Saturn/Uranus and World Events
By Catherine Kenward
www.astrologess.com

One of the most significant astrological influences at work in 2009 is the Saturn/Uranus opposition. The effects of this alignment will extend into the middle of 2010 and beyond.

The slower moving outer planets do a back and forwards dance as they go in and out of retrograde motion and often return to the same positions three times before moving on. If two planets are moving at about the same rate, then a particular relationship may be maintained even longer. This is the case with the Saturn/Uranus aspect that's occurring now. Instead of opposing three times, Saturn and Uranus will oppose five times (11/04/08, 2/05/09, 4/26/10 and 7/26/10).

Saturn represents the status quo, institutions, entrenched power structures and long established protocols. Uranus is an irresistable force for change and innovation. Uranus is the radical, the revolutionary, insisting that out-moded structures of the past must change.

Tension between Saturn and Uranus is the struggle between the old and new guard, as Uranus demands change and Saturn clings to the past. In the Tarot, the Tower card depicts the confrontation between these two forces. Pictured is a medieval fortress struck by a bolt of lightning with crumbling fortifications behind which its occupants are hiding. The Tower, or Saturn, represents the structures we have built to provide security and stability in our lives but, at some point we outgrow, and they become stagnant, stultifying, irrelevant.

Uranus is the force that demands we re-examine these structures to see if they are still supporting us or if they've outlived their purpose. Uranus causes us to revise and innovate or do away with these Saturnian fortifications completely. Uranus will gently push us toward change, but if we cling too tightly to the past, refusing the breath of fresh air that Uranus offers, it becomes the lightening bolt, blasting away the obstacles to the new order trying to take root. When Saturn and Uranus oppose, this happens on a personal level and in society in general.

An opposition is like a Full Moon, a culmination of a cycle that began at the New Moon, or conjunction, the moment when the seed for the new cycle is planted. To understand more fully the forces that are culminating in the current opposition, we need to look back to the last time Saturn/Uranus conjuncted and reference the events that were happening then.

Saturn conjuncted Uranus three times in 1988 and world events at that time seem especially relevant now. Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the USSR in 1985 and by 1988 was leading that nation toward far-reaching reforms. The Russian economy was on the verge of collapse and gleeful commentators in the West were quick to point out this proof that communism did not work. Some, this writer included, felt that perhaps the West would find itself in the same position in the not too distant future.

A few quotes from a Wikipedia article entitled "The Soviet Union" seem a particularly pertinent example of how current events are mirroring the headlines of 1988.

"The Soviet Union's collapse into independent nations began early in 1985. After years of Soviet military buildup at the expense of domestic development, economic growth was at a standstill. Failed attempts at reform, a stagnant economy, and war in Afghanistan led to a general feeling of discontent . . .

By 1990 the Soviet government had lost control over economic conditions. Government spending increased sharply as an increasing number of unprofitable enterprises required state support and consumer price subsidies to continue. Tax revenues declined as republic and local governments withheld tax revenues from the central government under the growing spirit of regional autonomy.

Gorbachev's programs of perestroika and glasnost produced radical unforeseen effects that brought that system down. As a means of reviving the Soviet state, Gorbachev repeatedly attempted to build a coalition of political leaders supportive of reform and created new arenas and bases of power. He implemented these measures because he wanted to resolve serious economic problems and political inertia that clearly threatened to put the Soviet Union into a state of long-term stagnation. …

Ultimately, Gorbachev could not forge a compromise among these forces and the consequence was the collapse of the Soviet Union."

Another Wikipedia article, "Perestroika", states, "Gorbachev increasingly found himself caught between criticism by conservatives who wanted to stop reform and liberals who wanted to accelerate it."

A timeline of events in 1988 and '89 illustrates the effects of the Saturn/Uranus conjunction, an influence that lingered even after Saturn, the faster moving of the two, began to move away from their conjunction.

In May of 1988 the Soviets began to pull out of Afghanistan. They had 120,000 troops in the country and had suffered 16,000 casualities. In December of that year Gorbachev announced unilateral troop cuts especially of the forces based in Eastern Europe.

1989 brought the Tiananmen Square Massacre in Peking, the San Francisco Earthquake (6.9 on the Richter scale) and the Berlin Wall came down that November. All these events bear the mark of Saturn/Uranus' revolutionary, earthshaking influence.

Now the Saturn/Uranus opposition has brought us the flip side of the coin and the USA is playing the part enacted by the USSR twenty years ago. Is it their turn to point the finger and cry here's proof that capitalism doesn't work either? The above list of headlines also reminds of us of Uranus' association with earthquakes and, as for the struggle for human rights in China, it is possible to win the battle but lose the war. These issues have not gone away and will come to a head during the period of Saturn's opposition to Uranus.

Reading the commentary on the Soviet Union reminds us of what an inspiring and charismatic man Mikhail Gorbachev really was, though often appreciated more by the world community than at home. His sphere of influence occurred during the Saturn/Uranus conjunction. The world of politics has not seen such a shining light since then, not until now with the meteoric rise to prominence of Barack Obama. Significantly the first Saturn/Uranus opposition occurred on the day Obama was elected and it will be the dominant influence during the first years of his administration.