Over the last couple of months you might have felt like you’ve been in a blender, or rent in several different directions without really going anywhere. Relationships may have been trying, circumstances restrictive and unyielding, business difficult and unfruitful. There have been a lot of forceful planetary aspects so far this summer, most notably between Jupiter and Saturn. These are trying times, and much is being pushed toward its own awakening.
Jupiter and Saturn are slow moving, ponderous planets and the movements they illustrate have gradual and lasting effects. Saturn, especially, can be restrictive and frustrating, signifying hardship, boundaries and self-discipline. What is forceful and restrictive, despite ultimately being in our own best interest, is nearly always experienced as unpleasant. No one likes to be at the mercy of circumstances beyond their control.
Unfortunately, these aspects are reactivating as Jupiter turns retrograde on July 24, to apply to a mutual opposition with Saturn from Aries, before crossing back into Pisces again. This opposition perfects August 16. Jupiter goes direct on November 19, 2010. That means there’s more to come, first as Jupiter retrogrades against Saturn, who is about to enter Libra, and then again in early 2011 when Jupiter comes back to cross the opposition a third time as he reenters Aries.
The persistence and frustration of the opposition has been compounded by the fact that Jupiter entered his first station (when a planet appears stationary previous to retrograding) almost at the point of opposition. I’m writing this in late July (July 20) and for the last few weeks Saturn, the slower planet, has actually been applying to Jupiter, who has slowed almost to a standstill. This makes everything slow, culminating, heavy and lasting. Like heavy boots of lead and a long ladder to climb.
Saturn is a cold, distant planet, significant of boundaries and distinction. Saturn delineates and casts off. Saturn discriminates and criticizes. The effects of Saturn can appear cruel and exacting. Yet the sphere of Saturn, and all of the cold and dry Saturnine dispositions under it, are crucial for our evolution beyond the pleasures we, in the modern age, frequent in the pursuit of happiness. Real happiness cannot come from the things that make us happy alone. Lasting happiness comes in overcoming – and in contradistinction to – hardship. Saturn is obliging, in this regard.
Saturn is the highest planet of the ancient Astrology. The seventh sphere, beyond which the astral host assembles before God. As the highest, and the slowest, Saturn is the last of the archons – the last sphere to pass on our souls’ ascent to the source and center of All. It is no accident that, among other restrictive qualities peculiar to human existence, old-age is given to Saturn. Loneliness, miserliness, yet also occult and secret knowledge, are his. Saturn is the last and hardest lesson for us to abide, here beneath the Moon. Saturn is deliberate and pedantic. There is no immediacy or pleasuring under Saturn. Saturn requires study, discipline, dedication, constancy, and exertion. Saturn requires an amount of self-sacrifice to something larger than yourself.
Saturn is there to remind us of the most important lessons of all: the ones we don’t want to learn. Imagine if in school you were able to pick the subjects you wanted and to ignore the ones you didn’t. You would be “happy” in school, yet insignificantly so: you would miss some of the most eye-opening and lasting lessons. How often have we found our most profound experiences precisely where we weren’t looking for them? This is true adventure, and a necessary winding of soul experience. To come to learn secrets in places you never expected them is to discover the beginning of the mystery where the appearances of things change, and our perceptions shift in revelation. This is eye-opening; life is not simply the reaffirmation of our own prejudices.
Often we are our own worst influence – the ego loves to pleasure and fan itself. Yet it is the destruction of the ego which reveals the majesty and the true nature of the soul. Again, Saturn obliges.
So, this opposition will continue to stir up conflicts and circumstance. Jupiter, the natural significator of wealth and prosperity, will by dried up by Saturn. Tensions will be increased and released. Water, wind, fire and heat will be stirred up, literally and figuratively. Mars applies conjunction to Saturn in Libra (a place Mars is disagreeable to) late July, bringing force and drive. Accidents and problems crop up. Venus and Mars carry the opposition through Libra sparking passion and lustiness through to the New Moon in September (September 8). Relationships will appear like tugs of war, forcing one way, then the next. Best thing to do is to ride with the waves, and see where they take you. Plan and persevere, but don’t seek to control.
This summer and early fall, change may be coming in your life. Change is always coming. No matter what, embrace it. It’s good to get out of your own way.