The Jupiter-Saturn Opposition and the potent relationship brew

The stagnation of the past several weeks eases up as the wheel begins to turn at a faster pace, bringing Jupiter at 27’52 Pisces into his first of three oppositions with the old Sea Goat Saturn at 27’52 Virgo on May 23, 2010 at 1:04 am US EDT. This is a powerful confrontation marking the culmination of a ten year build up in intensity, which began at the last Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Taurus at 22’42 degrees on May 28, 2000. On a personal level, think about what began in your life around that time and how it has changed your life. For me, personally, the conjunction took place on my Saturn-Juno conjunction in the 8th house…this was my first Saturn return and brought the gift of astrology more vividly into my world (trine my Mercury/Pluto conjunction on the 12th house cusp, sesquiquadrate my Uranus). Throughout the past ten years I have been studying and working hard, indulging myself thoroughly in this love and turning it outward to help others understand their lives and personalities on a deeper level. What did this energy do for you personally? What have you been developing and working on since that time?

As the series of oppositions unfold in your world – the 2nd opposition takes place on August 16, 2010 and the 3rd on March 28, 2011 - think about what is changing or what you’d like to change regarding what you began back in May 2000. Once this time period passes, we will begin to integrate all that has gone before, entering into a period marked more by reflection and relaxation as we come to terms with all that has changed in our lives. The oppositions represent an opportunity to reorganize our long term goals so we can continue to grow and develop anything of lasting value brought into our lives in May 2000 at a somewhat slower pace. The time of experimentation may fade into a time period of confidence as we share what we’ve learned on a broader scale. For me this coincides with the desire to step back a little and do deeper astrological studies and writing behind the scenes, so that I may disseminate what I’ve learned through my own experiments, research, and trial and error over the past 10 years. Saturn will remain in his retrograde motion at the first opposition, giving us time to finish cleaning up anything that is necessary so that we can prepare for the future. It’s good to begin developing a new strategy at this time as old fears can interfere with progress. Jupiter will help you to confront any challenges head on, urging you to deal with those old demons symbolized by transiting Saturn’s placement in your chart at 27’52 Virgo. Let go of anything that is harmful, painful, or inhibiting that came about through the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in May 2000 at this time and you will feel freer and better able to embrace hope for a positive, inspiring future.

Being not only an astrologer but very much a relationship astrologer, I cannot talk about a major astrological event without discussing how it may potentially affect us in our relationships. As always, it depends on your personal chart and current relational circumstance, but if we take a closer look at the exact opposition chart, there are several tense relationship markers. Lovely Venus is caught up in Pluto’s intense gaze as she enters into an opposition aspect with the Dark Lord, shortly after having important, perhaps secretive, discussions with bombastic Uranus on May 19th. Pluto wants to know what is going on; what insight did Venus gain from her rendezvous with Uranus? With Venus making recent Neptune and Chiron connections as well, it is a clear message that many of us have been concerned about our relationships and their direction. We see support for this conclusion with Venus in contact with our Mother dwarf planet Ceres, asteroid Hygeia, and her approaching trine to Pallas at the time of the Jupiter-Saturn opposition. Uranus may have filled her head with very vivid and fantastic ideas about how to improve her love life, whether that means leaving a relationship for greener fields or making the most of what is available in a present relationship in order to revitalize it. With the background of the Uranus-Saturn opposition lingering, many of us are unsatisfied with how our relationships are progressing. The old ways no longer work. As Jupiter opposes Saturn and we look back over the past ten years, we may realize that a relationship begun (or one that changed) around the time of the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in 2000 simply is not what we need any longer. If this is true for you, take the positive memories and developments (especially any children born during the past 10 years), and let go of what isn’t working. This may mean that you and your partner need to revitalize the entire connection from the ground up. Or it may mean that it is literally time to let go, move on, and heal. Chiron and Hygeia in connection to Venus are present for a reason. Healing is needed, whatever that means for you in your personal circumstances. Pluto and Pallas are waiting in the wings to help Venus transform her situation and find happiness for who she is becoming now. Pluto in Capricorn will help to transform old relationship structures while Pallas in Scorpio will dig, dig, dig for the truth, enabling Venus to find her way around obstacles and transform her vision of what she is capable of. With Venus in the sign of home-loving, nurturing Cancer, children may be the primary concern and focus…they may also be used as an ‘obstacle’ or excuse to stay in a miserable relationship situation. Pallas’ presence will help Venus figure out how to make the most of any situation, protecting her own needs as well as her children’s. One of the primary questions we may ask ourselves at this time is, who do we belong with? Who is part of our natural ‘tribe?’ Who do we truly resonate with, and is our current home truly our ‘home?’ We need deep bonds to others like ourselves when Venus is in Cancer, but many of us tend to confuse bloodlines and ancestry with tribal connections. Not everyone in our ‘family’ is really our family; not everyone we live with really resonates with who we are. Pluto and Pallas together will make us very aware of this at this time.

We are in the tail end of the First Quarter Moon phase during the Jupiter-Saturn opposition. With the Moon in Libra, we see, again, that the focus is on relationships. There is a need for harmonious communication but that may be impossible with all the tension she is under, indeed, in square to Venus herself. At the same time she is separating from a conjunction to sober Saturn, an opposition to expansive Jupiter and wild Uranus, and approaching a square to Pluto and Mother Ceres, as well as a semisquare to Hygeia and a quincunx to Chiron. Her recent trine to Vulcan brings even greater resonating sensitivity and intuition into the mix. The Sun is supportive, but his links to Uranus, Neptune, and the Black Moon Lilith may only serve to heighten any underlying anxiety felt by the Moon. Mercury in Taurus will try to hold back and contain his thoughts, but this may only serve to create more tension. Mars may be overly dramatic and confident in Leo, as he contacts Neptune, Cupido, and the Black Moon. Used positively, this energy makes for a time when Mars can be a powerful leader, cutting through the crap and helping those caught up in unfair predicaments to make necessary changes. Used arrogantly, and he can upset the applecart and then lash out in anger as he is super sensitive right now.

May 22nd – 23rd may be quite dramatic days for many of us as the tension that is brewing beneath the surface may become uncontainable. Unexpected expression of dissatisfaction in relationships is possible, and this opening can create positive change if you are able to talk things out with a partner and come to an understanding or fair agreement. It can be time of renewal, for you personally or for a partnership. Keep in mind, however, that once the talk begins, it will be very easy to express more than you ever intended and not only that, but whatever is said now may not sink in immediately, leaving you feeling unheard and potentially frustrated. Mercury in Taurus is too busy holding onto the past to truly allow the future thought-waves to penetrate too deeply. It could take some time, perhaps until the next Jupiter-Saturn opposition on August 16th. Or it may be sooner, when Mercury enters Gemini on June 10th. It truly depends on your individual state of affairs. Saturn turns forward on May 30th and this can help to speed situations along as we will be more eager to begin establishing new foundations – but honestly, there will be no true stability or foundation building at this time. Don’t expect it. Saturn will have the final face-off with Uranus on July 26th. Only after this time will we have the ability to truly sink the concrete or establish the roots for anything of permanence in our relationships. Between May 22nd and July 26th, we all have some serious clearing out to do. First we must find the way, and this is what the planetary energy of May 22nd – May 23rd will help us discover.

Below are the charts for the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction of May 28, 2000 and the Jupiter-Opposition of May 23, 2010