A Fight for Life and a Love Story
By
Sarah Varcas
If you would prefer to listen to me reading this post, an audio version is available at the bottom of the page.
Saturn squares Uranus three times this year (February, June and December). This square is therefore a defining factor in the events of 2021, especially at a collective and societal level. Saturn is the planet of discipline, calendar time, karma and responsibility. Uranus is the planet of liberation, individuality, freedom and innovation. Far from natural bed fellows, these two cosmic heavy weights now embark upon a dance that will see much disruption and unpredictable twists and turns. If you think you know what happens next, think again. If you’re certain in your world view, let the edges begin to blur for much is not as it seems. When Saturn squares Uranus we’re all tasked with building a future from the wisdom of experience, potentised by openness to new possibilities.
Get off the fence!
With the square occurring in the fixed signs of Aquarius and Taurus, the consequences of this time will be enduring and irrevocable. A fixed square leaves no doubt that action must be taken, with a tangible outcome required. We won’t get away with sitting on the fence this year! We all need to dig deep and stand tall when it comes to the decisions we make and the actions we take. Uranus in Taurus disrupts the status quo, shifting even the most intransigent conditions and deeply rooted circumstances. Saturn in Aquarius holds us all to account and hammers home the responsibility we share to steer the human family in a life-affirming direction. The shadow side of this cosmic square-dance sees efforts to constrain the creative spirit; to control a narrative and its outcomes; to limit and suppress independent and original thought in favour of toeing the party line.
This square between Saturn and Uranus insists that we confront what’s happening in our world, contemplate the facts, take in the truth of it and decide where we stand. We cannot leave this up to others or allow self-appointed ‘experts’ to tell us what to believe. While freedoms the world over are evermore constrained, we retain forever the freedom to come to our own conclusions and act accordingly. When we sacrifice that for the ‘convenience’ of being told what to think, all hope is lost.
Saturn: our wise and faithful friend
Saturn wants us resilient, wise and strong, able to withstand the challenges of life, capitalise on its opportunities and carry our share of responsibility. It is nothing if not pragmatic. If there’s a problem, deal with it! If you’ve made a mistake, own it! Saturn puts us through boot-camp and tests our mettle at every turn. It can feel like punishment, but when we willingly take our part, something begins to shift. Facing fear becomes a little easier; the patience needed to reach our goal is somehow more available; our ability to endure when we thought we were broken increases notch by notch. Saturn wants us whole, not fragmented by fear and denial. It will do what it takes to get us that way, but welcomes us as allies in the process. When we can embrace challenge as a catalyst for creativity we come to know obstacles not as life gone wrong or a frustrating distraction, but an essential part of existence, honed to better shape us for the road ahead.
Saturn matures us, placing strength in our heart, wisdom in our mind and iron in our soul. Saturn’s in it for the long haul and wants us there too. It sees our potential, the challenges ahead, what we need to endure and the blessings of doing so. It rewards us with patience, wisdom and foresight, inner security and a deep, deep peace born of knowing ourselves so well that nothing can shake us or throw us off course for long.
If, however, we play the victim, bemoaning an unjust fate, Saturn won’t tolerate self-pity and we may feel a sharp thwack across our knuckles! No matter how much we can justify feeling sorry for ourselves, Saturn insists that we rise to meet life, not allow it to batter us down. It sees self-pity as an intolerable abdication of responsibility and power, and we simply cannot afford such a dereliction of sacred duty at this time.
Uranus: our liberator
Whilst Saturn holds our feet to the fire, Uranus invites us to reinvent ourselves. It reminds us nothing is set in stone as long as we’re prepared to release everything that binds us in the very moment it does so. Not a week, a month, or years down the line, but immediately – freeing familiar pain, old beliefs and habits, behaviours that sabotage us and conditions that keep us stuck. Allow nothing to stick in your energy field. Visualise it as flowing water, rushing wind. See its constant motion. By identifying with the trials of life, buying into their drama instead of claiming our freedom, we create substance where movement should be, calcifying thoughts and feelings unnecessarily. Recognising and reversing this process is key to profound and lasting change this year.
The Moon makes it personal
The Moon is conjunct Uranus at the time of this first square, making the Uranian energy of emancipation, innovative thought and liberation from past restraints the stronger of the two drives at this point. In Taurus the Moon is sensual, physical, loyal, unyielding and predictable. When conjunct Uranus she reveals another face of Taurus: the potential for profound, deep rooted change born of a lengthy process of patient inner adjustment. If you’ve been working away at some project in your life, be it inner or outer, this Saturn / Uranus square comes as assurance that your hard work will not go to waste. If last year felt like swimming against the tide or climbing a mountain with bloodied feet, this year offers rewards to those with the courage to stand their ground and keep on keeping on regardless of the struggles ahead.
Rebuilding from the bottom up
But this is a long game not a rapid result. The inner and outer work required is like no other we’ve encountered. For both people and institutions, bottom-up restructuring of everything within and without is called for. It’s scary, overwhelming, intimidating and exhausting. But it’s also exhilarating, inspiring and rejuvenating. We cannot move through the current state of the world by staying the same. We must change. We must allow ourselves to be reborn anew, realigned, pared down to the absolute necessities of life so we can focus and act with great wisdom and much courage.
This square must be honoured with our full attention, deepest respect and steadfast commitment to fully exploit its gifts and graces. It will kick-start otherwise lagging change, up-turn certainties and catalyse issues and themes which shape the coming years. The action of this square throughout 2021, will reveal the deepest truths of our lives. Many of us may be shocked by what we see, but from that seeing freedom cannot help but arise.
The cosmic square dance of responsible revolution
With this dance between the past (Saturn) and the future (Uranus), between revolution (Uranus) and responsibility (Saturn), even things we thought we’d dealt with could resurface for a while.
Relationships may replay old dynamics. Stable situations may go pear-shaped. Our own inner calm may waver and progress paid for with blood, sweat and tears may begin to falter. Let this come as no surprise. These are incredible times of immense challenge. Its okay to falter, to feel the fear, even to lose hope. But never let any of these states be the final word, for we are in motion, on a journey. And the sun rises fresh every single day.
In this square, Saturn and Uranus teach the mind can be our liberator and our jailer. If we allow it to oppress us with a refusal to think outside the box, question what we hear and apply our own inner knowing to received truths, we will lock ourselves in an inner prison devoid of our unique power to discern our own sovereignty. But if we can expand our mind to embrace previously dismissed possibilities, to view life from a fresh perspective and see ourselves anew, unbounded liberation awaits. The veils between the egoic and higher minds are paper thin now and we can break through so easily, with just the slightest effort if we choose. This year there are new vistas waiting to be seen, something we simply haven’t perceived about our situation can revolutionise the path ahead in the moment of its revelation.
Easy is overrated
In no way is this square an ‘easy’ aspect! But easy is overrated when a total overhaul of humanity is in the mix! As the world locks down and big pharma is increasingly touted as the messiah, we are each of us tasked with doing our part to birth the future we want to be our reality. If we don’t, rest assured someone else will do it for us! We are our own saviours, sovereign to the end. Never has it been more important than now, to know this in our very bones.
If, however, we allow the shadow side of Saturn in Aquarius to inform our choices, we risk giving in to fear of the unknown, allowing anyone who offers certainty – no matter their motives – to become our master. Saturn in Aquarius can be very reluctant to stand up and be counted or do the opposite of what others expect. It seeks security in being part of the crowd, no matter the sacrifice of sovereignty that crowd may demand in return. But to the extent that we surrender our inalienable right to think for ourselves, tension will increase as this year progresses. We’re being shaken awake to finally live life on purpose. Bold and brazen in our assertion that we all have a right to be free.
A poetic battle cry
This year is both a fight for life and a love story, a battle cry and the dreamtime of the soul. We’re deciding the very future of humanity with our every thought, word and deed. It requires bold commitment and the courage to pursue innovative solutions to old problems. Solutions which dare challenge all called ‘normal’ up to now. The choice is leap now or be pushed later. But either way we must shift at some point!! This square between Saturn and Uranus says best get it on with it today, for standing still is no longer an option. The future – our future – awaits.
Sarah Varcas