Dear Friend and Reader:
Monday was the second of three contacts of Saturn square Uranus. I wrote about this extensively in February, framing my discussion on the two concepts of science represented by these planets. One is true science, which means the scientific method of a testable theory, experimentation, and a conclusion — which is then not considered “the truth” until it’s re-tested and subjected to evaluation.
The other is the science we are familiar with, which is industrial, commercial and governmental use of laboratories. This is corporate science or political science, which gets its pristine image from people the likes of Sir Isaac Newton and Marie Curie (nee Sklodowska), who were not death merchants or paid shills but rather original seekers of discovery and servants of true progress.
(Sir Isaac, one of the greatest scientists and mathematicians in history, got it right when he said that God put everything in its place. He is also the one who asked why apples fall downward when they have so many other options.)
We must not confuse these authentic scientists with those at Monsanto, Pfizer, Merck, Moderna and the Wuhan Virus Factory. That would be like the Mafia using Giada De Laurentiis or Luciano Pavarotti to clean up its image. Yes, they are all Italian, but the similarities end there.
Anthony Fauci does not get any Brownie points from me merely for claiming to be in the same industry as Asclepius (or for being Italian).
The Saturn-Uranus Cycle
Saturn-Uranus squares are a fairly rare event, as Saturn orbits the Sun in 29 years and Uranus in 84 years. We are now at the waning square or last quarter phase of a 45-year cycle between the two planets.
Often outer planet events have three passes, due to the Earth orbiting the Sun shifting the degrees of the planets around. Such is true in 2021; three squares that are really one happen(d) Feb. 17, June 14, and Dec. 24, 2021.
The most recent opposition of Saturn and Uranus was in 2010 (Saturn in Libra, Uranus in Aries, both in the first degrees of those signs — an astonishing Aries Point event). This was the year of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico, now all but forgotten. Then note what happened in 2011 for a sense of what that aspect was about: Arab Spring, the Madison, Wisconsin public labor union movement, Occupy Wall Street, and the Fukhshima nuclear disaster, still ongoing.
The waxing square was in 1999-2000 (Saturn in Taurus, Uranus in Aquarius, opposite to what we have now). This spanned the turn of the millennium and was associated with the anti-globalization movement that erupted throughout the United States and Europe.
The conjunction of Saturn and Uranus that began the current cycle was in Sagittarius, closely conjunct the Galactic Core, in 1988. It’s easy to forget this kind of thing, though the conjunction that commences the cycle tells the story of all of the aspect events that follow.
Of Structure and Lightning
Saturn is the planet representing structure, as well as chronological time (Kronos in its Greek incarnation). Uranus is the planet of the electrical age and the industrial age (same basic idea). Yet while things of a Saturnian nature tend to be predictable, those of a Uranian nature tend to come out of the blue (or the black, like a flash in the darkness). Under a Uranus transit, you know you don’t know what’s going to happen, and that can be valuable information. In your interpretation of any Uranus transit, that is the place to start.
What happens when you put the two together? It depends on the aspect. In a square, which is about maximum tension and also integrity, there is a tendency to work one side and then the other. This is true for the squares in your natal chart, for when there is a transit to your chart, and also a mutual aspect like we are having now.
Taurus is an unusual sensation for Uranus, in that it’s a sign energy that tends to resist change, while Uranus provokes change. So that by itself carries considerable tension that is looking for somewhere to go. Change, movement and progress are nerve racking for Taurus, which mostly prefers to stay put and keep things stable.
Saturn is unusually strong in the sign that it traditionally rules, Aquarius, and also seeks stability — though this is often in the form of steady progress. Saturn in Aquarius describes flexible stability. Uranus in Taurus wants to blow up the status quo. And now they are doing a square dance, putting these two notions into opposition with one another.
One situation many people are in is that they resist change, and wait on some outside force to push them over the edge. This can become a game — “make me do it.” Eventually, something will make everyone do something, so it’s possible to give up making choices and live from exigency to exigency. That is one possible expression of Uranus in Taurus.
Saturn in Aquarius is saying grow up and deal with your stuff. Get organized, and make doable plans with a timeframe involved. Take the long view. And allow for both changes to your plan, and a long-term view so you have a sense of direction. This is not especially popular.
Of Giving and Receiving
One of the qualities of the digital age is an extreme inflexibility. We are being conditioned to be like robots, which neither think nor feel. With Saturn square Uranus, we might ask, what gives?
There are however several ways to read that question. Usually it means what moves or changes; what yields, flexes or breaks. Yet it can also mean what offers you something. This is related to the question of what you’re willing to receive. Many people experience desire without the openness to accept, and need to yield to this. In this sense, to receive is to give and to give is to receive, which you can read a lot about in A Course in Miracles.
We are living in a tremendously inflexible world right now, as we gradually merge consciousness with robotic devices.
We only fail to notice it for two reasons: one is that it’s so pervasive that it seems normal. Two is that it feels good, or we think it does, to live in such a restrained and controlled way.
I don’t think it feels good so much as many experience the prospect of letting go as terrifying to them. It is therefore preferable to stay on script and maintain one’s public relations posture lest all spin out of control.
We have been living through a brutal phase of history where we have been conditioned not to trust our bodies and our natural ability to repel disease or to heal. This has come along with driving consciousness to the notoriously control-obsessed digital sphere. Ultimately, this is about the conditioning not to feel, which is the ultimate loss of control: being receptive.
To feel is not to emote. They are opposite experiences. To emote is to exude emotions; to spew out energy. To feel is to be receptive, which means to be open and vulnerable. We tend to confuse these two vastly different things, and I would add that most people don’t actually feel their emotions while they are emoting, at least not in any detail.
So here we are, at the point of what gives? At least now in most places, most people are showing their faces, so we can have a sense what’s going on with them. Much of the Covid drama was a blend of extreme inflexibility and a great big game of “make me do it.” That, and the great big sucking sound of nearly everything being vacuumed into cyberspace and two-factor authentication.
Now, at the peak of Saturn square Uranus, the question remains, what gives? Do you?
Faithfully,