Respectful Rebellion with Saturn Stationing Retrograde in Aquarius Square Uranus in Taurus

Saturn's pulling into the station

Photos: Willow

 

 Saturn Retrograde: May 23 to October 10, 2021 from 13 degrees to 6 degrees Aquarius

Venus Out of Bounds: May 23 to June 18 and October 9 to December 7, 2021

Taskmaster Saturn goes retrograde at 13 degrees Aquarius on May 23 (2:19 a.m. Pacific). As Saturn appears to slow and then stop in the zodiac, the energy and themes of this planet become concentrated and our burdens and responsibilities can feel dreadfully heavy to carry. Saturn can be a real drag, and we can be more highly aware of just how big a drag during stations like this.

At the same time, Saturn stations indicate a point when position, status, and authority can be shored up or cemented into place. If we've been working long and hard for some type of progress in our lives or out in the world, Saturn stations can be times when we see the fruits of our labour. We get a moment to pause, to reflect, to check our status, and this provides a vantage point from which we can view just how far we've come. Events may also be kicked up around the time of Saturn stations to test us on just how well we've learned previous lessons.

In general terms, the transit of Saturn in Aquarius (March 21, 2020 to March 7, 2023) indicates a challenge laid at our feet to build, establish, and reinforce (Saturn) the type of future and the type of communities (Aquarius) we wish to live within. 

Do we wish to live in a human-centred world where we work to meet the real needs of the people, or do we wish to live in an artificial, technology-dominated world where human beings are a commodity to be controlled, data-mined, and exploited? Do we wish to live a natural life, a life as part of nature, or do we wish to live an artificial life of virtual reality? The influence of technology, particularly top-down control (Saturn) through technology (Aquarius), is a major theme for the Saturn in Aquarius transit.

Saturn Rx will now back into a second exact square to Cosmic Agitator Uranus in Taurus (June 14), and as the squeeze of this square aspect intensifies, we're locked into a period of acute structural change. Many things are changing on many fronts, and people could be sort of losing it under this extremely uncertain and hard-to-pin-down energy. The word "unhinged" comes to mind. Things flying loose. Extreme adaptations to changing conditions. Anxieties or dread nipping at us from multiple angles. Difficulty staying grounded or feeling safe in the material world.

We're required to put extra effort into stability, reliability, normalcy, routine, and personal traditions in order to come through this year in good standing, without being emotionally shredded or left in a shambles by the often-harsh energies. 

Both our emotional and physical anchors must be tended, reinforced, and protected throughout the year and particularly around the times when the Saturn-Uranus square is at its tightest. 

We've been experiencing a prolonged period of structural change (much of it foisted upon us artificially) under this Saturn-Uranus square, which is within orb throughout 2021. The first exact square between these bodies occurred February 17, 2021 just after Saturn entered the retrograde shadow at 6 degrees Aquarius on February 14. February 2021 was a potent little time with a New Moon in Aquarius within six-planet stellium on February 11, and we could now be picking up on threads from around that time. 

You can read more about the Aquarius New Moon stellium themes in these articles:

From January 1, 2021 - A Re-Post: Parallels Between the Aquarius Stellium of February 1962 and the Aquarius Stellium of February 2021 

From December 8, 2020 (patron article) - The Aquarius Stellium of 2021 as the Centre of a Continuum: Drawing on Ripples from 60 Years in the Past and Sending Ripples 60 Years into the Future 

The final exact Saturn-Uranus square will occur on December 23, 2021, so this aspect and its themes truly do colour the entire year.

Saturn relates to structure, and Saturn retrograde relates to restructuring. Uranus relates to upheaval, change, and necessary breaks from the status quo. 

We're working with the force of necessary rebellion and change (Uranus) alongside the force of necessary stability and structure (Saturn). A tricky combination to satisfy. 

A Uranian act of rebellion (spraypainting graffiti on a traincar) but with a stern, Saturnine flavour (chastising superhero cartoon character)

Look to the houses where Saturn in Aquarius and Uranus in Taurus are squaring off in your chart to see the areas of personal focus. You are being called upon to advance in these areas but also to reinforce previous progress, efforts, and earned positioning. You aren't giving up one inch of status or one bit of stability, but you're also making needed changes in these areas that will bring in new energy, insight, and vision. You're riding the wave of Uranus-electrified change, but you're supported by a solid and grounding Saturnine foundation as you do so. Working successfully with both energies can bring about accelerated progress, along with new status and public positioning that could appear quite rapidly. 

Saturn retrograde in square aspect to Uranus in Taurus indicates a necessary break from the heavily socially-engineered (and robotic) versions of the future that are being shoved down our throats of late. Saturn in Aquarius square Uranus in Taurus indicates that a new line in the sand is being drawn by much of humanity in 2021. We're committing to living by our own values under our own sovereignty and to controlling our own positions and functions within our communities. 

Again, we're required to provide a neutralizing antidote to the very unstable, agitated energy of 2021 by maintaining stability, routine, and simple enjoyment in our daily lives. 

"Being boring" is a gift to the world under energies like these! 

The edgy and unstable energy of the Saturn-Uranus square is amplified considerably by Venus in Gemini going out of bounds on the very same day as the Saturn retrograde station - May 23.

Out of bounds means that a body is going beyond the path of the ecliptic. The ecliptic is the apparent path the Sun makes through the sky each year. Out of bounds planets and bodies are said to have a more wild, erratic, unpredictable, and uncontained expression. Much looser limits and boundaries than usual.

Sound familiar? As if we needed an extra dose of Uranus-type energy under these skies!

Venus will be out of bounds from May 23 to June 18, covering 17 degrees Gemini to 20 degrees Cancer. Venus will go out of bounds yet again on October 9, 2021 - the day before the Saturn direct station! So we have this wild and unpredictable social/relationship energy colouring both the Saturn retrograde station on May 23 and the Saturn direct station on October 10. Venus will be out of bounds from October 9 to December 7, 2021, covering 2 degrees Sagittarius to 23 degrees Capricorn.

If you have personal planets, bodies, or points that will be touched by out of bounds Venus, you could be called upon for some type of social, relationship, or community-based function. Helping to maintain the social fabric, social connections, and natural social supports in times like these is a crucial role to play.

At the same time, we must protect ourselves from these very "out there" energies. People could become unstable and erratic within the unmoored conditions, grasping onto anyone or anything that seems stable. This can have the effect of a drowning person grabbing hold of another person and taking them both down. 

Throw the person a life preserver if you're in the right place at the right time, but don't sacrifice your own stability or respectability for others who are flailing about.

The astrology indicates that social scenes, in general, are in an unstable state, a state of flux, and there could be rapid changes in social organization and social status throughout 2021. 

The world events of 2020 and 2021 have altered local societies, and we now find and establish new social pathways, new social connections, and new social dynamics within our communities that reflect this. Social alternatives are being developed based on the different values and perspectives held, and this appears to be some of the work being done in earnest by Saturn in Aquarius with the influence of Venus out of bounds.

Things are being pushed to a point of emotional overflow at the 5-degree Sagittarius Full Moon total lunar eclipse on May 26 (4:14 a.m.), which occurs along the nodal axis. The Moon will have been percolating in the sign of its detriment, Scorpio, for two-and-a-half days prior to the Full Moon, and there could be some powerful emotional truths surfacing. The Sagittarius Full Moon is at perigee, at the closest point in its orbit of Earth, so Full Moon issues could be bigger and more dramatic than usual.   

People with strong Venus-ruled energy in their charts - Taurus and Libra - could be called upon to maintain social standards and function during this unsettled time. The social flow has been artificially disrupted in 2020 and 2021, and it's up to us to set it straight again. 

There's a strong energy of social genius in this astrology. Brilliant advancements that benefit the people and community. A vision for what is needed to strengthen the social fabric and the ability to make it a material reality. The ability to bridge or harmonize people on different sides of the ideological fence. Connecting at the heart in novel ways.

But there is also a tendency toward inappropriate behaviour in social settings or in relationships. A lack of boundaries. Being shocking or disruptive just for the sake of being shocking or disruptive. People being blinded by their grand visions and losing sight of their social responsibilities. Going to extremes in a way that puts other people off or even harms them.

These energies indicate a requirement for respectful rebellion - respecting what has come before and what exists right now at the same time as we are pushing for change or for self-sovereignty. 

I respectfully disagree.

I respectfully refuse.

I respectfully adhere to my own truth. 

I respectfully choose a different way.

We're looking to avoid extremist or flash-in-the-pan scenarios. If the energy is being ramped up to an unsustainable level, we're counter-balancing and bringing it back down to Earth. 

Change that is beneficial and long-lasting will come about through sustained efforts over time, but there are also exciting moments of rapid advancement here. Ride the waves, but don't get too far "out there" before checking in with reality and observing how your actions are affecting those around you. 

Saturn in Aquarius square Uranus in Taurus indicates that a more unconventional form of authority and status may be available to us now. This is authority and status bestowed upon us informally by the community, by the people, or just by the hole we naturally fill. It's street cred. It's a position of public recognition that has formed around us through our natural skills, talents, and abilities, through our track records, through the type of responsibility we naturally maintain and fulfill in the world. Saturn in Aquarius square Uranus in Taurus indicates a more anarchistic form of authority and status, an organic form, a form that creates win-win scenarios. It's our natural position and status within the tribe and community, based in who we are and what we do in the world. It's a fluid form of authority but one that is no less powerful or important than more rigid and formalized versions. When you get right down to it, I think it's the truest form of authority that exists.

 Respectful rebellion with Saturn square Uranus: Sorry bout the graffiti

 

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