Good idea, I was writing about the astrological archetype of Saturn-Neptune on my blog last night. I will post it here, it is becoming quite popular to combine astrology archetypes with the movies.
Film Clip here: Enchanted
Saturn-Neptune
I watched this film over the weekend for mother’s day, and I absolutely enjoyed it. It makes fun of all the fairytale magic, the songs, cute animals, and the dreamy romance. Its fairytale land meets the real world. The Princess is all set to marry her prince charming, who she believes is her one true love, but in ‘reality’ she has only known him one day. The prince’s wicked step-mother is quite happy on her throne and doesn’t wished to be replaced, and therefore she sets out to make sure that Giselle (princess) is removed altogether from the fairytale world and she pushes Giselle down a well and sends her to a world where there are no more happily ever afters‘, and Giselle ends up in New York City. For the princess unfortunately, fairytale’s are very different from reality.
The movie is very amusing as we watch the fairytale princess desperately flounder in reality she is just like a fish out of water. It is very much like The Little Mermaid or Splash, in a sense as these films also play on the same theme, although enchanted is a fun look at fairytales. Neptune in astrology is a soft feminine planet, it is otherworldly, and symbolises the oceanic world beyond the conventional perception of reality. Neptune creates fantasies, and castles in the sky. Reality to Neptune is cold and harsh.
Neptunian individuals do not cope well with Saturn and throughout Enchanted we see Giselle struggling to adjust to this new world she is in, she is highly sensitive and breaks down emotionally when she finds out people in the earth world separate and divorce. For most of us we are not unlike Giselle when we enter into a relationship, we do believe in the dream of true love, the happy ever after. However, our dreams or illusions often meet with reality and we come crashing down to earth left with a broken heart, we feel separate and more alone than ever (Saturn), Giselle cannot comprehend this reality, she comes from a world where princes ride in on white horses to rescue you, if she falls or faces danger she becomes helpless like a "damsel in distress" and in the make believe world someone is always there to save her.
In the ‘real world’ she meets a divorced man named Robert whose wife has abandoned him and his daughter. Naturally he doesn’t understand her naivety and innocence about life and calls her a very confused woman, Robert has sorely felt the disappointment in love and to him all the magic has been lost forever; he is left with only bitter reality, and a little girl to raise alone. In the film we see Giselle putting up with most of his pessimism and doubts about love, and she finally gets angry with him in an argument, which is a big turning point for her individually, and she is thrilled to express this emotion. Giselle tries desperately hard to keep the world covered in a romantic haze.
To cut a long story short, I think a bridge is made between the two worlds, Robert begins to believe in love again, and Giselle begins to change herself, she uses her dress making talents to create her own business and is successful. Giselle and Robert both gain by meeting each other, and offer a very different reality to one another; we see how both worldviews are needed. The Fairytale ends with a happily ever after and a heavy dose of realism.
Astrologically maybe the character of Giselle has Saturn challenging Neptune in her natal chart. Natally this aspect can create the feeling of being discontented. Giselle seems to struggle with the divine uplifting experience of life and the physical plane. Neptune attempts to dissolve reality (Saturn) and Saturn often dampens and creates stone walls to Neptune’s dreams and visions. Liz Greene offers an insightful view of this planetary pairing of Saturn-Neptune below.
Liz Greene “The Astrological Neptune and the quest for Redemption.”
The stronger the ego, the more frightening Neptune becomes; the more we cling to the uterine waters, the more frightening Saturn becomes. Neptune identifies with the quality of being loving, open and compassionate toward others. Neediness is not perceived as humiliating, but as a mark of a gentle empathetic soul. Saturn identifies with self sufficiency, collectively acceptable behaviour, and the control of chaotic emotions and moods. Boundaries are not seen as defensive or cold, but as a necessary accoutrement of an honourable and responsible attitude toward life. Both, of course, are right, although the individual may be hard pressed to realize it.
