Liber Saturni - Chapter 13

Verses

Shani arrives without drums. Consequence rarely needs an announcement.

Do not call every hardship punishment. Rain also falls on an empty court.

Yet when your own hand planted the thorn, do not accuse the field.

Delay is not refusal. Sometimes the fruit is still learning its weight.

The debtor fears the ledger; the honest trader asks to see it.

Discipline without compassion becomes vanity in iron clothes.

Compassion without discipline becomes a promise that cannot carry anyone.

Serve the lowly because hierarchy forgets who keeps it standing.

Do not boast that you suffer well. Suffering is not a tournament.

When wealth leaves, observe which friendships packed first.

When praise leaves, observe which virtues remained.

When youth leaves, observe who you had mistaken for yourself.

The slow judge is feared because excuses age badly in his waiting room.

If justice comes, accept it. If injustice comes, oppose it. Do not confuse fatalism with wisdom.

Your karma is not a story for blaming strangers. Begin with the footprint under your own shoe.

A hard season may refine you, or merely injure you. Learning is a second task.

Saturn does not owe you meaning. Meaning is work performed after the blow.

Patience is not sitting still. It is refusing to become false while time passes.