// kronos // Part I: Saturn, Neptune and Spiritual Manifestation
Saturn….He’s perhaps the most despised planet in the zodiac, the bringer of restrictions, hardship, discipline and karma. No one would willingly invite Saturn to a party, and yet, without the structure, stability and maturity that this planet brings our greatest efforts would never come to fruition. There is truly nothing like a Saturn transit to bring some of the greatest victories and gains of your life…nor the greatest tests, challenges and hardships.
As Saturn rounds the corner on his first year in his home sign of Capricorn, we begin a three-part series taking a look at the complex and challenging nature of this planet, his home sign of Capricorn and the 10th house of goals, status and accomplishments that he rules.
Up first…a rarely-mentioned context for the planet of time: Saturn, spirituality, and manifesting through faith.
// neputunian spirituality - the divine unseen //
Over the past decade the world of spirituality has experienced a tremendous surge in popularity. Liberated from the confines of traditional “religion” following Pluto’s transit through Sagittarius, spirituality in all of its manifestations, both individual and collective, can be seen in phenomena such as yoga in the workplace, “mindfulness” propaganda, and just the degree of general dialogue at the moment dealing with consciousness, the universe and self-awareness. The existence of this website, and the very fact of your being here is evidence of a collective shift towards embracing practices that help us connect with the unseen.
Ancient astrology associated spirituality with Jupiter, the planetary ruler of the guru, lord of expansion and travel in all of it’s physical and metaphysical manifestations. In modern astrology we connect spirituality with Neptune, nebulous and unbounded. Both ancient and modern astrology connect spirituality - as distinct from the formalization and codification of spritual practice through religion - with the sign of Pisces, ruler of the 12th house, the house of all things hidden, withdrawn, inspired and transcendent. The 12th house is where we merge with the collective unconscious, where we are everything and nothing. Alpha and Omega.
These associations make sense; spiritual practice is largely predicated on a belief in the unseen, in that which cannot be proven, then intangible. It is often through spirituality that we reconcile with those buried or uncovered aspects of our personality, where we go to be alone, to disconnect from reality. We achieve these detached states through Neptunian practices - meditation, prayer, and also through the Neptune-ruled modalities of alcohol, drugs and other substances, all things that detach us from the structure of our conscious reality. Neptune is boundless and so is our transcendent subconscious state. It is here where we go to receive divine inspiration, and also where we find our illusions, visions and dreams, both productive and destructive.
Neptune is currently transiting his (her? their? Neptune is everything and nothing…no labels apply) home sign of Pisces, likely largely responsible for the upswing in spirituality on the collective level. But I’ve found in many ways that there’s another planetary master of spirituality that’s less talked about, likely because dealing with this type of spiritual practice asks a great deal more from us…Saturn. While Neptune/Pisces/12th house may be where we go to receive inspiration, it’s Saturn/Capricorn/10th house where we really manifest our spirituality, vis a vis the testing nature of this archetype.
// saturn as spiritual master //
Faith is not proven until it’s tested. And no one tests the way Saturn tests.
Failed attempts. Blocks. Fatigue. Restrictions. Another failed attempt. So tired. Brick walls. Lack. Red tape. More setbacks. When can I sleep. Ugh.
And yet, with Saturn, with Capricorn, with the 10th house…it’s these very things you must face, again and again, all the while maintaining complete faith that your actions will prove fruitful, however seemingly futile they may be in the moment.
Saturn restricts in order to provide form and structure; on a mundane level he is the planetary ruler of bones and teeth, of governments and institutions, of rules and regulations, and he represents the father figure and the patriarchy (in contrast to the mother/matriarchy represented by Capricorn’s opposing sign of Cancer). Connected with the root chakra, Saturn requires that we build firm, stable and deep foundations upon which our efforts can grow. Anything shallow, incomplete, premature, or disingenuous will fail, almost immediately if it even gets off the ground at all, during a Saturn transit. There are no shortcuts with Saturn, and you must start from zero to one if you’re going to ever get to 100.
But Saturn will also hold you back from goals, efforts and accomplishments that he knows are below you or insufficient to get you where you want to go…like an old, stoic teacher, Saturn knows what you’re capable of, and he will press you, challenge you and restrict you until you get there. And it’s for this reason that, during a Saturn transit, you will oftentimes face what will feel like insurmountable obstacles and a seemingly constant string of losses and setbacks. But always remember this: Saturn is only doing this to help you prove what you’re capable of achieving. He’s doing this because he knows you’re capable of more. And he will keep holding you back until you demonstrate your worth via solid, tangible actions.
In many ways, there is no greater instigator of spiritual evolution than a stiff Saturn/10th house transit or a tough natal Saturn placement. Whereas Neptune/Pisces/12th house lends faith in the immaterial unseen, Saturn/Capricorn/10th house would seem to demand faith in the material unseen; Neptune is faith through surrender and release, whereas Saturn is faith through sustained effort and action. Effort expended all while maintaining an almost maniacal, Neptunian faith that your endless labors will indeed prove fruitful, even in the absence of tangible results in the moment.
But, and this is an important but, it’s essential the we recognize the inextricable and vital relationship that this combination of faith and sustained effort play in manifesting our desired 2nd house wealth and abundance. What a Saturn/Capricorn/10th house transit giveth, no one can take away…and when Saturn gives, Saturn GIVES big.
A look at the charts of some of the world’s wealthiest people reveals that most of them contain some degree of connection between Saturn - the planet of time, restriction and effort, and Venus - the planet of wealth, abundance and attraction.
This is not the aspect one would immediately connect with great wealth; Jupiter, or even Pluto would both be more likely to come up in conversation about astrological indications of massive wealth. Saturn in hard angle to Venus restricts and limits; it can lead to hardship, lack, and loss. But it also structures and stabilized, a contrast that can be seen in the fact that a hard angle between these two planets is present in many of the charts of the world’s wealthiest people. Saturn can give great poverty or great wealth…they’re really two sides of the same coin. And what ultimately transforms the rags into riches is the connection with the 12th house, the connection with faith.
// 10th-12th-2nd house fluidity - divine wealth //
The Venus-ruled 2nd house - where we find wealth, values, talents, abundance, attraction - and the Saturn-ruled 10th house - where we find accomplishment, success, achievement, structures, endurance - are connected to each other in the zodiac wheel through the trine aspect, the most stabilizing, benevolent and supportive aspect in astrology. The themes of Saturn and the themes of Venus naturally complement each other, creating a positive feedback loop of reinforcement when healthy and functioning well.
However it’s this same trine aspect, associated with stable, unchanging earth energy, that can cause us to get stuck in a particular way of being, as the energy simple feeds back on itself. If this energy is negative - lack, struggle, depletion, futility - the areas of our chart associated with abundance and status can get locked into a recurring cycle of negativity.
What is it then that makes the difference between a recurring cycle of lack and a feedback loop of wealth and success? The difference is the 12th house…the difference is faith, inspiration and belief.
The Neptune/Pisces-ruled 12th house of divine spirituality, the unconscious and the unseen forms a naturally supportive sextile with both the Venus/Taurus-ruled 2nd house and the Saturn/Capricorn-ruled 10th house, serving as a supportive bridge between these two energies. Furthermore, the 12th house is in the 11th position - the position of culmination and manifestation - to the 2nd house, indicating a natural connection between our spirituality, faith and subconscious inspiration, and our ability to attract and manifest abundance.
What this suggests is the the condition of our spirituality, which can be as simplistic as faith in a particular action or event or as complex as a robust spiritual/religious practice, is inextricably linked to both how much money we make and how successful we are.
Our subconscious mind plays as powerful a role in our attraction of abundance as our conscious mindset and external actions.
Our Neptunian dreams, visions and meditations are paramount to achieving the material success we want in life.
And the things that we bury in the 12th house, our fears, shadows and repressed or unmet wants and needs, are only going to restrict and prevent us from manifesting in our physical reality.
Saturn wants effort, Saturn wants maturity, Saturn wants thoroughness, Saturn wants dedication and sacrifice to make sure we do what we say and say what we do. He is going to test us, he is going to challenge us. He is going to make us prove our own faith in ourselves and in our actions. But when we pass the tests, when we draw on the deep, limitless well of faith provided by our Neptunian 12th house to overcome the inertia, fatigue, and often debilitating setbacks of a Saturn/10th house transit, we are gifted not only with status, but with the 2nd house abundance that goes with it.
Most importantly during a Saturn cycle or when navigating a challenging natal placement of this planet, the 12th house faith that we need to conjure most is faith in ourselves. Saturn can isolate, he can bring intense feelings of futility, sadness and a general heaviness that seems to descend like a dark cloud out of nowhere. Most often this is only to test you, to force you to dig deeper in order to climb higher. And in order to do that you need to dig deep into the glorious dark of your 12th house and pull out an unwavering faith in your own divine power. It’s all there for you, and Saturn will help you find it.
Next week: Time, Karma and Saturn
Additional reading:
Sea Change: Pluto’s Notes, The Age of Aquarius and Change in 2018-2020
Capricorn’s Labor: Mastering the Hound of Hell (via Astro.com)