The unapologetically acerbic Dorothy Parker used to utter the line “what fresh hell is this?” whenever confronted with something jarring and unexpected.

It’s a sentiment you’ll be sharing this week when the Sun forms an opposition to Uranus on November 13th, followed by a conjunction to Mars on November 18th.

These are cacophonous planetary aspects – shrill and piercing; full of discord and enmity. Now you could run for cover and wait the whole thing out, or you could adopt the Dorothy Parker stance – which is to pour yourself a cocktail and ask someone to light you a cigarette (metaphorically speaking, of course).

There comes a time when fear gives way to defiance, and after weeks of eclipses and oppositions, that time is now. There’s something liberating about screaming “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” and in this instance, the Universe may hear you and stand down.

Divides grow wider, and polarizations become more entrenched as Mars forms an opposition to Uranus on November 11th. This is a highly volatile aspect, made all the more incendiary by the recent lunar eclipse.

The ping-pong effect of every action eliciting an opposite and equal reaction will continue to escalate, so this is clearly not a time to try to bridge the gap. Sometimes you just have to let the planetary energies run their course.

For some people, this will bring about a split that cannot be reconciled. If you fall into this camp, then you will need to accept that the other party will never see things from your perspective, and that you need to go your own way.

And for others? A Mars/Uranus opposition can bring release from an overbearing obligation or a rut that you’ve been stuck in. It’s liberating, but it will take time to figure out what this all means for you. In any case, life will look quite different moving forward.