The Celestial Queen and a Pieta for Humanity
The Age of Aquarius under a long lost archetype
When we talk about the Age of Aquarius, I'm quick to point out the sign's rulership.
Before the introduction of the modern planets in astrology, Aquarius was ruled by Saturn. As the farthest of the wandering stars it was known to be cold, rigid. In addition to its dominion over agriculture and time it also governed illness and death. Saturn was a harsh master and its transits remain among the most infamous in astrology.
Needless to say few people seem to remember this when discussing the upcoming era. All traditional associations go out the window and the Fifth Dimension immediately strikes up. Infographics spangled with prismatic lens flares hail the harmony and beauty to come while AI filtered TikTokers promise equality and understanding.
It all sounds great, but I never really understood where it comes from.
The traditional texts aren't too jazzed about Aquarius either. Ibn Ezra assigns it rulership over "every lowly and afflicted people," while Picatrix takes it even farther into inflammatory territory with "man and all animals whose appearance and form is ugly like the devil."
Aquarius is for humanity, but not exactly human, a tagline I find none too comforting applied to the upcoming age. But it was this thought which led me back to a very different epithet of Saturn--