Saturn-Uranus: A Letter to the Editor
Part I: Time, Money, and American Values
Aquarius is Time, Taurus is what we Value. I’ve been witnessing an increasing collective emphasis on having authority over our individual time, as well as the prioritizing of time over money. Having autonomy over one’s time is a privilege determined by many external factors including but not limited to economic status, amount of personal freedom, and nature of one’s ruling government.
Historically, industrialization has heavily shaped the time structure of our day-to-day lives. As we embrace new technology and move away from societal structures wrought from material industrialization, frustration arises at being forced into an antiquated factory-model of labor in industries that create things immaterial at efficiencies unimaginable 200 years ago. Now, eight-hour work days are filled with people simply filling time in poorly-designed open offices meant for an 1880s factory.
Greed and impatience has grown a distorted set of expectations across much of Western culture, resulting in 40+ hour work weeks just to tread water and a majority of Americans being disturbingly ok with that. For someone in that situation, the idea of having control over part of their waking hours might be laughable. A luxury. Still and because of this reality, many of us are disenchanted with the status quo of selling a majority of our time in exchange for money, doing meaningless work to line the pockets of an administrative pyramid.
What I’m not saying is that we should all live a life solely of leisure with no accountability to be part of the community. What I am saying is that actions speak louder than words, and the people who take care of our elders are paid essentially nothing for the kind of work they do. We are not valuing our elders. I expect to do an apprenticeship for trade work not requiring prior education, but we live in an era of unpaid labor being a *prerequisite* for entry-level work, *after* spending four years of training. We do not value education or fair exchange. I believe this messy moment in time is reflected in the changing elemental cycle of Jupiter/Saturn (Great) conjunctions, as well as the ongoing Saturn-Uranus square in Aquarius and Taurus.
Of course as civilization has advanced over the last 200-year cycle, our ability to have leisure time has likewise increased for a number of reasons. Automation, democracy, inventions, and the steady march of modern science have all led to an era that includes a lot of leisure time for some and very little for others. We could continue this trajectory further with more equity if we would let go of obsolete ways of organizing ourselves. We’ve started to see this already, with the increasing ability to work from home, allowing many to be part of the workforce in more meaningful ways. Not commuting means more autonomy over your time. Actually making money and not being barred from work due to ableism means more potential for time-autonomy with increasing financial stability. I look forward to a few years from now when we can run the numbers on productivity and workplace satisfaction.
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We are mostly in the Air triplicity now as far as Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions are concerned, leaving behind approximately 200 years of Great Conjunctions in Earth signs. While there is one in 2060 that seems to start in Taurus and end in Gemini, for our purposes, it’s close enough. I don’t like to think of time in discrete terms if I don’t have to. Earth time is ending, Air time is starting. We’re experiencing a shift from tangible, material systems framing our reality, to intangible technological institutions that are invisible to us for all practical purposes, but control much of our day-to-day experiences. There’s a large difference between machines that have an emergency Off Switch, compared to immaterial computer code for which intervention requires a very specific set of skills and knowledge. This restricted access to intervene means fewer of us will be able to engage with some of these newer systems in an empowered way. I realize this is complex and there are Pro-Con lists abound, but I’m giving myself permission to explore!
This push of societal adaptation and technological advancement is forcing the question upon Taurus: What values as a society will we consider in the creation or change of systems? Despite the alignment of this question of System and Values with the current Saturn-Uranus square, this is not a new thing. Every president since forever has started their term in office declaring they will be the one to make sure our laws and policies reflect American Values.
Whose ‘American’ values? Which America’s values? There isn’t just one United States of America. This declaration made by so many past leaders has largely been code for ‘let’s imbue our societal structure with the American Values of classism, racism, and misogyny because that’s what will get me wealth and re-election.’
Applying this same dilemma to modern society is one of the greatest technological challenges of our time. We have already seen many dystopian examples, such as racially-biased facial recognition technology. These are scary and dangerous scenarios for obvious reasons. The square between Saturn in future-building Aquarius and Uranus in earth-bound Taurus reflect this frictive, ongoing tech dilemma. Not all of us agree on which larger-scale values we should prioritize, but Uranus is present to catalyze and stir up the question regardless of our comfort-level in managing it.
Uranus continues to reflect challenges we face via labor movements and stikes, including those of farmers, sex workers, nurses, and food-service workers since well before the pandemic. Many industries continually ask their workers to do more with less, and for less pay/benefits due to the rapacity of corporate greed and the complacency of most administrative leaders. The level of competition in some industries results in unpaid internships and toxic work cultures that ruin lives and psyches. Change is afoot and it needs to be.
Square aspects themselves are change-inducing. They sometimes present a challenge we are called to engage with, requiring us to change course, change how we approach a problem, or simply move through the discomfort many times present in a square aspect. Squares are not necessarily bad or destructive. Squares have us solve problems big and small, which can be character-building in the long run, or just a meaningful experience giving us satisfaction or confidence. It requires effort however, and in the case of such a slow-grinding configuration, we find ourselves in a marathon, not a sprint. Pace accordingly.
Individually, we might be called to slowly (or suddenly) reorganize, reframe, or reshape the Taurus parts of our chart with the help of Uranus. Uranus transits can be difficult, as humans generally avoid change, but usually we like what’s on the other side and wonder why we waited so long (or why it took the universe so long to do it for us).
I hope Jupiter in Pisces will help us reimagine our systems humanely while we have Saturn and Uranus tinkering away at the reinventing. Consistent engagement with our individual and collective challenges is needed, so let’s all drink some water and keep keepin’ on.