AQUARIUS CONJUNCTION

There's no doubt that 2020 has been an intense year, a year in which astrologers have spoken of for decades. And hold your breath; there’s more to come. As we move into the final days of 2020, we’re facing even more epic, rare, once-in-a-lifetime astrology. On december 21st, right after the solstice, jupiter and saturn will unite, forming what is know as «the great conjunction». The event, will take place on the longest night of the year, and it will be the closest encounter of the two largest planets in the solar system in almost 400 years! Jupiter and saturn will come within 0.1 degree of each other, and it will be visible from all around the world. Jupiter and saturn meet up about once every 20 years, forming this monumental connection known as the “great conjunction.” However, last time they lined up as closely as this, was in 1623, but you have to go all the way back to the year 1226 to find one that was this visible, and this close. The next comparably close conjunction will be in 2080.

JUPITER AND SATURN

Astrologically speaking, jupiter and saturn are kind of a big deal. These giants are both visible with the naked eye, which means humans have been observing their behavior for millennia, even before the telescope was invented.

Associated with luck and fortune, jupiter inspires us to grow, practice optimism, take big risks, and - perhaps most importantly - have fun. Saturn, on the other hand, has a completely different approach. This planet is seen as the strict and diciplined father. Saturn, the planet of boundaries, is rigid, restrictive, cold and uncompromising, and it’s associated with maturity, responsibilities, karma, hard work and long-term lessons.

Both jupiter and saturn move quite slowly. It takes jupiter about 12 years to complete its orbit, and it takes saturn about 29.5 years to complete its orbit (this is the age we experience our first saturn return - when saturn finally moves back to the same position it occupied at our moment of birth.) So it makes sense that jupiter and saturn are both associated with long-term events and that they influence chapters in our life.

THE AGE OF AQUARIUS

For the first time in a couple hundred years, this conjunction will take place in a new element, and it therefore marks a paradigm shift. For the last 200 years, jupiter and saturn have been linking up in earth signs, which means that the upcoming great conjunction in aquarius begins a new era, known as the age of air, as both planets move into aquarius; an air sign. The conjunction happens at 0º aquarius, which signifies a completely new beginning- ushering the age of aquarius!

Aquarius is the archetype of the future and the sign of social change, humanitarian efforts and justice for all. Aquarius observeres what others are too entangled within to understand. Aquarius is unconventional, and associated with freedom, innovation, rebellion and progress. In this air sign, both jupiter and saturn are focused on large-scale social issues. Aquarius is also known for revolution and reform, as well as technology and modernization, so there’s no doubt that we’ll witness tremendous shifts surrounding public structures and scientific breakthroughs, along with ideological paradigm shifts. Aquarius is all about giving power BACK TO THE PEOPLE.

FROM EARTH TO AIR

The element of air, which is the elment of aquarius, is the element of the intellect, the social sphere, information, knowledge, networks and communication. For the past 200 years, we’ve been in the earth age. Now, we’re moving out of the more constricting and dense energy of capricorn, and into the futuristic and light energy of aquarius. As jupiter and saturn shift from earth signs (ownership, possession, capital, tradition) to air signs (technology, progress, humanitarianism, freedom), we may finally be able to intellectualize new solutions to old, destructive habits like mass consumerism and deforestation, and other ways we unsustainably uses ourselves, others and not to mention the planet. It’s time to break the rules capricorn energy put in place. Push outside of your comfort zone, discover brand new ways of expressing, being, living, breathing. Experiment with everything. This is what aquarius does.

Saturn is about our collective as well as our individual karmic lessons, and when saturn is in the earth sign capricorn, structure, order, power, economy, the government, authorities and creating and following rules, are what’s on the agenda. He seeks to teach us lessons regarding earth qualities; the material realm, physical resources and tradition. The timeframe of saturn in capricorn repeated the themes of boundaries, restriction, rules, denial, responsibilities, borders and structures we live within. We were destined to question these themes, and the motifs behind them. The growth we made was only ever going to come out of the limitations forced upon us. Most of the world has been running on cheap, fast, and unsustainable solutions for decades now. The drain on our environment, on our relationships, on our psyches and selves is undeniable. We are a world out of balance, in desperate need of a social reorganization.

In aquarius, however, the rules are broken and re-written. There is a bigger emphasis on humanity, rather than the government. Innovation, new thoughts, new ideas and new solutions are introduced. The old (and outdated according to aquarius’ revolutionary spirit) must give way for the new. Saturn in aquarius helps us re-evaluate and revolutionize present structures in our society. Outdated rules, regulations and authorities will become visible. Aquarius demands full disclosure of old and destructive structures based on power, fraud, greed and lies. In aquarius, saturn seeks to build sustainable change, and he asks us to be critical of the structures we live within and the ways in which our systems impact the masses.

THE HISTORY OF AIR

The last time saturn was in aquarius (1991-1993), apartheid was dismantled. Before that, saturn was in aquarius from 1962-1964, just before the civil rights act, and before that, saturn was in aquarius from 1932-1935. The great depression had begun in 1929 causing massive unemployment. These years of saturn in aquarius brought back social security, government infrastructure and banking regulations to the US. While none of these measures are perfect, they were all attempts at creating social structures that centered the needs of the collective over the individual. Now, saturn is finally back for more. 

We need to innovate our most outdated structures. From the personal to the political we are ready for a system update. The structures of our inner and outer world that are the most rigid, seemingly solid, and traditionally held as the standard or the norm, will be tried, tested, and reconfigured by an urgent call for change. We need to prepare space internally and externally for new solutions to come forth. We need to be patient with our process as the external systems crumble, for they are all we have known. Even when we want a new world, letting go of the old can be stressful. Structures and systems will show their incompetence. We can, and we will, find new ways to organize and care for one another, but it will take a saturnian effort to do so.

«Jupiter and Saturn will nearly 'touch' on the winter solstice»

If you have planets or points in aquarius, this is the beginning of some defining times for you. Especially in regard to the nature of the planet involved and the nature of the house that it is in. If you don’t have planets or points in aquarius, you still have aquarius somewhere in your chart and the area of life it governs will be massively impacted by these two planets, and their travels. Which house does aquarius fall in, in your birth chart? This is where jupiter and saturn will be effecting you the most. This transition into the age of aquarius is a big shift for humanity. The energy will affect all of us as a collective, but as already mentioned; on an individual level, this time period will especially affect those with a lot of placements in aquarius. Change is coming. This is our time.