Opposition

The opposition places two planets in signs that face each other across the zodiac — 180° apart, in complementary but opposing signs. Aries-Libra, Taurus-Scorpio, Gemini-Sagittarius: each pair represents two sides of a single axis, two valid perspectives on the same fundamental question. The opposition asks: can you hold both?

Traditional astrology classified the opposition as malefic, second only to the square in difficulty. But the opposition has a quality the square lacks: awareness. Squares create internal friction that the native often does not fully understand. Oppositions create external mirrors — the native sees the opposing energy projected onto other people and must eventually recognize it as their own.

The opposition is the aspect of relationship. The seventh house (the house of partnership) is defined by its opposition to the first house (the house of self). Every opposition in the chart plays out this dynamic: I am this, you are that, and we must find a way to coexist. This makes oppositions fundamentally relational — they are often experienced through partnerships, conflicts, and the ongoing negotiation between self and other.

In the planetary cycle, the opposition is the Full Moon moment — maximum illumination and maximum tension. What was begun at the conjunction is now fully visible. The opposition reveals the full implications of whatever was set in motion, and the native must decide: integrate or separate? Accept the full picture or retreat to one side?

Projection is the shadow of the opposition. When the native cannot integrate both planetary energies, they tend to identify with one and project the other onto partners, enemies, or situations. The person with Sun opposite Pluto may see themselves as powerless and attract controlling partners — or vice versa — until they recognize that both the power and the vulnerability live within them.

The gift of the opposition is perspective. No other aspect offers such clear vision of both sides. When an opposition is integrated — when the native can move fluidly between both poles — it becomes a source of wisdom, balance, and the ability to understand viewpoints that others find incomprehensible.