The Great Conjunction of 2020

Jupiter: Old man! Thanks for coming over! Come in!

Saturn: Certainly, Jupiter. Thanks for the invitation.

Jupiter: [closes the door] Please have a seat…I brought out that hard chair with the solid back that you like.

Saturn: My thanks. May I remove my mask?

Jupiter: Of course! Can I get you something? Perhaps some 20-year-old Scotch?

Saturn: Generally, I would say no, Jupiter, but it is rather old…just a touch of it, please.

Jupiter: [hands Saturn a double shot in a glass and brandishes his own glass] Here’s to the solstice and 2021, and of course, to our upcoming collaboration.

Saturn: Indeed. [takes a sip of the scotch] You gave me too much, as usual.

Jupiter: [smiles] Give it your best shot!

Saturn: Fair enough. [puts his glass down] For the first time in a long time, we’re coming together in an air sign.

Jupiter: Yes! I am so excited. We’ve been in earth signs for 200 years, and this Great Conjunction is in the innovative sign of Aquarius.

Saturn: [pauses] It’s not completely unknown to me; I used to rule Aquarius after all before Urnie took it over.

Jupiter: I can tell you’re not particularly excited about the change. Want to tell me why?

Saturn: I know intellectually things have to change, but I keep going back to the idea that we have been doing things for a while a certain way.

Jupiter: [laughs] I hear you, man. It’s going to challenge both of us, I expect, but I’m feeling positive about it.

Saturn: I wish I had your optimism. Structures that have lasted for a long time will have to be broken down, and that’s not always easy.

Jupiter: Oh, come on, Old Man! Most of those structures you’re talking about are completely broken, anyway. You know how Urnie is; he only breaks the things that aren’t working.

Saturn: [sigh] That’s always hard for me. I set those things in place long ago. People count on them; in some cases, they live their lives by them. What’s wrong with them that they don’t work anymore? I did the job right the first time.

Jupiter: Listen, you’re too black and white on this one, as usual. You DID do your job right the first time but let me tell you something about culture: It changes. Priorities shift and people want different things. What worked 100 years ago doesn’t typically work today. Urnie knows when things need an innovative push. That’s not your strength, and we both know it, so we leave it to him now that we’re both in Aquarius. It’s not about the establishment anymore; it’s about the collective.

Saturn: When you start changing things radically, people get nervous, Jove. And Urnie has this streak toward anarchy that makes me uncomfortable. We can’t live that way.

Jupiter: Maybe it would be better if you think of it as an improvement of your existing structures? Urnie doesn’t want to re-invent the wheel.

Saturn: But again, that implies that what I did wasn’t good enough.

Jupiter: At some point we’ll need to talk about you seeing a therapist. Old people often become depressed or have anxiety, you know…

Saturn: It’s just who I am, Jupiter!

Jupiter: Maybe so, but that doesn’t mean you have to question your value or constantly tell people you’re not good enough, or just plain old “not enough”. That’s not one of your strengths, and I am well aware of the reason for it. But it does make you sort of a wet blanket.

Saturn: Delaying rewards just makes them sweeter. You are the one who wants to hand out rewards for no reason!

Jupiter: I think we’re getting off topic, Saturn. [pause] The point is that neither one of us has a choice. We’re being pushed into the New Age, ready or not.

Saturn: Hmmmmph. [pauses] I can’t deny that, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

Jupiter: Hey we’ve got 200 years to run around together in air signs, so I suspect you’ll get used to it, eventually. [takes a liberal swallow from his glass] This shit is excellent, is it not?

Saturn: [takes another sip] Honestly it is lovely. [puts down his glass] The question that always goes through my mind is if I did my best; it fuels the idea that I’m never good enough.

Jupiter: I can’t think of anyone else that I would have trusted the structure building of the last 200 years to, Saturn. In earth signs, it was physical structures, economics, and lots of resource management. Now, we both will have to think differently. You know Aquarius much better than I do, but the road to the future is through progressive thinking, technology, innovation, and space travel.

Saturn: [chuckles] ‘To infinity and beyond?’

Jupiter: You knew it was bound to happen eventually. But it’s not time to be disappointment or to judge yourself too harshly.

Saturn: Humans are right about you: You’re an expansive, freedom loving bastard, but you do know a thing or two. You have my thanks.

Jupiter: [nods] We help each other out; if it wasn’t for you, I’d have no limits whatsoever.

Saturn: Yes, but don’t you hate that?

Jupiter: ABSOLUTELY. But I recognize that it is necessary. There’s a difference. I mean, how many potstickers can one really eat?

Saturn: That’s a loaded question, Jove. I hear there’s a Taurus woman who can give our esteemed blogger a run for his money on that score.

Jupiter: Yes, I’ve heard of her, too. Rumor has it she’s planning her reign as overlord of the world. She’s the one who said, “You never wake up a Taurus girl without food or sex!”

Saturn: [winces] Venusian wisdom at its finest. [raises glass] Blessed Yule, Jupiter, to you and yours.

Jupiter: [clinks glasses with Saturn] Blessed Yule, Old Man, and I welcome the arrival of the sun into Capricorn. Longer and better days lie ahead.