Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and is the second largest planet, but can hardly be seen with the naked eye. It is mainly known for its rings. Mainly there are 7 rings but astronomers have now discovered more than 100.000 separate rings. These rings do not always follow the natural laws as known to mankind: some are not round and at least two wind around each other. There are also 'spikes' which move in the direction of the rotation.
There are clouds, though not as interesting as those of Jupiter. There are little changing darker and lighter zones. The atmosphere consists of hydrogen and helium and Saturn also gives off heat: three times the amount it receives from the Sun.
Saturn moves slowly around the Sun in 30 years and makes tiny loops.
Saturn lives with death. Consciously or unconsciously. That is the essence. For Saturn this would be all that has to be said because all his qualities arise from this. And Saturn takes everything back to the essence.
Saturn is the portal of death on the way to the cosmos. So death is not the absolute ending point but it is essential for getting rid of useless details and to thus create space. One can picture Mr. Death with the scythe or the Greek god Chronos with the hourglass.
To be able to reach the essence Saturn has to have a good insight into the past, to see the lines. Moon is a portal of origin, the unwritten page with no lines and Saturn is the portal of death with very clear lines.
When one lives with death one's options are limited and conscious. There is so little time so what one does must be wisely chosen. Work and outside interests are chosen with care and Saturn applies himself thoroughly and deeply. He can be a good researcher or he can specialize in some subject. Mercury will want to be able to play all music a little; Saturn will want to play one piece very well.
The choice one has made is essential and this is coupled with an enormous sense of responsibility. For Saturn it is incomprehensible that not everyone sees the essence and has this sense of responsibility.
When a meeting takes place at his work Saturn assumes that the items on the agenda have been assembled with care and that everybody has researched his or her part thoroughly. If they deviate from the subject Saturn will point this out once he perceives that the items they are talking about are not on the agenda. If mentioning this a few times does not help he can suddenly take the floor and run through the whole business from beginning to end, leaving out all the side trips. He then points out the responsibility of each person, tells each of them what they had agreed to do in the beginning and where they went wrong. Because a deal is a deal. One does not just talk. And once one has agreed to do something it becomes that person's responsibility. It's not a game. But it is as heavy as lead.
It does not really need to be said but Saturn is not everybody's friend. He chooses one or two people whom he respects and of whom he thinks that they understand him. They will not upset him with surprises and he is absolutely loyal towards them. Once friendship is given it is almost impossible to break up, but if something does happen then Saturn can not patch up the friendship by himself. He can forgive only with great difficulty and he never forgets. But almost the only thing that can break up a friendship is not fulfilling agreements or promises. When you come right down to it: when you like somebody you respect him and then you take good care that you know what you are doing before promising something. And you also have the right to expect this from others.
Having death constantly in mind there is no room for social small talk. Cocktail parties are abhorrent. Loose remarks unthinkable. The other is important as an entity and everything he does must fit the karmic line. Of course the other may have other interests because many are needed to keep this world functioning, but responsibility and respect must be there. Lasting values.
From what has been said it is obvious that Saturn is not very flexible. To have lead poisoning means that all your functions slow down till death follows.
Saturn is a slow but deep thinker. He will always try to fit the subject he is thinking about to the karmic lines. This takes time. As we have seen the planet Saturn needs almost 30 of our earth years to revolve around the Sun, so your first Saturn birthday takes place when you are 30. And from your third Saturn birthday at 90 the thoughts tend to become more spiritual.
Saturn has very deep feelings but here also it takes time to get at them. This has as a consequence that he does not know what he is feeling until some time after the situation has passed. You could say that Saturn's reality of today starts tomorrow. This inability to reach his feelings directly at the moment itself often makes him seem cold and standoffish to others. But in reality Saturn has the deepest feelings of all the planetary qualities.
Because most other planets often say whatever comes to mind without thinking of the consequences or deeper meanings of their words they will easily hurt Saturn. Amongst themselves other planets can laugh away such a remark, but Saturn cannot do this. He will mull over the remark for days or weeks and when he thinks he has thought out all the things you could possibly have meant by it he finally confronts you with it. Your reaction will be according to your own planetary qualities: Mercury will honestly tell Saturn that he does not remember and make a joke. Venus might try to understand and go through Saturn's agony with him if she is in the mood. Mars will be short and tell Saturn to stop whining and get on with the job. Jupiter will listen if he has time and try to bend Saturn's mind away from the past and into the future. Moon will listen and then recap the story without the emotions so Saturn gets a dry picture of the situation.
Saturn's will power is strong. He knows what he is doing (afterwards) and knows why. He will keep to his line of action long after everybody else has given up. He is kind of proud of this even when he knows that the deed he is doing has become useless in the meantime. After all, that was what had been agreed upon and there has been no new agreement to nullify the old one, so Saturn goes on.
A young person who has mostly Saturn qualities can feel very insecure and bewildered by the world around him. Parents 'promise' to do something and don't, people around him react quickly and without thinking, it seems. This young person has not found his roots yet and his expression of feeling can easily become atrophied. One can picture a pine tree bending, almost breaking in the wind because the roots are not deep, and the leaves have turned into needles high up on the tree.
Saturn's age group is old age. By then people have usually settled down, emotions have been played out, life is slower so there is more time to really delve into subjects. Relationships are stable and predictable. Saturn finally feels himself at ease.
Parts of the body ruled by Saturn: skeleton, spleen and the rear brain. The skeleton gives structure to the body. The spleen produces lymphocytes, which make antibodies, and removes used red blood corpuscles.
Schooling task for Saturn: Saturn should try to lighten up. He must try to lose the rigidity and not carry his sense of responsibility to extreme lengths.
Example: In the example of the dike burst and the flood it is obvious that Saturn won't be there. By the time he realizes what is happening it will be organized and done with. But he will retreat to his room and deep within cry for the victims. And possibly he will think that this non-ability to act at the right moment has gone too far and he will then think up some way to act more directly in future.