A Rite of Passage

Yesterday, July 20, 2014, was a very difficult day for me.  I was in flux and a combination of these emotions:  Spiteful; short-tempered; betwixt and between; curt and impatient; nervously sitting down one moment and getting up the next; rude.  Wanting only for the day to end--the emotions I was experiencing were that painful.  I was uneasy, anxious, like something big was about to blow!  Something was messin with me and it wasn't a Sasquatch!  Something was probing my psyche and it was making me extremely uncomfortable.  But why?  I believe that yesterday I experienced a "mini earthquake" in my soul.  Did all these emotional barbs that were striking me have anything to do with the planet Saturn going Direct, that Saturn was dredging up and exposing that part of me that is always a part of me, and you too.  Showing me portions of myself that needed to be addressed, curtailed and possibly curbed?  I'm no astrologer but believe as many do that the planets transitioning through the Zodiac cast their influence over us.  What does Saturn stand for, anyway?    And how long does it take for this planet to transition through all the signs in the Zodiac?  Well, I'll tell you - 29.5 years. 

Where were you 29.5 years ago? 

To some Saturn is known as The Planet of Dread because Saturn takes you to task for being a wise ass, a know-it-all and a procrastinator.  We really don't want to confront our past misdeeds or our penchant for ignoring our past mistakes or our weaknesses.  Yet Saturn doesn't care as he is on a mission.  Saturn is our "Wake Up Call" and asks us to "take stock" of where we are now and what we need to do in order to get to where we want to be (need to be).

Saturn's sign is the sickle.  Saturn is bringing in the harvest (your harvest if you've prepared and planned properly) so to speak.  He is asking you, compelling you and downright ignoring your attempts to thwart his influence by forcing you to look at where you were, where you are now and where you want to be and how to get to there. 

He is about discipline and hard work.  His sickle slices off the old stubble (the stuff that is holding you back) thus allowing you to move more easily in the direction you need to go. 

---------------

Vedic Astrology:  Saturn - God of "Duty". Punishes the person who does not do his duty properly.
Saturn (Shani) tests a person every 22.5 years; the test lasts for a period of 7.5 years (Sadesati). The origin of word Shani (शनि) comes from the following: Shanaye Kramati Sa: (शनये क्रमति सः) i.e. the one who moves slowly, as Saturn takes about 30 years to revolve around the sun.
--------
wikipedia.org


Saturn is the planet of Karma and is a masculine sign and is known as the "Taskmaster."  Saturn is all about limitations, restrictions, responsibility and structure.  He will see to it that you will do something over again if you don't do it right the first time.

In retrospect, having no clue whatsoever that I was about to experience a blind date with a planetary body and would go head to head with him in a very personal act of self-examination in which I would be probed and examined, allowed to experience a very painful myriad of emotions twisting and churning inside me, feeling my very core being whittled down to the quick, yet somehow I came to believe this was a cleansing of some sort, a 'purifying' event.  I was forced to confront parts of myself that needed to be rebuked and brought under some semblance of balance and control.  Saturn had no sympathy for how I felt about the matter and convulsed all these emotions together, forcing me to examine and experience them all at once, leaving me bruised and bloodied but emerging in the end a little lighter and a whole lot wiser.   "But Saturn, I really would not like to go through this again!"    

However, I believe this extraordinary experience will somehow allow me to help others through my reading of the Tarot cards.     

There is a saying that "Suffering leads to Wisdom." I felt that I had just suffered through a day without end and survived some sort of "Rite of Passage" so maybe there is some Truth to that. 

Saturn is not to be feared, indeed all planets transitioning through your sign are to welcomed and embraced as "Teachers" for their  appearance allows us, compels us to come face to face with who we really are.

Saturn going Direct helps us confront those things we don't need in our lives anymore, those things that are weighing us down, those things that need to be changed, and removed, in order for us to move forward.    Thus the term "Direct."    

We are on a journey to become the best that we can be.  We are here to grow.

We are spirits of the Zodiac.  All of us, no matter who we are, where we are, are always under the prism of the Zodiac.  We will be in one sign or the other.  It helps if you do a little reading and find out just exactly what that sign means for you. 


Don't be afraid but embrace the knowledge these planets provide for each one of us.  .


The appearance of the Planet Saturn at the appointed times is a necessary part of the "growing up" process for each one of us.  It is up to us to heed and grow from its lessons or ignore and hobble our own spiritual growth and path.