Tuesday November 5th—Saturn Conjunct the Sun

On Wednesday November 6th at 4:01 PST the Sun will have its annual Yoga with Saturn at 20 degrees Libra, in the last degree of Swati nakshatra. In vedic astrology, or Jyotish (the Science of Light) the Grahas (planets) are considered to be beings with personalities and parents. Surya (the Sun) married Samjna, daughter of Vishvakarman, the celestial architect. In time Samjna could no longer withstand the brilliance of her spouse and had to retire from his dazzling presence. In her place she sent her shadow, Chaya, to take her place as Surya’s wife. Surya and Chaya produced a child called Shani (Saturn). “Saturn is the son of the Sun and his wife’s shadow Chaya. As soon as Saturn was born, his gaze fell on his father and caused vitiligo (white leprosy); his gaze next fell on the Sun’s charioteer, who fell and broke his thigh; and when that gaze lit upon the seven horses of the Sun’s chariot they all went stone blind. The Sun tried a number of remedies to remove these infirmities but nothing worked. It was only when Saturn’s gaze left them that the Sun’s skin cleared, his charioteer’s femur healed, and his horses regained their sight.”” (The Greatness of Saturn by Robert Svoboda) It seems that Saturn has been wreaking havoc since birth, not even sparing his own father. Indeed, Saturn is no respecter of high rank. At the beginning of Lord Shiva’s Sade Sati (the seven and a half years when Saturn transits the natal Moon position) Saturn approaches him in the city of Varanasi to tell Shiva he is about to enter his body. Immediately Shiva jumps into the Ganges and remains submerged in Samadhi for seven and a half years! Shiva was the smart one. When Rama began his Sade Sati he was deprived of his kingdom and banished to the forest for 14 years. Ravana, the demon king, suffered Saturn’s torments most of all. He captured all of the planets and placed them all face down on the nine steps leading up to hi throne. One day the Divine sage, Narada arrives in Ravana’s court and says to Saturn, “You are the mightiest and most terrible of planets, can’t you do something about this situation?” Saturn explains that he can’t have any effect on Ravana unless he can cast his malefic gaze upon him. Narada convinces Ravana that it would be such demented fun if he turned the planets over so that when he walked upon their chests he could see their tormented faces. Ravana liked this idea and when Saturn’s gaze fell upon him, his mind instantly became perverted. Within the next couple of months Ravana kidnapped Sita. This led to Rama and his army then invading Lanka, killing all of Ravana’s sons and grandsons, and eventually the demon king as well.
One of Saturn’s many names is “Shanischracharya”—the slow moving preceptor. Being the son of Surya and Chaya, Shani is thought to possess the brilliance of his father, veiled beneath the shadow of his mother. The veil of the Mother is the veil of materiality that obscures the spiritual light within us. Saturn is a teacher whose lessons take a long time to learn, and probably would never be learned if they weren’t so painful. He shows us our physical, mental, emotional, and financial limitations—offering important lessons to help us let go of our deepest and most dysfunctional attachments. For the past twelve years I have been having a Saturn intensive, beginning in 2001 with my Sade Sate (it coincided almost exactly with the Bush administration!). As soon as my Sade Sati ended I began my second Saturn return, during which the three most important authority figures in my life—my guru, my father, and my mother—all passed away. A month ago I finished the stormy three-year Saturn period of my Rahu dasha. Now as Saturn and Rahu are moving out of their conjunction I’m thinking that things will begin to lighten up. For the time being, at least, I feel that I have made peace with Saturn and have even come to appreciate his harsh but necessary lessons. Robert Svoboda’s The Greatness of Saturn is a wonderful resource to begin to understand this greatly feared, much maligned, and absolutely necessary planet.