The opposition

Something I've wondered for a long time -- how does the opposition express itself? It's a negative aspect, yes, but how does its influence differ from the square? Two planets fighting to gain precedence over the other? Hypocritical, moody, unstable?

I wonder because I have few squares in my chart, but quite a few oppositions.

Thanks

[old thread - moved to Greenhorns Lounge - Moderator]

And I just noticed there is an "Aspects" subforum... feel free to move this :blush:

Personally,"oppositions" is the aspect I am most familair with. I think they have extreme importance in the chart, as they indicate "Balance". I always interpret charts with taking note the balance of the houses needed. Every sign has it's opposite, and it's opposite is actually part of it. The balance comes when the missing element from the opposite side is added into the mix.

Opposite directions, but common middle ground. When properly banaced and reconciled, completion of duality into wholeness. Expanded vision. Both sides of the coin. Balance. If either side is out of whack, the balance is lost, and conflict to restore the balance ensues. Think of a performer on a tightrope.. It's beatiful to watch unless he loses balance and almost falls off.. then the whole crowd gasps and feels an extremely tense feeling inside.

Hence, they show in our chart how we must apply balance, and what opposing forces we will be driven to reconcile along our path.

It is important to realize that planets in opposition are at a completion phase of the natural cycle. The native has developed the planets in opposition to a significant degree, and now must fully integrate the planetary cycle in question into his consciousness.

A similar concept is evident in the Full Moon, which speaks for completions (endings) to make way for new beginnings. At the Full Moon, the Sun and Moon are in perfect opposition.

Demonstrated using sine waves 180 degrees out of phase. Note the meeting at the "zero point", and perfect oppositional symetry at maximum deviation from the "zero point"

Also, check out this thread: Resolving Polarities. It's a winner

Oppositions can make a person feel like their is a war being waged inside of their body and mind. Oppositions often manifest in intense power struggles with other people. I have a heavy oppostion in my chart involving several of my personal planets. When I was younger I couldn't find any peace with another person around. People would just rile me up and aggravate me. Though that feeling is still there to some level, it's not as intense. I feel at ease when I talk to most people. Still my greatest moments of peace are when I'm out in the woods running down dirt trails. The older I get the easier it gets, still I don't surround myself with a lot of people. I saw a counselor for quite some time. She named me her extreme girl. She pointed out to me that with just about every choice I make I fall into two polar oppsites. I either totally back down or come out fighting mad. I like sweet earthy guys or fiery passinate men. I'm learning that there is usually another choice that falls somewhere in the middle. I think the opposition has the potential for the greatest balance. My main opposition falls in aries/libra. Sometimes when I am around my friends who are heavily aries or libra I notice how out of balance they are. I notice how selfish aries can be at times and how they so desperately want love, but yet they act like they don't need it. I notice how libra thinks they are going to die whenver there partner leaves them. Whenever I notice these qualitys in my freinds( yes, I tend to notice my friends less adorable qualities), I am thankful for my oppositon. It's forcing me to balance. I guess the qualitys my freinds have are the same ones I have to some extent. Last night I almost wanted to give up on relationships and blame it on my oppositon, and I had to call bullshi_ on myself. I had to tell myself that there have been people with much nastier charts than mine, and they have overcome their issues and karma. I mean we all feel like our problems are the worse. One day I will have a good relationship that is peaceful despite the opposition in my chart. This war in my body has to stop first though. Well I am just a chatterbug tonight. L.

Thanks for the insights! Astrology is so difficult sometimes. Trying to combine and weigh all of the influences is quite a challenge. And that's just your own chart!

Sometimes when I am around my friends who are heavily aries or libra I notice how out of balance they are. I notice how selfish aries can be at times and how they so desperately want love, but yet they act like they don't need it. I notice how libra thinks they are going to die whenver there partner leaves them. Whenever I notice these qualitys in my freinds( yes, I tend to notice my friends less adorable qualities), I am thankful for my oppositon. It's forcing me to balance.

Click to expand...

It is also interesting to note how this opposition plays out between two different individuals and how they can suddenly switch roles; for example, my mother has a heavy Libran influence in her natal chart, but she can definitely be assertive while striving towards something she wants!

I can only imagine how confusing it must be to balance the polarities within oneself...

Arian Maverick

AM - thats when the scales tip (with respect to your mother). When things are out of kilt of they choose to unbalance, the libran can go!

I have stacks of oppositions and oppositions acts like librans (cf conjunctions which resemble aries) - compromise and balance is required to deal with these aspects. I have many oppositions in my chart and I have to struggle with compromise between these planets but I agree with Lillybelle, it does keep you balanced and able to see many points of view.

The square is internal battle--a war within the self, and the opposition receives its battle externally--a war outside of the self.

oppositions and squares stand out more than trines and sextiles. i have one opposition and two squares and i feel their influences very intensely.

I have Sun and Moon in opposition in Capricorn and Cancer, the same opposition I have also with Mercury and Moon. And yes, it is hell of a battle every day. -.- With the Sun and Moon opposition, my mother and father are completely different people and this definately has to do with my relationship with my dad who is very complex personality and I feel that I am never "whole" until I truly understand some parts of my dad....

I also have issues with intimacy, sometimes I wanna be very intimate and sometimes I just wanna be alone in my own silent cave...I have also very hard time knowing my boundaries with other people. I am very sensitive and I need my own space, but somehow I feel that I can find the solution to my opposition problems ONLY by other people and understanding my self through them...(I think this is somehow the story with oppositions).

Yeah I think oppositions are pretty heavy. I have moon conjunct IC opposite Neptune conjunct midheaven not too sure what it means something about keeping my emotions to myself and showing others neptuny vibe but it is crazy, and mars in leo is opposite aquarius ascendant pretty brutal too I attract or respect people that dominate me pretty well

i have a merc/moon oposition cancer/moon cap/merc and i am constantly struggling between emotion/logic and it drives me nuts...especially with my merc rx. (overthinking) its like i have to choose one or the other and i never know which is the right one....so i just follow my gut.

I understand oppositions as being mutually dependent upon one another for the others existence.
Look at the signs.
Coexistance(libra) can not exist without individuality(aries).
Differentiation(virgo) can not exist without identification(piscies).
axis's are interesting.
I have heard that gemini's have a hard time getting along with virgos.
because the dispersal, mutable, flows are complet opposites, this makes sence to me being that gemini is similarities, and virgo is diferentiation. I could see as far as pure signs go how there would be miscomunication between these two signs.

THe square I see as more of an opposition then the real opposition aspect.
Those signs that are square to oneanother are often complete opposites in how they interact with the phisical universe.

like how aries is outflow emotion doing, and cancer is inflow emotion doeing...both cardinal signs, but really opposite energies.
Libra is inflow thought, towards self, but the thought seems to be created by self outside of self somehow...whereas aries's creation eminaties dirretly from self, and cancers inflow directly comes from self..cancer tries to pull the whole world to itself, Libra pulls the thoughts of others towards self and weighs them out, looking for balance..which often looks like flakiness, but at a higher level, you reach metaphysical truths like all are really right in their own viewpoint regardless if others see things differently. Everyone is right but no one is right, simotaniously. That has to be uncomfterable some times.



I'm still working on the sign's energies, and how they operate....simple elements do help, as well as the cardinal, fixed, mutable...I always label them as flow, ridge, and dispersal. I picked that up from somebody else, and it seems to make sence.

Alot can be told from the signs and planets alone in aspect without the houses.......


Ahhhhhh!!!
Stupid Computer...Why must you act up one me....
I'm trying to download a new firewall update but the stupid thing keeps overheating when it is near it's completion..I get like 15 minutes to be on and then..poof..I think I have a virus that is overclocking my cpu...and I really don't absoulutely know what all of that means.(laugh)...I should just bring it in....I can't get on the net long enough to fix it myself. I shouldn't even be on it now but i've made backups...I need a new computer anyway.

Tsquare

Oppositions do not always mean bad things, f. example, in synastry, oppositions are supposed to be very "romantic". Any insights?

yeah,
the signs that oppose are polarities....high, low, good bad, etc.etc.
they are dependent upon one another for their existance, and attract one another for that reason, compliment one another.....It is funny how affinity(liking of something), and reality(agreement with that thing), are mutually exclusive.....
The signs that oppose don't always agree....really they see things very differently..and are different....but they are atracted none the less.


That work?
Tsquare

lilllybelle said:

Oppositions can make a person feel like their is a war being waged inside of their body and mind. Oppositions often manifest in intense power struggles with other people. I have a heavy oppostion in my chart involving several of my personal planets. When I was younger I couldn't find any peace with another person around. People would just rile me up and aggravate me. Though that feeling is still there to some level, it's not as intense. I feel at ease when I talk to most people. Still my greatest moments of peace are when I'm out in the woods running down dirt trails. The older I get the easier it gets, still I don't surround myself with a lot of people. I saw a counselor for quite some time. She named me her extreme girl. She pointed out to me that with just about every choice I make I fall into two polar oppsites. I either totally back down or come out fighting mad. I like sweet earthy guys or fiery passinate men. I'm learning that there is usually another choice that falls somewhere in the middle. I think the opposition has the potential for the greatest balance. My main opposition falls in aries/libra. Sometimes when I am around my friends who are heavily aries or libra I notice how out of balance they are. I notice how selfish aries can be at times and how they so desperately want love, but yet they act like they don't need it. I notice how libra thinks they are going to die whenver there partner leaves them. Whenever I notice these qualitys in my freinds( yes, I tend to notice my friends less adorable qualities), I am thankful for my oppositon. It's forcing me to balance. I guess the qualitys my freinds have are the same ones I have to some extent. Last night I almost wanted to give up on relationships and blame it on my oppositon, and I had to call bullshi_ on myself. I had to tell myself that there have been people with much nastier charts than mine, and they have overcome their issues and karma. I mean we all feel like our problems are the worse. One day I will have a good relationship that is peaceful despite the opposition in my chart. This war in my body has to stop first though. Well I am just a chatterbug tonight. L.

Click to expand...

Oh. My. God. I can totally relate to this post, especially since I have the Aries/Libra opposition between my personal planets as well (Sun, Mercury & Venus in Libra, Moon in Aries- yeesh!). People tend to irritate the **** out of me at times- because of this, I prefer not being around them for long periods.

It's weird- at the beginning of a friendship/relationship, I am usually extremely excited about exchanging ideas and getting to know a person. But then I reach a point where I start to get sick of being around them & things about them start to irritate me. It *****. You can imagine what happens next...let's just say that I'm not the best at maintaining friendships. The only arena this hasn't occurred in has been my romantic relationships, believe it or not. I think this may be because I feel comfortable showing all sides of myself to my boyfriends and like I'm not holding anything back.

However, the older I get, the better I feel I am able to keep my irritableness under control. I think it's a maturity thing.

sam said:

Something I've wondered for a long time -- how does the opposition express itself? It's a negative aspect, yes, but how does its influence differ from the square? Two planets fighting to gain precedence over the other? Hypocritical, moody, unstable?

I wonder because I have few squares in my chart, but quite a few oppositions.

Thanks

Click to expand...

This is a good thread, I have wondered this myself many times, frustration is often indicated by the square. I have a book on the Astrological aspects coming in a few days, but being an impatient Pisces I read some of the book online:

Oppositions - The opposition tends to make the native an instrument in the hands of others, either conscious or unconscious. If the horoscope is a generally passive type this condition may be easily accepted, but in the case of the vigorous individual the influence of the opposition may lead to constant friction and struggle, as is seen in the maps of many-perhaps most military commanders, and all of those who, so to speak, "fight their oppositions out" spending there lives in warfare.

The whole chart will probably need to be considered, but there are very good replies on this thread to this question, all interesting.

Hi everyone. I have a very tight sun mars opposition and I can get very angry. I don't understand the part about the opposition recieving its battles from outside. I find that people do upset me and I do feel challenged, but is that not the same with the square? Don't they also react to external challenges?