Saturn/Uranus and Proposition 8

Since Election Day, November 4th, 2008, we have had 5 exact oppositions of Saturn and Uranus.  The last opposition occurred on July 26th.  

 Saturn/Uranus cycles are notorious for financial instability, as well as extremes in weather patterns.  They can also be associated with periods of great calamity.  In 1918 Saturn opposed Uranus and 25 million people died as the result of the flu pandemic.  In 1930 during a Saturn/Uranus square, a volcanic eruption and earthquake in Japan would kill 10’s of thousands.  In December of 1941 with the conjunction in Taurus, we witness Pearl Harbor. When Saturn and Uranus were exactly opposite in 1965, the first US troops were sent to Viet Nam. They are also evident with revolutionary, scientific breakthroughs such as with the first controlled nuclear reaction in 1942.  Saturn was conjunct Uranus in Sagittarius at that time.  And in 1965, during the opposition, the first man would walk on the moon.

But what is most notable are the radical movements in society, that bring forth advances in our civilization.  In 1930 radical revolutionary changes were initiated through Gandhi’s famous peaceful civil disobedience “Salt March”.  And in 1965, when Saturn was opposing Uranus, yes, we saw the war in Viet Nam escalating, and we saw the first man walk on the moon, we also saw Martin Luther King lead his famous Civil Rights March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.  The 1960's are legendary for birthing civil rights movement, the women's movement, and a greater environmental awareness, among others. 

This time around, the 1st 4 oppositions occurred in the signs of Virgo (health care, jobs, workers) and Pisces (social programs, oceans, oil).  With Saturn/Uranus cycles, the more you resist them, the more likely the instability is going to transpire.  It’s like a pressure cooker.  If it doesn’t have an adequate valve, the pressure becomes overwhelming and things explode.  We saw this in evidence with the West Virginia Mine disaster back in April, as well as the BP oil well explosion in the Gulf.  It takes wisdom to understand our relationship with nature, and how to work with her, rather than against.

One good thing that did come out of this, was the Health Reform bill that was finally passed... weakened, diluted and apparently negligible compared to what many of us hoped for, nonetheless after decades of trying, it was passed!  Recently I received this notice, with some interesting highlights, which are certainly nothing to be sneezed at:

Report: 30M American women to benefit from health reform law
Approximately 30 million women will benefit from the new health care reform law over the next 10 years, according to a recent report from The Commonwealth Fund. 



The report says that the law will serve to stabilize or even reverse women's growing exposure to increasing health costs by subsidizing health insurance for approximately 15 million women who currently have no health insurance coverage, and by strengthening existing coverage for an additional 14.5 million women who are underinsured. 



The authors found that provisions pertaining to women include expanded eligibility for Medicaid; provision of subsidies to purchase health insurance; limiting out-of-pocket expenses; preventing insurance providers from charging higher premiums or turning down coverage based on gender or health status; and mandatory new plans to cover pregnancy, childbirth and newborn care. 



In addition, the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance plan (PCIP) is a key provision that will aid approximately 100,000 currently uninsured women with pre-existing conditions in getting provision coverage.

And then Uranus moved into the warrior sign of Aries, and Saturn into the sign of marriage, and equality.  These are cardinal signs, signs of initiative.  And on August 4th, San Francisco Supreme Court Judge Walker, overturned California’s Proposition 8.  Proposition 8, passed in 2008 with 52% of the vote, in order to overturn a newly appointed law which would allow same-sex marriage in the state of California.  Two couples sued the state of California, stating that this Proposition violated their rights.  And it turns out that the Judge agreed with them. 

Judge Walker stated that the referendum’s outcome was irrelevant, because “fundamental rights may not be submitted to a vote.”  He then tore apart the sham of a case presented by the supporters of Prop 8.  One of his most cogent statements, is actually revolutionary in scope, bringing us forth, into the 21st century, to another plateau of the expression of civil rights in our culture.

One of Judge Walker’s strongest points was that traditional notions of marriage can no longer be used to justify discrimination, just as gender roles in opposite-sex marriage have changed dramatically over the decades. All marriages are now unions of equals, he wrote, and there is no reason to restrict that equality to straight couples. The exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage “exists as an artifact of a time when the genders were seen as having distinct roles in society and in marriage,” he wrote. “That time has passed.” 

You can read the full article in the New York Times here.