I thought this would be an animal story. Last week, on his 59th birthday, Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy was mauled by his seven year old 600 lb. white tiger, Montecore, in front of a sellout crowd at
Mirage Hotel where show has been playing since 1990. Roy Horn is having his second Saturn Return, which began just a month ago. Roy’s Saturn is in Cancer in Twelfth House. That’s why this isn’t going to be an animal story, it’s going to be a story about families and it’s going to be a very sad one because what someone with Saturn in Cancer wants more than anything else in world is to have a family like everyone else’s.
“Happy families are all alike,” wrote Leo Tolstoy, whose Saturn was at 29 Cancer. “Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Because Saturn describes our wound in life, when it is in Cancer, wound is about family, about feeling wanted, about feeling safe.
During our first Saturn Return, 28-30 years old, we turn to address this wound consciously. We take it on as our own, our badge of courage. We no longer “blame it” on our parents, but decide to make of ourselves what we can.
At second Saturn Return, 58-60, there is an opportunity to review progress and perhaps approach issue from a higher perspective. When healing has taken place through personal effort, Saturn bestows an award. You can count on this. Unlike Neptune, Saturn always keeps his promises.
At Tolstoy’s second Saturn Return, Russian aristocrat tried to will all his property to his serfs and set them free. His family stopped him. The startling part of this story is that thirty years earlier, at his first Saturn Return, he tried to do same thing. The peasants were suspicious and refused to go along.
Saturn in Cancer poses this question with great longing, “Where are my people?” In Tolstoy’s case, was it his wife and 12 children? Or was it peasants? Tolstoy even began to dress like a peasant later in life. In many cases where Saturn is in Cancer your people are not people in your family. This was certainly case with Roy Horn.
Roy’s childhood was difficult. His step-father became an abusive alcoholic after his career plummeted. Speaking about his past, Roy has said, “If it wasn’t for Hexe, I wouldn’t be sitting here today.”
Hexe was a wolfdog. Roy and Hexe were inseparable. They roamed woods together. Roy is referring to an incident where he was sucked into a swamp and Hexe ran for help. But looking at this chart, I’d be tempted to interpret statement at an emotional level as well. It may be that Roy’s emotional bond with Hexe is also reason he’s still here. This bond must have been a source of comfort and companionship for Roy. It is difficult to understand how abandoned children with Saturn in Cancer can feel, though they may have physical presence of adults and other children. Hexe was Roy’s lifeline.
Roy’s ability to bond with animals continued throughout his life. This doesn’t mean he liked them a lot or wanted to rescue them. A bond is much more even than that. To understand Saturn in Cancer, we need to understand that children bond because their lives depend on it. Many British children who lived in London during World War Two were separated from their families and taken to outlying areas for safety. Some of them actually died from trauma of this separation from their families. Disruption of family life occurred across war torn western world and Roy’s family was no different.
