The year was 1967. On the radio you would have heard “Break on through,” by the Doors. It was the number one song from their debut album. Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles was also released. Anti-war protests, financial uncertainty, and shifting societal boundaries- it was a time of change- the counterculter, black power, feminists, and gay liberation- everyone was vying for a slice of freedom and expression.
There were several important planetary patterns at play during the sixties. The most signifcant involved the conjunction of Pluto and Uranus in 1965. These two planets create cycles of societal progress and evolution and meet in the sky every 160 years. These two planets will be coming to their first quarter square around 2012 (and the topic of a future article).
Another major aspect occurred during the mid-60s- the Saturn-Uranus opposition. These two planets met in the sky (meaning they were together- or conjunct) in 1942 and, twenty five years later in 1967, they were opposing one another (at opposite places in the sky, or 180 degrees apart). This is of interest to us today because these same planets are again opposite in the sky and will be (on and off) for the next few years.
These two planets, Saturn and Uranus, represent tradtion and progress respectively. Two strange attractors are at play- one with a basin of security, tradition, fear, and form (Saturn); the other with a basin of freedom, ultruism, change, and the unorthadox (Uranus). We may not know what events they’ll attract, but we can observe the pattern of events at play. The Saturn-Uranus opposition is the original battle, before original sin, the emnity between father and son- the battle between generations.
The year 1967 saw the end of miscegentation laws that previously forbade interracial marriage and interracial sex. The following excertp is from the wikipeida entry for Loving v. Virginia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loving_vs._Virginia), the case that overturned laws banning inter-racial marriage that year:
Specifically, they [Richard and Mildred Loving] were charged under Section 20-58 of the Virginia Code, which prohibited interracial couples from being married out of state and then returning to Virginia, and Section 20-59, which classified “miscegenation” as a felony punishable by a prison sentence of between one and five years. On January 6, 1959, the Lovings pleaded guilty and were sentenced to one year in prison, with the sentence suspended for 25 years on condition that the couple leave the state of Virginia. The trial judge in the case, Leon Bazile, echoing Johann Friedrich Blumenbach’s 18th-century interpretation of race, proclaimed that:
“Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, Malay and red, and He placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with His arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that He separated the races shows that He did not intend for the races to mix.”
Now, in 2008 at the current opposition (again, the “full” phase as we had in 1967) we find ourselves facing challeges to these same principles with gay marriage as our saddle point. All possibilities exist and all patterns repeat. But now Pluto is transitioning from Sagittarius into Capricorn (Pluto ingress in Capricorn on November 27, 2008). Pluto in Capricorn is a redefinition of government- an evolution of power. We elected Obama to be our voice; not our conscience; with Pluto in Capricorn it will be more about a government that can achieve its aims (Capricorn) and less about moralizing (Sagittarius).
Saturn is the mythological son of Ouranus (Uranus), the original sky god (who mates with Gaia, the earth, and spawns the seven titans). Ouranus swallows his other sons, and in a rage Saturn castrates Ouranous. This produces more mayhem but it also catapults Saturn to power. He reigns for epochs until one of his sons, Zeus (Jupiter) ascends Mt. Olympus. The moral of the story is that, while cycles repeat, they are new cycles with a new cast of characters playing out the same stories or carrying the same themes.
During the conjunction of these two planets the theme involves merging the two energies. Because these energies are so different the blending usually never creates something congruous. In 1942 when Saturn and Uranus were conjunct in Taurus (fixed earth) the world was living through World War II. In the United States President Roosevelt signed the interment executive order and moved thousands of Japanese-Americans into camps.
That conjuction was much more about protecting identity- we are “AMERICANS”- security (Saturn) was estabilished on the material plane (Taurus)- through our shared values (Taurus) and sustained through hiding our differences (Uranus). At the opposition in 1967 it was about progress through being an individual (Uranus) and disassociating from cultural norms (Saturn).
The next conjuction in 1988 (and the “new phase” of our current “full cycle”) happened with Saturn and Uranus nestled together in Sagittarius. Between Reaganomics and AIDS the religious right swaggered in and preached security (Saturn) though morality (Sagittarius). The square between the Sun and the Moon in this 1988 conjuction chart describes the dissonance between the heart and soul at this time. Yuppies, hypocracy, and death. Oh, and the first Bush. Yikes indeed.
Nineteen eighty-eight was also the time of the Savings and Loan scandal that shook the financial world. It was a tell-tale sign of things that would manifest during the opposition (the “full” phase) as they are now- the loosening of regulation (too much Uranus and not enough Saturn) to the point entropy (total loss of form without massive infusions of energy (in this case, money $$$).
In the chart for the current Saturn-Uranus opposition Saturn (structure) is making a square (challenges) to Venus (love and relationships). Uranus (change) makes a trine aspect (integration) to the Sun (ego, identity). This is a time when we collectively must walk the talk as the impetus for evolution propels us towards the next strange attractor. Caught in its gravitational pull we brace ourselves for the pattern about to emerge.
Listen for the themes of the past versus the future in the passages from wikipedia about the Loving case:
In The Slaughterhouse Cases [another case concerning civil rights that, when considered along with the Loving case caused the justice to make the following statement], … dissenting Supreme Court Justice Swayne wrote, “Fairly construed, these amendments may be said to rise to the dignity of a new Magna Carta.”
Magna Carta. Bill of Rights. Constitution. These are all Saturn-Uranus concepts- constructing rules (Saturn) that influence our freedom (Uranus). Creating structures (Saturn) for pursuing liberty (Uranus). And because it’s an opposition it’s inherently about relationships. Saturn represents the government and during the opposition from Uranus we fight for our individual rights.
So the archetypical battle being enacted here is between father and son; king and heir; old guard and new guard; tradition and progress; iconic and unorthadox. Governments rule with too strong a dictitatoral feel and the pendulum swings left. Governments spend themselves silly (how we can do any more harm in this area, I don’t know) and the pendulum swings red.
The exact opposition on November 4, 2008 is a beautiful and simple reflection of this pattern- Obama/Change/Uranus opposed McCain/Old Guard/Saturn. And progress won out. There’s no reason to believe it won’t happen again. The key is to create ritual around this change. We’re coming to a tipping point. Let’s all lean together.
[...] in the state. “This club was the by-product of what was awakened in the 1960s at the last Saturn-Uranus oppostion,” says Brenda Brush, one of the earliest members and past president. “Groups had to [...]
[...] and we may collectively feel the pull of progress against resistance of the past. Remember that the Saturn Uranus combination is about past vs. future, structure vs. freedom, and the traditionalist vs. the renegade. The Aries [...]
[...] and we may collectively feel the pull of progress against resistance of the past. Remember that the Saturn Uranus combination is about past vs. future, structure vs. freedom, and the traditionalist vs. the renegade. The Aries [...]