Is Saturn holding you back from achieving your dreams? Do you feel that luck has deserted you? Let’s better understand the hidden and positive side of Saturn. Saturn has such a bad rap astrologically. If Saturn were a dude at your local night club, you’d avoid him. You would, however, be in great company with buzzing Mercury, sunny Sun, seductive Venus and Playboy Mars. But there, in the corner, lurking in the shadows, would be lonely, depressed and banished Saturn. 

No one has a good word to say about this planet. It seems that all the woes of mankind are being imposed upon unlucky Saturn. Talk about bad karma, and this planet is the ruler of karma! Just like a real person in the corner, ignored, even exiled from the social circle, Saturn has attained this not-altogether-flattering reputation over the centuries.

Negative public perception is indeed a hard thing to overcome. If reputation is everything, it seems as if Saturn has none. However, you never quite know who the person in the corner is. If only you’d take the time to find out more, who knows, it could be someone with immense wealth or power. They might make things happen for you. That’s the drawback of looking down at people. You never know who you are dealing with. Similarly, let’s not look down on Saturn. Its primary function is to obstruct and, at times, to slow things to a snail’s pace. You feel restricted. That’s the nature of Saturn. But there is a deeper level to understanding how Saturn bestows great gifts and success on those “in tune” with this resonant with his vibration.

In 1999, when I was travelling through the South of India, I met a wise old astrologer named Agni Sharma. I was all fired up in my search for astrological knowledge. This was one of the genuine astrologers who had developed great intuition and superb technical knowledge. He spoke to me about Saturn in a way I’d never heard before. He explained that Saturn was easily befriended by control and focus. Self-containment, he said, aligns you with the resonant energies of Saturn. Once you are in tune with Saturn, the resistance and “bad luck” stops.

Your alignment with Saturn’s vibrations eliminates stress, resistance, and other anxieties arising from tension or a preoccupation with time. 

The word tension specifically alludes to this fact: TENSE-I-ON. When your mind is worried about time, deadlines, ageing, lost youth, etc, you are living in a state of resistance to what is. This state of resistance is the opposite of acceptance. Saturn won’t have a bar of your dwelling on time, of regretting or fretting and worrying about the future. This is the most important insight you can gain into Saturn and how it affects your life practically.

Almost everyone knows Astro speak in social circles, like retrograde Mercury and Saturn return, but the fear people experience over these so-called negative astrological states is unfounded. By working with Saturn, resonating on the same wavelength and not resisting what’s coming your way, an amazing esoteric secret is revealed in most down-to-earth experiences. It is also a practical pathway to success.

You must understand that as Saturn is now transiting close to transformative Pluto, you’ll experience the resistance more intensely. Your fear and apprehension about your circumstances may be almost unbearable. You will have feelings of cut-and-run. You’ll want to escape the so-called prison-like experience of your life. But understand that the combined influence of Saturn and Pluto relates to circumstances, energies and events designed to strengthen you and teach you the lesson you are here to learn. Often, the events that occur will be particularly difficult to fathom. You will ask yourself, “Why me?” Why not? How else are you going to learn the lessons of your life?

Survival is one of the primary domains of Saturn. As it relates to time, there is an underlying insight into its connection with death. Everything born in time must die. For this reason, the evolutionary hardwiring of survival of the fittest is also at the heart of your motivation. You do things to survive, and not only to survive but to thrive. In this way, the lowest chakra in the yoga school of thought is connected in some way to Saturn.

As it is known, the base chakra deals with the acquisition of food, sustenance of life, survival and other basic instincts. When survival is threatened, the fight or flight switch is flicked. This is when your hormones and life-preservation skills come to the fore. Unfortunately, day-to-day stresses at work aren’t exactly a life-threatening event. Saturn will trick you into believing that your situation is a life-or-death scenario. Relax. For the most part, it’s not likely. However, your hardwiring genetically causes you to believe that even these relatively small events in life need to be magnified as part of your survival instinct.

Focusing on what you’re doing and breaking the worrying habit is not easy. Your mind is constantly pulling you this way and that. It’s in a constant state of flux. It is so concerned with everything else other than what you are doing. The simple act of focusing on this moment is a great psychological and spiritual discipline. It draws your way from unnecessary mental involvement with things you cannot change. And that’s mostly everything. Deal with the things you can change. Plan. Discipline yourself to fulfil your plan. Once tasks have been set, bring your full attention to the present moment.

Do what needs to be done and do your best to perfect your work. Most of all, perform your work with love (even if you don’t particularly like the job you are doing right now).

A state of acceptance requires eliminating concepts that form the basis of your resistance. This part of your mind is underpinned by fear and all those things that go with feelings of insecurity, especially when related to material acquisition. The need to let go and flow with the stream of time is your immediate need.

Some ancient astrological remedial measures supposedly work to help Saturn release its grip and give you a sense of peace. The day of Saturn is Saturday. If only perform a little less on this day, spend some time alone and align your energies to this moment. Try not to worry too much or think about the future. This weekly practice will give you a taste of what it’s like not to experience resistance or anxiety and to accept what is happening. If you can fast till sunset with some light fruit juices or soup, you’ll notice a restructuring of your energies over a few months.

The transit of Saturn and Pluto through Capricorn created an upheaval financially. Many Western countries are broke. It was struggling with the gap between rich and poor getting wider. There is a lot of resentment amongst the masses that this unequal distribution of wealth is immoral. And yes it is, but as indicated above, the exercise is to deal with only those things that you can control.

In a nutshell, the final lesson that the wise old astrologer gave me was: Don’t allow your mind to erode its power by focusing on negative things that you resist or do not want in your life. The law of karma is such that what you concentrate on is increased. If you focus on positive things, only those things will increase in your life. This is the way to bring back luck into your life. You’ll definitely start to see an improvement in your life affairs and your inner state of being.