Posted on by David

Lessons Taught by Saturn in Aquarius in 2021

With the middle of 2022 approaching, less than a year is left of Saturn in Aquarius. The outer planet first entered Aquarius this time around the zodiac on March 23, 2020. It went back into Capricorn on July 2, 2020 and stayed there until December 18, 2020. The great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius occurred on December 20th of 2020, and Saturn has been in Aquarius since that time. Saturn’s stay in Aquarius has been remarkable for how it stands out from previous years. 2021 was distinct in a number of ways. And it can be seen from qualities to describe the experience of the collective—restrictive, antagonist, mutually hostile— to name just a few.  Saturn’s journey through Aquarius can be peered at in relation to the decans and the Egyptian bounds. Some of the potential qualities of the times can be revealed by looking at the two ancient systems of essential dignity. In addition to looking at the decans and bounds, this article will describe some of the lessons that were taught by Saturn in Aquarius in 2021.

Saturn’s journey through the decans has been predictable. The first time Saturn entered Aquarius it was in the first decan, as it slow walked up to the second decan before going retrograde back into Capricorn. It then stayed in the first decan until it entered the second decan of Aquarius on March 17, 2021 and moved up in zodiacal order to 13 degrees before stationing and going retrograde. It came back to the first decan August 5th. Currently, it is moving through the third decan and as of this writing on April 30, 2022, it sits at 24 degrees. In 2022, we have seen Saturn move forward in zodiacal order through the second decan and well into the third decan where it will station retrograde at 25 degrees on June 4th. Then it will station direct on October 23rd at 18 degrees. It will enter the third decan on December 3, 2022. It will continue on its journey through the degrees of Aquarius until it enters Pisces and leaves Aquarius for good on March 8, 2023.

In Austin Coppock’s limited print 36 Faces: The History, Astrology, and Magic of the Decans, Coppock dissects the decans and describes their qualities and characteristics. Coppock explains the Aquarius decans with words and images. The images he uses for Aquarius are called “”The Mark of Exile,” “Heaven and Earth,” and “The Knot.” The first decan of Aquarius is associated with exclusion and intentional exile. Coppock connects it to the eccentric, exile, pioneer, and rebel.1  The second decan builds bridges between the exile and the institutions and systems it leaves. It is about connecting places and about the space between them.2  The third decan is about forsaking the known world completely.3 “One aspect of the tension found here is a slowly growing disgust and  frustration with the state of things.”4 The decans have these qualities.

There are other sources that discuss the decans. The Picatrix delineates the qualities of the decans. According to the Arabic Picatrix, the first decan is the phase of hard and tiring work, poverty, need, few means of subsistence or lack of it. The second decan portrays beauty, nobility, goodness, complete form, complete religion, and manhood. The third decan signifies ugliness, bad reputation, and a scandal. These are some of the attributes of the decans, according to the Arabic Picatrix.

As for interpreting Saturn’s journey through the Egyptian bounds, the same rules apply to Saturn that apply to other planets. Namely, the benefic planets are more favorable while the malefic planets are more unfavorable. For Saturn in its own bounds, there is both a chance of greater Saturnian difficulties and a level of ease and mastery because Saturn is in its own bounds. In Charles Obert’s Using Dignity in Astrology, he explains how the bounds of Jupiter and Venus change delineations and make them more positive, while the bounds of Saturn and Mars make delineations more negative.

There is some basic info regarding the Egyptian bounds. The planets Jupiter and Venus are benefics, Saturn and Mars are malefics, and Mercury is neutral. The condition of the planet that Saturn is in the bounds of at the time of the transit can also be relevant. That is an additional way to look at the bounds. In fact, there are other ways to use the bounds but we won’t look at them here. Now, I will tell the planets and degrees of the Egyptian bounds. For the sign Aquarius, the planets are Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn. Mercury is the first 6 degrees, from 0 to 7 degrees. Venus starts at 7 degrees and ends at 12 degrees, for a total of 6 degrees. Jupiter starts at 13 degrees and ends at 19 degrees. Mars follows at 20 degrees and ends at 24 degrees. Saturn starts at 25 degrees and ends at 30 degrees. This is some info relevant to the bounds.

Saturn’s journey through the bounds of Aquarius has been easier than the terrain ahead. Saturn was in the  bounds of Mercury from March 23, 2020 to July 2, 2020 and later on from December 18, 2020 to February 16, 2021.  It later went back to the bounds of Mercury on September 30, 2021 to October 24, 2021.  Next, Saturn was in the bounds of Venus from February 16, 2021 to April 29, 2021 and later on June 19, 2021 to September 30, 2021.  It has been in the bounds of Jupiter April 29, 2021 to June 19, 2021. Then it went in them a second time January 11, 2021 to March 12, 2022.  It will be in the Jupiter bounds again from September 11, 2022 to December 4, 2022. Then, Saturn entered the bounds of Mars on March 12, 2022 and will stay there until May 19, 2022. Next time around, it will be in the Mars bounds from June 23, 2022 to September 11, 2022. Its final run in the bounds of Mars will be from December 4, 2022 to January 25, 2023. Finally, it will enter the bounds of Saturn on May 19, 2022 to June 23, 2022.  Then it returns to the Saturn bounds from January 25, 2023 to March 8, 2023 before leaving Aquarius.

If the views of the decans from Coppock and the Arabic Picatrix are connected to the bounds, a picture emerges. Portions of 2021 were experienced with Saturn in the second decan and in the  bounds of Venus and Jupiter. The second decan is about connecting the core and the periphery, beauty and nobility, and it is the bounds of the benefic planets. Therefore, the second decan has been an easier area to traverse, a small respite and cooling off from the intensity and hardship associated with the more difficult first decan of Aquarius.  The first decan was somewhat difficult, as it corresponded to the beginnings of the Coronavirus pandemic in the United States and the heating up of the culture wars. The second time it traversed the first decan there were difficult transits in early 2021 and the presence of Jupiter to enlarge and amplify the difficult Saturnian lessons. Also, the first decan is considered a place of poverty and hard work in the Arabic Picatrix, and the first decan is a transitional place that takes some getting used to compared to the previous decan in Capricorn. However, the bounds of Mercury and Venus aren’t particularly difficult. Coppock associates it with exclusion and intentional exile. So the first decan is a mix of difficulties and more benign aspects. Currently, Saturn is in the third decan of Aquarius and most of the journey of Saturn that is left will be covering new territory in the third decan. The third decan should be more akin to the first decan. It has the bounds of Mars and Saturn, is associated with ugliness, bad reputation and scandal in the Arabic Picatrix, and Coppock associates it with frustration and inevitably liberation from the bonds of what oppresses. Therefore, besides the times that Saturn is retrograde in the second and first decans, there should be difficult times that push some to their limits. Even after experiencing Saturn in Aquarius for parts of 2020, all of 2021, and the first half of 2022, the experience of the degrees of the third decan of Aquarius are likely to be fraught with difficulty, hardship, and pain.

Lessons Taught by Saturn in Aquarius in 2021

Saturn in Aquarius brought challenges to many people in 2021, seemingly effecting not only the powerless but also causing headaches for the powerful. The masculine, disdainful, and rebellious nature of the Water Bearer were clear in the political atmosphere, the public square, and around the main contemporary issues covered by both the mainstream and alternative media at the time. Stalemate was a big theme. Many people had some form of stalemate as it related to vaccines, political tribalism, travel restrictions, entertainment boycotts, and collapsing faith in institutions. Saturn in Aquarius speaks to oppression and tyranny, and the individual and collective response to it. 2021 had many ugly moments, and many of them were related to the culture wars and political division. Not long after Saturn entered Aquarius, the January 6th events occurred. In the weeks that followed, the American left and mainstream media worried about a coup. The American right, on the other hand, feared a new War on Terror that targeted domestic opponents for their beliefs in the constitution, human rights, freedom of speech, and conservative values. As a result of the fracturing, many conservative-aligned Americans chose to leave or abandon institutions that were controlled by their political opponents. They chose to avoid media and entertainment that pushed politics that were counter to their own. After years of seeing the people on the left side of the political spectrum boycott their political opponents and those that disagreed with them, the tables were turned and large portions of the right side of the political spectrum resorted to similar tactics for the first time. Conservative views on the FBI, the US military, the mainstream media, and the NFL are some examples of this peak in anti-establishment attitudes and the rejection of institutions that hate them.5

There are solutions to the prevailing moods that come with Saturn in Aquarius. A period with Saturn in its domicile can be difficult. However, one theme of this time is that it will allow all of us to build upon our inner strength and rely less on forms and institutions that are corruptible. It allows us to find agency and power in the most basic ways, and to use our choices as leverage against forces that try to impose their will on us. No matter how bad ones circumstances are, most people can find can find a balance of the physical and mental to be one of the most important and only genuine things people can rely upon.
There are three things I suggest as defenses that can be used in almost any circumstance. These three strategies can be thought of as final defenses, and they can help with most situations. Many people have to deal with issues of power and control in their daily lives as Saturn’s transit finishes up it’s final run through the degrees in Aquarius. The three strategies are doing meditation, engaging in physical exercise and fasting, and doing breathing exercises. Mental wishes have to be backed by discipline and willpower and doing these three things will aid greatly in being able to tolerate whatever situation is thrown at a person, be it loss of a loved one, loss of a job, hostile interactions, fear, issues of control, someone trying to make a person do something, or anything else revolving around power and structures. The one positive of 2022 is that many of the inner planets and outer planets are transiting signs likes Pisces, Aries, and Taurus for a good portion of the year and it will give many people a break from the heavy Saturn energy they have been experiencing since the beginning of 2020.

 

This article was first written in December of 2021 but it went unpublished. It was then modified and published on April 30, 2022.

 

 

Notes

  1. Austin Coppock, 36 Faces: The History, Astrology, and Magic of the Decans, (Three Hands Press, United States, June 2014), 226.
  2. Coppock, 36 Faces: The History, Astrology, and Magic of the Decans, 232.
  3. Coppock, 36 Faces: The History, Astrology, and Magic of the Decans, 238.
  4. Coppock, 36 Faces: The History, Astrology, and Magic of the Decans, 239.
  5. Ronald R. Krebs and Robert Ralston, “Why Conservatives Turned on the US Military: Right-wing Attacks are Eroding Trust in the Armed Forces,” (Foreign Affairs September 28, 2021); Amy Meek,”Republicans are Abandoning National Mainstream Media in Droves” (Forbes, September 6, 2021); Lisa Hagen, “Poll: A Third of Americans Question Legitimacy of Biden Victory Nearly a Year since Jan. 6 2021” (US News and World Report, Dec 28, 2021); David Lauter, “Many Republicans think the NFL does too much for Black players and are losing interest in the league, poll shows,” (LA Times, Feb 9, 2022); Frank Newport, “Update: American Public Opinion and Vaccination Requirements” (Gallup, Sept 3 2021);

 

Bibliography

  1. Coppock, Austin. 36 Faces: The History, Astrology, and Magic of the Decans. Three Hands Press. United States. June 2014.
  2.  Krebs, Ronald R. and Ralston, Robert, “Why Conservatives Turned on the US Military: Right-wing Attacks are Eroding Trust in the Armed Forces,” Foreign Affairs, September 28, 2021. <https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2021-09-28/why-conservatives-turned-us-military>
  3. Meek, Amy,”Republicans are Abandoning National Mainstream Media in Droves” Forbes, September 6, 2021. <https://www.forbes.com/sites/andymeek/2021/09/06/republicans-are-abandoning-the-national-mainstream-media-in-droves-because-they-dont-trust-it/?sh=354e23ab5889>
  4. Hagen, Lisa, “Poll: A Third of Americans Question Legitimacy of Biden Victory Nearly a Year since Jan. 6 2021,” US News and World Report, Dec 28, 2021. <https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2021-12-28/poll-a-third-of-americans-question-legitimacy-of-biden-victory-nearly-a-year-since-jan-6>
  5. Lauter, David, “Many Republicans think the NFL does too much for Black players and are losing interest in the league, poll shows,” LA Times, Feb 9, 2022. <https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2022-02-09/culture-wars-take-toll-on-the-nfl-as-republicans-sour-on-league-new-poll-finds>
  6. Newport, Frank, “Update: American Public Opinion and Vaccination Requirements,” Gallup, Sept 3 2021. <https://news.gallup.com/poll/354506/update-american-public-opinion-vaccination-requirements.aspx>

 

Photo Credits

  1. Covid protestors in Berlin, Germany, April 10, 2021. Photo by Leonhard Lenz.
  2. A mounted police officer patrols outside the Capitol building, January 2021. The photo was taken during the presidential inauguration. Photo by Victoria Stauffenberg.
  3. President Joe Biden meets with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on February 4, 2021. Photo by United States Department of State. Public domain. 

 

 

 

 

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