If you’ve ever watched the cult classic “The Boondock Saints”, you’re probably familiar with the words “Veritas” & “Aequitas”. The film’s twin protagonists each have one or the other tattooed upon their trigger fingers, and the words in question represent the Latin concepts of truth and justice/equality, respectively. These terms came to mind while mulling over Saturn’s entrance into Sagittarius next month – a sign he will visit for the first time in about 29 years due his turtle-like orbital speed. There is something quite heavy-handed about this energy when it comes to the enforcement of what is (subjectively?) “right” – to me, it says “Hammer (…or is that gavel?) of God”. When reflecting upon this placement, it brought to mind the topic of theocracies & also caused me to ponder the related subject of enforcing morality via legislation even when “the G-word” isn’t involved.
Connected to this, one of the effects of Saturn in Sadge is that – on a macro level – it may also correlate to a period of stiffer legal penalties and stricter adherence to the letter (rather than the spirit) of the law overall, so I found myself with some good literary fuel for a (forthcoming) newsletter article when the words “veritas” and “aequitas” suddenly popped into my mind in relation to this energy. Not wanting to sidetrack my newsletter piece, I decided to write a post about this connection on the blog instead, because these terms do seem pretty fitting given the iron-fisted (and yet justified?) nature of Saturn when it arrives in this sign of truth & righteousness on December 23rd. Now if you’ve seen the movie, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about re: the heavy-handed enforcement of “principles”. But those who haven’t might not know what the hell I’m talking about, LOL, so naturally the next thing I did was to go looking for a clip from this movie. Fortuitously, I happened to stumble upon this scene instead, which cracked open a whole other perspective on Saturn in Sagittarius’ energy. Have a look, because I think it gives a very good angle on another lesson associated with this transit:
I want to talk specifically about the preacher’s cautionary tale of Kitty Genovese and how he says there is one kind of evil to fear most: The indifference of good men. This theme struck me as quite relevant when considering the implications of Saturn’s movement through Sagittarius, because this is a sign closely associated with “righteousness” and “judgment”. What exactly do we consider “right” and “wrong”, anyway? What do we judge as “good” or “bad” – where exactly is the dividing line in our moral boundaries and how black-and-white do we see things in this regard? And how do we fortify our principles – do we lead by example? Do we impose our sense of morality upon others? And what happens if we abdicate our sense of righteousness instead and pass the responsibility of “doing the right thing” (in accordance with our supposed principles) onto someone else? Is there not some onus to bear on our end if we believe ourselves to be good people?
This is what the monsignor was addressing in his speech about a 28 year old girl who was stabbed to death in 1964 by an assailant outside her crowded Queens, NY apartment building despite the fact that close to 40 people heard or saw *something* in relation to her stabbing, subsequent attempted rape, robbery, and eventual murder. Her assassin even had time to leave the scene – with Kitty critically injured, yet still alive – and come back 10 minutes later disguised in an oversized hat to finish what he had started.
This gruesome story provides an eye-opening look at what can happen when we fail to follow the dictates of our conscience and “let the other guy handle it”. Especially back in an era when being a “Good Christian” was a more common parlance, it’s stunning to think that such a thing could happen with no one stepping in to call the police (Saturn) until it was too late. As we approach Saturn in Sagittarius, this tragic tale can serve as cautionary reminder of the consequences (again, Saturn) that can arise from a failure of conscience. Sagittarius only represents our principles of morality; it does *not* show whether we’re inclined to practice what we purport to believe or preach, which is why one Lo-Fi facet of Sadge is hypocrisy. Hi-Fi Saturn – on the other hand – represents the self-regulating principle and whether or not we adhere to certain standards, codes, etc. of conduct and behavior – it’s doing what we “should” do and staying on the straight-and-narrow, even if/when we might not necessarily want to. It could be fear of repercussions from our parents, teachers, law enforcement, god, or whathaveyou that keeps
us “on track and out of trouble”, but once we’ve reached a certain level of maturity and/or personal development, most it’s often our own conscience that informs us of what’s “right” or “wrong” in a given scenario. And internally enforced morality is far better than the externally enforced variety, don’t you think?
The bottom line is that if we believe ourselves to be good people, on some level this means we have to be prepared to be “Our Brothers’ Keepers” regardless of whatever particular creed we do or don’t subscribe to. Hi-Fi Saturn is about protection, and when resonating with the higher side of Sagittarius, he does so without regard to things like race, culture, socio-economic status, age, gender, or sexual orientation because we are all a part of the HUMAN race. Saturn in Sagittarius can largely deal with the reality that – as members of the global human race – each person has an individual responsibility toward the collective good. When we’re firm in our principles and seeking to live an upright life, there really isn’t room for “The indifference of good men”, because our goodness and virtue only extends as far as our willingness to protect what is right, true, & just when presented with a test such as the one bystanders faced the night Kitty was killed.
Boondock Saints association aside, perhaps the concepts of “Veritas” and “Aequitas” might inspire us to realize that truth & justice are more than lofty ethics that we only pay lip service to. True righteousness can be a difficult path to walk and may involve challenging choices and hardship; particularly if/when it means standing tall and overcoming our fears about doing the “right” thing. During Saturn in Sagittariusthings will come along that will not only test our faith, but also how we’re applying the principles we allegedly believe in, so being congruent with whatever Path we profess to be on is an absolute *must* for the next 2 1/2 years! Because if there is a real disparity between the two, The Universe will be sure to let us know. Think of all the witnesses to the Kitty Genovese murder – history has indelibly marked this lot as “bystanders who just sat by”, forever used as a textbook social psychology example of the phenomenon known as “diffusion of responsibility” even to this day, 50 years later. The Universe seems pretty clear about there being more than one wrong perpetrated on that day, and that “the indifference of good men” is indeed an evil to be feared.
11/13/2014
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