Jeffrey: On Saturday April 30, there is an exact opposition—or a 180 degree angle—between Venus and Saturn retrograde. We were talking last week about endings signified by Venus conjunct Uranus; Venus opposite Saturn definitely brings its own types of endings, for a number of reasons.
One is that Saturn in itself is kind of like the “shit or get off the pot” type of planet: Are you going to further commit to whatever endeavor you’re involved in, or are you going to let go because your baggage is holding you back? In addition, the opposition itself, because it’s got that full moon energy of culmination, it brings something into our awareness and we reach a decision point. “Am I going to continue on with this cycle that has developed or have I realized the lessons that I needed to learn about Saturn?” Perhaps I have integrated them and—in the case of a relationship—the person with whom I was involved provided what I needed to work through this level of karma, and now the relationship is ready to be over. So with Venus opposite Saturn, we need to do serious inventory-taking about what we value or about partnerships we’re in, and determine whether we want to commit to them over the long haul or if we would feel free-er if we just let them go.
Michelle: Yes, that is really a good way to sum up Venus opposite Saturn, and bearing in mind that although that aspect is exact at the end of the week, it’s close enough that we are feeling it through the week, we’re within orb of it now, and if we pile on the Venus square Pluto, Venus is really taking it right now … and that means, in practical terms, that relationships of all kinds—whether we are talking about your most intimate relationship or your relationships with colleagues or business partners—are really coming under fire. This is the time to question, as you say Jeff, “How committed am I down this path?”
When I think of Venus and Saturn in opposition to each other, my mind goes to the idea of, “Who’s with me and who’s against me?” It really polarizes. I almost think of President Bush when he gave his speech and it was really polarizing, there was no middle ground. With Venus opposite Saturn, you can get really locked into it. And certainly Venus in Aries would feel like, “Hey! Everything is personal. It’s about me, if you’re not on my side then it’s a personal statement of how you feel about me.”
What I like about an opposition is rather than get stuck in this seesaw thing where you’re either this or you’re that, in the middle of there somewhere is the potential to actually gain greater self-respect and greater respect for other people. That would be the ideal outcome of Venus and Saturn in an opposition.
Jeffrey: The other polarity of that is you could easily feel a sense of disapproval from some stern figure.
Michelle: Yes, that stern figure is Saturn.
People in your life tend to sort of play some of the planets. We unwittingly, unconsciously cast the people in our lives as planets and they express our planetary energy. If you are taking the stance that this older dude or my boss is totally against me and can’t get in line with anything that I want to bring to the table, you may need to look within and say, “Am I being respectful with regard to time?” In terms of deadline, “Do I get my work done in time? Am I responsible?” …that kind of thing, because if you’re not, that other person is really going to react to your lack of Saturn energy and start playing the heavy-handed Saturn person.
Jeffrey: You are saying that people in our lives often bring or act out lessons that we need to integrate. They will take on the role of that planet if the energy of that planet is not absorbed into our own character.
Michelle: That’s beautiful.