Saturn in Scorpio – In the Deep

5 October 2012, 20.34 Hrs in the U.K.

“He who would valiant be ’gainst all disaster,
Let him in constancy follow the Master.
There’s no discouragement shall make him once relent
His first avowed intent to be a pilgrim.”

~ John Bunyan

My choice of quotation for Saturn in Scorpio may seem a bit stark, retro and religious for this day and age, but it sets the psychological tone and has persisted in my mind these last few days.  It is about not giving up, and standing firm in your integrity.

Review of Saturn in Libra

In October 2009, when Saturn went into Libra, I wrote a blog entitled “Saturn in Libra – Karmic Dilemmas” about what it might mean for us personally and globally.  This has proved a very popular and much-read blog, and you may want to review it at this point, to see if it has been relevant at all to your experience of the last three years.

Here’s the link:

http://www.lanawooster.co.uk/blog/2009/10/saturn-in-libra-karmic-dilemmas/

On the subject of international affairs I wrote:

“Internationally, there is bullying going on, and peace will become a more insistent need for humanity as a whole during Saturn in Libra, possibly because of the existence of the nuclear capacity within nations who may have tenuous diplomatic links with leading “parental” nations.  But there may be other factors that emerge and make this even more of a necessity.  Such proceedings during Saturn in Libra need the utmost patience from diplomats, and the strength and resolve to keep going.”

This seems very relevant in the ensuing period, with the diplomatic efforts of Kofi Annan and Lakhdar Brahimi in Syria, and the perceived threat of Iran’s nuclear capability, both issues we are going to take with us into the Saturn in Scorpio era.

Psychological Blocks

“The purpose of Saturn is to highlight our blocks, so that we can work on liberating ourselves from them” I wrote in the blithe old days of 2009.

This process becomes a deepening one during the era of Saturn’s sojourn in Scorpio.  In Libra we may have dealt with these blocks on an intellectual or emotional basis, but we now experience them at a deeper psychological level, and at the cellular level which implicates the physical.

Past-life regression has a role to play when accessing and releasing cellular level material and memories, and noted U.S. Psychiatrist Brian Weiss (himself a Scorpio) has brought out a new book on the subject this year entitled “Miracles Happen”, and subtitled “The Transformational Healing Power of Past Life Memories”, co-written by his daughter Amy Weiss.

What Saturn signifies in our Charts

As well as its role in highlighting blocks, I think of the Saturn placement in our charts as indicating how we get through life, e.g. if it is in Sagittarius, that is through humour.  Some of my family have Saturn in Scorpio, but most notably my 86-year old mother-in-law, who displays the Saturn in Scorpio traits in Spades (as in the card suit, which is very Saturn in Scorpio).  Courage and emotional self-discipline are among the traits which have seen her successfully reach this ripe-old age.  Saturn in Scorpio, both in transit as now (a collective experience) and personally in our natal charts, requires us to dig deep, and results in character-building (whether we like it or not).

Challenges

Be ready for life to hand you a challenge (or project), perhaps as early as the time of Saturn’s entrance into Scorpio.

My own philosophy towards challenge in life may be relevant for you.  I am a scaredy-cat, but Sun in Sagittarius gives me an enormous amount of faith.  So my philosophy of life has always been that if life hands me a challenge, providing it does not look impossible and providing my instincts do not say “No way, Jose”, I accept that challenge and assume that I can do whatever it is, and if it is difficult, that I will receive help, earthly or spiritual.

Financial Cuts

In 2009 when Saturn entered Libra, the credit crunch had happened the previous year, but we were still debating how serious it was.  Cuts were in the air, but not yet biting.  Now they are biting, and the jaws of the Scorpion will ensure that we have to deal with them.

The sign of Scorpio and its House (the Eighth) rule money, and in particular other people’s resources in traditional Astrology.  So money is extremely relevant, and becoming more so.  Rather than rising above money spiritually, we need to become immersed in understanding how we manifest, and our own individual relationship with money.  Many spiritual people won’t have anything to do with money (I put my hands up to doing so to some extent), and that is probably avoiding really important spiritual issues.  It is partly why we have such confusion in the world about money and in our personal lives, and why we haven’t yet found the answer to the role of money in society.

This requires us to develop the resourcefulness of  Saturn in Scorpio, developing recycling to an even finer art, for instance.  The whole issue of financial self-sustenance also relates to the unfolding of our talents or inner riches (the true province of Scorpio’s opposite sign Taurus and opposite House, the Second – connecting us with the balance and power of the polarity).

Casting around for examples of people with Saturn in Scorpio and their inner resources of character, Angela Merkel stands out.  Her Saturn in Scorpio is in the 11^th House of large associations, in this case the European Union!  She is known for her strength, and I believe that is down to the qualities of her Saturn in Scorpio.

Bill Gates is another resourceful holder of Saturn in Scorpio, and one who has mastered the substance of money, and the power that it represents.  So if you are working on your money issues during the next two or three years (it first enters Sagittarius in December 2014) look at these examples, or people you know who have Saturn in Scorpio in order to realize the depth of resourcefulness and connection to money.  Of course it is entirely possible that during this period we may evolve a replacement for the monetary system, if the current system becomes untenable.

Art

I am shortly to see the Pre-Raphaelite exhibition at Tate Britain in London, whose fluffy romanticism (I love it) is about as far away as you can get from Saturn in Scorpio.  Two artists who have Saturn in Scorpio, and therefore have something of its style in their work, are Caravaggio (master of the light and shade which is chiaroscuro), and New York painter Alex Grey (whose Scorpio X-Ray eyes paint the spiritual realities behind the form).

Final Word

May the force of Saturn in Scorpio be with you, whatever should unfold.