Dark Side of Saturn

I'm going to get into the mythology of Saturn, so I have to start of with Cronus. Titan God. If you translate his name into Greek, "Chronos" means time. Chronological=Time. He is often seen as a "Time Keeper" with a sickle (sythe). He can also be depicted as the grim reaper, killing you off when your time is up. Roman mythology, Satrun was a derivative of "ab satu" which means "sowing" He is also a representation of a harvest. You need a sickle/sythe to reap the harvest that you sowed. All of this is a play on words. Now you're probably asking me "Tai why the hell he eating babies" well, for many reasons. Remeber that Greek mythology is metaphorical. Now I'll tell you the backstory first. He was jealous of Uranus, his father. His mother Gaia gave him the sickle to castrate his father bc of Gaias anger of Uranus putting her youngest in the underworld who were "defective" and didn't like. She wanted to reap (kill) his harvest (penis/sperm/fertility). Now her youngest weren't titans. They were Cyclopes and Hecatoncheires, he couldn't stand them. And the underworld he sent them to called Tartarus? Where would that be? Put 2 and 2 together and it's Gaias womb. Where birth (light) and womb (dark) meet. Uranus basically sent them back into her womb, where she couldn't access them bc it was hidden from her (darkness). And when I'm talking about womb it's not just about her vagina, many things in Greek mythology were born just from semen, water, and the blood of Gaia. So Uranus was a lame for the time being, no clout, nothing. He was mad for a minute. So mad he called his own kids "Titenes" which means "straining ones". So he basically called them bitches. The other titans helped with the plan. Rude but I understand. Now after Cronus did this he was supposed to free his siblings that were in Tartarus, he didn't. He married his sister Rhea (you should be used to the incest in mythology by now), took throne, and ruled the Golden age where there was no crime and people died peacefully. Now Cronus and his siblings (including Rhea) were all titans. Rhea and Chronus birthed the 12 Olympians you see everywhere in Greek mythology.

Now, here's where the eating comes in.

Gaia told Cronus that one of his kids will overthrow him just because that's how generational things works. Cronus didn't like this and wanted to keep his power. So he swallowed 5 of his kids. I say 5 because Rhea gave him a stone he swallowed thinking it was Zeus. To sum the rest up. Gaia and Rhea didn't like what he did to their kids so the Olympians beat him and the rest of the titans up and they ultimately lost. Zeus killed Cronus and an end of an era. Zeus freed his grandma Gaias kids from Tartarus. For Cronus he either gave him something to make him puke his siblings or cut his stomach open. Depending on who you ask. Oh and he castrated Cronus, how ironic huh.

Now here's what you get from astrology when you get down to the gritty:

In candle magick using a black candle to represent Saturn can be used for longevity, banishment, death, and protection. Cronus swallowed his kids because he wanted to keep his throne and his "longevity" himself. Also in the Golden age there was no crime and no need for agriculture, things grew in abundance. Nobody aged and people died peacefully. Black is also the revealer of truth and it was just becoming known that when the ignorance was cleared, he was jealous and vengeful.

Now how this ties into astrology is because of how grotesque this painting Goya made around 1819-1823. It was one of his 14 "Black Paintings" found in his home after he died. It is called "Saturn Devouring His Son". Cronus usually swallowed his sons, not downright chew on them.

This was also during the time Goya was getting sick, survived illnesses, and then the war in Spain. It was very hard on him. What makes these even scarier is that these were once jubilant paintings. Later on in life he just painted over them and they became more haunting. Goya was spiraling and his outlook became pessimistic towards the world, mirroring Saturn in the flesh. Which makes this painting interesting too. A dark room, kind of life the womb of a woman, devouring innocence. That's how Saturn is in Astrology, eating the young, stripping the innocence of your character. This is the effect this aspect has on some people's charts. Saturn is the jealous and bitter dad/mom in a sense. Telling you what you "can't" do because he must be over you. Not wanting to see you grow. Thinking censorship (Golden Age) is something you should be thankful for. Not wanting you to reach higher. In the sense of time if you have an afflicted planet, it'll feel like it's "too late" to develop positive aspects, when you absolutely can break that cycle of cynicism and become someone who understands that harvesting talent and who you want to be, takes time and discipline. Saturn has positive aspects on wealth because it is the sign of earth. Which also draws correlation to Pentacles in tarot. So it's a very seasoned planet that always thinks about things in a mature way if channeled properly. This is really why Saturn is so important. Our oldest and the wisest planet. Wisdom is SUPPOSED to come with time/age. If we ignore our darkness, you can become cronos, who is stuck in the same time pattern, ultimately becoming his own downfall. Also that painting Goya did has STRONG metaphors on not just innocence, but the inner child. Think of that child being eaten as your inner child being ripped from you, helpless. Don't become a victim to Saturn's torment, make something useful out of his pessimism. Wise up. Lesson? Time moves, Gaia spins, you can't run away from time. Time will catch up to you. You really do reap what you sow. Don't let Saturn rip your inner child away from you like he did his sons and daughters by eating them. You know better than that, be wise and be better. Oh and to add. That's why you always feel an unspoken tension between Jupiter and Saturn. Because Jupiter represents Zeus and defeated Cronus. So that's why they're so polar when describing them in Astrology. Also look at the painting bruh, he looks scared as fuck. Doing something so bad but also doing it out of fear. Y'all gotta feel that shit if you feel nothing else. And not "feel" as relating to it but how everything just resorted to that. Even to Goya painting that. That shit hurts me. OH I needed to add something else (sorry ekemejen the thread only let me post so much at one time). Saturn also represents "phlegm". Zeus made him "spit up" his siblings. More play on words. Saturn also represents the bones. Look at how Goya positioned Saturn. One of the first things I felt were my shins hurting. Feel how achy and how much strain is put on his bones. Capricorn also rules over the knees. So much tension. It's awkward. His eyes, frozen in fear. Saturn represents the cold. Think deeper.

Goya himself may not have any Capricorn in the chart, but he does have many Saturn aspects that may have contributed to why he made these paintings. He also passed away from a heart attack and with Sun (Heart) making an aspect to Saturn (constrict), it makes some sense. He also made paintings called “Los Caprichos”. This is a style under the art form “Capriccio” or “Caprice” style that means unpredictable movement and behavior of a young goat. The art form unpredictable and be freeflowing. This is why Aquarius also has ties to Capricorn/Saturn energy in traditional astrology. I’ll be covering more of that in a later post about Saturn and many other things. Still working on it, as it is ever expanding right now. Hope you enjoyed!