The Saturn Uranus Bowl 

 by Alphee Lavoie, Astrologer, Author, Teacher, Software Developer

    Saturn, as we astrologers know, is the archetype representing structure, responsibility and accountability.  Saturn solidifies and crystallizes things and we are clearly creatures of habit.  If you did something in a particular manner and it was successful then you most likely would want to continue doing things the same way.

    So, in this situation, you would have found the formula that works for you and it could become a ‘rule of thumb’ to stick with. 

    Uranus, on the other hand, presents quite a different archetypal energy.  It carries the seeds of new things and new ideas, thinking outside the box, brainstorming for new options and possibilities, change and forward movement to break old patterns and structures.  It is the energy of Uranus that brings us the awareness and insight to conclude that we are stuck in the mud and our successful formula may need to be changed or improved.  It shows us that perhaps it is time to discard the structured routine and move onto something new.  When we come to see that old situations are uncontrollable and enough is enough we know that Uranus is making its chaotic debut in our lives!   It seems that the more you try to keep things together, the more things fall apart. This is exactly what happened with the United States economy with our country spending of billions of dollars to try to revive the economic picture which was exemplified by Saturn.

    Saturn and Uranus began an opposition of 7° on November 20, 2007 and was in place until January 2, 2008. We did not see this 7° opposition again until September 17, 2008. This second opposition was completely different than the previous one.  You may be asking why since they were still 7 degrees apart.

    Saturn and Uranus created an astrological pattern referred to as a bowl where all of the 8 planets and the Sun and the Moon fall within 180 of a circle.   Saturn and Uranus were at opposite ends of the bowl’s rim.  They played the role of sentinels, guarding the other planets within and preventing them from influencing anything going on in the world.  Saturn/ Uranus created the rim of the bowl and all the planets were contained within it. 

    From September 17 2008 to January 22, 2009 all the planets were contained within that bowl, except for the Moon.  During that time span the Moon threaded its way in and out of the bowl. The Moon became the informer and according to astrological patterns each time the Moon found its way outside the bowl it changed the pattern to a bucket and acted as the handle.  The Moon rules feelings, emotions and security. While outside the bowl it gathered information and brought it back to the ‘prisoners’ within (the rest of the planets), while the Saturn and Uranus opposition had complete control of the situation.

    Seeing that the aspect of the opposition creates awareness this one could also have created a challenge to see which planet is stronger as in any competitive match.

    Remember that an opposition is like a see saw.  If two kids of the same size and weight get on a seesaw the ride can be fun and enjoyable.  But if there was a significant difference in the weight of the two kids the ride would not be satisfying at all. 

    When I was teaching astrology and talking about oppositions I used to tell them that oppositions require acute awareness.  My analogy was this:  If you're on the seesaw and you are at the high point you better be aware when the other kids is getting off or else you’ll hit the ground with a thud and you would be out of commission for awhile.

    That analogy can be easily applied to what has been going on between Saturn and Uranus.  In this case Uranus proved to be the stronger of the two.  When Saturn was at its highest point Uranus got off the seesaw and the whole Saturnian structure came crashing down.

    Thank God that we have planets Uranus to keep us moving forward.  The old astrologers thought that the world ended with Saturn. Of course in those days change was almost imperceptible.  The King or whatever form of government existed ruled all.  Life was difficult and the rules of society demanding.  Conforming to the social milieu was a must to survive. 

    Then in 1781 Herschel brought us Uranus!  Nowadays we don’t have to go down to the river to fetch our water, we can fly from coast to coast within hours instead of taking six months to cross by horse and wagon, and our life expectancy has tripled!  E-mail beats the hell out of the pony express. And back 2000 years ago Mercury was the messenger.  It probably took months to deliver a message to some someone by foot.  Then Uranus came in and said ‘we can’t let a kid do a man’s job.’  Uranus brought in television, the telephone and the web. When Uranus does something it affects the entire world. Saturn on the other hand affects only a small community.

    Last year this heavenly pattern made us well aware that what worked in the past won't work anymore. And as a human family we need to allow Uranus to do its work.  

    I like to compare Uranus /Saturn to a hurricane.  If you are sitting in your house while the wind is howling and you hear a noise, you’ll get up to see what it is.  Alas, the garage door is ripped off by the wind.  Logic tells you to stay inside and repair the door later when the storm is over to assess the damage.   This aspect shows you what is weak and where tour attention needs to go. But the most important thing it shows you what is strong and could resist 150 mile hour wind is still in tact.  So with many things in your life you have a choice to fix things that need repair and know that the rest is solid like a rock.  Or it will show you that the garage is tilting so repairs aren’t worth it.  You’d be better off to tear it down and build a new one.  Uranus has a way of showing you what is weak and what needs to be rebuilt or changed.

On January 22, 2009 the planet Venus comes out of the bowl.

    Now she that she is free and out in the open she will speak her  mind.  Venus rules money, love, pleasure among other things and will have some say in things now.  On March 13, 2009 the Sun will be next to come out of the bowl and on March 22, 2009 Mercury will also move outside.  This may help the world at large get some answers and find some solutions.

    On April 15, 2009 Mars, the planet of action and assertiveness moves outside the bowl.  Does that mean we will see more energy being focused to balance out the Saturn/ Uranus opposition that we had?  It certainly could.  I personally feel that at that point we will by the very least begin to see some light at the end of the tunnel.

    You can try to avoiding the energy of Uranus all you want like many of today's astrologers and those who believe that life ends with Saturn.   But little do they know that the Uranus influence won't go away.  Thank God for that.  Years ago when I was an engineer we designed many good tools using just a sliderule.  Because of the decimal accuracy of the  sliderule we had to spend hours recalculating everything long handed. That was Saturn at work!  We didn't even have a four function calculator.  In a short time we went from sliderules to computers.

   Emeril Lagasse favorite saying "Kick it up a notch".  Who knows maybe Emeril got his slogan from Uranus.

    Just like 'Ford had a better idea for motorcars' Uranus always seems to come in at the last moment of chaotic disorder to save the day with a new idea that improves the old Saturnian way of life and creates the new evolutionary step for us to take and move forward into unknown realms.

www.alphee.com

alphee@comcast.net