Uranus

Uranus is the first planet identified outside the rings of Saturn, making it the first “transpersonal” planet. The transpersonal planets offered large groups of humanity the first opportunity, on a global scale, to move beyond the bricks-and-mortar hierarchical structure of the physical world. (It’s, therefore, no surprise that Uranus is considered the ruler of new technology, and indeed, of the ever-changing and potential rebellion-fomenting Internet itself!)

On March 13, 1781, astrologers were confronted with the first “new” planet in astrology’s nearly 10,000-year history. Uranus definitely shook things up. Uranus ushered in the fledgling United States, the French Revolution, the entire revolutionary concept that an individual actually had an identity and rights of his own. (They didn’t recognize HER rights yet.) Saturn’s role as the final authority had been usurped, and individuals would now begin to recognize their own uniqueness.

Uranus’ egoic nature relates to personal independence and rebellion, and its placement in a birth chart shows where we fear a loss of freedom. As Hugh Martin expresses it (Hugh teaches and uses the concept of specific fears associated with outer planets in his astrological work) Uranus represents the need for “Freedom at any price.” When seriously challenged, the Uranus response is “I don’t NEED this shit! I’m OUTTA here! NOW!” It’s actually funny to watch the knee-jerk quality of this response when Uranus is challenged.

Uranus can also show where a person is noticeably different or unusual or can indicate something highly unusual about the arena of life represented by that house. I’ve even rectified charts by “test pushing” a person’s Uranus button.

If you tell a Uranus first house person they have to change their clothing styles, for example, you’ll feel their rebellion flash in front of you. A friend of mine had Uranus in the first house, close to the cusp of the second house. A very small change in his birth time would put Uranus in his second house (personal values). For fun, I warned him (a non-astrologer) that I was going to try to “push his Uranus button”, and then experimented with suggesting clothing styles, ways of making different impressions on people, I even started moving things around on his desk (his immediate environment). I got no reaction at all. He couldn’t care less. His first house Uranus was beginning to sound suspicious to me.

Then we heard a radio story about a school-kid who was asked to leave school if he wouldn’t remove an armband protesting the war. Apparently, his armband was inciting fights in school between people who were for and against the war. This young man said he wasn’t wearing the armband to incite fights but in order to express his personal opinion. Now, the second house is often associated with personal values. In Jyotish, the second house rules speech. My friend’s reaction to this story was galvanizing (Uranus pun–since Uranus also rules electricity). You could SEE the sparks of his outrage fly!!! He was furious!

In the second house, Uranus means the fear of loss of freedom in the arena of personal values and possessions. Even a simple news account of someone else being denied the freedom to express personal values so angered my normally easy-going friend it took him a few moments to find the humor as I chuckled at discovering his Uranus/2nd house placement.

Any attempt to limit one’s freedom to have any values (or none at all) is a sure battle-cry to people with this placement. Someone with Uranus in the third house splits the scene when anyone tries to look like they’re messing with details important to them. Don’t tell them they’ve got their facts wrong! These people hit flashpoints over the most trivial (to anyone else) details–about factoids, neighborhood, elementary schools, siblings, manual skills….

My favorite Uranus-in-the-third story concerns a woman with Uranus in Cancer in the third, with the third house ruled by Gemini (often associated with skillful use of the hands). She was sharing a kitchen with other people and they were preparing a meal (Cancer) together. As she stood chopping vegetables with a knife, someone told her Not to do it That Way–do it This way. She exploded, threw down the knife, and stormed out of the kitchen! “Don’t tell ME how to chop vegetables!” she yelled. I have a whole file of Uranus-in-the-third clients who can identify with this story!

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about antidotes to “autopilot” planetary reactions, and Uranus has me baffled. No matter how much I try to be aware of my own Uranian reactiveness, it “gets me” every time. My natal Uranus placement is in the fifth house of entertainment (among other things). I’ve become infamous among friends for choosing the worst possible movies. The reason? If someone else suggests something–even something I’ve wanted to see for a while, SOMEthing in my (like Uranus?) says No—I wanna do it MY way! So I choose something else, which, with my abject movie ignorance, usually turns out to be awful. I’ve finally “tricked” myself enough to be able to say “Stop–before you say anything, I want YOU to choose the movie.” At which point the Uranus in me can at least pretend I’m free to choose the outcome.

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