Imagine if you will a board room with a long table. At either end of the table are two parties, each there to negotiate. Each wants his or her own way, but they know a compromise will be necessary in order to come to some sort of balanced agreement. In astrology, when two planets are in opposite parts of the sky we call this an “opposition.” Much like a real life negotiation the two planets in the sky can either come together somehow, one may overpower the other, or they might be left in a stalemate.
In a previous article I wrote about the conjunction- when two (or more) planets join forces. Their energy blends because they’re close to one another. With the opposition the planets are 180 degrees apart. The energies are coming from two different directions, two different points-of-view. The intial feeling is one of imbalance; a common ground needs to be found.
An opposition in the natal chart describes two energies, or needs, that we have. When we’re unconscious of this imbalance we tend to express only one side of the opposition and often meet the other side externally. For example, with the Sun (inner self, authority) making an opposition to Mars (anger, aggression, willpower) in a birth chart one may feel that he or she (Sun) often meets people (the opposition) who get angry easily (Mars), or work (Mars) to oppose the person. Because Mars can also represent motivation the person may feel he or she needs to be externally (opposition) motivated (Mars).
The truth is that the Martian energy needs to be better integrated and a balance struck between the person’s Sun and Mars. The person needs to understand that the part of the chart that contains Mars is the part of his or her life where the empahsis and focus should be on action, courage, and will. When consciousness is brought to the opposition, instead of two disparate energies, the person can integrate them into a continuum and find balance.
