Saturn astrology and the golden age

" First to be born was the Golden Age. Of its own free will,
without laws or enforcement, it did what was right and trust prevailed.
. . .
Spring was the only season. Flowers which had never been planted
were kissed into life by the warming breath of the gentle zephyrs;
and soon the earth, untilled by the plough, was yielding her fruits,
and without the renewal the fields grew white with the swelling corn blades.
. . .
When Saturn was cast into murky Tartarus, Jupiter seized
the throne of the universe. Now there followed the age of silver,
meaner than gold but higher in value than tawny bronze.
Gentle spring was no longer allowed to continue unbroken;
the king of the gods divided the year into four new seasons" - Virgil 

The Roman Saturn, in comparison to the Greek Cronos, is a much less feared God who is connected to cycles of time and the return of the golden age. These qualities of Saturn were reflected in the Roman festival of “Saturnalia” which falls under the Winter solstice, or the ingress of Sun into Capricorn (ruled by Saturn) in Western, tropical astrology. After the Winter solstice, sunlight increases with the days getting longer. Saturn was seen as a liberator from the darkness. 

The golden age was thought to be a time when man was so moral and just that he abided by the laws of Saturn intuitively, with no external laws or control systems being needed. 

Porphyry of Tyre was a Neoplatonist philosopher born under Roman rule in Phoenicia. He wrote that Saturn had the power to liberate souls into immortality via the gates of tropical Cancer and Capricorn, ruled by the Moon and Saturn. In modern astrology, Moon and Saturn symbolise the archetypes of the traditional Mother and father. 

Saturn, being the farthest of the seven classical planets, was said to be the gatekeeper of the afterlife (which resides in the fixed stars beyond the planets) with each soul experiencing a journey through the qualities of the seven classical planets.  Saturn being the last planet and connected to morality and justness had the ability to liberate the soul and return it to its golden age, residing as a part of the Godhead. 

In the system of traditional essential dignities (which is the only valid system, in my opinion and the alchemical qualities of the signs and planets prove that I am right) Saturn rules both Capricorn and Aquarius, these two signs are exactly opposite Cancer and Leo which rule the sun and the moon. 

The Sun and Moon rule Gold and silver, respectively, and Saturn rules over lead. Lead, in alchemical theory, is said to be the furthest state from, and the opposite of gold.

The alchemist’s goals were to return humanity to a golden age, not simply to turn lead into gold.  ‘Paradise is still in this world yet humankind does not occupy it’ ‘For you see, this gold is locked inside Saturn.’ – Jacob Bohme.

In astrology, Saturn rules over the ancestral karma that is passed down through the generations and bloodlines. In the age of darkness, the Son is said to be weaker, physically, spiritually and intellectually, than the Father. In Roman mythology, Saturn is said to eat his sons as they are born which serves as a metaphor for the laws of Saturn devouring the offspring before they can experience life. 

In the kali yuga, or age of darkness, with its Orwellian laws and brutal restrictions on freedoms, the key to the golden age is through the morality of Saturn.