Jyotish Maha Charts

Sani

Saturn is traditionally the most difficult of the major planets, the legendary king of the malefics. He has been feared throughout the centuries as the great God of Death — the significator of death, disease, poverty, separation, ugliness and perversity. Though Saturn possesses a higher and more beneficent side, at least from the. standpoint of the spiritual life, even this is stern and exacting, hard to live up to and to endure — a power of discipline, asceticism and solitude.

Saturn brings limitation and obstruction, hindrance in self-expression and in self-manifestation, which may become oppression and adversity. As Jupiter indicates the process of creation and expansion, Saturn brings about contraction and destruction. As Jupiter is the great affirmer, Saturn is the great negator. As Jupiter is the God of joy, he is the God of sorrow. As Jupiter is the optimist, he is the pessimist. As Jupiter shows the joy inherent in all life, Saturn reveals all life as misery. Jupiter is the positive teacher of the soul; Saturn, the negative guide. As Jupiter tells us that "all is God", Saturn drills into us that "nothing is Divine". that there is nothing truly real in the outer world. The religions of world negation, like Hinduism and Buddhism, have the influence of a strong spiritual Saturn.

Saturn is the significator of disease, old age and death — the great enemies of human life which overcome all life bound by time. As the most distanturt in orbit of the major planets, his is the major influence we all must face in the end. Hence, in the placement of Saturn in the chart is the ultimate issue of our life and destiny, the hard facts or stem reality we must face.

Though the power of Saturn to limit or destroy what it influences should not be underestimated, its positive value must be considered as well. Destruction is the necessary counterpart for creation, as decay and death are required for new life and growth. The limitation on our material fate is necessary: all material things must come to an end; what is put together must come apart; and all things must return to their component elements. The Four Noble Truths of the Buddha and his doctrines of impermanence and universal suffering reflect the wisdom of Saturn.

Our great fear of Saturn has measured the degree of our attachment to the material world and our inability to face the ultimate issues of our existence. Saturn shows us the limitation of this realm, which is the necessary but painful lesson we must learn to find our way into the unlimited. Saturn is death that takes us beyond the limitations of mortal life, which is the gateway to the eternal, though straight and narrow as the razor's edge.

Saturn gives bad luck, misfortune, and oppression. It is the planet of bad karma or unfortunate destiny. Yet these may come upon a soul not because it was evil or slow to evolve in past lives. Some souls, particularly those who are more advanced, may seek such things as a means of quicker and deeper spiritual growth in life. Anyone can resort to the Divine in prosperity, but who can do so in great adversity? Such is the measure of a great soul. Saturn is also the suffering that makes us grow inwardly. Д The influence of Saturn is to delay, to withhold. As the slowest moving of the planets, he retards things, holds back their development. Those retarded in mind or speech are usually under a strong affliction of Saturn. He makes us deaf and blind, stunted or deformed. Saturn is the signi ficator of old age, the God of time, who brings on all the degenerative processes of aging, the failure of our faculties and our powers. As such, a badly placed Saturn causes premature aging. Saturn takes away our vitality on a physical or on a mental level. He causes depression, melancholy, and self-pity, and gives rise to worry, fear and anxiety.

As a nervous planet, Saturn obstructs nerve functioning. He may cause numbness, paralysis or degenerative neurological disorders. His obstructing and repressing influence on the mind may promote neurosis or insanity. Saturn is behind most diseases, particularly chronic and degenerative diseases, and diseases of old age, including arthritis and cancer. As representing decay he can cause an accumulation of waste materials in the body and often is a point of devitalization in the chart. 4 Saturn causes poverty, deprivation and want. He keeps us in bondage or servitude, under the domination of others, and under the rule of external forces. Yet Saturn also causes us to retain what we possess. Saturn indicates property, land and fixed assets. Those who obtain wealth through a well-disposed Saturn may become misers and will carefully hold on to what has with such difficulty been acquired.

In the lower sense, Saturn is a selfish planet; in fact, we could say that Saturn is the planet of selfishness. It indicates our most deep-seated and obstinate ego drives towards self-protection. Saturn is our survival instinct, which becomes our need to maintain our separate existence, and is more basic and stronger even than our sexual drive. Most of our materialistic values, like our need for wealth, are little more than glorified survival values and bear the limitation and poverty of vision of Saturn. They are caused by the influence of Saturn but, as circumscribed by it, are also destroyed by its disintegrating affect.

Furthermore, as the planet of the ego, Saturn is also the planet of fear, upon which the ego is based. Saturn creates fear and darkness in the mind. He makes us feel that we cannot overcome things, that life is against us. He makes us doubt ourselves, doubt even the Divine, and makes us prey to dark fears, fantasies and phobias.

Saturn represents the darker side of the mind and the baser elements of life: crime, perversity and paranoia. Saturn indicates the underworld, the lower astral realms. Its influence works through ugliness, terror and fright, abuse, degradation and self-debasement. Saturn can cause not only separation from loved ones and loss of love but also sexual perversions and unnatural sexual actions. Saturn can cause us to pursue gross pleasure without any grace, or find pleasure in acts of violence, harming others, or even harming oneself.

Usually, a strongly malefic Saturn is prominent in the charts of criminals, perverts, or evil-minded people. Its negative side comes out particularly in association with Mars, another cruel planet. There is no limit to the destruction the evil forces that these planets can project when not under benefic influence.

On a lower level, Saturn represents the gross body and the senses, the elemental forces which dominate us. It is the gravity that pulls us down and gets us attached to what is inferior.

Saturn is the God who eats his own children, who devours his own progeny. He raises people up, but eventually casts them down in a very precipitous fall. Those who are under the spell of his base values will eventually be destroyed by them. He shows the falsehood for what it is, in which there is the revelation of the enduring value of truth.

As the power of darkness and obstruction, Saturn is the enemy of the Sun and the Moon and has an eclipse-like effect upon them. Only Jupiter has the power to really subdue or to balance out his influence, though Venus and Mercury can refine it to a great degree. As Saturn is limiting, Jupiter is unlimiting. As Saturn is miserly, Jupiter is generous. Both together allow for an equalized movement of expansion and contraction, creation and destruction, in which there can be true growth. As Jupiter elevates Saturn, Saturn gives Jupiter a greater detachment and more objective perception.

Saturn is in many respects not only the lowest of the planets but also the highest. Its lesson is the most difficult but the most rewarding. Saturn is the grandfather spirit and law giver, our guiding ancestor. He represents not only the negative influence of the past which constricts us, he represents the positive spirit of the past that brings order and consistency to our lives.

Saturn in Hindu mythology is the son of the Sun. The Sun moves in a chariot directed by Saturn. Saturn is the darkness, death and sorrow we must overcome for the revelation of the true light. He is the guardian of the mysteries of ttue awareness — which can only be attained through a very precise and exacting cultivation of attention.

Saturn is the yogi in meditation. He can give complete detachment and independence. He is the one who stands alone and goes beyond the limitations of the masses. He shows the way of transcendence, though necessarily difficult, whereby all limitations can be overcome by resorting to our true and unlimited Self. In this respect the power of Shiva, who the lord of the yogis and the God of death and transcendence, may work through Saturn.

A well-placed and strong Saturn is thus necessary for the spiritual life. In fact, it is necessary for creating anything of enduring value in any domain of life. Saturn gives the concentration, the sense of detail, the discipline and seriousness necessary to deal with the great challenges of life.

Saturn is the significator of life itself. It indicates fate, term of life, and longevity. A strong Saturn protects the life. Saturn is the planet to be propitiated in old age. He indicates the regime necessary for full life and longevity, violating which, we suffer from premature decay and death.

Saturn represents the power of our actions. If we do something regularly, it sets a certain force in motion. This power of our action goes with us from life to life. Our destiny is mirrored in our daily activity.

The issue of Saturn is to create an ongoing conscious action towards improving our condition, and expanding the powers of truth and peace in life. It is to really put into practice what we have learned, not just to acknowledge it mentally. It is to have the patience and attention to bring things to conclusion and perfection.

Element: air
Colour: dark blue, black
Metal, stone: iron, steel, blue sapphire, amethyst
Day of week: Saturday
Number: 8, 17, 26
Direction: West
Chakra: Muladhara
Body parts: teeth, bones, hearing, spleen, hair, nails, bone marrow
Traits of character in Sattva: wisdom, sincerity, honesty, loyalty, longevity, foresight, organizational and performing skills
Mantra: OM NAMO BHAGAVATE KURMADEVAYA, OM PRAM PRIM PRUM SAAHA SHANAYE NAMAHA

Source: «Astrology Of The Seers» by David Frawley