Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes 2022
Written by Jennifer Freed | Photography by Gary Scott
2022 will be a year filled with welcome and unwelcome surprises, phenomenal discoveries, galactic intensity, and clashes between extreme ideologies. It will be an opportunity for each of us to radically change our perspective about what is enough and how to conserve what we have.
Squaring Off
The biggest planetary cycle of 2022 is what we call Saturn squared by Uranus. In the tension of a 90-degree angle, these two archetypes will reveal stress fractures in our political and financial systems. Saturn represents the need for stability, tradition, authority, and conservatism—and sometimes unbridled ambition. Uranus reflects our capacities for rebellion, innovation, and revolution. When these two archetypes face off, we can expect a true conflict between institutional authority and radical revolutionary behavior.
Saturn is currently in the sign of Aquarius, which is about authority within community and tradition within groups and organizations. Expressed skillfully, this placement is about taking responsibility for every single person in our community, regardless of status or identity. The unskillful side of Saturn in Aquarius is a sense of moral righteousness and a dictatorial certainty about who in our community should and should not be honored.
Uranus is in the sign of Taurus, which is about an upheaval in our sense of security and real challenges to rigid, stubborn unyielding tendencies. We are invited to let go of our own material greed in favor of supporting others in having the basics of what they need to survive. The downside of this energy can be destruction of property, materials, even social order—just to feel the juvenile thrill of anarchy.
Ideally, the energies of Saturn in Aquarius squared by Uranus in Taurus will promote divine possibilities: inspiring us to come together to invent new ideas of community and to creatively solve widespread economic and ecological problems. Most importantly, we need to focus on empowering the wisdom of elders to help us avoid reckless or impulsive choices and to make value-based changes with the past and the future in mind.
Jupiter Dancing With Neptune
Jupiter will be conjoined with Neptune in Pisces off and on throughout 2022. Jupiter is the archetype of abundance, higher learning and the search for meaning. It also points to spiritual learning, and the quest for compassion and true understanding. Neptune is the archetype of the collective dream; it represents our unlimited and undivided nature. Jupiter dancing with Neptune means a magnification of our capacity to dream a new world into being, together: a world where everyone belongs and has what they need.
Because both these planets will be in the sign of Pisces—a water sign ruled by Neptune—we should expect an outpouring of love and compassion and empathy previously unseen. This combination will also support an outpouring of collective music events and artistic inspirations.
This infusion of tidal energy in the water sign of Pisces will also mean some big news around water and water events.
In Summary
Get ready for a Class 5 river-raft ride! As any of you who have ridden the rapids know, an advanced ride like this one means you need all hands on deck. Everyone must be ready and willing to flow and move with the big waters rushing in. You’ll need to be able to scream and shout and release tension when you’re scared. The trick is to not aim your upset at anyone else and to realize that big feelings need to be acknowledged without adding more drama or trauma to others. You can also aim to feel the rapture and exhilaration that come from being part of a magnificent and thrilling ride of history filled with twists and turns.
We can feel much closer and unified once we move through these epic waves of social change and amplified feelings. If we lean into listening and learning instead of certitude, we can create innovative, wise, heartfelt solutions to many of our existing problems.
There will be a few periods of calmer waters throughout this year. That’s when we will need to hold everyone close in the lifeboat and reassure each other that we can do hard things. Deep appreciation for what each of us brings to this wild journey will provide great solace in 2022.
Jennifer Freed
“I love to write about the planetary cycles and evoke a sense of wonder about our place in this vast and animated cosmos,” says the author and chief content officer of AHA! (an organization providing social-emotional education for teens and educators), who alerts us to the challenges and opportunities of the coming year in “Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes 2022”. S.B. MUST-DOS The Mermaid Cottage on Padaro Beach. • An intimate dinner at Tre Lune. • Swimming at Butterfly Beach, because the sharks are at Santa Claus Beach. jenniferfreed.com @drjenniferfreed