When Saturn Goes Off the Rails

Saturn devouring his son by Rubens

In the third instalment of her thought-provoking series on Saturn, OA guest Isy explains what happened next and what that means to you.

If you need to catch up, click  the links below to read the two previous instalments to this series.

The (Kind of Creepy) Birth of Venus

Castration, Rape and A Sharp Blade: Saturn's Tricky Childhood

Though the force of Saturn is aligned with core truth, the mythical Saturn didn't always act accordingly. Let's take up the story again…

Once Saturn had struck down his father, Uranus,, his terrifying siblings the Cyclops and Hundred-Handed were freed.  They helped him secure his power base and take over the leadership of the gods.  Then Saturn ruled over the Golden Age of humanity, when sickness, hunger, rage, and pain were unknown.

So what did Saturn do, when all the shouting died down and his position was secure?  He forced his younger brothers right back into Tartarus, into his mother's violated body.

Gaia told him, bluntly, that he would "get his" at the hands of his own child, just as his father had.

Saturn's wife was Rhea, true daughter of Primordial Earth.  Saturn knew better than to stuff Rhea's children back into her, so instead he swallowed them whole, and they lived inside him, imprisoned.

• Upside: fewer crimes and less argument.  


• Downside: same robbery of his wife's fecund nature and negation of his own seed.  Moreover, it was a willful effort to short-circuit divine justice.  (Is it still called hubris if it's done by gods?)

Rhea had more help than Gaia.  By the time little Jupiter came along, Rhea had enough friends to hide the baby from the sight, smell and hearing of her rotten husband.  She wrapped a rock in baby's clothes and, sobbing convincingly, gave Saturn that to swallow instead.  He didn't know the difference … until Jupiter grew up, and Saturn lost everything. 

Thus ended the Golden Age – a huge loss, unlooked-for and unintended, but totally logical.  Whether Saturn's energy gives, withholds, or takes, it does so with both hands. 

Saturn's force of accuracy and truth doesn't give you room to deny, delay, do it wrong or take shortcuts. It does make room to succeed on the terms appropriate to the forces in play.  Instead of mulling limitations, try thinking in terms of finding the right time, best action and core truth.  Things could really open up.

This involves understanding the flow of forces and the main movers in each chart, which will be unique. (For this reason, the correct course for me would spell failure for my siblings, and my trying to do things their way is doomed.  Though related, we're that different.)  So, nestled in the heart of Saturn's determination and rigor is an absolute requirement to be true to your core Self – and respect that of others.

No correct effort driven by Saturn contradicts your nature.  It may not be comfortable, attractive, or anything you'd ever expect of yourself.  But if it's a true Saturnian move, it's compatible with your core. 

Expect to be surprised, because the gods don't care who we think we are.  They care what we're truly capable of.

For more of Isy's writing on health, adaptation, science, and sailing...
* Health and Life with CRPS-1: http://livinganyway.blogspot.com
* Cauterizing the Bleeding Edge: http://biowizardry.blogspot.com