♄ Saturn

Discipline, Responsibility, and Limitation

Saturn is the planetary Ruler of Capricorn, and its meaning’s relationship to this Sun Sign is fairly obvious. Saturn represents one’s ability to discipline and order his life, much like Capricorn represents… well, the same thing. Saturn represents a method and way of growing and learning, paradoxically, through limiting oneself. It is a way of teaching and of learning. By mastering first that which is within your limits, you are able to expand these limits and move on, master your new limits, and then move on again. This is a responsible and mature way of learning, and so the energies of Saturn correspond to learning responsibility through discipline.

This discipline, in turn, is learned through successive limitation. This is not necessarily limitation in a negative sense, but rather in a positive sense; it helps one moderate his growth, and allows for greater mastery and control later. Knowing one’s limits is always a good thing, and they can help one in the learning process. Saturn is also an Earthy planet, and reminds us that knowing one’s limitations is a practical concern, and often can save our lives (for example, a human limitation is the lack of the ability to fly. Knowing this practical limitation is very helpful in survival). Saturn can also represent negative limitations if too strong, as well as restriction and a lack of growth, creating stagnancy. As with everything else, the key is balance. Saturn, then, represents practical knowledge and wisdom that directly affect our lives, and corresponds also to the principle of karma and the Golden Rule.

Saturn, of course, corresponds to the Titan Kronos, Lord of Time. As such, Saturn also represents the cycles of time in our lives, and the slow growth that comes from learning one’s limits, mastering them, and then moving on. Saturn is also the farthest of the planets visible to the naked eye, and is the last of the personal planets. It represents the limits of ourselves, and indeed is an important astrological limit, which will be broken by Uranus.