Saturn’s lesson this past week has been a grave, immeasurably dark and terrifying one. The tsunami that came the day after Christmas, killing (so far) close to 150,000 officially, is a devastating harbinger of Saturn’s Cancerian calling card. Combined with the full moon in Cancer on the morning of the earthquake, Saturn in Cancer has brought us the worst natural disaster in the last forty years. Of all the events since Saturn entered Cancer in the summer of 2003, this is by far the most ominous. We must heed it.
Saturn represents boundaries — he is the wall in the oft-repeated phrase “wall of water”. Cancer is the sign of water, of the sea, of the fishermen whose boats were swallowed by the tsunami. Cancer is the sign of the mother, of the many mothers that tried in vain to hold onto children washed away, helpless against Saturn’s angry torrent. Cancer gives us those mothers crying out in agony, searching for their lost babies. Cancer is the sign of home, of the millions of homes reduced to rubble, of the legions of refugees that can never go home again.
Someone on CNN said that the tsunami showed us “the power of nature against the flimsy will of man.” The headlines speak for Saturn:
“The Angry Sea”
“Wave of Destruction”
Westerners immersed in our annual orgy of Christmas buying were caught with our pants down. How can we take anything for granted anymore? How can we care whether we got an iPod mini or a digital camera when so many are dead and will continue to die? Many, many people understood Saturn’s lesson immediately — money began to flow into charities large and small right away, and has continued without abatement. The measly pledges of the Bush administration pale in comparison to the generosity of those of us watching the agony unfolding on TV. The deeply compassionate response of people from all over the world suggests that some of us, at least, get what Saturn is trying so desperately to teach us during these years.
If you haven’t already, please give. This link on the CNN page is a great place to start. You might also want to look at Ammachi’s website. She has been feeding and housing many thousands for the past week in Kerala, India, and they need all the help they can get.
Saturn begs us to help rebuild the broken lives of millions of victims of this horrific disaster. The decimated villages that now look like post-apocalyptic nuclear wastelands must be reseeded, rebuilt, rededicated to survivors. Even if we can’t go in person, we can help. Saturn represents the world. It is ours to share, and to put back together again.
