If you have access to unobscured night skies and look south west after the sun has set, you will see a brilliant sight: Venus and Saturn conjunct. If you live under city glow, this sight is worth a drive to where you can see the western night sky.
Astronomically, these two planets are in the constellation Aquarius. Saturn is the traditional, thus exoteric, ruler of Aquarius (Uranus is the modern exoteric ruler). From a tropical astrology view on planetary placement, these two planets are reported to be in the sign Pisces.

We will explore both for possible meanings in the portents in the sky. This first article focuses on Saturn and Venus in both Aquarius and in Pisces.
Regardless of the constellation or the astrological sign that any two planets might be conjunct in, the conjunction itself should be interpreted. In this case, we have Saturn conjunct Venus.
– willing to work (S) for what you value (V)
– being limited to and by (S) what one desires, wants, and values (all V) – like an addiction, compulsion, neurosis, fixation, obsession. All of these are self-fulfilling prophecies not limited to the primary person, group, or nation.
– disciplined analysis (S) of desired (V) goals. This produces implementation strategies to accomplish said goals. The key factor is the quality (V) of the desired goal. Is it heinous like genocide of a people, or wanton greed regardless of the costs to planet and all living beings, is it self-aggrandizement? Or is the desired goal pervasively beneficial to all people and beings and the planet?
– On a slightly higher turn of the spiral, Saturn conjunct Venus orients one toward honesty (S) and ethical behavior (S) which stabilizes (S) one in fairness, equality and inclusivity, and fosters an open community. All of that is Saturn leaning into the illumination (V) of interconnectedness (V) of Venus. If these establish, then the resonance of higher Venus which perceives the necessity of unity as the only foundation for ongoing existence can re-sound within hearts, minds, cultures, and humanity as a whole. Wisdom/Venus/Sophia is the mother of the best within us all.
More interpretations could be listed but they would restate and expand upon these themes. Now add that Saturn is the traditional ruler of Aquarius, the constellation in which Saturn is astronomically, and that Venus is exalted in the astrological sign of Pisces. (I know that is mixing two systems, but many who are reading this post follow and use tropical astrology. For example the ephemeris from Astrology Cafe marks that Venus and Saturn are both in Pisces.)

Saturn in and ruling Aquarius (astronomical placement)
The last two signs of the zodiac, Aquarius and Pisces, are in many ways the most veiled.They also are often fickle or contrary in manifestation to the high ideals that these, the two signs that complete the zodiac, hold. Focusing on Aquarius, it is an air sign on the fixed cross, thus fixed air; and that is an oxymoron. Air is not fixed, stable, or grounded at all in the natural world. The element of air is free, has no tether, carries all other elements on its winds and currents, is easily saturated and just as easily releases that which it has carried or been saturated by. In Nature, these latter attributes manifest as precipitation, as seeds and pollen cast to new environments, or as dust, sand, or smog deposited on land, people, or in bodies of water. Aquarius has the same features. Aquarius in a personal chart or in a cycle of influencing humanity will pick up ideas and carry them from group to group, pollinating languages with ideas, inventions and discoveries thus new words release themselves into the human zeitgeist and precipitate possible change. Like rain or snow, this idea-moisture might not bring growth immediately, but with time (Saturn) growth will ensue. As traditional and exoteric ruler of Aquarius, Saturn represents that “good” things take time, that seeds and ideas which promote or foster the well-being of all beings (universality of air) must first be carried in the human emotion-mind (Jupiter esoteric ruler). During that gestational process, like a fetus carried in the womb, the potentially wide serving ideas and ideals take shape and coherence, incrementally expressing through forms, symbols, and actions that can be widely propagated and understood. Saturn is form, formulation, formation, articulation and specificity. Air is idea: the etheric template or buddhic intuitive insight that was before words in the heart-mind of someone who immediately understood the riches carried within the insight and what collective or planetary gifts the application of the idea could provide. An insight always includes awareness of the ground which is the work that it will take to change and refresh minds, and to invite minds to the heart of vision. These words describe Uranus, the modern exoteric ruler of Aquarius.

When Saturn is in Aquarius, astronomically or astrologically, it is empowered because it is dignified or said to be in dignity. With Aquarius, it needs the grounding of Saturn, just as Saturn which tends toward rigidity or totalitarianism needs Aquarius. When air and structure meet, we have a home; we have society, and movements that move humanity forward. The latter are incited as old structures (S) and norms (S) display their crumbling exoskeletons, taped and glued to appear coherently functioning, then hidden behind curtains of rhetoric and bombast. Always keep in mind that Aquarius is an air sign: words, talk, more words, more talk. Yet this is how movements, revolutions, renovations and new systems come into being.

Saturn in Aquarius astronomically is significant; and its brilliance in the western, thus setting, night sky is a glaring symbol. We should ask ‘what is setting?’, ‘what is in decline and is best left for dead on the compost pile?’ ‘what served, or seemed to, had its day and now only creates mayhem, grief, negative karma, and destroys the world?’ Pt. 2 of this series will examine Pluto’s entry into the sign of Aquarius where these themes will reassert.

Here are some potentials in play born of the energetic of Saturn traditionally ruling Aquarius, the constellation in which Saturn is astronomically:
– rigidity will try to hold firm to old, outdated, outmoded, and dying thoughtforms. The old will do so choosing denial of costs, even when the costs are dire such as extinction. (Head (S) in the sand (S).)
– authority figures and structures will attempt to enforce their ideas on the collective. But, they forget that this is how the American Revolution was fomented. If the people/the collective recognize their innate power, then that force will outstrip the enforcers. Proof is on the side of history. Within short decades of the ending of the American Revolution, the French Revolution was enacted, Parliament in England became more powerful than the monarchy, and within a hundred years the Czar in Russia and the “emperors” or potentates in eastern European states were deposed or abdicated their thrones.
– standing (S) for what is right, true, good, and benefits the greater whole (A) is already being done by the common people around the world. Often this begins out of necessity, such as using ancient and traditional (S) forms of water catchment and management in various global locations now stripped of water, rivers, and aquifer repository by agricultural methods based on greed or take rather than interconnected dependence.
– Saturn represents authenticity, ethics, and wisdom born of upstream thinking – address the causes- and then extinguish the causes from arising again.
– Saturn is diligence, follow through, steadfastness, and discipline. True discipline is always fluid, never rigid. It is a gift that one gives oneself due to understanding that diligence and follow through is how anything gets accomplished.
– Saturn recognizes distraction as a waste of time and, more important, a waste of mind. When Saturn is strong in the heavens or in one’s chart, organizing and focusing come to the fore. Distraction is seen for the curse that it is as well as how it is used to keep one or the collective stupefied and in a constant ungrounded state.
– Saturn guides and mentors humanity along the Path of Awakening. At some point, everyone realizes that the only route to personal and collective wholeness is through right action born of wise and wide-minded thought, articulated through choice, action, symbols, and words. One need not have ever heard of the Eightfold Path spoken by the Buddha or of the term samsara to experience for one’s self that wholeness and well-being begins within and then radiates out invoking a resonant sameness of yearning for well-being in others. Well-being will never be born from distraction; nor from greed, demeaning of others, or denial. Well-being arises from wisdom implemented incrementally in the common ways of life.

Saturn and Venus in Pisces (astrological placement)
The zodiac begins with masculine energy in Aries and completes with feminine energy in Pisces. The rulers of Aries are Mars exoteric and traditional, Mercury esoteric, Uranus hierarchical, plus the Sun is exalted. All are masculine energy. The rulers of Pisces are Jupiter traditional plus Neptune exoteric, Jupiter esoteric with Pluto also given by Master DK for esoteric, Jupiter hierarchical, and Venus exalted. Neptune and Venus are feminine. Something worth pondering.

Every planet conveys a broad range of energies, from debased to sublime. A planet is like a radio or internet tower. All manner of signals are being broadcast simultaneously. What one tunes into or has the interest and capacity to tune into determines the qualities and functional range of that planet’s energies available to that person. Being now resonant and available, they can be integrated and embodied for the well-being of all. This is so in a person’s life or that of a collective like a nation or culture. Venus represents everything from the kinky and quirky to the Mother of Buddhas-Great Emptiness, inseparable Nondual Wisdom of the Ultimate. Each word in that string is itself sublime Venus in addition to what they point toward.

Pisces, and all zodiacal signs, convey a full array of energetic potentials also, from the crass to the profound just like the planets. The same criteria for receptability applies. This is important and lies behind the teaching from Master DK vis a vis levels of rulers, exo, eso, and hierarchical. Before his gift, astrology had a traditional ruler (one of the visible planets), an exalted planet in most but not all signs, and a planet that falls or is in detriment, not in all signs. Esoteric rulers are related to the Soul or bodhichitta; hierarchical rulers to the Life impulse and that which borders on the beyond-conceptual and beyond individual as well as orients one in that direction. Thus, the progression of rulers accompanies the progression of the Path of Awakening and its unfolding of the truth of Being: complete and perfect awakened Awareness-Compassion ever empty by nature.
In many respects, Venus symbolizes and expresses that which distracts and entangles beings from Awareness-Compassion as well as expresses the very nature of Awareness-Compassion. Desire/attachment-entanglement/bewilderment are the woven matrix of samsara. All are Venus on the lesser and common turn of the spiral.

We are all entangled, and Venus represents the wisdom of recognizing that, then clearly and starkly exposing the self-entanglement to the self so delighted with being bound. Illuminations in the moment and through the commonness of our deluded mind render naked desire, attachment, and rejection/avoidance, seen for what they are while we live them in their variations.
The esoteric meaning of the brilliance of Venus is this process of self-illumination producing self-liberation, which automatically disentangles others from oneself and fosters the same recognition, illumination, and liberation process in the collective. We see, then, that Venus is used to illumine Venus within our habits of consciousness, preferences, fears, and so forth. In Buddhist psychology these are under the rubric of “propensities.” Venus again. Why? Because we are all Goldilocks and everything has to be “just right” for each of us individually.

Zodiacally, the two classic planetary gift-givers are Venus and Jupiter; but unless the higher resonances and teachings of both planets are not explored, their gifts cannot be embodied. Then, both simply feed the samsaric nature of entangled human beings. Giving sugar to anyone is to give them poison, even if the person wants the taste. Yet, if one understands that sugar is a poison, and under no condition is it otherwise, then that person can wisely detach from the initial projection of Yum to the reality of Yuck. Now that person is on the Path of Awakening.

So we come to Venus conjunct Saturn. Both planets offer seeing things as they are. Thereby, both offer reality check. Of course, both represent our bondage and that we choose our winding cloth, then wrap it around ourselves as well. Venus is every level of desire, attraction, attachment, sentiment, preference, cozy and comfy even when, like the sugar example, cozy or comfy is the route to disease of body or mind (or both) and a shitty journey to death. Venus is one’s sense of beauty, which gives rise to obsession, compulsion, and fussiness as well as to all the arts, gardening, and protecting the environment. Beauty is why we get dressed the way each of us does: for the appearance of it, the comfort of it, the statement it makes even if the statement is protest or I don’t care. These are all common Venus, self-fulfilling limitation within our mind-emotion complex, and Venus is the root of the self: the fundamental entanglement. Reality check, illumination, let go, let go, stop grasping.

Saturn’s method seems more rational or mental but don’t be fooled. Rational is based on emotional preference (check it out. See for yourself when your high horse is questioned.) Saturn seems to provide perspective or detachment, but if that experience is so it is because the person has let go, let be; thus a neutrality or impartial quality can be present. Thus the emotion has been brought to heel. Ah, taming and training.

Reality check is upon humanity. We cannot have (V) what we want (V) if that is at the expense, destruction, or death (S) of others including all manner of beings on land and in the sea, the soil, air, and Planet.
Reality check raises the basic question of “is this necessary?” To the person who walks a mile to fill a jug with not pure water, the flushing of a toilet anywhere on the planet is not necessary. Is yet another plastic bag necessary? or another gun? or another war? or another group of people blamed for greedy people’s greed?

Venus radiant in the night sky says, “Look up. Look up from the phone and the TV. Look up, look around, look within. See the truth. Then, choose wisely. Realize that every choice is a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
Venus reminds us also that “all is emptiness.” This reminder is never a nihilistic dismissal of pain or sorrow, or of responsibility. Emptiness is on display in how I make tea and if you even drink tea, in how people vote in their countries or if they do, in how someone robotically goes about their desire-driven day not recognizing that and then judging someone else’s automated behavior.

Saturn’s glow next to Venus’s brilliance is the light of sense used for the common good, the Good of All. High Saturn is Samantabhadra: Universal Benevolence, but not from some god-like buddha, no. You are buddha by nature. I am buddha by nature. This is highest Venus, Mother of Buddha’s decree and Saturn’s Path of Awakening available in every tradition of wisdom-compassion since humanity was born.

The night sky’s message is clear: Look up. Wake up, and Care.