Introduction to ‘Uranus Opposition’ in Astrology – The Call to Awaken the Higher Self

Contributing Writers for Wake Up World

As an outer-system planet, Uranus takes just over 84 years to complete its orbit around the Sun. When we are born, the symbol Uranus is positioned at a specific location in our astrological birth charts. Taking around 7 years to pass through each sign, Uranus begins to move into the sign opposite its natural placement in our birth chart as we approach the age of 40 — thus the name Uranus Opposition. (Uranus Waxing occurs at 21 years, Uranus Waning at 63, and Uranus Return at 84.) Around the age of 38 or so, depending on the placement of Uranus in our chart, Uranus Opposition begins to set in motion bringing with it incredible opportunity for spiritual growth — a cycle that ends completely around the age of 44.

In astrological terms, Uranus represents our process of de-conditioning, its journey around the Sun reflects our lifelong journey of conditioning and liberation. The task of bringing ourselves into alignment with our destiny awaits us at our Uranus Opposition. Representing a crucial point in the awakening of our higher Self, this time-frame is one of the most significant astrological cycles we go through in our consistently awakening state — just as Saturn (particularly the Saturn Return) is an important time in our process of conscious awareness — and yet, this misunderstood period of time often brings more fracturing and trauma, at least in the short term, than it does access to our highest state of being.

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In this article, we would like to bring into your awareness some of the deeper aspects of this life-changing cycle.

Cleaning the Lens

While the world is changing around us, it is important for us to revisit and reshape our understanding of what Uranus reflects to us and what the Uranus Opposition is all out.

In classic astrology, Uranus is known as the planet of shocking and unexpected occurrences. Going through a Uranus Opposition is considered a time in our lives in which we experience the famous “midlife crisis”. But why is this period linked with the midlife crisis?

In evolutionary terms, the archetype of Uranus helps us to detach from the ego and observe things from an objective perspective. This experience of detachment often leads us into new and unexpected directions. When we allow this process to occur naturally in our lives, it can actually bring liberation and freedom. When we resist our changing perspective and growth, when we focus on the parts of ourselves and our lives that make us fearful, and hold on to situations that we have essentially outgrown, crisis and chaos occurs.

Thus, Uranus Opposition is not a time of crisis but of opportunity, and changing perspectives. Liberation and objective perspectives are needed in our lives to grow. The journey of Uranus helps us understand the bondage of limitations we create in our lives, due to our need for security. Through the process of Uranus Opposition specifically, we experience the rebirth of our self-identity.

Saturn Return, usually experienced from around 28 years of age, is a stage of our development that occurs before we begin our Uranus Opposition. The experience of the Uranus archetype in our field will always feel like unexpected and sudden change leading to feel shocked. A deeper layer we would like to add to this understanding is that the Uranus cycle also has a strong energetic connection to the body’s chakra systems and, therefore, to our awakening into heart-centred and higher-dimensional life. The kundalini energy is conceived by the Hindus to be coiled up energy that resides at the base of the spine. This energy rises and awakens and, at the Uranus Opposition, it begins to open the energetic heart-chakra centre. This is the part in which we begin to align our higher chakras and lower chakras.

In order for us to gain a deeper understanding of the Uranus cycle and opposition we need to provide some context to why this period of time in our lives works the way it does. So we will begin with looking at the previous cycle, the Saturn cycle of maturation and self-determination.

The Saturn Cycle: Maintaining Emotional Stability

The Saturn Return cycle begins for us around 28 years of age, when Saturn completes a full orbit of the Sun and returns to the sign it occupied when we were born. This cycle brings reflection and new levels of conscious awareness, and by challenging us to develop self-determination, personal growth and inner security, prepares us for the rebirth process that we go through during the Uranus Opposition.

For an in-depth look at the Saturn cycle of maturation, please read the article, The ‘Saturn Return’ – The Cycle of Maturation.

Briefly, the Saturn Return period is experienced as throwing off the ideals of freedom and young adult spontaneity, and replacing it with a sense of building structures and working on maturing our emotional responses. This period of time, from around the ages of 28 to 31, in our view is the most intense period of our lives, as it requires us to take a deep look at one’s own personal relationship with ourselves, and then asks the questions: How can I improve? What can I do to become more responsible for the direction of my life?

Through the 7 year Saturn cycle, we take control of our reality and our lives, fully incarnated. We begin our journey toward emotional awareness and the creation of stability and consistency in our lives, which helps us begin to deal with our karma from the past and learn to see where we are truly in our personal journey. We come to a place where we have experienced the layers and level of our lives; our karma, our identity, our limitations. As this cycle is one of impulse, wildness and freedom, with little focus on responsibility or the bigger picture, the subsequent Uranus phase can be particularly challenging. Uranus Opposition comes along as we near 40, our perception of life fractures, and we take what we have learned in the first half of our lives and begin the second half by seeding it into the outer world.

Kundalini and The Uranus Cycle

Energetically, life on Earth is experienced through the kundalini energy rising through the chakra centres. What occurs for us when we experience the Uranus Opposition is that the kundalini energy or Uranus energy is coiled at the base of the spine. At this age the shell that encases the kundalini energy (Saturn) begins to fracture. In other words the experience of the world and definitions we use to live by and work through begin to be break down. This process of breaking down and cracking open the outdated definitions leads to the soul’s rebirth — usually a shocking change in direction.

On an energetic level, we give matter energy by interacting with it. In Uranus opposition, we begin to feel restricted by what you’ve been interacting with, and seek fulfilling change. We learn to break free from the limitations of our outdated self and to bring our unique gifts to the community. As our sense of restriction drives us toward change, the securities we find in our beliefs and routines is challenged, and mental distress energy can be activated if we are not able to hold that frequency of change and resist the process. It can literally fracture the mind.

The rising and unleashing of the kundalini energy is the connecting of the fully integrated self, through all 7 chakras. Integrating this energy with our pursuit of our individual paths enables us to begin a new and illuminating journey — one of higher meaning.

At the time of Uranus Opposition, the Uranus energy literally activates the electrical kundalini energy of the heart chakra. If we are resistant to aligning our life path with our heart energy, we may feel Uranus Opposition as intense shock — as the only way this energy can be experienced and expressed is through loss, which opens us up to our heart’s compassion. Where the heart chakra cannot be expressed, loss and crisis are common and physical ailments such as heart disease and breast cancer may be prevalent during this time.

Three Stages of Uranus Opposition

When the Uranus Opposition manifests for us, we generally experience it in three stages. Due to the individual context of our planetary orbits, some of us might experience the Opposition at different times, some at 42 and some might experience it at 39 — it depends on the placement of Uranus in your individual birth chart.

As the first stage of this transition takes place, transiting Uranus forms a Quincunx (adjustment angel) to the placement of Uranus in your natal chart. At this point, we begin to experience internal crises, even deep psychological paralyse, which promote breakdowns and create the need for self-observation and inner confrontation. At this point, it can (as we mentioned above) feel like crisis. But we must remember that the outer world we have created is a reflection of our past, and the discord we are feeling is because established structures of our outer world no longer reflect our changed/changing inner world.

As Uranus moves from this Quincunx alignment into direct Opposition, the second stage begins. By now, as we move through the initial period of discord, we come to know that the circumstances and direction of our life can – and must – change. The choices and feelings that come with the new directions and potentials we are presented with may seem ‘radical’ or a bit far-fetched, and adjusting to the discord we observe between our inner and outer worlds (and our expectations of them) can feel overwhelming, causing a need to release an incredible amount of pressure and tension — to “find an outlet”.

The third stage inn the Opposition process begins when we make change — when we take a deep breath, even a leap of faith, move in that new radical direction, and begin to integrate our inner and outer realities. At this stage, we begin to make the changes and new choices that our new perspective presents to us, and put our new sense of direction into action. It can seem scary at this time, but is is also filled with excitement, potential and aliveness — as you find yourself doing and being in ways you had never imagined!

Final Thoughts

Uranus Opposition is a process of integrating our new, reborn self with our outer direction. It is a time when we learn the path of our natural sovereignty, when we learn to reflect our evolving understanding of life and manifest reality from our own point of view. Many great writers, artists, (r)evolutionaries, and other celebrated souls started their great works around the age of 40 to 44.

Embracing these evolutionary cycles in our lives is an important part of spiritual transmutation. Our souls go through evolutionary stages, otherwise known as rites of passage, and in these natural cycles we gain wisdom and learn invaluable life lessons. They are what our growth process is all about, as we journey along this Earthly experience. At the time of the Uranus Opposition, we are asked to challenge our pre-existing ideas of what we consider life to be. We are also challenged with the notion of what security means for us, as this cycle demands we let go of conditioning and structure and reshape our direction, rebuilding our lives anew.

This is evolution in action; we have the choice to change our path in order to live in alignment with our beautiful inner world. Individuation and liberation are the keys to navigating this cycle. Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself and walk new paths.

For a deeper understanding of the Uranus Opposition, be sure to watch the video below.

Blessings,
Simon & Jennifer

Raising Vibrations: Understanding the Uranus Opposition

with Simon Vorster…

About the authors:

Simon Vorster is an evolutionary astrologer and teacher who has been practising astrology for over 10 years. Together with his partner and co-founder of Raising Vibrations, Jennifer Langstone, their work is rooted in helping souls de-condition the self and empower the soul into making new conscious choices. Through their website, Raising Vibrations, and the consulting services they offer, Simon and Jennifer share their thoughts and insights and, using the powerful tool of evolutionary astrology, help and guide others to find their own spiritual paths, live authentically in the moment and understand ways they are able to positively effect their own spiritual evolution.