Saturn, during the course of astrological centuries, has acquired a somewhat dubious reputation as the satanic power of the planetary chain, and by no means the least disliked is his role of taskmaster (as differentiated from that of work-master), according to the old adage, which we make bold to use somewhat freely, that Satan finds work for idle hands to do. Nowhere is this better exemplified than in the Saturnian afflictions by transit. Transiting Saturn moves slowly enough to enable any astrologer to check his influence as he crosses the sensitive points in the radical horoscope; and in our more evanescent Saturnian moods--rightly labeled saturnine--we not infrequently find that the transiting Moon and Sun are afflicting the radical Saturn.

  Astrologers have discovered that Saturn afflictions indicate hardships of one kind or another, which are generally accompanied by loss of health, a prevailing condition of depletion and lowered vitality, with all that implies of mental depression and lack of emotional resiliency. But they have not, to my mind, made it sufficiently clear that these physical conditions are as likely to be the effect as the cause of the material chaos that prevails under the Saturn affliction. It is one of the vicious circles you read about: misfortune causing ill health causing inefficiency causing misfortune, ad infinitum. It requires no argumentation to know that such a cycle must be guarded against. Without a good Saturnian impulse, indeed, there could be no morale worthy of the name.

  As high rates of national unemployment in the past, notably during the Depression and early Nineties, have proven to us that idleness is abhorrent to any normal human; so wars, military or economic, prove that far from being fundamentally lazy, man is prone to overwork when his interests are aroused. Under the beneficent aspects of Saturn (in his role as Workmaster) the individual finds himself face to face with important work, for which, however, he is physically and mentally thoroughly equipped. It is therefore no particular hardship for him to deal with it. He is able, and therefore willing, to accept responsibility, which he discharges to the satisfaction of all concerned.

  We note in this connection that Saturn, as the ruler of Capricorn and co-ruler of Aquarius, is the engineer’s planet par excellence; but in all walks of life the Saturnian intellect is conspicuous for its orderliness, its conscientiousness, and its capacity for detail. The best housewife, who runs her house like a business, with clockwork regularity and a craftsman’s skill, is generally a woman in whose horoscope Saturn figures prominently. Such women are also employing their highly efficient mentalities in a wide spectrum of vocations, including medicine, education, law, and business.

  A topnotch housewife masters the mechanics of war (corporate, legal or military) as easily as she does the mechanics of her household. (Thus the Greeks knew Athena both as goddess of weaving and of warcraft.) The romantic-minded woman, on the contrary, is seldom a good housewife or warworker, for she is representative of the lunar influence which is imaginative rather than practical.

  It is therefore under the beneficent aspects of Saturn that an individual is given big jobs to perform, and he performs them with efficiency and dispatch. But when the Saturn afflictions enter upon the scene, he finds himself confronted with quite another set of circumstances. Work, yes; but too much of it, and it is disagreeable work, perhaps with poor pay (Saturn afflicting the life-giving planets). This is the time when the superviser asks you to work overtime, and if you receive additional compensation for your work you will probably have to spend it on doctor bills as a result of a physical breakdown caused by overwork, too little sleep, and sketchy meals; not to mention the nerve strain of working under constant pressure.

  The Saturn-Mars aspect tends to induce overwork in an effort to get more money or influence or prestige—or whatnot. Here we have the selfish motive: the man works overtime not because of corporate or community need, but because he wants more money; and having got the money he spends it on serial buying and high living, which reacts upon his health. Or, in the higher social and economic brackets, be overreaches himself, and precipitates social or financial disaster.

  It is of course obvious to the astrologer, but not perhaps to the lay public, that the selfsame Saturn which brings responsibility to a successful issue for one man, may bring overwork and illness to another, according to the aspects formed relative to the radical horoscope of each. It is therefore not enough merely to consider the aspects formed daily by the transiting planets with one another. These indicate only the general conditions affecting the race as a whole; they do not indicate the individual reaction to those conditions. To get at the individual reaction, it is necessary to calculate the aspects of the transiting planets relative to the planets of the radical chart. Thus, from an economic standpoint, a war condition, which means poverty and destruction to tens of thousands (Saturn afflicting Uranus, Sun, Moon, or vice versa), may at the same time mean wealth and power to the profteer class operating under a Saturn-Mars aspect, such as we mentioned in our preceding paragraph.

  From all of which it is plain that astrology can, and should, be something more to us than an occasional entertainment. It can tell us when hard work is safe and when it is best to be on the alert to conserve energy, if at all possible. Too much work at the wrong time and the wrong place (business as usual?) can sabotage our efforts as surely as too little at the right time and right place. Saturn is the workmaster who can regulate our work schedule and help us achieve a maximum of efficiency.

  The peace which the esoteric astrologer looks forward to is in very truth a peace of Saturn. Contrary to popular opinion, there is in the Saturn consciousness a stronghold of tranquility, in no way more clearly and beautifully represented than the snow-covered earth at Christmas time in the northern latitudes. If you are among those who fear and dread Saturn and are consequently unable to recognize his essential nature, go out after a snow storm, when the air is crystal clear and there is no wind stirring anywhere. Let the quiet and the whiteness penetrate you, and you will know Saturn as he is.

  Such will be the profound peace which will settle over the world in the Aquarian Age. We may point out in passing that when the Sun at the vernal equinox precedes from Pisces through Aquarius and Capricorn, as it is about to do, the earth will enter a Saturnian era of almost five thousand years’ duration. Since the discovery of Uranus, that planet is considered as co-ruler with Saturn of the sign Aquarius. But Saturn is still, for most of us, the power behind the throne.

  For more than five thousand years, then, the Saturnian peace will be the foundation stone of the most brilliant civilization our planet has ever known. And since the inner is always reflected in the outer, and the state of men’s souls flowers in the crafts of their hands, this peace will have its outward representation in an architecture which will convert the globe into a heaven world, where even the commonest dwelling will be a “thing of beauty and a joy for ever.” Cities will be built to endure for the age, and endure they will, in translucent stone and infrangible glass, and within them the sons of men will bring to consummation the great Mystery Work of the untarnishable gold created from the base metals of past warfare and suffering.

  —Ann Barkhurst