Saturn and the

Ja ck O u g h to n

Ancients
♄
 Saturn In Prehistory
• Saturn can be seen with the naked
eye and therefore would have been
visible to our prehistoric ancestors
as a slow moving and distant light.
• Since very little remains from
prehistory we don’t know their
relationship with it.
•
 Mesopotamian
• From ancient Mesopotamia comes our 7-day
planetary week and the Planetary Hours.
• The Babylonian name for Saturn was
Sagush and the associated god was
Ninurta. When the Tablets of Fate, which
held the laws of the universe, were stolen
by a dragon, it was Ninutra who rescued
them and was henceforth placed in
charge of fate and law.
• Ninurta often appears holding a bow and
arrow, a sickle sword, or a mace named
Sharur: Sharur is capable of speech in the
Sumerian legend "Deeds and Exploits of
Ninurta" and can take the form of a
winged lion
 Egyptian
• Saturn was associated with
Horus, the ‘bull of the sky.’
• The Egyptians portrayed the
planets as deities sailing across
the heavens in barges, and
they were known as the "stars
that know no rest".
• Horus’s name meant “The far
off”; It is nearly impossible to
distinguish a "true" Horus. In
fact, Horus is mostly a general
term for a great number of
falcon headed gods, some of
which were worshipped all over
Egypt. Yet in all of his forms he
 Hellenic
• Κρόνος (Kronos) was a Titan, and King
of the Gods and the Cosmos.
• The son of Uranus and Gaia and the
youngest of the twelve Titans, he
married his sister Rhea.
• Their offspring were Demeter, Hestia,
Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus.
• Emasculated and usurped his father
with an adamantium scythe at Gaia’s
request (she was fed up of having
children)
• Under his rule was a "Golden Age"; a
time when it was said that people
KRONOS TURNS EVIL
•Swallowed his children as it
was prophesized that one would
overthrow him.
•With Rhea’s help Zeus escaped,
Kronos swallowed a stone
instead.
•Zeus returned, got his dad to
throw up the Gods, and then led
the revolt against him.
•Once again the son usurps the
father.
•Saturn's many moons are named
after figures Greek mythology.
•
•
 Roman
• By Roman times, astrology was a
specialized discipline with a clear cut
methodology, described in books and
practiced by experts.
• Satvrnvs (Saturnus)
• Saturn was ‘adapted’ from Kronos in
Greece.
• One of the elder and principal deities, the
son of Celus and Terra (Heaven and
Earth), the father of Jupiter
• He was the God of time and agriculture,
represented as an old man dressed in a
shroud, wrapped in clanking chains and
carrying a scythe
• This explains the shape of the astrological
symbol.
 Left : Roman Temple to
Saturn.
Right : Traditional
representation of
Saturn in Rome.

http://sights.seindal.dk/sight/156_Templeof_Sa
turn.html

•THE SATURNALIA : was celebrated for seven

days, from December 17 to December 23.
•The opening festivities where marked by a
feast at the temple of Saturn, where the statue
of the God was unchained.
•Normal rules of society where inverted.
Business was suspended, wars couldn’t be started
and criminals couldn’t be convicted.
•
•
• Slaves where served by their
masters, who dressed in the
demeaning pilleus slave hats.
• Gifts where given and the majority of
the time was spent drinking and
gambling
• The practice survived long after the
Christianization of Rome, practices
observed as late as 345AD
• Many aspects of it continue today in
Christmas.
 Vedic India
• The Indian god of time was Kala, and
was also the planet Saturn, and the
Reaper and Bringer of Death
• In astrology Saturn was associated
with Shani.
• Shani comes from the Sanskrit;
Sanischara (slow moving)
• He was associated with much the
same features as the Roman
Saturn.
 Mesoamerica
• Scholars have long marveled at the
precision achieved by the Maya in
measuring the year and the cycles
of the Moon. The purpose of all this
astronomy was, however, to
improve their astrology.
• The Aztecs
• The Mayans
• The Toltecs
 The Far East
• In China, Saturn ( 土星 ) was the Wood Star.
• In Chinese astrology, Saturn is ruled by the
element earth, which is patient, hard-working
and reliable.
• In some other parts of Chinese mythology, the
planet was associated with exorcism.
• In Japan and Vietnam, Saturn was the Earth star
(Japanese: Dosei), and represented the earth
in Heaven.
• As the Earth Star it interacts with Venus (Gold),
Jupiter (Wood), Mercury (Water) and Mars
(Fire) , and is an essential part of the Five
Elements Theory. This is applied in many
ways, including in Traditional Chinese
 Saturn In Later Western
Astrology
• Saturn is associated with time,
challenge, fear, doubt, confusion,
difficulty, seriousness, heaviness, and
hard lessons.
• On the positive structure, significance,
accomplishment, reflection, power,
prestige, maturity, and order.
• Astrologers believe that the thirtieth
birthday is such a major rite of
passage and is considered by many
astrologers to mark the "true
beginning" of adulthood
 How have the ancients
affected us today?
• The planets named after Roman
Gods.
• The ancient study of astrology.
• The end of the Long Count of the
Mayan calendar; a mysterious
‘Cataclysm’ will occur on 21st
December, 2012. Much growing
interest in the subject as the
deadline looms..
•