The astrology patterns of 2022 make for a curious dance.
A dance where, most importantly, the themes of 2021 still hold true for 2022. The pull and push between Saturn and Uranus continue to signify turmoil, division, and unpredictable change. Of this we clearly have more to learn.
However, Jupiter is now travelling through Pisces to join Neptune, and this is uplifting news about the potential in 2022 for opening our hearts, finding faith, and redeeming something beautiful from the chaos.
THE LESSONS OF SATURN SQUARE URANUS
Things are gonna change! In our personal lives and through collective crisis. Lots of ups and downs are still part of the journey. Learning how to work with change and uncertainty is an ongoing lesson for these times.
In 2022, eclipses in May and October in Taurus and Scorpio further aggravate the stressful clash between Saturn and Uranus in the sky.
So, this begs the question, how might we learn to embrace change? Even that we didn’t choose.
- Can we find a way to let go of how things were?
- Can we bring support to the emotional pain change can bring?
- How might we lean into instability and uncertainty? Can we learn to value the struggle?
- Might we begin to lay the groundwork of a bridge to something new?
- Can we become, at our best, broad shouldered, grown up, and sensible (Saturn), while we go through the upheaval of reforming our old lives (Uranus)?
ASTROLOGICAL GUIDANCE
Here is the guidance I am offering to clients for working with Saturn/Uranus:
- Be brave if you can and open the door to a breath of fresh air wherever Uranus is transiting your birth chart. The house, sign, and planets transited are all important.
- Then work like a navvy to build something in your life as a stage for the new you, wherever Saturn is in your chart. Again, as shaped by the house, sign, and planets transited.
- This can mean, as it has for me, being true to who you are and expressing that through a big new work project.
RECOMMENDED READING
I’ve already written extensively about this dynamic and upsetting archetypal pattern, how it often expresses itself in social division and strife, and how we might respond to it helpfully. I truly urge you to read these blogs, or to read them again.
- how-to-get-the-best-seats-on-the-2021-rollercoaster-ride
- navigating-times-of-change-with-the-astrology-of-2021
- astrology-tips-for-2021
They are just as applicable to 2022 as they were to 2021. Perhaps even more so.
Why did I pour myself into writing so extensively about it? Because Saturn/Uranus is a humdinger. It means to shake us up. And if we understand it as archetypal energy, we can perhaps give it outlet and help ourselves to get on board with its process.
Thinking positively, we have another year to get the best from this challenging astrological pattern. These are time periods of intense Saturn/Uranus activity in 2022 that you might like to focus upon.
SATURN/URANUS DATES TO WORK WITH
Right now, Saturn and Uranus are slowly moving on from an exact clash on Christmas Day that coincided with an overwhelming outbreak of the Omicron Covid variant as borders were opening around Australia. One more episode of collective uncertainty and anxiety.
As Saturn and Uranus slowly move apart, tension will ease, but a solar eclipse on 30th April close to Uranus in the sign of Taurus suggests further aggravation.
From June the tension winds tighter once more as Saturn and Uranus begin to close again. Late October is lit brightly as the most potent time to come, with Saturn stationing on October 23rd within 1 degree of an exact square to Uranus, and another solar eclipse 2 days later in the opposing sign of Scorpio.
Together, these are powerful indicators of what may be the final act of this volatile journey.
THE BLESSING OF JUPITER CONJUNCT NEPTUNE
An astrology pattern of new importance this year is Jupiter conjunct Neptune in the sensitive and sacred sign of Pisces.
At its best, this transit is just the medicine we need to find our blessings within the turmoil that typically accompanies Saturn/Uranus.
Neptune and Jupiter have themes that fit so well with Pisces that both are held to be its planetary ruler. They are right at home here and happily express themselves with ease and potency.
- Jupiter symbolises our urge to explore, and grow, and seek meaning. We feel it as a buoyant and uplifted energy that helps us believe and ever keeps us hopeful.
- Neptune is difficult to rationally explain because it symbolises the watery, boundless, transcendent realms of consciousness. It speaks through dreams, the imagination, and mystical experiences of the divine. And more, it is our spiritual yearning to return home.
Together they move us to set sail upon an inner journey; the hand of the soul upon the tiller, introspective, open-hearted, and fated to trust.
HOW TO GET ON BOARD WITH JUPITER/NEPTUNE
In any way you can, tap into inner realities.
- Take up prayer or a meditation practice or guided inner enquiry with a trained counsellor (Freud, whose explorations of the unconscious changed the world, was born the last time these two planets were together in Pisces).
- Do something creative that inspires your imagination, like art, music, poetry, photography, gardening, whatever your soul speaks through.
- If you are resourced, and feel inspired to give, this is also the time to open your heart to selfless service.
- Tune into information from inner realms. Perhaps journal your dreams, take note of synchronicities, practice astrology or tarot.
- Dare to open to a guiding dream for your life. Do you sense that you have a new calling? How might you follow your bliss?
- Go to the ocean.
- Pay special attention to where the Jupiter/Neptune conjunction is transiting your birth chart. Discover specifics about how you might catch this wave.
With the help of strategies like these, you may open the door to the bounties of the yin mysteries; inner peace, healing, renewed trust, and the return of hope. In a word, redemption.
JUPITER/NEPTUNE DATES TO WORK WITH
This is the first time Jupiter and Neptune have come together in Pisces since 1856. This is surely a once in a lifetime opportunity for easy access to the collective unconscious and subtle realms.
The one time an exact conjunction will occur is April 12th, 2022. Soon thereafter Jupiter will leave Pisces before returning on October 24th. It will station on 23rd November close to Neptune, before leaving for good on December 20th.
What excites me about the return of Jupiter to Neptune and Pisces later this year, is that it returns at the same time as the eclipse and Saturn station in late October, as if to say, ‘it’s okay, I’m here, this is what you need now.’
RESOURCES
You might enjoy a new podcast about how to find joy in difficult times. It’s a conversation between two internationally renowned mindfulness teachers; Rick Hanson and James Baraz, author of ‘Awakening to Joy.’
“It’s important to remember that life isn’t just about getting through and overcoming suffering, but it’s about celebrating all the blessings and beauty in our life.” – James Baraz
THE SHADOW OF JUPITER/NEPTUNE
Every archetype has a shadow, or compulsive and unconscious expression. Jupiter/Neptune does too. We can use this beautiful energy to escape reality, get high, and avoid pain. Some examples:
- Addictions, with drugs, alcohol, gambling, food, television
- Relationship dependencies, playing victims and rescuers, or delusions in love
- Grandiose fantasies, especially about spiritual success; a guru complex
- Misplacing a spiritual yearning onto a desire for material pleasures or extremist beliefs
- Hiding behind relentless positivity, spirituality, or spiritual practices, to sidestep challenges and unresolved emotional issues. This compulsion was described in the 1980’s by therapist and Buddhist teacher John Wellwood as spiritual bypassing.
These are very common avoidant behaviours, and we might find them ever more tempting under the shadow of Jupiter/Neptune. Feeling the pull to get high, we may fall victim to our blind spots.
THE HELPFUL STRATEGY OF SATURN/NEPTUNE
I often share with clients a story to shine the wisdom of the ancients upon a dilemma. For Jupiter/Neptune, I’d like to share with you a sea journey described in Homer’s ‘The Odyssey.’
One of the trickiest challenges faced by Odysseus on his long voyage home was how to sail safely by the island of the Sirens. The Sirens were renowned for celestial music and their seductive songs that lured sailors to their deaths upon the rocks.
Odysseus was blessed with wise advice from the nymph Circe who had many magical arts. She instructed him to plug his men’s ears with beeswax and have them bind him to the mast of the ship. The haunting beauty of the Siren song, promising to reveal his future, makes him beg to be released, but the men bind him tighter. In this way, they sail on safely, having learned from and survived enchantment by the Sirens.
The binding of Odysseus always makes me think of Saturn medicine for Neptune. How respecting limits, embracing restrictions and imperfections, and sometimes saying no, can ground Neptune wonders in a way that may not be perfect and boundless but in a way that is real in this world.
Those of us who use this year’s Jupiter/Neptune energy to simply escape pain or get high should know that in 2024/5 it is Saturn’s turn to join Neptune in Pisces. As what goes up, must come down, perhaps now is also the time to welcome Saturn and how it keeps us real.
SATURN QUESTIONS FOR SELF-ENQUIRY
- Are we trying to avoid anything that isn’t beautiful?
- Is our bubble bound to burst?
- Is it easier to be gullible or deluded than to ask the hard questions?
- How might we set limits to the dream, and work hard to make that version a reality?
GOOD LUCK IN 2022
This year change is going to happen. So be proactive, and with the guidance of inner exploration, choose your steps in the celestial dance.
May you ride the changes that challenge you, make the change you are ready for, and hold the hand of a greater wisdom on your journey. Be well.
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