Do astrologers feel consternation that "old dour" Saturn has such a raucous festival of joy named after him? Maybe there are secrets about this god of the goat Capricorn (the sign the sun enters during this celebration) that they don't know? For it is he, and not "jovial Jupiter" that rules over the Golden Age of happiness, free of toil, a time of no private property but communal sharing by all. Janus, for whom the month of January is named, instituted the Saturnalia as a yearly tribute to his old friend Saturn.
Saturn's assigned metal in astrology is lead, one of the basest of elements. And yet he rules over the age of gold. What a paradox! Could this indicate that it is actually the current age, with it's uneven distribution of earth's resources, that is topsy turvy and that we need a return to the Golden Age to set things right on again? It is fitting that Ops, from whom comes the word opulent, is the wife of Saturn. Her opulence is reflected in the earth's riches, yes, the bejeweled hills but even more worthy for us humans, her opulent fruit hanging like jewels from the Tree, for, after all, we can't eat gold.
Imagine a "gold rush" not to acquire some gleaming metal, but to perpetuate the golden joys of love and goodwill to all! Imagine living in the Golden Age, so eloquently described by Ovid in his Metamorphoses (Book I:89-112):
This was the Golden Age that, without coercion, without laws, spontaneously nurtured the good and the true. There was no fear or punishment: there were no threatening words to be read, fixed in bronze, no crowd of suppliants fearing the judge’s face: they lived safely without protection. No pine tree felled in the mountains had yet reached the flowing waves to travel to other lands...no steep ditches surrounding towns, no straight war-trumpets...no swords and helmets. Without the use of armies, people passed their lives in gentle peace and security. The earth herself [Ops] also, freely, without the scars of ploughs, untouched by hoes, produced everything from herself. Contented with food that grew without cultivation, they collected mountain strawberries and the fruit of the strawberry tree, wild cherries, blackberries clinging to the tough brambles, and acorns fallen from Jupiter’s spreading oak-tree...Then the untilled earth gave of its produce and, without needing renewal, the fields whitened with heavy ears of corn. Sometimes rivers of milk flowed, sometimes streams of nectar, and golden honey trickled from the green holm oak.
There are some fabulous parties going on this weekend (how fitting - it's the Saturnalia!) and it's hard to decide which to attend. I wish I could be at all three simultaneously... But wherever I go, I will raise a glass of (golden) Strega Liquore, with a toast to all my relations. IO, Saturnalia!
*as symbolized by the Tarot, Tar (Egyptian, "road") and Ro ("royal, king"), and yes, the Kings Road is a Fools Journey.
And that's a good thing.
Tarot cards: 0-Fool, III-Empress, 3 and 9 of Cups, Ace of Pentacles
