I’m no tarot reader. In fact, I will loudly remind people that I know next to nothing about tarot. Like many queer and art inclined people, I do a little tarot for myself but that’s about it. I understand that tarot is its own theory that is different from astrology despite the adjacency between the two fields.

However, when I think of Saturn in the second house, a tarot card does come to mind: The Devil.

I was always told that The Devil encapsulates Capricorn energy. Capricorn is ruled by Saturn so The Devil makes me think about Saturn the planet in addition to Capricorn the sign. I was always told that The Devil encapsulates Capricorn energy because The Devil, which shows two people chained to Pan, is said to be about addiction.

Addiction is a way of seeking control. I get it. I’ve been there too. When you feel out of control in life, sometimes you try to control your body and routine and emotions by seeking exhilaration or just literal chemical control. You want to be up when you want to be up and down when you want to be down. Instead of letting your body do its own thing, drugs. Or, something else. Anything can be addictive.

The second house is the house of resources, of food and nutrition and anything that feeds you. Saturn is the planet of limitation and restraint. People with Saturn in the second house will sometimes distrust that a resource will actually feed them. They fear that a resource will enact control over them.

I’ve seen it play out in many different ways. Sometimes, Saturn in the second house is just about making your own independent income. These people don’t like to work a normal job! A paycheck isn’t just a paycheck, not when you’re dependent on it. Money is a chain. Has anyone been watching Severance on AppleTV? The characters in Severance sever their personalities so that their workplace owns half of their lives all for a paycheck. Can anyone relate?

But a resource isn’t just a paycheck. The second house isn’t money. It’s food. Plant or cultivate your own food. Don’t trust your sources.

The second house is the house that lays right below the horizon. It’s the house of soil and all that grows in it.

Turns out, it’s not that easy. Food is grown in the land and land is politics. Land is history because we also bury our dead in it and it’s also ethics because we share it. The second house is the first house that is tucked under the horizon because it is the house that contains the nutrition that is stored by soil. I’ve seen senior citizens almost come to blows because their senior center was given a community garden that they are all meant to share. These seniors joined peasant militias that promised them land reforms that never came. Something about returning to the wishes and regrets in your memories when you’ve become old.

Food is shared. Land is a relationship. What? You’ve just going to eat from your own garden that you fence off? That’s impossible. Food is a relationship.

What happens when Saturn, the planet of restraint, is placed in the house of food?

I’ve been addicted to food before. I had this strange illness when I first became an adult. Back then, I didn’t really trust people. My eating disorder wasn’t about body image or anything like that. It was about self control, about not wanting to expose myself or rely on anyone else. I didn’t want to express my needs. I didn’t want to be beholden to anyone else’s needs and I didn’t want to rely on anyone’s reactions towards my own.

And I was jealous! Jealous over those who could be vulnerable and say what they need and be, well…needy. My inner critic was on fire. “Why are people such babies?” he would frequently mumble, grumpy as can be. I think that’s what Saturn in the second house might sound like sometimes. How dare someone express their needs when I have so much difficulty expressing my own?

Food is a relationship and relationships are hard as hell. My dad used to fantasize about a utopia where no one needed to eat. Wouldn’t it be great if they invented a pill that took care of all of your nutritional needs? I found out that some scammer in the 1930s did invent a pill like that. They used it to rob the KMT during Henan’s famine, which is the reason why my dad has such a hunger for a world without any food. If food is your main weakness, then get rid of food. That makes sense, right?

Saturn in the second house is about not wanting to be the eating type of animal. Maybe a plant—a plant’s nice because plants need light and water and air which is all freely available. Human food has so many traps laid in it. Food becomes an obligation, becomes a responsibility.

Here’s the brutal truth: sometimes, you can be responsible for your own needs. That will work out sometimes. There will be times when you can be responsible for your own needs. Other times, you can’t be. There will be things that happen outside of your control. Your circumstances might change for reasons you can’t control. We are all so self sufficient but also so hopelessly dependent.

I think that Saturn in the second house dearly wants to be responsible for one’s own needs. It might come across as that rugged individualism thing. Or, you might be the quiet kid who keeps their head down. Regardless of how you come across, you might be really good at keeping your needs private. You might be really good at restricting yourself just to maintain a sense of control.

Control isn’t bad. It’s just a thing. We all need some control over our lives. Routine and planning can help us feel in control. But you know what can also help with control? Using the resources at your disposal.

There’s a fine line between not knowing what you need and not knowing how to use the tools around you. Resources are ephemeral. Nothing is really useful until someone invents a use for the bits and scraps that they find lying around. Your creativity is the thing that generates all resources.

The second house is the house of nutrition and soil. Saturn rules peasants. It turns out, the two go hand in hand.

I think that growing food, harvesting it, using it, and enjoying it is a fine thing. In a world of supermarkets and food deserts, we don’t have enough of it. If you have Saturn in the second house and you struggle with needs and control, then my suggestion to you would be to find out where your food comes from. Food is actually our most basic need. We are flesh creatures who run on calories. Food is a cycle of life that we all depend on because we live inside of it.

We all have to eat. I think of The Devil when I think of Saturn in the second house. But did you know that the Devil in the tarot card is really just Pan, the god of the fertility of fields? Pan is a sensual guy. Food is too and the Devil? Of course. Do I think that Saturn in the second house is creative with food? Of course.