Saturn and Uranus are still in opposition in the sky, engaged in one of the pieces of dialogue in the “stage play of 2009” that I’ve talked about.  This week there’s a peak in the intensity of that dialogue, which will be felt strongly by people who have any planet at or near 20 degrees of a mutable sign in their chart.*  What does it feel like?  It’s rather like being in a vise.  If it’s affecting you, you’ll feel a tremendous sense of warring pressures:  Saturn’s conservatism vs. Uranus’ progressiveness.

Saturn is in Virgo, where it has been demanding that we reorganize ourselves, develop our business practices and create structures to better handle the everyday details of our business.  Saturn builds traditions and rules laid down by those that came before.  It is the part of our human nature that looks to the elders for guidance and stands by old established ways.  “The rules we’ve built for generations work,” says Saturn, “we must build on their foundation, refine and perfect them.  After all, we have integrity and a reputation to protect.”

Meanwhile, Uranus is in Pisces, where it is demanding change according to a higher sensibility.  Uranus is the Rebel or Revolutionary, the part of human nature that pushes for a paradigm shift to the next level.  It does that by breaking down the old and redesigning it to be greater and more all-inclusive.  Uranus tunes into the fresh ideas and new approaches of the young.  In the sign of Pisces it will do that by eroding lines and distinctions between things, creating messy, boundariless situations that demand a shift to a new level.  “Your rules do not apply here,” says Uranus to Saturn, “here, in the place where lines are fuzzy and things get lost in the cracks between.  Life is full of unexplainable mysteries which have a way of generating chaos when they are ignored.”

But how do you cope with a situation where you are supposed to build something strong and enduring, really build it to last, while at the same time you are also supposed to question old structures and test them for weak places, so that you can shift them to an entirely new level?  Obviously, only the strongest and most resilient parts of any preexisting structure will last through this ordeal.

This is a time of reform.  Look for it inside and out because you may see it around you in the world in general or you may see it in your own life, or both.  Where in your life are you simultaneously being pressured to display old-fashioned integrity and consistency and also to break out of old patterns and embrace change?  You will need to carefully assess which of the old structures is toppling and ready to die and which is foundational and must be kept and adjusted to.  You’ll also need to assess which new changes are really going to create progress and which are merely opportunities to use the chaos of the moment to escape responsibility.  (“It doesn’t matter if I pay the last month’s rent on time—I’m about to move anyway.”)

Saturn in Virgo would like life to always make sense, but Uranus in Pisces knows that there are huge swathes of life that no amount of accounting or logic can explain.  But ignoring or discounting that which cannot be explained logically is no solution.  It’s time to shift to a new perspective, one that includes both common sense and an appropriate awe for life’s inevitable mysteries.

Saturn opposite Uranus is now in full effect.  It started in November of 2008 and lasts until July of 2010.  Where in your life are you feeling the pressure?  Where do you need to make reforms?
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* To know if you have a planet at or near 20 degrees of mutable signs, you have to have your chart calculated.  But I can tell you that if your birthday is March 9-11, June 10-12, September 12-14 or December 11-13, you are probably feeling this strongly.

Also on this topic:  Saturn vs. Uranus–Match of the Decade
And:  Saturn and Uranus–Self Governance vs. Progressive Change

There stands Saturn, one of the old, established ones.  Perhaps he’s a corporate type, perhaps he’s a banker, perhaps he represents government.  In any case, he is the ultimate authority figure.  He steps into the ring and puts on his boxing gloves.

Opposite him is Uranus, the Rebel, the Revolutionary.  Uranus has come to make changes, very big changes.  Uranus won’t be happy until all of Saturn’s rules and regulations have been broken down.  Uranus will enjoy the reconstruction process.

Both are grinning at the thought of this fight.  They’ve been waiting a decade for it.  The last time they met in the ring like this was in 1999, when Uranus threw Saturn into an uproar by suggesting that Y2K was going to cause all the computers to break down and plunge the modern world into chaos.  Saturn had the last laugh in that battle:  we made it through to New Year’s Day 2000 just fine and now the episode seems silly, even though it was a serious concern at the time.

What tricks will Uranus have up his sleeve for Saturn this time?  It’s an election year and banks are failing.  Saturn’s traditional edifices (banking and government) are due for some changes.  If you favor a cause, agitate for it, donate to it and vote.  This year, because Uranus is awake and in fine fettle, anything could happen—anything at all.

Also on this topic:  Should I Build or Break? Answer–Both!
And:  Saturn and Uranus: Self-Governance vs. Progressive Change