Saturn in C. G. Jung's Liber Primus

Abstract

“Saturn in C. G. Jung's Liber Primus: An Astrological Meditation” is an archetypal astrological exploration of Saturn. Focusing on one painting in Liber Primus that contains astrological images of Aquarius, Leo, Saturn, and the Sun, this essay looks at these astrological principles and dynamics as they appear in C. G. Jung's birth chart, in specific ideas and experiences in Liber Primus, and what emerges in his later work with respect to the theme of the problem of opposites.

Keywords::

• Aquarius
• archetypal astrology
• archetypal psychology
• cosmos
• C. G. Jung
• Leo
• Liber Primus
• meaning
• mythopoesis
• Puer
• The Red Book
• Saturn
• Senex
• Sun

Notes

^1. A note on pagination: In the Liber Primus translation, the numbers refer to the folios, or pages, of the facsimile. Jung paginated Liber Novus as folios rather than with page numbers, requiring indication of recto (right-hand) and verso (left-hand) sides. For instance, fol.v(r) indicates the page is folio v (page 5), recto (right-hand side) of the facsimile. Also see The Red Book: Liber Novus: A Reader's Edition, page 112, for further explanation.

^2. See TarnasCosmos and Psyche (2007) for rich descriptions and associations for all of the ten planetary archetypes.

^3.Tarnas'sPrometheus the Awakener (1995) is exemplary in identifying Prometheus as a figure central to Uranus in archetypal astrology.

^4. The Jerusalem Bible Standard Edition, 1966.

^5. Transiting Uranus conjunct Jung's Ascendant, opposite his Sun and squaring his Neptune, were aspects that lasted for a period of approximately two years, 1912 to 1914, due to Uranus's slow orbit and retrograde cycle.

^6. Transiting Saturn sextile Jung's Uranus was in aspect from September 1913 to May 1914.

^7. Jung amplified this vision in 1925; the editors included his comments in footnote 85 on page 237 (2009).

^8. In Tarnas's Prometheus the Awakener (1995), the chapter “Uranus and Prometheus” looks at the myth of the titan Prometheus in relationship to the astrological Uranus.

^9. Our Lady, Star of the Sea, Wikipedia. Hom. II super “Missus est,” 17; Migne, P. L., CLXXXIII, 70-b, c, d, 71-a. Quoted in Doctor Mellifluus, 31. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady,_Star_of_the_Sea. (Clairvaux 1958).

^10. Campbell's Goddesses (2013) is an exploration of these symbols of the divine feminine from the Neolithic period to the Renaissance, through the mythologies of Southeast Europe, the Near East and Mediterranean cultures.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Safron Rossi

SAFRON ROSSI, PhD, is curator at Opus Archives & Research Center, housing the collections of Campbell, Hillman, and Gimbutas; and associate core faculty, Depth Psychology: Jungian and Archetypal Studies Program, at Pacifica Graduate Institute. Her writing and scholarly studies focus on Greek mythology, archetypal psychology, the Western astrological tradition, goddess traditions, and feminist studies. Safron edited Joseph Campbell's Goddesses: Mysteries of the Feminine Divine (New World Library, 2013) and has contributed essays to several collaborative volumes in depth psychology. She is also an astrological consultant, www.thearchetypaleye.com. Correspondence:[email protected].