Quote from: bedower
Another book I have (not with me, unfortunately) describes Saturn as 'the Great Teacher'. If you're interested, I can get you the title and author the next time I go to Cairo (which is where the book is) and provide quotes.
From E
Sure! That will be great!
DaDA! Finally... :D
The book in question is ‘The Astrology of Karma’ by Pauline Stone, bought shortly after it was published in 1988 and not perused for at least 15 years. Skimming through it for the Saturn references, and using the lens of knowledge gained from the Cass transcripts and Laura’s work almost without thinking, I was astonished at how closely some of it ties in with the Work of the Cass site; indeed, there were several passages that made me suspect that Ms Stone was familiar with Gurdjieff’s work. One sentence in particular reminded me immediately of Ark’s article
‘Debugging the Universe’, where Ms Stone refers to the readings of Edgar Cayce, and where her preceding sentences leave no doubt that she agrees with him.* In fact, she quotes from Cayce at the beginning of the book;
“...[the] birthright given each soul [is] that it may know itself to be itself and by choice become one with the Creator...”
* The Readings insist that the power of the soul is such that mankind’s activity for good or bad can in fact produce changes in the universe. Sunspots are but one example of this phenomenon, and indicate how defects in man’s character are manifested as flaws in the sun – the source of his vital energy. The intricacies of how this process works may be explained by considering the endocrine gland system, which represents a transmitter/receiver system for planetary energies and which not only picks up vibrations but itself emits energy of a like nature.
This book doesn’t contain the reference to Saturn as the ‘Great Teacher’ (or Uranus as the 'Great Awakener', is another one I remember); it must have been another book which is no longer with me, but here is something of what she writes about the inner planets, the outer planets, and Saturn in particular. The ‘Outer Planets’ section has a small introduction because it has been moved from its original context for the purpose of continuity. All bolds are mine:
The Inner Planets; Symbols of Personal Energy. [...] The Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars represent man’s sense of ego or individuality, the level of consciousness which has ruled largely unchallenged prior to the dawning of the New Age. These first five planets focus attention on our uniqueness and awareness of ourselves as separate entities. Taken purely by themselves, however, they reflect the loneliness and sense of isolation man feels when he is disunited from others.
Jupiter, Faith and Universal Law, & Saturn and Cosmic Responsibility. The next two planets...symbolise the laws, both mundane and spiritual, which govern man’s existence. At the worldly level Jupiter and Saturn represent man’s morality or beliefs (Jupiter) and his life structure or civilisation resulting from these (Saturn) [...]
The Path of Return. (The Outer Planets). Since its ‘fall’, the human race has been engaged upon a long and lonely journey away from its original union with the Source. Man’s desire to partake of the Tree of Knowledge has led him along the isolated path of separation whereby he has developed his ego, his sense of individuality clothed in matter, and has delighted in the experience of functioning alone. But at the appropriate time he begins to feel the sorrow of disunity and is ready to set out on the return route to the oneness from which he originated. In other words, man finally becomes ready to absorb that knowledge in whose pursuit he long ago separated from the Source. This exciting path of return and the various aspects of new consciousness connected with it are represented by the vibrations of the three outer planets.
Uranus, as the higher vibration of Mercury, symbolises man’s spiritual intellect which allows him to understand the concept of oneness, and the comparative insignificance of the ego. It may be considered as providing access to universal truth...
Neptune, as the higher vibration of Venus, allows him to experience a sense of at-oneness with the rest of creation, and thus transcend the ego by practices such as meditation and yoga. Neptune is the planet associated with universal love (rather than personal love) and universal beauty.
Pluto, as the higher vibration of Mars, gives the potential for spiritualization of the basic life force which, when allowed to flow up through the chakras [...] and unhindered by ego desires, has vast transformatory potential. Here is the symbol of universal force; the healing power which can change each one of us and eventually change the world [...]
The energy of Pluto has manifested along positive lines in the comparatively recent upsurge of psychic healing, just as the other two outer planets can be linked to a simultaneous new wave of interest in astrology, yoga and meditation. It would appear that an extraordinary outpouring of energy from the outer planets has been taking place since mankind became conscious, in every sense, of the correlated vibrations [...]
In summary, let us accept that we are here on Earth to meet our karma – the results, both good and bad, of our own past actions [...] Let us also be aware that, at this very special time in history, we have before us the opportunity to implement boundless self change if we so desire [...] As we work with the powerful healing energies symbolised by the outer planets, we have the chance not only to clear past debts with greater strength and understanding but also to avoid future negative karma [...]
About Saturn in particular, she writes:
The kind of results sought by Saturn are not to be gained in five minutes and neither would this planetary principle desire the distinctly solar glory of the overnight star. The sort of respect which motivates Saturn can only be gained when we have proved our reliability over a period of time. After all, ‘status’ is not commonly ascribed to a young person, but rather is something earned by many years of toil and effort. For this reason patience is an essential prerequisite of the Saturn function. The link between time, patience and the Saturn energy is clearly demonstrated by the association of this planet with the Greek god Chronos, who was the ruler of time cycles and from whom we acquire the word ‘chronological’. It is widely recognised that Saturn becomes easier to handle during our old age[...] Concrete achievement is a question of concentration of the matter in hand and a refusal not to be side-tracked down non-productive alleys. In addition, we must be very clear about the limitations of our responsibilities and duties; to feel that we are responsible for everything and everybody is actually highly irresponsible since it is impossible to spread oneself in all directions at once, and invariably we end up by achieving nothing [...] Until very recently, it has been enough to believe in the religious or moral philosophy of one’s own isolated environment and to do one’s duty thereby, for the main part without question or objection. But now, with the advent of the new consciousness, there is the realisation of the horror that sectarian faith and duty can produce. A blind sense of responsibility to king, country or faith has been the root cause of every vicious war and conflict. The urge to ‘do one’s bit’ for the flag may well prove one’s patriotism but in no way takes into account one’s responsibility towards the whole of mankind, nor one’s responsibility to oneself as a component of that whole. At long last we are awakening to the fact that we are citizens of the cosmos and this must come before any duty to our state [...] Now the Saturnian concepts of responsibility, effort, patience, concentration and achievement acquire a vitally new significance. For...Saturn allows us firstly to accept responsibility for ourselves in co-operation with cosmic rather than sectarian law. Secondly, it provides us with the impetus to work towards spiritual rather than material goals by putting concentrated effort into the challenge at hand, Finally, the famous Saturnian patience can now be channelled towards our spiritual rather than our material progress.
Under the heading
Lack of Attunement to Saturn, Ms Stone seems to be describing people who have all the traits that we on this forum would consider to be STS; such as selfishness, wilful irresponsibility, lack of empathy, indifference to the plight of others, and so on. Then she writes;
Often there is something of a compromise in that we will take on token responsibility if we are beginning to feel the need to ‘do the right thing’ in the eyes of our peers. At a superficial level, we can be seen to be taking our part in society, but in actual fact we are putting in very little effort [...]
Rather like psychopaths mimicking the behaviour of non-psychopaths, osit!
And from the following section entitled
‘The Status Trap’:
Depression is the most common by-product of incomplete expression of the Saturn principle – depression in all its various forms which are commonly based on a prolonged accumulation of frustrated energy which we have been unable to discharge in the normal way due to our inhibitions. The true anti-depressant is never a drug or a medicine, but a genuine determination to seek the root of these inhibitions and a willingness to change our outlook on life. Saturn lies behind a vast number of stress-related health problems which cause much suffering in life [...] Saturn is probably responsible for those ailments which are recognised as resulting from anxiety, such as insomnia, allergies, skin problems and digestive disorders.
From
‘The Question of Cosmic Responsibility’:
In contrast, full attunement to Saturn involves the understanding that it is our duty to assume the responsibility for our own beliefs and attitudes rather than to lean on those of others. There is the acceptance that the well-being of humanity as a whole is governed by the willingness of each of us to stand on our own two feet and our ability to make independent decisions, decisions which take into account the interests of all our fellow beings rather than simply our own interests or the interests of one small sector of society[...]
Finally, from PART TWO – The Interpretation of the Birth Chart – Our Spiritual Curriculum –
The School of Saturn:
The essence of Saturn is a sense of universal responsibility based on the understanding of universal law. It is the willingness to accept the difficulties we are faced with in life as the karmic outcome of our own past actions, words and thoughts. And it is the desire to ... work towards cancelling out our karmic debts. Saturn teaches us to move away from sectarian morals and standards projected upon us by our culture, and to overcome the inhibitions, anxieties and dis-ease which result from excessive absorption with the status quo. The ultimate function of this planet is to help us set aside the urge for material goals and to replace these by goals of a spiritual nature.
It is no great leap, osit, to change the words ‘inhibitions’ and ‘anxieties’ to ‘buffers’ and ‘programs’, while ‘excessive absorption with the status quo’ is surely STS.
And that’s it! Ms Stone is not as negative about Saturn as most other astrologers that I’ve read. Although her book is supposedly New Age, it is the least ‘New Age’ New Age book I’ve ever read. As she herself warns, in
‘The Question of Free Will’:
And it is a sad fact that while astrologers continue to disregard, or rather fail to stress, man’s freedom of choice and persist in the notion that the stars rule us or compel us to behave in a certain way, they will never derive benefit from their study. It is essential to move away from the idea that the planets represent some sinister governing force beyond our comprehension or control [...] Not surprisingly, until recently the obvious conclusion was to assume that the planets themselves were responsible for the dire consequences that often came to pass [...]
All in all, it’s a cut above the usual New Age/astrology books. I wonder what Ms Stone would have made of the hexagon at Saturn's north pole! But the vital thing missing, as I can see now, is any reference to psychopaths, OPs or Ponerology. And without those factors taken into account, any such book is only half a book, imo. But in fairness, these things were not generally known about in 1988.
If anyone would like me to post the opening ‘essence’ paragraphs (as in ‘the essence of Saturn’ above) from ‘The School of....’ Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, I’d be happy to do so.
N.B. to Mods – I was going to link Ark’s article on ‘Debugging the Universe’, but it seems to have vanished from the forum.
