Uranus Opposition, Part II—Letting Go and Moving Forward: My Uranus Opposition Experience

In part I of this series, I introduce the Uranus Opposition, so be sure to read that essay for context. The following article explores my personal experience with this major life transit.

​Uranus was transiting the 8th House opposite my natal Uranus in the 2nd House starting July 2020. It was first exact July 2022 when David and I started discussing selling our house and moving to Portugal.

​This meant confronting all of our stuff, my stuff really, reflected by my natal 2nd House of Possessions. I had accumulated years’ worth of things: books, tarot, oracle decks, crystals, jewelry, clothes, and shoes, along with the artwork, music equipment, records, vintage glassware that we had collected together over 15 years, not to mention our home decor & furnishings.

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What we see in my experience was the need to reconcile the Second Polarity Axis of the 2nd House of Possessions & Values and the 8th House of Death & Shared Resources:

• what I own (2nd House) and what I share (8th House);
• what I’m holding onto (2nd) and what I need to let go of (8th).

As Uranus transited into exact opposition, I felt the 8th House of Death (& Rebirth) urging me to release every single thing in my life that I no longer needed, and to focus only on the items that I truly valued and wanted to take with me (2nd House). 

Uranus’ upheaval in my life at that moment was unavoidable. I certainly could not take everything with me, nor did I want to! Plus there was the matter of our biggest shared resource, which we both adored and had to let go of—our home of 10 years!

We started talking with our real estate agent in October 2022—the 2nd time Uranus went exact opposite in my chart. We needed to get ready to prepare for selling the house in the Spring by clearing things out. We began going through everything and posting as many items that we could sell—valuables from which we could make money (2nd House), as well as release from our lives (8th House).

This is how I started to reconcile the polarity of the 2nd and 8th Houses. You can read more about reconciling oppositions in my post: The Dance of Duality. 

To be honest, I grappled with all of this. I was very comfortable in my home with my things. I’m organized and everything has its place, but as soon as we began sorting through it all, the chaos and upheaval of Uranus Opposition hit me.

Uranus in the 8th was encouraging me to let go, simplify my life, and move forward into a new chapter with less baggage.

Uranus and the Dance of the Stars by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, 1834

​The minimalist movement had been inspiring me at the time. It seemed so liberating to pare down to only the essentials. I remember a time in my life when I had fewer possessions. I had somewhat become a maximalist along the way.

My artist self has an appreciation for design and the craftsmanship behind how things are created. I enjoy my little collections. Yet I knew we needed to downsize to set foot on this new path.

How could I reconcile this? I decided that there must be a middle ground and honed in on that. During this time, I found out that midimalism was a thing!

It was definitely a process, but it became easier as I started identifying things I was eager to part with. David and I aimed to keep 40% of our belongings. We got into the flow of things as we started making decisions on what to let go of and what to keep.

In the end, we were happy with how much we culled—only keeping the things we truly valued. It took time, and it wasn’t without fault. When I look back at this process, there were a few things that I wish we’d kept. But, we had to touch every item and sometimes make quick decisions.

This culling process took a few months, but we managed our way through it all until we sold our house in the Spring and said good-bye to it—just as my Uranus Opposition reached its third and final exact aspect!

​As I navigated this process of letting go and redefining my possessions, I realized that the transformative energy of Uranus Opposition not only challenged me to release what no longer served me, but also empowered me to embrace the impermanence of everything.

Had I given in to the fear of letting go of our comfortable home and most of our belongings, I would never have embarked on this adventure we are on.

​We had to lighten our load to transform our life.