Saturn (Shani)

The chief characteristics of Saturn: logic, philosophy, renunciation, destructive forces, greed, secretiveness, impotence; a cold and barren planet.

Karakatvas: the length of life, old age, death, sufferings, illnesses, calamities, destitution, want, hunger, debts, delays, obstacles, laziness, fears, sins, dishonour, secrets, conflicts with the authorities, thefts, imprisonment, a fall from a height, residence abroad, pilgrimages, science, law, agriculture, hard labour, workers, low-skilled labourers, servants, slavery, sacrifice, sorrow, service, renunciation, patience, diligence, timber, oil, iron, minerals, earth, ash, wool, black grains, poisons, the sense of touch, the legs, the arms, defects, lameness, the caste of untouchables, yama [restraint  and self-control on the physical or spiritual level — translator’s note]

Significations: delays, obstacles, misfortunes, sorrows, the masses of the people, Moksha.

Tamas-guna, the element of air, an outcast

Friends: Mercury, Venus

Enemies: the Sun, the Moon, Mars

Neutral planets: Jupiter

Signs ruled: Capricorn, Aquarius

Mulatrikona: 1—20° of Aquarius

Point of exaltation: 20° of Libra

Point of debilitation: 20° of Aries

Gender: eunuch (female)

Direction: west

Stones: blue sapphire, amethyst (a stone weighing 5—7 carats in a setting of iron or of an alloy of five metals, to be worn on the middle finger)

Colours: grey, dark blue, black

Lucky numbers: 8, 17 and 26

Deity: Brahma, Shiva

Bija mantra: Om pram prim prom se shanaye namah (23000 times)

Objects of donation: iron, nails, mash dal, black cloth and flowers, musk, a black cow or horse. (To be donated on Saturday at noon.)

Outward signs: tall and thin, lazy, an unhealthy air, deep-set eyes with a yellowish tinge, large teeth, coarse tangled hair, long rough nails.

Parts of the body: the bile, the head, the neck, the bones, the teeth. Vata dosha.

Illnesses: diseases caused by environmental pollution; mental deviations, hysteria, stomach disorders, gases, raised acidity, cuts, bruises, amputations, paralysis, rheumatism, pain in the body, bad teeth, tumours, cancer, deafness, endocrine diseases, chronic illnesses.

Kinds of activity and professions: service staff, hard labour, work involving great responsibility, state service, physical and unskilled work, servants, the steel industry, brick works, factories producing glass and tiles, the footwear industry, work with stone or timber, carpentry, stonemasons, oil extraction, agriculture, construction, contractors, miners, inspection, deep meditations, ascetics, the thorough study and investigation of something, drivers, porters, the penal system, executioners, swindlers, beggars, brothels, gambling dens, black magic.

The ruler of the nakshatra in which Saturn is placed, and the corresponding medical problems:

The Sun — diseases of the eyes and spleen, tuberculosis, fractures, infectious fevers;

The Moon — disorders of the menstrual cycle, melancholy, workaholism, fear of the future;

Mars — tick fever, boils, growths, colic, diseases of the blood;

Mercury — despondency, lack of self-confidence, a poor memory, nervousness, rheumatism;

Jupiter — sluggishness, sleep disorders, high blood pressure, diseases of the liver and of the endocrine system, overeating;

Venus — carbuncles, diseases of the genitourinary system and of the eyes;

Saturn — excellent health;

Rahu — impotence, morbid pessimism; illnesses that are hard to diagnose;

Ketu — dehydration, appendicitis, diseases of the intestines, dysfunction of the pituitary gland.

Saturn and the state of health

• If Mercury is afflicted by Saturn, phobias, diseases of the ears and asthma arise.
• Jupiter under the influence of Saturn causes nephritis, sciatica and sexual dysfunction.
• A hostile aspect between Saturn and the Sun leads to venereal diseases, problems with the skin and a general weakness of the organism due to a careless attitude towards health.
• Saturn is responsible for chronic illnesses and for the «blockages» in the body that hinder the free movement of vital energy.

Saturn in the houses of the horoscope

Saturn in the 1st house: an ordinary appearance, anxieties, an absence of faith in God, ailments, physical defects, chronic illnesses, obstacles. Works to a schedule, accumulates savings slowly. If Saturn is placed in Libra, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius or Pisces, it gives education, an attractive appearance, thinness, reserve, an obsession with one’s own achievements, and longevity.

Saturn in the 2nd house: prosperity comes slowly but steadily, and stays for a long time. Worries about finances. An afflicted Saturn draws one into debts, distorts the beauty, deprives one of peace at home and of family harmony, and slows the thinking, but on the other hand rewards one with popularity and fame.

Saturn in the 3rd house: material well-being, victory over enemies, renown, a happy family life, magnanimity. Troubles during journeys and transport incidents and accidents are possible. A coarse voice.

Saturn in the 4th house: works to a schedule, gloomy. Such a placement tells badly on education and professional prospects and hinders advancement up the career ladder. The loss of hereditary property, poor health of the mother.

Saturn in the 5th house: a late marriage, abortions, sickly children. A wanderer through life. Saturn in its own sign or in exaltation promises a good profit from exchange speculation and real estate.

Saturn in the 6th house: wealth, power, popularity. Reasons soberly and sensibly. Gains victory over enemies, although some losses in the process are likely. Trouble from subordinates.

Saturn in the 7th house: (it receives directional strength): weak potency, immoral acts, financial troubles, an absence of peace at home; an often ailing, unattractive but faithful wife. Such a position promises success in politics and diplomacy, renown and popularity, but brings discord into family life.

Saturn in the 8th house: cruel, has no friends; lives long but in poverty, suffers from a chronic illness; diseases of the stomach and of the reproductive organs are possible. Often changes his kind of activity, endures many trials in life. In a woman’s chart such a position indicates an absence of romance and colour in married life.

Saturn in the 9th house: the person’s father is a very ordinary personality, and the period of Saturn presents a danger for the father. Takes an interest in science, ascetic habits, unhappy in family life, scandals, troubles during long journeys, poor eyesight.

Saturn in the 10th house: a slender build, good earnings, fame, popularity. An unstable career. This position raises a person to the summit of fame, but then thrusts him sharply downward. The person usually cannot recover after such a fall and rise again.

Saturn in the 11th house: high income, renown, popularity, authority. Disappointments in love relationships, insincere friends and acquaintances. If an aspect from the Moon is present, the person may become a doctor. An aspect from the Sun foretells success in politics.

Saturn in the 12th house: unscrupulousness, many enemies, financial losses,   sudden   accidental   expenses,   falling   for the bait of swindlers. Separation from those close to him, an unhappy personal life, childlessness, sexual dysfunction; problems in old age, diseases of the eyes and feet.

Saturn gives favourable results when it occupies the Upachaya houses, that is, the 3rd, 6th, 10th or 11th.

Saturn in the signs of the Zodiac

Saturn in Aries: skin of a reddish tint, little facial hair, a hot temper, boastful and coarse speech, an absence of friends.

Saturn in Taurus: slow-moving and ponderous, down-to-earth interests, practical, capable, inclined to excessive obligingness, unable to argue his position clearly.

Saturn in Gemini: tall, with interesting but rough speech; very active, does not follow generally accepted standards, bears grudges, inclined to deceit and hypocrisy, devoid of any sense of shame.

Saturn in Cancer: frail and sickly, suspicious, jealous; calculating, with a restless mind. Enjoys a luxurious life at others’ expense.

Saturn in Leo: broad-shouldered, magnanimous, ardent, easily flies into a rage, deprived of marital happiness. When he meets strong opposition, he begins to hesitate and waver.

Saturn in Virgo: tall, with dark thick hair, restrained, far-sighted, conservative, with obsequious manners, prone to melancholy. Ignorant and unprincipled.

Saturn in Libra: self-assured, extravagant, inclined to fall into contradictory situations, tactful, full of ambition. Loves to travel, holds a prominent position in society, enjoys authority and respect, and gradually rises up the social ladder.

Saturn in Scorpio: courageous, cantankerous, constantly contradicting others, seeking adventure, inclined to violent and dangerous actions. Chronic illnesses.

Saturn in Sagittarius: devoted to friends, merciful to enemies, sparing of words, unselfish, devout, just. Tries to do good.

Saturn in Capricorn: capricious, with a constant feeling of dissatisfaction, greedy, slow to let go of anger. Capable, stands out among his relatives, is famous and respected in his own circle.

Saturn in Aquarius: a tendency to stoutness, courteous manners, friendliness, abrupt speech, self-satisfaction, a weakness for women and alcohol, a happy life. Holds forth a great deal about religion and philosophy.

Saturn in Pisces: taciturn, a good adviser and diplomat, takes an active part in other people’s affairs and does them favours, enjoys respect. A changeable mind.

Observations regarding Saturn

1. The placement of Saturn in Sagittarius is known by the name of Kodanda-Shani, and in an angular house (usually the 4th house is meant) — Kantaka-Shani. In these cases Saturn becomes considerably more merciful. It endows a person with cultured manners, balance and honest and noble conduct, grants honour and protects from dangers.
2. A saturnian person cannot fully bend and straighten his limbs.
3. Saturn stands out among the planets for its extraordinary stability. It makes a person hard-working, diligent and unyielding.
4. The aspects of Saturn have a more powerful and negative effect than its placement in a house.
5. Being in its own sign or in the company of its dispositor softens Saturn’s severe nature.
6. A person with a combust Saturn in his chart leads an unremarkable and pitiful life.
7. If Rahu is in the 7th house, Saturn in the 8th and Mars in the 6th, then the person will lose his spouse.
8. When Saturn and Mars are both in retrograde motion, the damage from their mutual aspect is doubled. A strong ruler of the Lagna can moderate their destructive ardour.
9. The placement of Saturn in the 3rd sign from Mars does not favour good relations with brothers.
10. Saturn in the 12th house from the Sun makes the father’s prosperity unstable.
11. A person with Saturn in a dusthana will experience disappointments and anxieties concerning work and money.
12. Saturn in the 12th house in its sign of debilitation provokes tension in the family and unnecessary expenses.
13. With Saturn in the 8th or 12th house, there are wasted expenses, conflicts with relatives and discord in the family.
14. If there is a connection of Saturn with the 10th house, the person works hard, but his salary does not correspond to the efforts he makes.
15. An aspect of Saturn to the Lagna makes a person repellently unattractive and sluggish.
16. When Saturn and Mars together aspect the Ascendant, the person will be hot-tempered.
17. A conjunction of Saturn with a debilitated Lagnesha gives an inferiority complex.
18. A person with Saturn placed in the 3rd, 6th or 10th house of the chart is attached to his mother.
19. A connection between Saturn, Rahu and Mars in the 2nd or 7th houses creates obstacles at the start of one’s path in life, compels one to work hard, deprives one of pleasure in work and causes irritability.
20. Saturn in the 12th house and the Sun in the 6th foretell frequent illnesses.
21. A combination of Saturn with the Moon in the 7th house indicates that the person has inflated ambitions.
22. If Saturn afflicts the Moon and the sign of Cancer, the person develops an inferiority complex.
23. If Mercury and the signs it rules come under a blow from Saturn, the person suffers from heightened nervous excitability.
24. The influence of Saturn on Venus and on the sign of Taurus or Libra denotes a love of luxury and of bodily pleasures.
25. When Jupiter and Saturn in a horoscope possess sufficient strength, its owner is distinguished by restraint and thoughtfulness; he is balanced and takes decisions quickly.
26. Saturn in the Lagna and an unfavourable planet in the 7th house are indications of impotence and of a joyless personal life.
27. The placement of Saturn in a kendra from the Moon brings in its train delays and hindrances on one’s path in life, depressive states and a lack of interest in life.
28. If the Atmakaraka Saturn falls in the navamsha of Pisces, the person sooner or later renounces worldly cares.
29. When Saturn is in the Lagna in the signs of Libra, Sagittarius or Pisces, it grants wealth and prosperity.
30. Saturn in Aquarius tells negatively on the lives of the relatives represented by the house in which that sign falls: for example, Saturn in Aquarius in the 5th house has a bad effect on the children, and in the 7th — on the partner.
31. The placement of Saturn in the Lagna in the signs of Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo or Scorpio is unfavourable.
32. Saturn in the 2nd house from the Moon makes a person energetic and resolute.
33. With a Vargottama placement of Saturn in Leo, money flows to the person in a river.
34. When a retrograde Saturn passes by transit over a planet in the 6th house, there is a risk of a deterioration in health.
35. Saturn or Rahu, being behind the Moon in the Rashi or Navamsha charts, form a Maha-shakti yoga. A person with such a yoga in his horoscope will be accompanied by success in all his undertakings. He possesses an enviable courage and patience and reaches heights in his field of activity and in life as a whole. If in the same chart the Sun occupies the 5th sign from the Moon, the prospects become brighter still.
36. With a natal Saturn in the nakshatras Swati, Purva Bhadrapada or Ashwini, there is a probability of residence abroad.
37. A person with Saturn in the nakshatras Magha or Purva Phalguni lives far from his native home.
38. If a person’s Moon is placed in one  of the solar nakshatras, then the summit of his success will fall in the dasha of Saturn.
39. When the period of Saturn is running and Saturn itself is moving by transit through Capricorn, the person frees himself from the past and is reborn into a new life.
40. During the transit of Saturn through the kendras from its natal position, important events of life take place.
41. Aspects of Saturn and Rahu to a weak lord of the Lagna cause diabetes.
42. A weak and afflicted Saturn in the Lagna under an aspect from an unfavourable planet in the 7th house may deprive a person of sexual potency.
43. The placement of Saturn in the 8th house in a woman’s horoscope indicates a dull marriage devoid of romance.
44. The placement of Saturn in Capricorn promises success in business, and in Aquarius — standing and power.
45. Saturn in a kendra from the Moon makes a person gloomy and unable to take pleasure in life,  and hinders development.
46. Saturn in a kendra is met with in the charts of people who perform selfless and self-sacrificing actions.
47. Saturn, Mars, Rahu or Ketu in the 6th, 8th or 12th house in a watery sign may lead to illness with diabetes.
48. If Saturn occupies the 12th house, the person may expect success far from his native places.
49. Saturn is the most important planet for leadership qualities and career growth. It is responsible for the discipline necessary for success and for the work of a leader.
50. When Saturn is close in degrees to the Lagna, calamities and sorrows do not pass by a single sphere of the person’s life, not even marriage.
51. A person with the Ascendant in the signs of Taurus or Libra and Saturn in the 10th house may rise in his career to a dizzying height, from which the merciless Saturn can easily cast him down.
52. A person with Saturn in the 3rd house stands out to advantage among his relatives and serves them as an example.
53. With the Lagna in Libra, an exchange of signs between Saturn and the Moon promises high standing.
54. A strong Saturn removes illnesses, debts and enemies.
55. Jupiter inclines a person to religiousness, while Saturn gives rather a philosophical cast of mind.
56. A person with Saturn placed in the 1st, 2nd, 10th or 11th house of the horoscope has an aptitude for running a business providing services of various kinds: private security, recruitment, personnel management, contracting firms and so on.

Saturn and the other planets

If the Sun is joined with Saturn  [in one house of the horoscope], the person will be skilled in work with ore or clay; the Moon with Saturn makes a person a son of a second marriage; Mars with Saturn makes a person sorrowful, untruthful, dishonourable or condemned; Mercury with Saturn makes a person a rogue inclined to disobedience; Jupiter with Saturn produces a barber, a potter or a cook; Venus with Saturn gives a person small eyes, wealth connected with dependence on women, and artistic abilities, usually in literature and painting… In the same way one should obtain the results of a combination of more than two planets. (Varahamihira — «Brihat Jataka», 14.1-5)

Commentary: The last sentence implies that accumulations of planets should be interpreted by combining the interpretations of the pairs of planets. For example, in interpreting a conjunction of the Sun, Venus and Saturn one should use the interpretations of the Sun and Venus, of the Sun and Saturn, and of Venus and Saturn. Attention should also be paid to the relative strength of each particular planet

Saturn and the Sun

• A person with this combination receives an inheritance but squanders it recklessly, disgraces the family, is unhappy in family life, and suffers from inner torments and from ailments that require certain foods to be excluded from the diet.
• A conjunction or opposition tells badly on relations with the father, causes disagreements with leaders and elders and conflicts with subordinates; an unfavourable combination for state service.
• A mutual aspect of an exalted Sun and Saturn has not a positive but rather a destructive effect.
• A person with such a combination in the 9th house causes his father suffering.
• The Sun and Saturn in debilitation and in mutual aspect may make a person a beggar if there is no Nicha-bhanga, or a king if a Nicha-bhanga-raja yoga is present.
• On the 4/10 axis of houses it leads to conflicts with the authorities.
• An opposition of Sun and Saturn gives bad results: both planets come under a blow, and because of this the significations of the houses they rule are destroyed.
• The Sun and Saturn in the 10th house under the influence of unfavourable planets are an indication of ill fame. Such a person may be a valuable worker, but be marked by a quarrelsome and irritable character. Good organisational abilities. Delays, obstacles and disappointments in acquiring material prosperity.
• A Parivarthana (exchange of houses) of the Sun and Saturn often produces a negative effect if it is not compensated by good yogas.
• Many difficulties, a bad combination for business.
• A danger to health; bronchitis and coughs are a torment.
• The Sun and Saturn in conjunction, in opposition or in mutual square foretell far from the happiest relations with the father.
• An opposition of the Sun and Saturn may lead to a sudden loss of power.
• The Sun and Saturn in Leo indicate that the person’s father works in state service, but in an insignificant post.

Saturn and the Moon

A bad character, anxiety; cautious, morose, conscientious, disciplined, hard-working, a perfectionist, a pessimist, closed, low self-esteem, a fear of making a mistake.

Saturn and Mars

• A conjunction or  aspect makes a person serious, steadfast, mentally balanced, mature beyond his years and temperamental.
• A conjunction in the Lagna provokes problems with the skin, falls, bruises and so on.
• A person with such a conjunction favourably placed in the 2nd or 10th house is reputed to be an outstanding personality and enjoys respect in society.
• In the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 9th or 10th house it gives quite good results. Under an aspect from Jupiter, this combination is able to raise a person to a dizzying height.
• A conjunction in the 7th house in the sign of Cancer indicates a righteous and beautiful spouse.
• In the 5th house in Cancer it gives many daughters.
• A mutual aspect of Mars and Saturn brings discord, obstacles in the career, bodily injuries, reckless acts, an explosive character and egoism in its train. A good placement of one of these two planets in the horoscope softens the negative effects.

Saturn and Mercury

A depressed mood, a poor memory, lack of self-confidence, nervousness, unremarkable mental abilities, rheumatism.

 

Saturn and Jupiter

Sluggishness, sleep disorders, high blood pressure, diseases of the liver, jaundice, endocrine diseases, overeating.

Saturn and Venus

Diseases of the eyes and of the genitourinary system. A conjunction in the 7th house makes a person sexual.

Saturn and Rahu

Phobias, hysteria, social isolation, chronic illnesses. Perversions, frigidity, an unhealthy craving for rivalry and tantric practices are also possible. This is the worst and most ruinous combination, which is, however, somewhat smoothed over when they are placed in the 3rd, 6th or 11th houses.

Saturn and Ketu

Dehydration, appendicitis, intestinal disorders, dysfunctions of the pituitary gland. May become a monk or a hermit.

The nature of Saturn for the different Ascendants

Aries	malefic	Leo	malefic	Sagittarius	malefic
Taurus	Yoga-karaka	Virgo	neutral	Capricorn	benefic
Gemini	benefic	Libra	Yoga-karaka	Aquarius	benefic
Cancer	malefic	Scorpio	neutral	Pisces	malefic