One of the fundamental tenets of wisdom is the precept of “as above, so below; as within, so without.”
The internal reflects the external. The personal reflects the collective. What happens in the sky and the great beyond is a mirror for what happens on Earth.
Everything is patterns.
Today the planet Saturn, currently residing in the sign of Aquarius, makes a square to the planet Uranus, currently residing in the sign of Taurus.
In astrology, a square is a relationship of friction.
Saturn is the planet of structure, order, rules, tradition, refusals, downsizing, boundaries.
Uranus is the planet of upheaval and change, innovation, disruption, rebellion, and being free enough to try things a new way.
You can see how this may create a lot of friction.
According to astrologer Chani Nicholas, this Saturn/Uranus square is a defining theme of 2021. The planets will make a square twice more this year, in June and December.
This is not necessarily predictive of what might happen. As I’ve been learning more about astrology, I’m understanding it as a useful lens through which to view events at the personal level and at the collective level. It forms the basis of inquiry, a means to examine the self.
Nicholas cautions that
When really big astrology like this happens, we have to think of it in context of the entire year, and not just this day, and not just this week, and not even really this month sometimes.
As well, Nicholas cautions that sometimes the ways the astrology shows up in our personal life it will be really subtle.
For me, this Saturn/Uranus square is hardly subtle. Occurring in the part of my chart that governs my creative work and projects, as well as fun and pleasure, this conflict has been rolling in like a freight train. It’s forced me to examine the structures I have put in place to help me work:
- Which are serving me and which are getting in the way?
- What do I need to change?
- What do I need to eliminate?
- Where am I experiencing this friction and how can I resolve it?
More generally, this feels like a theme of my life; I often feel pulled between the rituals and other tools I employ to give me structure and my desire to dismantle all of it and create new ways of working.
Destroying what we’ve built is part of change and necessary for innovation. And, also, as much as change is necessary it’s natural to resist it.
Holding space for both tradition and innovation is a tricky balancing act.
As much as we might want to burn it all down and start new, sometimes the current existing structures are so embedded that we have no choice but to honor them and create change within them, slowly chipping away at them from the inside.
The conflict we are entering between disruption and order doesn’t necessarily have an easy or quick resolution. We might be in the muck for a while, awaiting a new option that isn’t even in our awareness yet.
All the more reason to get comfortable with transitions and being in the mystery.
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