Saturn: The Meaning of Time, Limitations and Choices

To ancient astronomers, Saturn was our solar system's last and furthest planet away from the Sun. It is named for the Roman titan of agriculture and time who infamously tried to eat his own children to maintain dominion over all creation. His Greek equivalent is Kronos, a name which is also a root word for many English terms relating to time. Chronological refers to a sequence of events happening over a set period of time. Synchronized is when events happen at the same time. A chronicle details events over time, even if it is a daily newspaper. Chronic has a more negative connotation as if pertaining to a disease or condition that lasts months or years. Anachronisms happen at the wrong time.

Being one of the outer planets of the solar system, Saturn revolves around the Sun very slowly—it can take up to thirty Earth years. This also coincides with the Saturn Return, an astrological event where this planet enters the sign it was in at the time of your birth. It can take place anytime between the ages of twenty-eight and thirty. This is relevant in astrology because this alignment coincides with maturity in life and the learning of lessons with the passage of time. We also experience them around ages fifty-eight and eighty-eight. I've always considered it like an astrological checkpoint, where Saturn sits you down like a stern father setting his child straight.

As an Aquarius ruled by Saturn, I've learned a few lessons that just so happen to resonate with me due to this planetary ruler. Dealing with time and cycles sometimes hits us where it hurts the most. It triggers our limitations and teaches us the hard lessons that we must learn to move on to the next phase of our lives. It pushes us to face the unknown, lest we suffer and repeat the same patterns that cause us harm or pain. Saturn teaches us that nothing is permanent, and we all go through cycles both in life and in death. Saturn is not just the archetype of the farmer who sows the field—he is the archetype of the wise old man or the reaper. Before Pluto's discovery in 1930, Saturn was the planet ancient people associated with death and sacrifice, lending its continued association with these magical arts even in the modern day.

As Witches and magical practitioners, understanding time and cycles is important. It can be hard to wrap your head around and even harder to master. Taking advantage of the present and being able to write our destinies requires the active will to do so—as Witches and magical practitioners, this is the basis for most rituals and spells we do. We start out with the intention to do something, but it must be backed by action and direction, the triad of which creates what we know as manifestation. Yet this cannot be done against the grain of time and physics—aligning rituals with the seasons is a potent way to align yourself with nature and the land. As I write this piece, it is winter, a time for repose and reflection on what seeds we wish to plant for the spring. As the seed is nurtured and grows into autumn, we are ready to reap the rewards. Saturn, being the ruler of Capricorn, which is the sign of hard work and ambition, reminds us that all things worth having are worth working toward and nurturing. Yes, Saturn may also manifest as the "stern father" who sits you down to set you straight, but part of a father's job is to nurture you and provide a positive, stable influence.

So, what is the meaning of time? That is a loaded question, to say the least. Time doesn't end, but does it have a beginning? Would that beginning be one point in time or the ending of something else that came before? I've been reading Tarot professionally since 2016 as well as teaching, and one thing that I have instilled in my students is how divination often involves the prediction of sequences of events over a period of time. There will be times when the method you're using will present multiple outcomes, which are merely representations of different timelines you could enter depending on the choices you make. I call this "working with the flow of time."

Let's take, for example, a client who asks me about their career. It could start with, "What will it be like?" Then, as I relay the information I perceive, other follow-up questions arise, such as "What will happen if I take this job?" or "What will happen if I don't take it and stay where I am?" These two questions lead to us peering into both timelines—one where my client chooses this new career move or doesn't. Each will have a different outcome, but either way, there is a choice that I always empower my clients to make, even if it is difficult. Oftentimes, the difficult decision will be the right one for the greater good and for their own benefit in the long run.

Another aspect of reading that I advise my students on is to avoid asking whether something "will" happen. This often leads us to murky results when divining because it shows attachment to the situation and prevents the reading from being objective when you have the expectation of said situation happening. This is also valuable advice if you are going to get your own reading from an advisor. Have an open mind, and remember that while you have choices, there may be limitations to work through. This, and working with the flow of time, is how Saturnian influence can make its way into divinatory sessions.

In your magical practice, Saturn's influence is important in helping you recognize your strengths and your weaknesses. The planet rules both an Earth sign and an Air sign. With this in mind, I like to describe Saturn as being a planetary influence of both order and chaos. Order is what keeps structure, but chaos is needed to create change and overcome limitations, either those we intrinsically put on ourselves or those that are external and a bit more challenging to control. In my personal experiences with Saturn, I've come around to the physical virtues of the planet being important and symbolic, namely its seven major rings. Composed of ice particles, these rings appear to contain the planet itself, which can be for its benefit or a means of limitation. In a way, the planet's rings remind me of a protective field or a fence around the gas giant.

It's interesting to note here that Saturn's influence provides some of the best help in protection magic, especially the protection of things that are, by nature, immovable; personal property is a great example of this. Yet, on the flip side, it can also be perceived as the planet being confined to a chalk circle drawn out on the floor. In the same vein, it could also be looked at as the planet being imprisoned by its own patterns relating to behaviors or thoughts that keep them in the same cycles that never seem to end. Obviously, Saturn cannot move its rings or get rid of them, but it can make the most of the situation it is in while floating inside the rings.

Going back to the associations with death and rebirth, Saturn is associated with the transmutation of getting over our limitations because, after all, what does not end up killing or harming us makes us stronger. It is through this alchemy that we, as Witches and magical practitioners, can exercise our inner strength and resilience to create only the best outcomes in our reality. Magic is not just the manipulation and direction of energy according to our will to shape our realities, but it requires transmutation on many fronts in addition to alchemy. The greatest alchemy of all is that done on the self, with the self, and by the self. Saturnian influence can help you in this process by shedding light on your shadow and the boundaries you must push in order to grow and succeed. Take the scythe, and with it, slash through what holds you back, letting your magic guide your way to wisdom.