Making Change a Reality: Lessons from the Saturn/Uranus Trine
Uranus—the planet of chaos, change, freedom, and rebellion—has played a strong role in coloring the kairos (the zeitgeist) the last several years. It made a square alignment with unearth-the-hidden Pluto in 2012-2015 and since the end of 2016 has been dancing with both expansive Jupiter and make-it-real Saturn.
Regarding these latter two, the astrological alignments that have cast a strong background note have been the Jupiter/Uranus Opposition and Saturn/Uranus Trine. The dates of the exact Jupiter/Uranus Opposition were December 26 of 2016 and March 2 and September 27 of this year. The first two exact alignments of the Saturn/Uranus Trine were December 24 of 2016 and May 18. The last one is upcoming, tomorrow, on November 11.
Jupiter and Saturn are very different planets: Jupiter is related to expansion and widening possibilities while Saturn reflects natural law, the fundamentals of alignment, and the form that gives something structure. Yet, while Jupiter dancing with Uranus and Saturn partnering with Uranus are quite different, they both seem to cast our attention over the past year on the common denominator – Uranus.
With the Saturn/Uranus Trine currently a quite prominent energetic quality—again given it moving towards the exact alignment on November 11—I thought to offer some thoughts about it, and what its invitation for growth may be.
The invitation of Uranus includes a focus on liberation and freedom. We look to find patterns so we can break our patterns, those that have kept us calcified and not connecting an inner sense of independence, a sense of being who we really, at our core, feel we are.
When Uranus is prominent as a celestial pattern (as it is now), sometimes the path to liberation and freedom comes through shocks and surprises. Events occur that we didn’t expect, or we surprise ourselves with Aha! moments when we find ourselves connecting to a revolutionary idea or feeling a different way than usual. The shocks and surprises may also come from seeing a new route that all of a sudden seems like it was so obvious and yet it was one we never previously realized.
All of this can shake us deeply, shaking us out of rote and the way we perceive things usually are. It may have us both excited and scared. Excited for the new, as we feel a sense of exhilaration, yet scared because we’re in a place that feels foreign, a territory we’ve not been before—and we don’t necessarily have a proven track record of how to approach it. A big part of moving through these times colored by Uranus is to move through the fear, to stoke your cauldron of courage, and have confidence in your inventiveness: know that even if you’ve never done something before, it doesn’t mean you can’t do it, that you can’t piece together an innovative strategy to move forward. Sometimes it seems that Uranus breaks us out of our comfort zones so that we can grow.
Yet, that’s not to say it’s easy. In fact, it may have seemed rather hard and daunting at times. Saturn reminds us that change isn’t an overnight sensation…that it requires work, it requires patience, and that it often requires trial by error. It always seems important to me that when we encounter the trial-by-error errors, and possible failures, that we need to look to them for the wisdom and information they provide rather than having them have us just stop in our tracks and remain stagnant.
At least on the collective stage (and perhaps personally for you as well) it’s been a time when the pace has felt exceptionally fast. Many people can remember the experience of hearing some shocking political news, only to then not even have the time to digest it, when all of a sudden it seemed a new shock or surprise came in its immediate wake. It’s been dizzying at times, as we’ve have to figure out how to find an inner sense of center when things seem like they are spinning, when things seem like they are changing at a rapid clip. For many, though, what has emerged from this is a new sense of resiliency, a new vision-inspired determination, as these have become resources necessary to work through life when we realize things may be in constant flux. Think about your own sense of resiliency and ability to be adaptive and how it’s changed over the year. And even if the path to adopt it was challenging, can you see it now as something that you have to move forward with in life, a strength that emboldens you.
Remember that when we know to expect the unexpected, even if we don’t know what may occur, it enhances our resiliency to deal with things. OK, I’ll figure it out. OK, I’ll adapt. OK, I have it within me to move forward. Remember to have confidence in that.
During strong Uranus times, we’ve needed to keep our knees bent and stay bouncy. This way, like a tennis player, waiting for a serve, not knowing where it will land on our side of the court, we have much more ability to get to it and work with it, then if we had been stiff and rigid, or limited in our expectations of where it would land. Being open, approaching things from a beginner’s mind and being more flexible may be some of the shifts we’ve seen occurring within us, and those around us. During this strong Saturn/Uranus time, reflect upon this year through this lens to see how these perspectives may have aided you.
That both of the strong alignments with Uranus began around the holidays last year and that they both had their final connection this fall is striking to me. It’s been a time—and continues to be a time right now—when we can see how we can grow by not being rigid with assumptions, by approaching life with a sense of curiosity, and by barreling into our confidence and courage to experiment and make personal changes.
We’ve had to once again remember and realize that chaos and change are actually part of the pattern of life. It may feel like change is so prominent…and yet, change is a central part and law of the universe. Perhaps one of the gifts of this time, for all its rollercoaster moments, and all the creativity it’s also providing, and all the anxiousness it may be inspiring, is to remind us of that change is natural, and essential.
Some of the questions then are…What change do you want for yourself? For your family? For your community? For your world? What may you need to do to further forge the courage to step out of limiting patterns to help to galvanize this? What resources can you draw from to construct structures that help you connect to that burning inner voice, the one that calls out to you to be who you really are, and live life how you want, freer of the “should shackles” that have felt confining?
Saturn can help us to craft the container and structure that allows us to have greater freedom. It compels us to do the work, be realistic with timing, and connect to a desire to construct something meaningful, and sustainable. This way the change we want won’t be a flash in the pan, but will have bones, and continuity.
In closing, I wanted to offer you several Stellar Reflection Questions that may be helpful to further anchor the growth that you may have experienced during this Saturn/Uranus Trine year. Use them as journaling prompts, or just as questions to reflect upon.
* What in my life has been revolutionized?
* In what ways has my relationship to change changed over the year?
* If my life has been shaken up, in which realms have I been the one who’s done the shaking?
* How do I find calm and grounding when I feel I’m in the midst of a personal earthquake?
Photo by Ross Findon on Unsplash