizations she shared and there was a synchrony in terms of having realizations about the nature of Saturn and how Saturn can show up in the life of a magician who chooses to work with that energy, planet, and being. The following article, which I wrote a couple years ago is a reflection of my own work with Saturn.
One of the themes of my inner work this year has been around Saturn, in terms of sacred masculinity, but also in terms of space/time magic. I've lately been reading the book Saturn in Transit by Erin Sullivan which explores the astrological influence of Saturn on the transits. One of the more intriguing points she makes is the following:
The need to castrate our old oppressor in order to install a new order, then swallow out creative issue so as to preserve the status quo, is quite normal in the various stages of development. When we recognize that this is a process, and one, moreso, which repeats itself, we are freed to re-enact this scenario over and over again without reserve. Saturn is the planet that establishes our rites of passage from the one status quo to another and, as that functionary, should be regarded with respect and not with fear and dread. Furthermore, once we recognize that the revolution is originating from within, we are then more capable of conspiring and cooperating with the timing of the events precipitated by the transit.
What I've observed in my own work with Saturn is that there are cyclical aspects of the work that need to recognized in order to get the most out of the work. Once I recognized these cycles and started employing them, I was able to get a lot out of the work that I had previously missed out on. So what are the cycles?
The cycle of Fear - Saturn connects us with our fears, because the fears we feel often play a role in the limitations and boundaries we experience. However the real depth of Saturn with fear is that Saturn shows us how we sabotage ourselves with our fears. The mythos of Saturn demonstrates this because of how Saturn sabotages himself with his fear off being overthrown. We can either allow our fears to control us and sabotage our possibilities or we can learn to be present with those fears and discover how to work with them in an intentional way that allows us to liberate ourselves and achieve our potential. Saturn challenges us to do the latter by causing us to experience the former.
The cycle of Limits and Boundaries - Saturn teaches us how to recognize the limits and boundaries we encounter in life, as well as how to establish sovereignty in our own lives by discovering what our limits and boundaries are. The cycle of limits and boundaries occurs each time we discover our own limits and the boundaries around us, and also discover the process of how to transmute our limits into opportunities while learning how to establish boundaries that safeguard who we are.
The cycle of Manifestation i.e. the harvest - Saturn teaches us to observe and appreciate the harvest in our lives. When you are doing Saturnic work, you are working hard and the harvest is the bounty of that work. The cycle of the harvest teaches us to appreciate the hard work and know when to rest and reflect on where we've been and how far we've come.
The cycle of Creativity - Saturn can also teach you a lot about creativity. Creativity from a Saturnic perspective teaches us that while we may have natural talents, we still have to cultivate those talents by working at them. Inevitably we'll hit moments of burnout because we hit our limits. Learning to recognize our limits can help us preserve our creativity and rejuvenate because we to learn work within our limits instead of trying to overcome them.
The cycle of Revolution - Above all Saturn is about revolution. Saturn overturns the old order, to create a new order. The lesson Saturn teaches us in this cycle is to beware of becoming the tyrant you would overthrow. The lesson of revolution is that it brings change and yet paradoxically also enforces the original order of things. When we recognize this in our own cycles we can make changes from a place of awareness that allows genuine progress to happen.
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