Saturn in Scorpio

On 3 November, Saturn moves into Scorpio. Since Saturn spends two and a half years in a constellation, this shift means a major realignment of cosmic energy patterns. On a deep level, everyone will experience some kind of change in their consciousness. If you are feeling disassociated, uncertain, open to change but unclear about the shape your life is taking, do not be surprised. The ground beneath you is shifting. After two and a half years in Libra, his sign of exaltation and undiluted strength, Saturn is moving into the very different field of Scorpio. And Lord Shani (Saturn) in Scorpio changes the game for all of us!

In order to understand what this means for you, you need to see where Scorpio is in your Vedic chart. If Scorpio is your First House, then the change will impact most profoundly upon your person, your sense of self, your identity, your confidence and self-esteem. If Scorpio is your Fourth House, the change will affect your home, your property or your mother, or the way all those elements connect . . . a grounding to place in the sense of ancestral land and primal rootedness. If Scorpio is your Seventh House, the change will impact your most intimate relationships. If Scorpio is your Tenth House, the shift will focus upon your vocation, your highest purpose in the world or your dharma.

So what exactly does Saturn in Scorpio signify? For the next two and a half years, we will experience the energy of Saturn refracted through the lens of Scorpio. Graha is the name for planet in Sanskrit, and it means literally “that which grabs you”. A graha is a divine energy, a divine being actually, which “grabs” or seizes or colours our consciousness. The nine planets are nine divine beings who in totality encompass all the possible expressions of consciousness in action. Lord Shani, thus, embodies a particular flavour of divine grace. This energy seizes us always through the medium of a particular sign or constellation. The constellation is a kind of lens or field, with unique properties that filter, distort, modify or amplify the quality of the graha that resides therein. The two together– planet and constellation– form a particular synergy, a blend of the two which is greater than each of them singly and which mirrors the shifting vibrations of our consciousness.

Of all the signs, Scorpio is perhaps the most mysterious. Connected to the occult, to the kundalini energy, Scorpio keeps its secrets hidden. Owned by Mars, out of whose nature the field of Scorpio takes form, yet consisting of fixed water, Scorpio embodies contradiction in its deepest essence. Mars is pitta, fiery and dynamic, but fixed water is actually ice. This creates a powerful tension, colouring everything to do with Scorpio with intensity.

Associated with the dark time of the year, the end of the growing season, Scorpio orients consciousness towards darkness. This can manifest as keen perception, which sees beneath surfaces into the true nature of the inner realms. It can manifest as charged sexuality, which is stepped-down kundalini expressing itself on the plane of mundane reality. It can also manifest as perversions or obsessions, which in essence are merely unusual expressions of life force energy. Wherever Scorpio fixates the mind, it does so with passion and devotion. The driving fire of Mars freezes into a pattern that remains steadfast in its resolve. That is Scorpio . . . devoted and intense, perceptive and passionate, sexual and private, all attributes working together for an ultimate purpose that can best be summed up as transformation. The primary indicators for Scorpio are sex and death, both of which are doorways to transformation between the physical and astral realms . . . into and out of this earth plane.

Yes, my friends, above everything else, Scorpio is about transformation. He is the snake who sheds his skin, casting off the old form and emerging reborn in a new skin. Usually, the process involves some kind of suffering, with fear or anxiety likely as well. Letting go of the old can be heart-rendingly painful. Whether it is a comfortable job, a satisfying relationship, a beloved home or a tightly held self-identity, Scorpio opens our eyes to the dead wood that no longer serves a purpose and emboldens us with the courage to burn it away.

For the next two and a half years, this process of metamorphosis in our lives will be particularly charged, as Saturn too is about transformation.

Of all the grahas, Saturn is the one people fear the most, because he is the harbinger of suffering. As Lord of Truth, the ultimate truth Saturn reveals is the ephemerality of all things of this world. His lessons can be harsh, as often they involve loss, disease, death or failure. Saturn gives us responsibility, makes us work hard, but also bequeaths us with the perseverance, tenacity and vision to accomplish the needful. Saturn is vata, cold and airy, bringing his results about slowly. He is an indicator of time, but also timelessness. His power to transform resembles the sustained irritation that slowly turns a grain of sand into a pearl, hidden deeply within the dark centre of the oyster and rocked by the endless waves of the sea. Metamorphosis involves pain and letting go; it requires surrender and patience, but it in the long run it produces a gem of astonishing luminosity and value.

The great gift of Saturn is spiritual wisdom, the pearl of great price. Despite all the trials he brings, Saturn has the power to illuminate us with the highest truth. He is the Lord of Yoga, which is the art of rightful detachment and discernment. His transformative power is similar to that of Lord Shiva, the destroyer who is also the transformer . . . also the creator of all things new.

All this translates into some interesting times ahead! Do not be alarmed if things seem to be falling apart in your life, your career, your marriage . . . your very orientation to this incarnation in a most primal sense. Same as Scorpio, Saturn also represents the end of the growing season. It is time to prune, to cut back hard the dead wood. The mood is winter, the season for sending roots deeply into the soil. The soil itself is also an indicator of Saturn, as dirt is the corpse of many lives that came before. And just as new life will emerge from roots deeply planted in the earth, so will Saturn bring new life out of the dirt of past sufferings.

This is the incredibly good news for this season. The opportunity for profound growth lies ahead, for metamorphosis in many areas of life, but most especially for the deepest spiritual transformation. Though the path could be fraught with dramatic changes (the antithesis of boring!), what is of greatest value will emerge with heightened luminosity, like a radiant pearl. What is no longer serving will not be lost either: it will return to the soil–dust to dust–to be shaped in due course by the cosmic dance into a new and purposeful form.

So study your chart and see where the change will impact you most profoundly. Not everyone will feel this energy with the same intensity. Learn how you can work with its power most constructively. It belongs to the highest evolution of your soul.

In addition, from 3 November until 13 July 2015, the benefic light of an exalted Jupiter will be shining upon Saturn in Scorpio, making this first phase of Saturn’s sojourn in Scorpio particularly auspicious for positive metamorphosis.

Because everyone’s chart is unique, I can only make the most general suggestions here. But I think it is wise for all during this time of Saturn in Scorpio to simplify life. Winter is an inwards, meditative time. Take your cue from the trees, which send their sap into the root; from birds and small animals, who draw inwards to hibernate; from farmers, who rest by the fire–maybe singing and dancing–but still do not attempt to plant until the growing season is upon us. Take heart that the growth will come. Saturn produces the sweetest fruit, but like a fine wine, it takes time. Though Shani delays, he never denies.

At the same time, make sure you maintain strong bonds with some kind of community, your partner, family, friends, spiritual community or teacher, wherever you feel support and sustenance coming from the outside. Saturn is the planet of solitude, who can generate in us feelings of melancholy, anxiety or fear. And Scorpio is a very secretive and private place, a medium that tends to keep everything hidden. Think of the synergy: vata meets ice . . . and the result could make you feel profoundly isolated. (This is particularly true if your Moon is in Scorpio too.) But it doesn’t have to be that way. Take heart in the fact that others quite likely are experiencing similar things. Welcome your beloved one into your cave, gather your family round the hearth, practise your sadhana in the company of fellow pilgrims. Find the joy in simple things, and remember the brilliance of a low winter sun!

Saturn remains in Scorpio for two and a half years, during which time the movement of the other planets brings many other influences. For a complete understanding of the various transits upon your life, a comprehensive natal chart reading is essential. But still, everything I outlined above forms a constant undercurrent, ebbing and flowing in different ways for everyone.

Om Shanti