106 SIMPLIFIED SCIENTIFIC ASTROLOGY
and decay, the reaper with hour-glass and scythe who cuts off the life given by the Sun and fostered by the Moon, when his hour-glass shows that the fruits of life’s experience are ripe for harvest. Thus he is the planet of death, and moves in an orbit on the outskirts of the solar system, which is the boundary of Chaos, where all things are dissolved and transmuted by spiritual alchemy to finer and finer textures.
Therefore Saturn is in essential agreement with Capricorn and Aquarius, the signs occupied by the Sun during the cold months of mid-winter, December and January. When placed in these signs his cold, clammy hand makes itself felt as a powerful force that crushes life and joy, that covers the life with the gloom of death.
Between the orbits of Saturn and the Sun are the orbits of the other planets, and when arranged in order of their distance from the Sun, with the signs of the zodiac so placed that Leo and Cancer are in the center with their rulers, the Sun and Moon, and Saturn’s signs, Capricorn and Aquarius, one on each wing, it appears that—
Jupiter whose orbit is inside Saturn’s, rules the two signs next to Saturn’s, namely, Sagittarius and Pisces.
Mars’ orbit is inside of Jupiter’s, therefore he rules the signs next to Jupiter’s, namely, Aries and Scorpio.
