☍ The Opposition · Polarity

A hundred and eighty degrees — the two ends of one axis. Each becomes visible mainly through the other, which is why an opposition so often turns up as a person across the room rather than a feeling inside you.

The opposition at a glance

• Angle180°
• Umbriel calls itPolarity
• Typical orbabout 8°
• Keywordstwo ends, one axis, seen through the other

What the opposition means

An aspect is the angle between two planets — how they talk to each other. At 180°, the opposition is the aspect of the axis you stand on, and why the far end usually arrives wearing someone else's face. In a chart it's associated with two ends, one axis, seen through the other, projection.

We call this one Polarity, after what the angle does rather than how it is supposed to feel. Elsewhere you will see the opposition called a “challenging” or “hard” aspect. Same geometry — it is worth knowing both words, but the older one rates the experience before you have looked at anything.

A question to sit with

Which two needs sit at opposite ends of you — and who is holding the far end just now?

Working with it

Find who is currently holding the far end for you — the person who irritates you in exactly this register. Then try, once, saying the thing they represent in your own voice, as a preference of yours rather than a complaint about them.