On
July 16, 2005, Saturn will leave Cancer and enter Leo where it will
remain for a little more than two years. Two years ago I wrote, "Saturn
in Cancer is all about long-term commitment to spiritual values
and learning to open our hearts even in the hardest of times." Sadly,
humanity's heartfulness has grown little over the last two years. Instead
a growing attachment to differing forms of fundamentalism has created
more estrangement, hardheartedness and hatred. Humanity has given into
Saturn's limiting properties; hampering our ability to love and nurture
each other fully and freely (Cancer); creating a deep resistance to
radicalizing ourselves and our world by awakening (Uranus/Aquarius)
to the basic truth of the interconnectivity (Pisces/Neptune) of all
things. And so humanity stands on the threshold of Saturn in Leo, having
rejected mastery of the compassionate, loving action of the heart; the
highest lesson taught by Saturn in Cancer. Though I have never been
one to tout doomsday scenarios, based upon how poorly our species navigated
Saturn in Cancer, my assessment of Saturn in Leo is bleak at best.
Let's
first look at the qualities of Leo. Like all the astrological signs,
Leo has an all-inclusive behavioral, psychological, and energetic spectrum
from negative to positive. It is always up to us which part of that
spectrum we wish to express. More than any other sign, Leo rules our
relationship to ego. In most spiritual circles there is a sense of suspicion
and negativity around the concept of ego. But ego is a whole lot more
than selfishness, narcissism and self-aggrandizement. It is the self,
knowing and creatively actualizing itself in all its complexity and
beauty. Leo wants to know itself better; hence the over-attentiveness
to self. On the positive side, the more we know about who we are, the
more our actions become infused with an awareness of their effect. On
the negative side, over-attentiveness to self can breed narcissism,
greed, power-mongering, and a total lack of empathy.
Leo's
most evolved form of ego development expresses itself in the compassionate,
brave and selfless leader. These days, it seems we rarely witness this
kind of behavior in our political leaders (though the Dalai Lama does
spring to mind.) Most of what we see ruling nations is Leo's immature,
narcissistic side; constantly demanding more and more power. Leo rules
personal power. What exactly does this mean? In our world it usually
means power-over, which expresses itself in everything from caring only
about personal gain, having excessive influence over others and exerting
one's own desires upon others, to war mongering, exploitation and land
grabbing. Sound familiar? America has its natal North Node (where the
nation is evolving) in Leo in the 8th house (issues of world power and
control.) Certainly our nation's behavior over the last four years has
expressed the negative spectrum of Leo power. And make no mistake about
it, America's vision of itself as the 'superpower' will be threatened
during this next two years. Seems the time may not be too far off when
we may have to cede this title to China.
Modern
humans suffer from a very warped relationship to power, arising from
our intense attachment to the cult of personality. Everyone wants to
be a star; to be noticed and therefore loved. We do seem to have so
much trouble embracing the values of humility and modesty. Enter in
Saturn, the great leveler. Ever ready to bring on reality, Saturn will
show us how the penchant for power, money and privilege contributes
to our own destruction. The Saturn in Leo years will force us to redefine
personal power as a means to engendering communal empowerment, coexistence
and upliftment. Starhawk refers to this kind of power as power-with.
I define this evolved expression of Leo as true leadership. When we
know ourselves we know our gifts and this makes us feel a tremendous
responsibility to share our talents by making life better for everyone
around us.
Leo
rules desire and our own feelings of desirability. For Leo, feelings
of self-worth arise from being an object of desire. This is one reason
why Leo craves the undivided attention of others. Especially in America,
this need for the attention of others has become almost pathological.
We insist on standards of beauty that are unattainable without the help
of drastic plastic surgery. Our culture worships at the altar of youth.
There is little acceptance of the beauty and wisdom inherent in growing
older and we have so little respect for the elders in our country. More
than anything, our lack of care and respect for the wise elders around
us speaks to the degenerateness of our culture. Saturn will have a chilling
effect upon the insistence on youthful external beauty, as it calls
up all kinds of fear for the aging baby-boomers about becoming old,
ugly, frail and useless. This generation of Saturn/Pluto in Leo natives
thinks they are immortal. They have another thing coming as they hit
their second Saturn Return and realize the truth of their own mortality.
A
discussion of Leo is not complete without calling up the artist. Leo
rules creative self-expression. That means expression of a creative
gift that is uniquely yours. There is after all only one you. Saturn
in Leo could be a very dry time for many creative people who don't take
their craft very seriously. Frankly there is an epidemic of mediocrity
in movies, music, visual art, dance and theatre; fueled primarily by
a growing fear of telling the truth. We have become addicted to denial
as a means to explaining why we do terrible things. If we are lucky,
the art world might recognize its tremendous power to influence, and
become more responsible about the tenor and quality of the work it produces.
Lastly,
Leo rules parenting and the state of our children. Saturn will surely
force us to reckon with the sad state of our nation's children. Many
live in poverty and have no health care. Most kids these days live lives
disconnected from family and community. It is a rare family that sits
down to dinner together. Too many of America's kids are either neglected
and left to fend for themselves, or over-stimulated by being forced
to endure way too many activities. Saturn is going to provide a well-needed
reality check for parents who are too busy with their own success or
too attached to their kids' success. Saturn in Leo will ask that we
question the over-abundance of privileges we accord to our kids: $100
sneakers, designer clothes, cell phones, X-Box, iPods, MySpace, easy
access to drugs & alcohol. Most kids have no idea how to sit quietly
and commune with the world around them. And of course this is not their
fault. It is due to the incessant craving of the adults in these kids'
lives and their addiction to external gratification. Saturn will teach
us (the hard way if necessary) that it is time America's adults grew
up so that America's kids can be kids again.
So
let's take a look at some of the powerfully challenging aspects that
Saturn will make to some of its planetary neighbors. First on the docket
is Saturn's opposition to Chiron, the wounded healer; humanity's teacher
of the healing arts. Chiron is currently moving retrograde through Aquarius
into Capricorn (the sign ruled by Saturn) on August 1 and will stay
there until December 4. Saturn at 0° Leo will make an exact opposition
to Chiron at 0° Aquarius from July 17 - 23. This is a big, bold start
to the Saturn in Leo years. We should all be prepared to hold on to
our hats. This opposition will highlight inner wounding around self-esteem
and self-worth issues like no other. Aquarius' need to awaken will combine
with Saturn's need to level us with a big dose of reality. The Chiron/Saturn
opposition is all about feeling the pain of our own lustfulness. Leo
rules I and Aquarius rules we. In order to survive, this
opposition is asking us to sacrifice our attachment to I in order
to heal the collective wounds of the we. Life just is not all
about us and our own individual pain. I can only hope that this week
doesn't end up foreshadowing larger collective wounding that will surface
during the other Saturn/Chiron oppositions during 2006 and 2007.
One
key to understanding the lessons of this opposition is to recognize
that it is time to face the fact that our extravagant, privileged lifestyle
cannot continue unabated for much longer. We in America have grown used
to luxury as a standard. We like our big cars, our big homes, our big
stores and our big appetites. All of this is so Leonian. The old advertising
motto, "It costs more, and I'm worth it!" will no longer work. This
opposition is all about energy consumption and energy sources. Saturn
rules the old way (oil) and Aquarius rules invention and alternatives
(solar, wind, hydrogen). Leo is ruled by the Sun. Saturn makes things
real through hard work and commitment. Chiron is a wound, and Aquarius
rules rebellion and alternatives. Get the hint? Solar energy's time
has come and we have let it slip by without serious attention to the
need for developing technologies to avail ourselves of this unlimited
resource. Even though we are running out of oil our government has curbed
research and investment in alternative energy technologies. Want to
lay blame for this blatant oversight? Look no further than the greedy
oil men in our White House and their even greedier oil company friends
and OPEC.
When
Chiron returns to Aquarius on Dec 5, it will once again move into an
opposition with Saturn in Leo from January 25 - March 19, 2006. However
this time Saturn in Leo will have gone retrograde on November 22 and
not go direct again until April 6, 2006. Though this will lessen the
deadening effect of Saturn on external events, it will put the attention
squarely on our own psyches. Since Saturn rules fear, darkness, mortality
and depression, we could all find ourselves feeling especially vulnerable
to the winter blues. I recommend rolling with resistance and not fighting
the impulse to hibernate and introspect. Inner wisdom takes time and
reflection, patience and fortitude. Saturn is a dark, harsh demanding
teacher, but nonetheless wise. Liz Greene writes in her wonderful book
on Saturn, "Saturn is the Dweller at the Threshold, the keeper of the
keys to the gate, and it is through him alone that we may achieve eventual
freedom through self-understanding" (1976, p. 11).
Chiron
will again oppose Saturn from May 29 - July 7, 2006 and April 15 - May
19, 2007. Saturn rules fear. Saturn projects his own fearfulness onto
us, summoning us closer and closer, and then swallowing us down into
his dark belly of fear. This being swallowed involves no heroics; we
are somehow sucked in, often without an awareness of how, when or why.
This whole series of Saturn/Chiron oppositions will probably exacerbate
fear of wounding from unknown sources. The conjunction of Saturn in
Leo with America's natal North Node, August 13 - October 14, 2005 (exact
September 2-10), January 13 - Feb 19, 2006, and May 18 - May 29, 2006,
could bring America down a path of degeneration economically, militarily
and politically. The war in Iraq will, I hope, become widely perceived
as the biggest debacle in American history. This wasted effort needs
to come to an end. We can no longer afford to wage war. America has
made itself a target of hatred for many people around the planet. We
are just going to have to look beyond the blinders of our own narcissicm
to see how the rest of the world perceives us (America the bully) and
do something about our serious anger management problem. We can't continue
to go around beating up every country that disagrees with our policies.
We cannot be in control all the time. We cannot have all the resources
to ourselves. We cannot continue to think we hold all the cards.
I
continue to be shocked that any human being could purposely bring harm
to any other human being. The madness of suicide bombings must stop!
The only solution is for everyone on all sides to look at their own
shadow. The Islamic world must see its own fundamentalist dark side
for what it is and deal with it immediately. The West must see its dark
side for what it is and deal with it honestly and immediately. I ask
myself daily how can America and Britain hold terrorists to a higher
standard than we hold ourselves? Why is an innocent life in a Madrid
or London subway or the WTC more valuable than an innocent life in Iraq
or Afghanistan? Is there a difference between state-led terrorism and
fundamentalist/religious terrorism? When is violence in any form ever
an appropriate means to an end? These are hard questions that Saturn
in Leo asks us to consider. There are no easy answers to these questions.
Nothing is black and white. All we can do is honestly look at our own
behavior and fearlessly transform our own rejection of shadow in the
hope of healing our relations with all others.
Saturn
rules conservatism and Leo rules power. We can only tremble in fear
at the thought of the consolidation of conservative power over the next
two years. It will be devastating to watch the radical Christian right
salivate at the prospect of a radically conservative Supreme Court which
would overturn Roe Vs. Wade; effectively ending safe, affordable abortion
services for American women. Wake up American women in your twenties
and thirties. You take for granted freedoms that were hard won only
thirty years ago and may soon be lost forever!
I
think the pain experienced by open-minded Americans will be greatest
during the Saturn/Uranus inconjunction from September 2 - October 14,
2005 and July 16 - August 7, 2006. The frustration of a globally minded,
peace loving Uranus in Pisces
fighting a constricted, fearful and power hungry Saturn in Leo will
call up tremendous frustration. All I can say is get active politically
and meditate, meditate, meditate!
Saturn
in Leo will oppose Neptune in Aquarius from November 2 - December 9,
2005, August 8 - September 28, 2006, and February 2 - July 17, 2007.
The energy of this opposition will be similar to the inconjunction with
Uranus, except that since Neptune has a tendency to deny reality, we
may all run from the harsh pain of this world into escapist activities
of all kinds. I wish everyone would learn to meditate rather than medicate
with drugs and alcohol. It certainly would change our world for the
better.
The
best way to navigate Saturn in Leo is to step into your individual responsibility
to actively heal the pain and problems of this world. Get out and make
your voice heard for change in our energy policy, our military policy,
and our economic/social policy. Don't sit back and let the fat cats
in government and big business get away with their grand deceptions.
It is time to fight close-minded fundamentalism in every corner of this
planet. We have an uphill battle during the time of Saturn in Leo, but
what Saturn does best is call us to do that which seems impossible.
Having
a Natal Chart consultation is the best way to learn more about how Saturn
in Leo may be constellating in your life. Click on the Astrology
Consultation button below to get information on astrology session
prices and offerings. Then feel free to contact
me if you wish schedule a session.
©2005
Lisa Dale Miller
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PLUTO
DEMOTED
Reflections on "dwarf" status
URANUS
IN PISCES
