Oppositions, sextiles, and trines…

May 1, 2018 | Introvert Bubble, Ultimate Scopes

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How you doin’ this season? Growing pains? Breakthroughs? Spring often feels like a stampede with its abundance of conferences, outdoor activities, and events. Taurus takes the active and childlike energy of Aries and grounds it.

 

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There’s an interesting contrast going on with the bovine astro-mascots: goats for Capricorn, the ram for Aries, and now the bull for Taurus. Unlike the other two animals, bulls have a long history of domestication and entrenchment in capitalism via the food industry.

 

Rams sorta do too, with their wool. But lamb isn’t nearly as popular for food in the U.S. as beef is. Bulls are traded, used to describe capitalist markets. They are wrapped up in trade and value systems. I assume it’s random; I’m not the one to come to for agricultural geekery. Still, it’s interesting when you consider Taurus’ association with the second house in astrology, the house of valuing and money.

 

Entrenched is a good word for Taurus as it’s a fixed sign. Rather than leading the charge like a cardinal sign or dissolving what’s established like the changeable mutable signs, fixed signs like stability, order, and consistency. They are dependable sorts. Stubborn to a fault (and beyond).

 

We once talked about the relationships between houses that are opposite one another and how they often explore a theme. Taurus is opposite Scorpio. Where Scorpio references secrets and cycles of birth and death; Taurus is what you value, in others, in your self. What is beautiful and worthy.

 

The second and eighth houses, the ones associated with Taurus and Scorpio respectively, have to be the least straightforward pairing out of all the houses. Perhaps because of the ambiguity about the associations of the eighth house. Half the astro world claims that the eighth house and Scorpio have to do with sexuality and relationships and the other half say no, that cycles of transformation aren’t limited to sex. *shrugs

 

The jury’s out on that. I’m only mentioning it because of the sweet full moon in Scorpio that happened this week. I’ll get into why it’s sweet in a bit but first, consider what a full moon means. Check out this chart for the recent full moon in Scorpio:

 

 

On the right side of this chart, you can see a tiny red circle with a red dot inside it. That symbolizes the sun. It’s hanging out in the green area associated with Taurus. If you look at the left side, you see a blue moon shaped symbol. This (obviously) represents the moon. See how they’re on opposite sides of the chart?

 

This is how a full moon always looks. It changes signs but it will always be opposite, or 180 degrees away from, the sun. That means that full moons will always activate the sign opposite the one the sun is in. You’re that much closer to never forgetting which sign the full moon is in ever again. *grins

 

So a full moon is opposite or in opposition to the sun. Opposition is one of the aspects I keep talking about, aka “the line mess” in the middle of a chart. There’s always a lot of fanfare about full moons. So much so that you might think oppositions are always auspicious.

 

There is potential for good things with oppositions, but if you were to separate all aspects into two groups, harmonious and challenging, they would be of the latter category. This is why, for everyone online’s talk of letting go and calumniation with the full moon, many folks struggle with the full moon.

 

An opposition is like a game of tug of war, in this case between the ego or identity (sun) and the emotions (moon). The planets involved in an aspect are the subject, the sign the style of approach, the houses are the topic. What do our emotions about transformation, regeneration, and death (Scorpio) have to show us about who we are (the sun)? Especially when it comes to the themes related to the house where this opposition occurred. Here are those houses again:

 

 

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Earlier I called this full moon sweet. We talked about the opposition between sun and moon, but it’s not the only aspect present at the time of the full moon. The moon is also in a strong sextile to Saturn.

 

This sextile is Saturn’s intervention for the moon.

 

It’s a timely one. Because with all the retrograde sparks flying and the transformation that a full moon in Scorpio suggests, things can feel heavy. We could use the support that Saturn offers. At this time, look for resources that focus on integrity, then reap the emotional (moon) security that comes as a result of you proactively utilizing Saturn’s help.

 

Another sweet aspect to look forward to in May is Jupiter trine Neptune.

 

 

Ok, Siobhan, but what does that mean?

 

We’ve talked about aspects a lot. Here’s a chart of the aspects if they were cosmic meetups.

 

 

Not to get all math-y on you but remember that a straight line has 180 degrees. So an opposition looks like a straight line. From here you can grasp the rest of the shapes that the planets can make with one another: corner of a square, one of the angles in an equilateral triangle, and so on.

 

I haven’t written about Jupiter and Neptune yet in this series, but all of you have already heard in your ‘Scopes about ‘green Santa’ Jupiter and Neptune the ‘planet of mist.’

 

Green Santa Jupiter wants to travel the world spreading goodies as far and wide as possible. As a planet, it can lavish you in opportunity or mislead you by blowing up the sense of what’s possible (or what you can afford).

 

Neptune, planet of smoke, mirrors, and mist comes bearing dreams, psychic insight, and sometimes, confusion. This planet is all about the end game where we are all one, but it’ll get there a ‘lil early at times, making it more likely that folks feel victimized.

 

You can see from the chart above that the trine between Jupiter and Neptune is like a collaborative brainstorm. It’s a harmonious aspect in the same way that sextile was. Jupiter trine Neptune is the group hug that gets blissfully out of hand. It’s compassion, interconnectedness, and spirituality enlarged. Creativity and enthusiasm on tap.

As usual, how this aspect will affect you will depend in part on the houses where these two planets are located.

 

Recap!

 


We talked about Taurus and its mascot the bull and how this sign is associated with money, value, and the second house. We also talked about the full moon in Scorpio and how each full moon is an opposition to the sun. We talked about how an opposition is a kind of aspect and that there are aspects that trend toward harmony and those that trend toward challenge.

 

We also discussed how Scorpio is the sign opposite Taurus in the same way that the second house is opposite the eighth. Then we went on to talk about one of the most favorable aspects to look forward to next month, Jupiter trine Neptune.

 

Last month had explosive potential, but it was also kind of intense. Next month, see if you can’t get a hug from ‘green Santa.’ Especially around the full moon in Sagittarius, the sign ruled by Jupiter.

 

And now for a “Taurus” theme song.