Uranus: The Separated and the Whole

Uranus, the outer rebel that rotates on its sides, modern day ruler of Aquarius, Astrology and Human Rights was discovered during the Age of Enlightenment in 1781. Key words for Uranus include, but are not limited to shock, change, genius, insight, evolution, Promethean, spontaneity, outcast, individuality, flash. These qualities can be seen weaving the foundation of the Industrial Age, evolving into the intricate tapestry of our current electronic age. These forces continue to unfold exponentially, allowing us to see life simultaneously from an ever more particularized and more wholistic vantage point.

Uranus is the primal sky god for the ancient Greeks and was known by the name Ouranos. Etymology of his name reveals something along the lines of Rain Maker or One Standing on High or a top. As an early god, the question of paternity is dubious. Was the chicken or the egg first? Whether Ouranos self-created with his primordial mother/wife Gaia or was the son of Aether (the upper, lighter Air) is still discussed. As the parents of the Titans, the original 12 pre-Olympians, they represent the base root of the family tree of the Greek gods as well as the beginning of some pretty unhealthy family traits. According to a prophecy, one of the children of Ouranos and Gaia would overthrow him to take his place as the God of Gods. In an effort to prevent this from happening, Ouranos would devour each of the children Gaia bore him. The pain of seeing 11 of her children swallowed by their father became unbearable until she came up with a plan. When Chronos was born, Gaia swaddled a rock in cloth and presented it to her husband for the routine ingesting, which he did without question or observation. Chronos, known to us as Saturn and another word for Time, grew up in seclusion to eventually castrate his father, thereby separating Heaven from Earth and taking his father’s power for his own.

(A similar prophecy is told for dear Saturn who suffers a comparable fate from his son Zeus, revealing how children resolve the family patterning so future generations can be liberated. While the stories of these two gods and planets are strongly intertwined, our focus today is Uranus.)

The symbolism in these stories indicate there is a period of inner focus in youth over which one has no control -having been swallowed at birth or kept in secretive confinement. Imprisoned in a stomach, one is unable to see, learn and grow in an external, socially relatable way. This is the sacrifice of innocence. Metaphors for the stomach include our “gut reaction” or instinctual nature, the ability to process matter for sustenance -as in digesting or chewing one’s cud, one’s courage as in having the stomach for it, and also something about one’s individual archetype called forth. In esoteric astrology, Uranus is of the seventh ray of synthesis and is called the birther of archetypes. The gestation period the Titans had in their father’s belly, because they are gods and did not die there, meant that they were re-born in their full glory. The Titans were born as fully developed constructs when they were disgorged –indicating that through the process of digesting life, we begin to understand a greater, more wholly formed picture.

Those of us with significantly placed Uranus in our birth charts, meaning that the planet is one of the birth angles or in significant aspect or relationship to a personal planet, often grew up in some sort of a “darkened” environment. Whether sheltered from the truth of our familial background, or living in the belly of family secrets, the lack of reflection of our particular brilliance, being the black sheep or the wild one or simply living in the innocence that stuffing our feelings will one day make us ok -these are all isolating experiences. This type of imprisonment creates an alchemical process of separation and distillation. One of the Aquarian themes is the prodigal son or daughter who must forsake the family and/or worldly trappings for the Truth that lies within one’s Self. While the definition of prodigal is one who is seen as extravagant and wasteful, I see it more as a process of self-definition. Through the endless life experiences of having and losing, being lost and then found, being separated then united, being particularized then becoming whole, the individual becomes this sophisticated blending of knowing, intuition, wisdom and coherence. The gift of Uranus is its ability to see how all of the myriad pieces of Life fit within the greater picture of all that is.

Uranus and Aquarius speak to the importance of one’s individual brilliance, as well as the need for its expression as part of the collective. The themes of equality and hierarchy are complex ideas that have to be weighed and thoughtfully understood. The trans-Saturnian planets require not only responsibility, but maturity in order to work at their best. Saying best is a qualitative judgement that has nothing to do with the experientially instinctive nature of Uranus, yet there is something that has to accumulate in order to calculate life’s trajectories- a valuable tool in astrology.

Life is a myriad of experiences, lessons and moments along an amazing spectrum of expression. The seemingly disparate nature of life is confusing for many and maddening for some. Trying to make sense or to capture the thematic articulation of Life is something that takes a fair amount of time, observation and ability to grok. One’s ability to make sense and operate within the confines of a culture are important litmus tests of behavioral and mental health in society. Countless rules and structures encourage specific ways of being while dismissing other behaviors and ways of thinking. Uranus in the chart indicates one’s ability to integrate and synthesize. This can be the place of genius or madness resulting from a complex set of family and societal punishments and rewards. This complex mix creates individual defensive structures in relationship to life.  

The continual downplay required to encourage societal restrictions for the considered benefit of all comes at a high price for the sensitive individuals and the minorities that make up a society. A society will not only devaluate, but may even annihilate individuals who represent or are in contact with aspects of life not deemed fit often owing to the collective fear of integration. This is a theme of humanity, the idea of some purity involved with a particular race, religion or belief rather than seeing the larger picture which is that we are all sisters and brothers equally in our humanity.

Inclusivity for some reason isn’t easy. In our pursuit to be individuals, we can gain an aggrandized sense of self that forgets it is here to play “a” part and not be “The” part. We are all supportive cast. The desire to become special and exclusive turns off the switches to empathy and compassion and the expense of the ego is a luxury it believes it deserves. We see some of the uber wealthy buying islands and swaths of land in areas where they feel they will be somehow protected from what the rest of humanity must endure rather than spending their money to ensure we all end up safely at the same place.  Earth is a terrarium in which we all live, no one is separate.

A long time ago, a small minority took control of the narrative with the intention to denigrate and enslave the majority of individuals on the planet. Whether for religious or political reasons, the goal was power: selling the dream of a future reward given after enduring an enslaved life of separation and misery here on earth. Centuries of societally sanctioned abuse against women, blacks, gay/bi/transgendered, indigenous and other minorities has come at a collective cost of untold trauma. The silenced stories become the mute screams within the combined belly of humanity until the time comes when the sound of many voices become One and change occurs. We hear the voice of Black Lives Matter, Women’s rights, LGBTQ and countless other movements seeking recognition of their respective disowned parts of our collective humanity. There is a time when we say enough is enough. The time is now and the healing must begin.

Wild-card instinctually insightful Uranus learns the rules of the society and plays them back in ways that innervate and enliven humanity. The ultimate trickster makes fun of the painful, sheds light in the darkness and calls for the disowned and swallowed to be reincorporated and set free. This is the ultimate act of creation -offering up without judgment, critique or review. Uranus is the Fool card, that unbridled innocence that can only express itself in each moment in relationship to whatever is being presented. It has no guile and no agenda, it simply is.

With Uranus in Taurus we have an opportunity to change the many forms relationships, values and resources in our lives. Does an alien form need to appear in the sky, like a modern day Ouranos, swallowing us all whole to see we are all in this together? Or can we begin to recognize the range of human emotions we feel in our hearts and stomachs are similar to that which others experience regardless of their sex, color, race, gender, orientation or any other seemingly easy means of excluding each other? Thereby understanding we are vastly more alike one another than not.

If the goal of the great melting pot of the United States is to succeed, then issues of inequality, separateness, and specialness will need to evolve. Uranus and Saturn are both hubristic elitists who needed to be brought down to the painful reality of earthly limitations. The existential fear of losing or changing one’s beliefs is akin to castration; there is a loss of power. The culling of many outdated views of society is underway which empowers many who were heretofore unempowered. Once Chaos has exhausted itself, harmony remains. While many see a further distillation of the 1%, history shows us that pandemics are amazing equalizers for society, even birthing ages like the Renaissance.  

Advice for these times: make peace with change and find ways to reconcile that which appears separate. Inclusion and wholeness is the goal rather than exclusion and partitioned pieces. As Robert Frost wrote, “The only way out is through.” We are in the birth canal of a new age when the world will no longer look as it once did. Each of us individually is here to make sure this age is one in which we all are welcome.

I am here to provide guidance and synthesis and hope you have found some of both today.

Wishing you grace,

Michael