Recently I was in a discussion with someone who understood Saturn’s Capricorn qualities, but was trying to figure out how Saturn’s Aquarian side “facilitates groups by creating rules for human interaction where they can interact without killing each other.”

Today we’ll take a new look at Saturn’s sign qualities and how each expresses parts of our “Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend.”

We begin by remembering that Saturn has an Earth side and an Air side because it finds its home in Capricorn and Aquarius. It is both pragmatic and seeks a greater good within a group setting. It is ambitious, both individually and socially. The third factor is that Saturn is said to be exalted in Libra. From Chapter 3 in Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend, how these work individually and together.

The two signs a planet rules show us the dual nature of the planet’s qualities. Capricorn is a Cardinal Earth (initiating/practical) sign, while Aquarius is a Fixed Air (stable/interactive) sign. So Saturn’s nature is to be initiating in its practicality and self-organization, and stable in its associations and ideals. This part of us is able to take the initiative in organizing practical methods in ways we choose, and stabilize ideas and relationships within an idealistic frame of reference. By accepting our power of practical initiative as well as the power to structure or restructure a synthesized overview of things, we come to understand what worked yesterday may not work today, and what works today may not tomorrow.

The more you can learn about Capricorn and Aquarius, the better you will understand the nature of Saturn's strengths and weaknesses. These signs are said to govern social order, and how an individual may find personal effectiveness within the larger order. They are aspirational and ambitious in a public rather than private sense, and reference their own authority rather than look to others.

Both Capricorn and Aquarius are motivated by protocol and "good policy." We all have all the signs in our astrological charts, and the sectors where we have these energies active show us where we are deliberate in our public expression, especially in situations where we are in the public eye. Both signs have their own sense of protocol, and their expression is governed by the protocols of the situations in which they find themselves.

Protocols can serve to keep our expression proper and within appropriate boundaries, but they can also stifle spontaneity and individuality. Protocols are essentially the customs and regulations of formal, worldly interactions, and place great value on diplomacy, formality, precedents, rules of behaviors, and social-cultural mores. These are all facets of Saturn's nature. The trick to mastering the Saturn part of our personality is knowing when protocols serve a higher purpose, and knowing when they must be stretched, bent, or discarded altogether as inadequate for achieving our higher purpose in the moment.

Saturn is said to be “exalted” in the Cardinal Air sign of Libra. A planet’s sign of exaltation indicates that sign energy is the arena of greatest growth for that planetary function. This implies Saturn finds its best expression as it embodies and expresses the qualities of Libra.

Libra exemplifies the qualities of justice, fairness, balance, and equipoise. Libra is about finding the many nuanced ways of approaching the various shadings of any given thing. It is not that Libra is necessarily perfectly balanced or centered in some internal equilibrium, but it searches for the perfect equilibrium and perfectly balanced perspective in every situation.

Its symbol is the scales, representing its "weighing and judging" quality. Through Libra we measure action to determine if the perfect proportion has been achieved. When we achieve an ideal expression of this energy, we eliminate hesitancy and indecision, and direct our actions with discernment and elegance. It is the means by which we translate knowledge into action.

Saturn leads us to master our spiritual equilibrium through various life experiences. Spiritual equilibrium, a.k.a. equipoise, is something we all have, but only after we learn to reference the “higher inner” and not the “dense outer.” As we master an inner sense of equipoise, we find we are expressing ourselves in many different and balanced ways.

As I see it, Saturn is the ultimate gatekeeper. It is the principle of understanding as it leads to the wisdom of Uranus. It is Capricorn and Aquarius by nature, and grows tremendously as it embraces Libra's sense of fairness, justice, balance, class, and grace. When it learns a sense of proportion and perspective, then boundaries are natural expressions of where we're at.

I explain in the book that each planet has a duality of function, one positive, the other negative. Saturn’s specific duality is Dominion vs Slavery. Once we transmute Saturn's lower expression of "slaving and being enslaved," mainly by circumstances (Capricorn) and controlling ideas (Aquarius) we can never be trapped by mental or material bondage ever again. In the book, I speak of the importance of making Saturn our friend, since once we allow for its understanding and wisdom to guide us into mature aspirations, thoughts, feelings, and actions, then our lives become a miracle of service to ourselves and to our world.

Saturn also helps us overcome bad habits. Whether a lack of discipline in the physical habits, or the emotional and mental habits, Saturn is our power of Self-discipline which enables us to handle just about anything while still maintaining our innocence, and brings us out of fear and wrong choices by our mature and deliberate responses.

When it comes to wrong choices made out of fear, we can transcend that by examining each habit of the body, feelings, and mind which led us there. How was the fear caused, and how did we come to believe wrong action or non-action was an adequate response? I believe when we are dealing with personality problems, everything must be examined with an eye to causation, compassion, and capacity.

Whatever causes us to revert to fear must be antidoted by courage and compassion. Incapacity must be turned to strength of character, fed by the purified and strengthened heart. Because pride guarantees us trouble at some point, humility is a virtue.

Knowing we’re making wrong choices requires changing how our mind works by finding the understanding of how we can achieve a more intentional spiritual effectiveness. Non-action due to fear is a problem with the fear. Sometimes we cannot act. If we can act then we focus on right action. When we cannot act, we must ask whether we could act effectively in the future. If not, then we do not act. If we do, then we act at the right time.

No one needs to live in fear, even if their courage and power must be concealed. I believe we are always harder on ourselves than our Soul would enjoy, which of course is a problem with the mind's absolutes. Saturn gives us patience to deal with all the malfunctions of our lower self with maturity, caution, finding our limits, and dealing with whatever “binds” us to inertia and the wheel of karma.

Its Capricorn side perseveres through thick and thin, and is its own authority. Its Aquarius side endures as a fixed vision of a more ideal world and interactions. Its Libra side loves to weigh, judge, and find the right perspective so it knows the right decision to make. All these together are Saturn, our “Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend.”

Reprinted on crystalwind.ca with written permission from Robert Wilkinson. Copying this article to other blogs is strictly prohibited. It is copyright protected. 

© Copyright 2023 Robert Wilkinson

© 2023 crystalwind.ca. All rights reserved. We track all IP addresses with sniffer technology. Using a Proxy/VPN will not hide your IP address.