The Story of Uranus
In Greek mythology, the beginning of the universe starts with
Gaia, Mother Earth. She came from the darkness and chaos before the beginning
of memory. Above her rose Uranus, the Sky, a magnificent blue with
sparkling stars. He looked lovingly down at the lonely Earth and
soon they fell in love.
Their children included the six huge Titans and their six sisters, the Titanesses; the Cyclopes, who
were tremendously strong smiths even though they only had one eye; and
three others who each had fifty heads and a hundred arms. Uranus
was proud of the Titans, but threw the others deep into the earth
because of their ugliness.
Eventually, Mother Earth wanted her children back and a tremendous battle ensued. Out of the hardest
flint, she made an indestructible sickle. Of all the Titans, only
Cronus, the youngest, was brave enough to take the sickle. He lay in
wait and inflicted a terrible wound on his father, Uranus.
From the blood of Uranus sprang the
Giants, another race of monsters, and the Erinyes (the Roman Furies),
whose duty it was to pursue and punish sinners. And from the sea foam that
surrounded his cast-off genitals arose the beautiful Aphrodite, Goddess of Love.
Uranus in Astrology
Many astrologers point to Uranus as a generational planet with little impact on
individuals.
I beg to differ. The very essence of Uranus is the need to be
independent, to break free of our bonds and to break new ground. I think
this has a profound effect on individuals.
On a personal level, Uranus represents the need to be unique...to be different,
to show your individuality, to defy the establishment.
While I don't think Uranus' eight-year tenancy in a sign is long enough to
produce generational offspring, it is long enough to produce a sense of
fellowship among those born under the same sign. These are your peers,
your teammates. They share your sense of what it means to be free.
And when that sense of freedom is mobilized, it can move mountains...or oust
dictators, as we saw during the Arab Spring of 2010. This is the reason that
Uranus is classified as one of the Transpersonal Planets.
In the natal chart, the house occupied by Uranus shows the area of life where you feel
the need for freedom and independence most intensely. The sign it is in
shows how you approach satisfying that need. If it is retrograde, you tend
to be more inventive than rebellious. Together, they define what kinds of
a vision you have of the new world.
The energy of Uranus is electric and explosive. Its transits bring changes that
are sudden and unexpected.
They bring flashes of brilliance, innovation,
thinking outside the box. And sometimes they
bring you to new levels of spiritual awareness.
They teach us to expect the unexpected.
When Uranus connects to one of your
natal planets, you can literally feel the tingling, as if you're
getting a telephone call from the angels. Well, maybe you are.
Uranus in the Sky
Image Courtesy of NASA
Uranus spends from
seven to eight years in each sign
Uranus, planet of extremes, takes 84 years to complete is voyage
around the Sun. It spins nearly sideways, on the edge of it's
rings, with its north and south poles tilting 98 degrees from the top.
If you think that six months of the Midnight Sun is a long time in
Alaska, try 42 years. That's how long it lasts on Uranus.
Although Uranus is actually visible with the naked eye under the right
conditions, it wasn't until 1781 that it was officially "discovered". Up
until that time, even as early as the 1600's, it was thought to be a star.
Sir
William Hershel was the first to realize that it was actually moving, and
thus was a planet.
Uranus turns retrograde about every twelve months for a period lasting about five months. It usually turns retrograde
seven times in each sign.