How Do Oppositions Work?

If a person has an opposition in their chart is is impossible for them to act both sides of it simultaneously.The reason is the energies are opposite each other. This would be akin to being generous and cheap at the same time. It can’t be done!

You can be generous and then cheap and then generous, though. This is exactly what people with oppositions do. They act one side of the opposition (projecting the other) and then they flip positions.

Years ago I attended a workshop with astrologer, Tracy Marks. She explained, if you acted one end of a person’s opposition, they would have little choice (it would force them) to act the other end.

For example, if a person has a Virgo/Pisces opposition and you start nit-picking, they will go all universal on you.

On the other hand, if you are all fogged out, they’ll start picking out the details.

This is disturbing but factual.

Do you have an opposition in your chart? Tell us about it.

149 thoughts on “How Do Oppositions Work?”

  1. Venus(Aries)opposition Pluto(Libra). Vacillatate between loving passionately and wanting to smother my love with a pillow and then give him cpr to bring him back to life.

  2. Jupiter in 6th opposing Neptune in the 12th.
    Trying to nail down a routine/put a cap on anything is like trying to herd cats…pretty hard all around.

  3. Out of sign Gemini Sun/Scorpio Moon.
    Libra Mars/Aries Saturn.

    I’ve always been aware of a lot of flip-floppiness in myself but chalked it up to Gemini. What do y’all think the Mars/Saturn opposition is supposed to feel like?

  4. Moon in Pisces opposition Mercury in Virgo. This means that I’m lying whenever I jokingly brag about how having a bigger corpus callosum means I can more readily communicate about feelings while actually having them?

    Ok, so it’s probably what Elsa said – nitpicking (or as I like to think of it: accuracy) vs. universal (abstract). Sounds like a forest vs. the trees situation.

    My other oppositions are to Chiron or the ascendant, but I don’t know what to make of those. Any ideas?

  5. P.S. Thank you so much for posting this, Elsa! I’ve been hoping for some more zooming in on how to look at the major aspects.

  6. *waves* Virgo/Pisces opp here, and by God, nitpicking will make me open up a can of whup ass on ya!

    Virgo Pluto and Uranus opp. Pisces Saturn. After seeing the effect of the Saturn/Uranus opposition on the planet, it helped me understand why I had such conflicting beliefs and thoughts all my life.

    I also have Libra Mars opp. Aries Moon. A can’t decide what side I land on, and my moon is like “get off your ass and ACT!”

  7. Virgo Pluto and Uranus opp Pisces Saturn too, and Virgo Mars opp Pisces moon.

    Anyway I can rev up the Virgo sometimes? I hate being lazy and unproductive, but umm…it does happen. 🙂

  8. What about a chart without oppositions? Or a chart that has only one, for example — compare that with a chart that has many…

  9. I have five oppositions in my natal chart, but the ones that I am most aware of are:
    the opposition formed between Mercury and Saturn and the opposition formed between Neptune and the Ascendant.
    I am overly and to my detriment sometimes cautious to express myself. Mercury in Pisces, Saturn in Virgo.
    And I usually go about life feeling like I have no personality because I am so focused on learning you (too much inquisitiveness), that I can’t just relax and let my personality shine. Neptune in Sagittarius, Ascendant in Gemini.
    Thanks for another nice beginners post Elsa!

  10. Moon opposing Mars – I am agressive and like to get my way
    Venus opposing Jupiter – I’m undisciplined and don’t like to make waves

    Moon opposing Saturn – I was borm old and stodgy
    Jupiter opposing Uranus – I’m a rebel

    No wonder I’m confused – even my oppositions are opposites!! GAH!!

  11. Taurus Mars-Scorpio Neptune opp. Industrious or flakey. Angry or mellow. Practical or dreamy. With Neptune conjunct ASC I find myself occupying the latter position more often, unless confronted by some uber flake, of which there are many in my neck of the woods.

  12. Thanks Elsa, that’s awesome 🙂
    I have saturn opp neptune..and that’s it. Unless one includes asteroids.

    I would wonder if this made me an island or egocentric or unable to understand others

  13. moonpluto, there is a tag “saturn neptune”. I have written 50-100 posts on the topic and matter of fact, I am fixing to post another. 😉

  14. so if you have, in synastry, an opposition do you do a tag team switcheroo on the 2 planets?

    I just have the generational chiron/Uranus opp and also NN opp Sun.

  15. These posts are always such a learning activity! This is very interesting… makes me want to look at the charts of people I am close to see if/what part of their opposition I play part in.

    Moon (Gemini) opposite Neptune (Sag) – I go back and forth from being restless/skimming the surface/not comfortable with emotions to wanting to get to the depth of things.

    Venus (Aqua) opposite NN (Leo)- detachment, intellectualization of emotions to being cheery/playful/warm….like a ray of sunshine lol.

    Pluto (Libra) opposite Asc. (Taurus) – going from the desire to transform relationships to being possessive/stubborn/not comfortable with change.

  16. totally. i flip flop on the aries/libra axis a lot. still trying to do that libra stuff well (it is, after all, pluto there)

    and then the scorpio/taurus bit where i bounce back and forth between practical and abstract…
    and, yeah, i can see the drive for balancing… it’s like a need to balance out extremes around you by flipping the coin…

  17. I have heard that a person with a chart without any oppositions will have a hard time seeing other people’s perspectives, has anyone observed this to be true?

  18. Moon Scorpio opposed Mars Taurus and Mercury Cancer opposed Saturn Capricorn. Not sure what it means, but I know the moon opposed mars thing is supposed to be difficult.

  19. Gemini Venus opp Sag Neptune.

    Sometimes I imagine strong love feelings that aren’t truly there. And sometimes I’ll ignore negative things so that my projected version of a person or situation will come true, which is unrealistic. And then I am disappointed, in myself especially, for doing that again! I’m glad I’m aware of it, but it can be a pain since it’s so easy to fall into these unreal places in my mind.

  20. This is making me think….my mars is in cancer in the 11th house and my saturn in capricorn in 5th house. I can listen to a friend’s woes and offer comfort and advice and coo at them, but if one of my children have a problem, I immediately take command and tell them how to fix it. I am afraid of showing my softer side (or used to be, because they are older now) to my children because I know what a pushover I am and if I let them see that, they would get control over me and learn which buttons to push to sway me. I remember feeling like this when they were little, especially because I felt like I was an only parent and had to be the model of one at all times……hmmmm……

  21. I have 7 oppositions (all personal planets) but the one I was thinking about is my Pisces Sun opposition my Virgo rising. For me, this plays out very subtly. Astro.com says: “You attract powerful individuals with strong egos who always try to gain dominance over you” and it’s very true, though I rarely realize it until I’ve jumped in head first. Little things, like if I do a favor or go out of my way to help someone they’ll do something like not pay me for services rendered or assume I will always do it for them (and I do) or find more and more ways to establish their alpha-dog nature in the relationship. I let them because I know no other way to be. Now that I think about this, this is true of ALL significant relationships in my life. I’m the Robin to your Batman.

    Having that Sun right up against my descendant in the 6th, I bleed my energy all over other people and they soak it up but sometimes I hate it and try to stop. That’s me I’m either bleeding or clotting and coagulating, I can’t strike the balance.

    1. Thanks I read something similar especially with Pluto involved (in Virgo opposite sun/moon ascendant) not just dominance but abuse.

  22. “I have heard that a person with a chart without any oppositions will have a hard time seeing other people’s perspectives, has anyone observed this to be true?”

    I don’t think it’s true. That’s way too broad.

  23. What about out of sign oppositions? i have a pretty tight opposition – 0 degrees Gemini Sun 10th house, 29 degrees Scorpio Neptune in the fourth house. Does the fact that is out of sign make it an easier aspect?

    Thanks 🙂

  24. fun thread!

    Taurus Mercury opposing Scorpio Neptune:
    From … WYSIWYG -what you see is what you get, and all there is
    To… What ultimately counts is What you imagine, intuit, dream or feel.

  25. Jupiter – Pluto. All is well in the best of the world, it will all work out no matter what vs. uh. my Jupiter always win cuz of my Sag Moon. What would Pluto say? You Need to Know this: Some big opinion or truth without which you wont be able to survive…

  26. I have Mercury and Venus in Aquarius opposing Saturn in Cancer. and Mars in Gemini oppose Neptune in Sag. Sometimes I’m all chatty and lively but many times I can be too serious, silent and reserved. Don’t know if that’s my merc/venus op. saturn, or my scorpio rising and moon. maybe both. Feel like mass of contradictions. there is a constant battle between inner child and a grown-up. between my harsh side and compassionate, mellow me.

  27. Saturn in the 10th, Aquarius opposite Leo moon, 4th.
    I can be all business during the day, then at night the cat comes out to Play…meow.
    Somehow I relate 10/4th house opp as day and night split

  28. Pisces Sun Virgo Moon Pisces Mercury Aquarius Venus Leo Uranus, Capricorn Mars, Cancer Rising

    I think my opposites blend together very well.

    My husband is a Taurus Sun, Scorpio Moon He does seem to go to extreme more than me, but I think that is just his scorpio moon

  29. I’ve got Pisces Sun opposing Saturn in Virgo, LOL! I feel like there has to be a balance between the details and the universal. Too much nit picking does drive me crazy.

  30. aren’t oppositions indicators of some sort of polarity of energies/forces? i geneally experience mine as inner tension between contradictory drives. i feel as if the parts of the personality that i could correlate to the planets involved need to manifest simultaneously. ballance at best, tension at worst.

  31. I’ve got both Mars opposite Moon, and Pluto opposite Moon in my chart. Mars and Pluto in Scorpio (conjunct as well) Mars at the end of the 10th house, and Pluto in the 11th house. Moon is in Taurus in the 5th house.

    How I deal with these, I have no idea. My temper has calmed down a lot, but when I’m mad… Well, you’d better hope it’s not directed towards you. 🙂

  32. I read up on the significance of

    Moon opposition Venus
    (i.e midheaven Taurus vs. 3d house Scorpio)

    and I feel it more than anything else…it shadows all the rest of me. What can I do to overcome this? One explanation says that I project “unconsciously”

    ).

    I just need some advice to get me started in the right direction. I want to beat this.

  33. I have many oppositions and can flipflop with the best of them, but have managed to find an interesting outlet for all that: I’m a devil’s advocate. People actually ask me for advice because I can ALWAYS find an opposing point of view. 😉

  34. Love, love, love the Demystifying Astrology posts!

    I’m got a Cap moon Moon opposed to the Sun, Mars and Venus. Not so fond of this, I don’t think. Sometimes it’s exhausting. But it makes me consider how I might manipulate myself if I met me on the street.

  35. enus and moon in gemini in 7th opposing uranus in sagittarius in 2nd.
    Although, I enjoy other people’s company, I have very erratic behaviour.
    I just need my space. My romances are short lived. I get bored with people so easily.
    But afterwards, I feel like I want that person. My feeling towards guys fluctuate so much.
    I can’t keep a track of it. This is preventing me to go into serious relatuonships.
    I have mercury in leo in 9th opposing jupiter in aquarius in 3rdm
    The visions (jupiter) I have are grand ideas but somehow I miss the details out.
    My ideas aren’t very logical sometimes.

  36. Oh I need this topic so much, I don’t know where to begin. Mainly: My Moon is directly in opposition to my Mercury, so what I think can be uncannily at odds with what I feel. Where I have felt this most bafflingly is in relationships. I can deeply love someone who doesn’t “fit” with me or anything about my life, personailty, family, existence in the concrete world. I think this discrepancy has actually led me to eventually end loving relationships because something just never feels all the way, despite so much love. And when there is one who intellectually make sense, chances are my heart can’t get on board.

    This opposition, needless to say, is smack on my IC/MC axis, which means it squares my Descendant and 7th house.

    If anyone has any thoughts, I would welcome them with open arms, heart, body and soul (if not mind, ha).

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