Saturn Opposes Uranus

Today’s post is excerpted from The Herbst Newsletter (astrological-cultural-spiritual-political views & opinions) Issue #105; December 2008. The topic is the current Saturn-Uranus opposition, what it has meant historically, and how it bodes for today’s election.

Excerpted material by Bill Herbst:

Saturn-Uranus in Politics: “Throw the Bums Out!”

National elections for President were held in America during active Saturn-Uranus quarterly transitions in 1908, 1920, 1932, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, and 2000. In SIX of those eight elections, the party that had held the White House previously was voted out:

• 1908 (1st Q) – conservative business candidate William Taft defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan to replace progressive reformer and incumbent Theodore Roosevelt

• 1920 (Full) – after the culmination of World War I and the global influenza pandemic, Republican Warren Harding thrashed Democrat James Cox, replacing disabled incumbent Democrat Woodrow Wilson

• 1932 (Last Q) – in the depths of the Great Depression, Democrat Franklin Roosevelt routed incumbent Republican Herbert Hoover

• 1952 (1st Q) – during the setbacks of the Korean War, Republican Dwight Eisenhower defeated Democrat Adlai Stevenson to replace incumbent Democrat Harry Truman

• 1976 (Last Q) – in the aftermath of Watergate, the first gas crisis, and the pardon of Richard Nixon, Democrat Jimmy Carter narrowly defeated incumbent Republican Gerald Ford

• 2000 (1st Q) – With the help of a partisan Supreme Court, Republican George W. Bush was “elected” over Democrat Al Gore (who won the popular vote) to replace incumbent Democrat Bill Clinton

In only two Saturn-Uranus elections—1964 and 1988—was the incumbent party victorious. In both cases, the opposition party chose an ineffectual candidate who was successfully demonized by the incumbent’s campaign as too far from mainstream views (Goldwater in 1964 and Dukakis in 1988).

The next election that will occur during a Saturn-Uranus period is the one we’re about to decide. On November 4th, 2008—the exact day of this week’s national election—Saturn will form the first of its five oppositions to Uranus from 2008-2010.

Given the history of Saturn-Uranus elections over the past century, odds are 3 to 1 that the Democrats will reclaim the Presidency from the Republicans. The fact that Saturn and Uranus will be precisely opposite on the exact day of the election is certainly provocative, but I’m not sure that makes it deserving of extra weight, and, if so, how much. Suffice it to say that both Obama and McCain are running on platforms of change. Neither candidate wants to be associated with the status quo, since the public’s mood toward George W. Bush is surly (“Throw the bums out!”).

Three Saturn Cycles

Thus far in the 21st century, Saturn has past through oppositions to two of the three outer planets, meaning that its cycles with each of those two bodies reached the halfway point. This implies full manifestation in harvest—literally, reaping what we had sowed earlier, during the beginning phases of the cycles.

From August 2000 through May 2003 (using 10° orbs), Saturn was opposite Pluto on the Gemini-Sagittarius axis. The Saturn-Pluto cycle, from 31-38 years long, brings a harsh ruthlessness in confrontation through the blunt use of raw power. The 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon occurred then, as well as the U.S. retaliatory invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, all of which had their roots in the early days of the cycle during the 1980s, when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, and the U.S. supported the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and Saddam Hussein.

From August 2005 through June 2008, Saturn moved opposite Neptune on the Leo-Aquarius axis. The 36-year Saturn-Neptune cycle spawns collective dreams, visions, and fantasies. Some of these cross-fertilize with reality to change life (and us) for the better; others eventually prove to be toxic and destructive to reality, in which case we eventually have to pay the piper for our folly. New Orleans was drowned by Hurricane Katrina during this period, and the E-Z credit subprime mortgage crisis of massive defaults and bankruptcies geared up as the housing bubble was punctured. The economic and financial good times begun during the cycle’s early days in the 1990s turned out to be the unsustainable product of toxic fantasies. Little did we realize in 2007 just how venomous they had become.

Now, Saturn is completing the third leg of this cosmic trifecta by opposing Uranus on the Virgo-Pisces axis as Pluto moves into Capricorn. The Saturn-Uranus cycle, 44 years on average, juxtaposes the traditional versus the revolutionary, the conservative versus the progressive, and old versus young. The cycle is not raw, blunt, and violent like Saturn-Pluto, not dreamy, idealistic, or anesthetized like Saturn-Neptune, but instead sudden, unexpected, and often unpredictable in its manifestations, provoking changes in our shared perceptions about what constitutes legitimate authority and reasonable servitude. This is when the public is roused from its slumbering passivity into active civil disobedience. Over the next three years, more and more people will notice that certain laws seem bankrupt of authority. Sometimes they’ll formally challenge such questionable rules; other times, they’ll simply stop obeying what they see as bogus.

Both previous transits were three-pass events, meaning that Saturn was exactly opposite Pluto and Neptune three times each (moving forward, then apparently moving backward in retrograde motion, and finally moving forward again). Three passes are standard fare for multi-pass astrological events. The Saturn-Uranus opposition, however, is a five-pass transit, adding significantly to its symbolic portent as well as lengthening its duration, from October 2007 through August 2011. All this presages the phenomenally rare seven-passes of Uranus at first-quarter square to Pluto, the first of which is already within wide orb and will reach its partile 90° angle in June 2012.

Thanks to Bill Herbst, Master astrologer. We wish Bill all the best as he continues to struggle with health concerns. Visit his website: Bill Herbst (his past newsletters are posted there).

~ by wolfmoonlady on November 4, 2008.