Saturn Opposite Sun | pressure makes diamonds ... but pressure also creates depression

"People who have a creative side and do not live it out are most disagreeable. They make a mountain out of a molehill, fuss about unnecessary things, are too passionately in love with somebody who is not worth so much attention, and so on. There is a kind of floating charge of energy in them which is not attached to its right object and therefore tends to apply exaggerated dynamism to the wrong situation." ... M.L. von Franz

_ by nairafee

Once a year the Sun and Saturn line up in exact opposition. This happens today at 24 degrees Gemini and Sagittarius.

Our creative heart/life force (Sun) meets a limit (Saturn). Coincidentally (is there such a thing? I guess so ... maybe) Saturn also reaches the exact midpoint of its retrograde journey (retrograde through late August).

If we are encountering delays and obstacles this transit doesn't bring about a conclusion, but it can shine a light on what is limiting us and a light on what we need to do about it. Retrograde Saturn is focused - it creates the defined choices we need to look in a specific direction.

This energy might not feel good. Saturn can be depressing because it is quite literally like a weight pressing down on us.

I am not going to write again about the need to 'step into our responsibility', work hard, do the right thing, yada yada. We know this. And we are just as likely to get off course by stepping into someone else's responsibility, working too hard or neglecting the other muses. Saturn isn't everything and he doesn't run every show as much as he'd like to (although for today he kind of does).

In the Samuri tradition, warriors were expected to hone their skills in calligraphy, poetry and painting. This was to make sure their unlived creativity did not sour and devolve into an unintended/unattended mess.

These days we’re busy cutting creative outlets from our curriculum. They can’t be quantified and take too much effort. When would you ever need to play a clarinet? What use is a pen and ink drawing? Will writing a poem put food on the table?

I think quite a bit about effort these days because my body is tired. For life to be good lately it has to be easy.

We are all so busy that generally speaking our highest ideal is not to have to do anything. We work so we can take time off from working. We do it today to be free tomorrow. Something is very wrong here, but for today I am too tired (and stiff-necked - ugh) to think too long about this.

But maybe I am drifting away from Sun opposite Saturn. Of course, with a natal Sun/Saturn conjunction I do not often encounter Saturnian limits outside myself - I am much more likely to encounter a person/situation ready to hand off their own overloaded bag to me and/or to spend my time figuring out new ways to overburden/limit myself

(and if you are a person who was teacher's pet, got along with authority figures without even trying and gets out of traffic tickets easily I am talking to you, too).

Sigh ...

For now, let's give ourselves a break. We can honor our commitments. We can finish what we started. We can take responsibility for the situation we find ourselves in without judgement. And yes, this could be a good situation, too - it's report card time! We can resolve to move forward in a more responsible manner in whatever area of life we feel this pressure. And remember that 'in a more responsible manner' will have different meanings for different people. There's more info in the weekly HERE.

xo all

This is all part of a Grand Fire Trine encouraging us forward when we work courageously from our heart - it's tied into our Leo North Node, our collective way forward - so yes, there are report cards handed out now, but what we learn from our report card is ultimately what will move those mountains!

2 comments

lynn bowes said...

That quote.

So many changes right now. So many commitments to untangle, letting me know that things committed to were not the right commitments for me. ( Because it's all about me :D ) I can see now that my own path forward can be smoother by not stepping into the responsibilities of others and letting that monkey jump to someone else's back - not even for a while but forever.

For the last few weeks I've felt the struggle of a non-existent creative side, as if my mojo wandered away while I wasn't paying attention. Art doesn't come easy right now and it's far too forced. I wonder now if my focus has been on things that I should have not given so much of my energy; if I would have been better served by sticking to me and my business and not been so (ahem) helpful and volunteer-y. I never learn.

Catherine Ivins said...

I know! That quote is so good right. The truth of it just ping pongs around the room after you read it.

Your muse will return. It makes sense that when we put alot of time and attention elsewhere she takes a hike, but she doesn't go far ...

That stepping into the responsibility of others is so tricky for me, too - lack of boundaries so I am feeling other people's stuff as my own. If they are hurt or stressed it feels more comfortable (ie we crave what we are used to rather than what is good for us) for me to take that pressure than to feel the feeling of not taking it. That isn't exactly right but close enough. I think during times we feel like we are slow learners we are just getting bigger lessons. Truly.

xo