Sani Dev (Saturn) is the deity of Justice, Time, and Service. He is the lord of the rasi (sign) of Makara (Capricorn) and co-rules Kumbha (Aquarius) along with Uranus. Sani is the outermost of the inner grahas (planets) and acts as the boundary between the inner and outer worlds. In the same way, Sani acts as the boundary which brings limitations to all things. He is the balancing counterpart of Guru Dev (Jupiter) who is the force of expansion. Sani Dev is known as “Sanaischara,” which means “slow mover.” This is in reference to Sani being the lord of time. He is the slowest moving of the inner grahas, taking about 2.5 years to move through each rasi. As such, Sani brings delay and teaches the virtues of patience, discipline, focus, commitment, and hard work. Sani is known as the great malefic and is often seen in a negative light due to this. In truth, Sani Dev is not working to bring misfortune, but rather to teach the difficult lessons of life which will ideally lead the individual to their full maturity and potential. If life were effortless, no lessons would be learned and no growth would occur.
Sani Dev represents the common man, the servant, the humble worker. Sani is said to be the child of Surya (Sun) and the two have an unfriendly relationship with each other. Sani is said to be the shadow of Surya. Surya is the Ego and the fulfillment and exaltation of the Self, the king. Sani is humility and the giving of selfless service to the community, the servant. Here again, neither is right or wrong. Both are required to have balance. Nevertheless, the two are opposing forces. Sani teaches us the importance of giving service to others and dedicating ourselves to important causes beyond our own personal interests.
Sani rules justice and karma. It is important to live a life of integrity and discipline in order to gain and maintain a good relationship with Sani Dev. For example, this can mean resisting the urge to use dishonest means to gain success. Sani Dev is related to politics, where we see profound abuse and neglect of this principle and the immense toxicity that comes from it. When we resort to dishonesty and shortcuts in our lives, Sani is displeased and begins to add weight to our karmic debts. We may have success at first, but there is always a day of reckoning to come. On the other hand, Sani is pleased when we resolve to dig in our heels for the long haul and put in the hard work to accomplish our goals in the right way. Here, Sani brings positive karma to our accounts and greater blessings to come. We may have to endure much in the present, but our ultimate joy and satisfaction will be far greater.
Those with a strong influence of Sani Dev must learn to cultivate the virtues of patience, integrity, humility, and service. They may face many challenges in life regarding these areas in order to bring about growth and maturity. Sani is time, and time (ideally) brings maturity. Things may not happen as quickly or easily as one might like. But Sani is not denying results. He only is delaying the results until the time is right. We must learn to have patience with the world and with ourselves. We must not get lost in our desires, becoming frustrated. We instead determine to set out our goals and take steps one by one toward those goals. Sani values discipline and work. These things take time. Coal doesn’t become a diamond overnight.
Sani has an interesting relationship with Chandra (Moon) which carries an immense effect on the quality of life we experience. It is quite common these days to hear of the ‘Saturn/Moon matrix.’ Even for those who are not familiar with this term, we all see it in play every single day. Chandra is the mind. Sani is karma. When the mind becomes corrupt and loses its way, Sani brings upon it great karma. In our world today, there is a true pandemic of fear and victim mentality. People have actually become obsessed with feeling fearful, discriminated against, and victimized. People do not understand the nature of reality in which we ourselves are fully and totally responsible for our own fate. The mind (Moon) is meant to reflect the Soul (Sun) in such a way as to bring about its true glory. Society has lost its Soul through the denial of our own power, and as a result has gone insane. In this state, Sani brings the karma of despair upon society. As we choose to devote our minds toward fear and victimhood, Sani brings this very thing into reality for us. The collective consciousness has created for itself a hellscape of its own design.
In order to remedy the shadow of Sani, the weight of its judgment, we must come to understand that we are the architects of our own destiny. Sani relates to fear, and all fear arises from a lack of trust and devotion to the Soul (Sun). Why do we fear poverty or think of stealing? We lack faith in our ability to achieve. Why do we lie and deceive? We fear the reactions of others if they knew the truth. Why do we fear how others will think or act toward us? We lack faith in our own ability to exist. Why do we fear suffering and hardship? We lack faith in our ability to overcome and grow. Why do we fear death? We lack faith in our own eternality. Any act which is detrimental to our integrity is ultimately an act of fear. When we live in a state of fear, either consciously or unconsciously, we are denying the power of the Sun and inviting the shadow of Sani to overcast our lives. In this way, we are creating the very thing we fear. It is the proverbs in action, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he,” and, “As ye sow, so shall ye reap.” To put this in a practical context as we see it around us, the very act of setting the intent that there are groups of people who are oppressing and limiting and persecuting and marginalizing us is to give the universe permission to create such a reality for us. If we truly wish to escape the “matrix” of Sani and Chandra, if we truly wish to change the world and ourselves, we must abandon the nonsense that we are being helplessly oppressed and return to a true and pure devotion to the Soul. Only then will Sani Dev be appeased and remove his shadow in favor of imparting his bountiful blessings.
So then, as we have seen, Sani Dev is a graha of great challenges. He is heavy like lead. He teaches us about ourselves in a way that we perhaps would rather not have to accept. Yet, without his lessons, we could never achieve our fullest potential. For this reason, Sani is an important graha to work with. How we work with Sani Dev will depend on the placement in our own chart. The way we work with Sani when he is well-placed is different from how we will work with him if he is placed in a more challenging way.
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