Man’s heart, away from Nature becomes cold. ~ Standing Bear
Uranus entered Taurus on May 15, 2018, for a 7 year stint. With Taurus being the sign of our planet, Uranus being the ruler of the Aquarian Age and the creation myth of Ouranos (sky) and Gaia (earth) being symbolically reenacted, the stage is set for a highly significant transit.
There are many possible interpretations, but I see the combination of fixed earth and Mercury’s higher octave as nothing less than ‘the Great Work’ of our collective alchemy, wherein we are able to rediscover (and perhaps quantify) the living spirit in matter.
The Mythology and the Mechanics
In astrology, Uranus is said to have a ‘Promethean’ quality. This was especially true during it’s Aries transit, when we saw individual, young hero-rebels at the forefront, stealing fire and giving it to mankind (think Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden). By the time Uranus had come to the late degrees of Aries, it was not just one or two brave truth tellers, sticking their necks out, but large numbers of ‘underdogs’ marching in the streets – a virtual children’s crusade against the gun lobby and a #metoo movement against sexual harassment. True to “I Am” Aries, these were initiatory expressions of anger, the demand to be seen and heard. Mercurius in his volatile, firey form.
Often, in myth and legend, a Hero must obtain or is given a ring, key, password or other such symbolic, magically imbued accessory, with which to unlock secrets or treasures, hidden within the Earth or some forbidden place (ie, the feminine). The individual must be pure of heart, of course. Only a ‘true sovereign’ like Arthur could obtain the sword Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake. Only the compassionate, simple brother who shares his loaf with a stranger will win the princess. Musical keys also unlock certain mysteries, in that they open different channels to our emotions and memories. Uranus’ symbol, like Chiron’s, resembles a key.
Because Aquarius’ natural ruler is Saturn, who’s metal is lead, and it’s polar opposite, Leo’s ruler is the Sun, whose metal is gold, we can see how the addition of the ‘key’ of Uranus – the higher octave of Mercury (who indeed heralded the transition into Taurus, by conjunction) – is essential to the alchemical process of turning lead to gold. In the realm of fairy tales, frogs are transformed into princes, pumpkins into coaches, and so on – all metaphors for the transmutation of the self. In evolutionary astrology, Uranus is also said to represent long term memory, that of past lives. Remember sitting on a lily pad, catching flies ?
So, collectively, we could see it as the first ‘task’ (1st house/Aries) now being complete, and the next one (2nd house/Taurus) beginning. Uranus is future-oriented, unattached and changing, while Taurus is ancient, material and constant. Our mission now is to unlock something hidden (Scorpio) and sacred in us that is our birthright, but that we will have to be pure-hearted enough to do. Uranus is mental intellect, so in our collective myth, the hero must now be initiated into heart (Leo) wisdom, via Venus/Eros (Taurus). The 0 degree of each fixed sign is being activated or awoken by Uranus as it unlocks the gate to Taurus, waking the Phoenix (Scorpio) from it’s ashes.
True, not everyone will have successfully completed the 1st task, and the ‘children’s crusade’ continues with Chiron’s move into Aries (tragically, there have been two more high school shootings, as I edit this). But only a certain percentage of the population need obtain the fire or key required for the evolution of the collective consciousness, ’tis said.
We’ve seen many brilliant, scientific and technological breakthroughs at the onset of the Aquarian Age, as well as the dangers, like the risk of becoming too clinical and detached, toxic pollutants and the capability for total annihilation. At the same time, many are becoming highly sensitized to the suffering of others, of animals especially, as we realize we are not separate from anything else in the universe, that spirit isn’t just something personal, but lives in and connects all things.
Fun Fact: Uranus, ruler of the Aquarian Age, is also the planet of astrology. Viewed from space, everything on Earth would appear to be happening simultaneously, which is kind of how we view the snapshot of a moment in time, drawn as a chart.
Aquarius can be a telepathic sign, and with the key of Uranus, we are being presented with a golden opportunity to communicate telepathically with all lifeforms, via spirit, once again. As mentioned, Uranus rules long-term memory, which includes traumatic resonance. Our collective, Uranus in Taurus trauma must have something to do with our separation from nature, both within and without.
The field has eyes,
the wood has ears;
I will look, be silent
and listen.
~ Heironymus Bosch
Buddha was also said to have been a Taurus. He ‘unlocked’ the mysteries of the nature of mind by simply sitting under a Banyen tree and observing his. He saw that all suffering comes from attachment to that which is impermanent. One of the key teachings of Uranus in Taurus is freedom from attachment – to old ways, traditions, things…anything that is overdue for renewal. Freedom in any way necessary. Un-attachment to outcome and transient forms is not the same thing as emotional detachment, which kills compassion and creates sociopaths.
So, how does a Uranus transit differ from a Pluto transit ? Uranus feels more like a rumbling or irritation that one can’t ignore, shackles that must be thrown off. There is an urgent, awakened quality to it. It may bring sudden clarity or quantum leaps. The Pluto transit is more like a death (albeit with the promise of rebirth), as the transformation goes on at a deep, subconscious level. It can manifest in outward projections, like scary situations/people and obsessions. Both planets are powerful, impersonal, and can be destructive if we try to cling to the old. Best to come quietly.
Where did we come from, what are we, where are we going ?
~ Paul Gauguin
This is thought to be a depiction of it at Lascaux.
Aquarius has an affinity for archeology as well as astronomy and astrology, because in the ‘Age of Man’, what does it actually mean to be human ? The more we discover about the past and the future, we begin to realize that we are the so-called ‘missing link’, not only do we embody the living potential of spirit, but we are the living potential. We were given the blueprints, in the form of teachings we didn’t fully understand at the time (another magic key), and our consciousness has since been evolving, but we are not yet there. The sense that it’s all our own responsibility is existentially terrifying to us, so we amass information as fast as we can, providing our rational minds with some sense of security. But this only provides partial understanding, because information, being windy-Mercurial, is ever changing.
How do we know what way is the right one ? How does the hero know which path to choose ? What is constant and real, not bullshit ? Taurus is accused of fixity, but the lesson of this sign, and for those born under it, is to instinctively understand the transmutation of elements (Scorpio), at a base level and know that in nature, nothing remains the same – though it is constant. Perhaps Taurean melancholy comes from gut feeling this impermanence, just like Scorpio power comes from knowing nature’s consistency (Taurus).
Out of this World
When Venus (Taurus) and Uranus come together, it can create the environment for creative genius. Of course there have to be other contributing factors in the chart for any of these manifestations to occur, but the number of mystics, occultists, astrologers, philosophical thinkers or spiritual and social scientists with Uranus in Taurus is staggering. Among them are Hildegard of Bingen, Marcilio Ficino (humanist philosopher who translated Plato’s works), Nicola Tesla, Mademoiselle Lenormand, Sigmund Freud, Max Planck (founder of quantum theory), Fritjof Capra, Stephen Hawking and Valentina Tereshkova (first woman in space).
The musical list is a blog post in itself, but Beethoven, JS Bach, Handel, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Nico, Charlie Watts, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Tina Turner, Roy Orbison, Brian Epstein (Beatles discoverer and mgr) and Phil Spector are just a small handful. The list seems disproportionately male, which is partly due to the nature of the biz, but also because the men seek their lost muse or ‘anima’. Think of Bob Dylan’s ‘Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands’, Velvet Underground’s ‘Venus in Furs’ or pick any Leonard Cohen song – they are not really about an individual woman, but rather a hymn to the Goddess, in some form or other. (Many of the 60s bunch are also Neptune/Virgo natives = Music + Goddess).
“It don’t matter how you worship, as long as you’re down on your knees,” sang poet-prophet Cohen, adhering to ancient tradition.
Western women with Uranus in the feminine house of Venus, discovered and owned their body politic, en masse for the first time. This generation gave us ‘ground-breaking’ feminist writers like Germaine Greer, Erica Jong and Margaret Atwood, actor-activists like Vanessa Redgrave and Glenda Jackson and the screen Goddesses had a formidable, self-possessed sexuality – Sophia Loren, Tura Satana, Anita Pallenberg, Ann-Margret, Raquel Welch, Brigitte Bardot, Karen Black, Elke Somer, Diana Rigg, just off the top.
The polarity of Taurus/Venus and Scorpio/Mars/Pluto is intense, can be obsessive, perverted or sexually deviant, if unbalanced and there do seem to be a lot of sexual-serial killers born with Uranus Taurus. It has to do with not just sexual but also creative repression, which rejects the Goddess and kills the soul. On the other hand, writers with Uranus Taurus like Dante Alighieri and Joseph Conrad stared into the mouth of Hell and revealed to us what damnation was like for tortured souls. Vincent van Gogh was the quintessential, tortured artist and misunderstood genius. True to Uranus, his artistic vision would be appreciated in the future, not in his own time. True to Venus, his paintings – bursting with the living, volatile spirit – are now some of the most valued and sought-after on Earth. Were the MOMA to sell ‘Starry Night’ it would cost about a billion dollars. So keep in mind that what whatever we create now will be long-lasting and may not come to fruition within our own lifetime.
The previous Uranus/Taurus transit also overlapped Pluto/Leo, so many came into the world with their personal, creative expression fully-honed. We aren’t likely to see the same plethora of ‘super-stars’ with Pluto in Capricorn, but it will be in Aquarius, near the end of the Uranus-Taurus transit, which will again bring the Leo polarity into play. Uranus-Taurus is ushering in the first ‘official’ Pluto-Aquarius cycle of the Aquarian Age !
A note about Capricorn…
Capricorn rules class systems, money/power structures and other orders of society. But we often forget that Capricorn is not just a Scrooge-y, social climbing mountain goat. It’s also a fantastical mer-goat, as well as Unicorn, which it was depicted as, once, in old, medical astrology texts. The pure, white, “calcified” unicorn horn was thought to be a cure for anything, since the Unicorn is incorruptible and equated with the Christ or the incorruptible part of ourselves. Pluto in Capricorn is helping us get there, by any means necessary.
The magical, Mercurial (or Uranian) unicorn horn is essential for transformation. And doesn’t Scrooge himself undergo a transformation after a series of dreams (aka visions), at Winter solstice? Capricorn rules the skeletal system and teeth, and it’s ruler, Saturn, old age and death – the bleached bones being all that remains long after the spirit and the flesh have left. Saturn is also the traditional ruler of Aquarius.
“We caught the beast called the Unicorn
That knows and loves a maiden best
And falls asleep upon her breast:
We took from underneath it’s horn
The splendid male carbuncle stone
Sparkling against the white skull bone.”
It’s no wonder Unicorns seem to be popping up everywhere, lately. The horn also symbolizes the opening of the third eye, it’s vision transcending the mundane. (Indeed, many Capis are visionaries). It’s important not to lose our sense of wonder, as we try to rationalize what we can’t control or foresee. Uranus is all about tricksterism and expecting the unexpected.
Meanwhile, in the lower realms…
Environmentally, Uranus is a hot, explosive, planet of surprises and it’s moving into fixed earth. We are already seeing increased volcanic activity, but things are likely just getting warmed up. Environmental changes (and possible, other natural catastrophes) under this transit will be a factor in the coming economic changes. We will again be reminded, in no uncertain terms, that we must get back in tune with nature, as our imposed, false grid is no longer secure or sustainable. Remember, Uranus is Mercury on steroids, and Mercury can be ‘an infernal fire, the spirit of truth hidden in the earth’, sulphur.
Some astrologers have noted cyclic returns and conjunctions to the last time(s) Kilauea blew, and are predicting another big one, based on this. Volcanic explosions of the big, sudden kind can affect earth’s atmosphere and weather for years. They can actually cool the planet, but also darken it, as the ash blocks the sun. Or, if the particulates are large, the opposite effect happens, wherein there is an acceleration of global warming. They say that active volcanoes have actually prevented us from getting as warm as predicted. (Considering the latest policy of the US admin under Trump, it might be best for the planet if Pele blows her top). Interestingly, Hawaii is the highest place (above bottom sea level) on earth – literally where the earth meets the sky. Expect comets and other phenomena.
In 1815, the Indonesian volcano Tambora propelled more ash and volcanic gases into the atmosphere than any other eruption in history and resulted in significant atmospheric cooling on a global scale, much like Krakatau a few decades later. New England and Europe were particularly hard hit, with snowfalls as late as August and massive crop failures. The cold, wet, and unpleasant climatic effects of the eruption led 1816 to be known as “the year without a summer,” and inspired Lord Byron to write:
“The bright Sun was extinguishd, and the stars
Did wander darkling in the eternal space
Rayless and pathless, and the icy earth
Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air;
Morn came and went and came,
And brought no day”
–Lord Byron, “Darkness”
There is a story that Byron invited some of his friends to his home in Switzerland that summer to relax by the shores of Lake Geneva. The lack of sun and warm summer weather led the group to hold a competition writing ghost stories to keep themselves entertained. One of the guests, Mary Shelley, wrote the famous novel Frankenstein for this contest, revealing that in addition to major climatic effects, volcanic eruptions can have some unexpectedly far-reaching results. (from Scientific American)
Shelly’s book was first published in 1818 – exactly 200 years ago this year, and was originally titled Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus. It has been called the ‘birth of science fiction’. (Frankenstein was the doctor’s name, the monster was not referred to by name). Here we have an example of the Leo-Aquarius polarity in action, a classic work of artistic genius, about the madness of a scientist playing God and mucking about with the natural order without taking spirit into account. Sound familiar ? Though some insist it was written by her husband, one look at Mary Shelley’s chart shows otherwise, but I won’t digress here (perhaps another article). In any case, a good book to re-read, about now. There will be more goth days to come…
Speaking of man-made monsters, there will be a temptation to invest in Uranium mining during this transit. While we bitch about bitumen in Canada, uranium mining here is a much more lucrative and shady business. It is used solely for nuclear energy and its bi-product, depleted uranium, for weapons. Depleted uranium has a half life of 4.5 billion years, and once it enters the body (via inhalation of dust, ingestion, through soil, etc), it mutates the chromosomes and causes all manner of cancers and birth defects, literally creating monsters. (The higher octave of Mercury poisoning). Since Iraq has an old affinity with Taurus and surviving babies exposed to depleted uranium during the Gulf war are now teenagers (Chiron in Aries matter), we might see them coming up in the news. If so, I hope you all have strong stomachs. Google ‘Iraq depleted uranium’, if you don’t believe me, but you have been warned.
The possibility of nukes of some kind going off in Mesopotamia (Iran is a Taurus affiliated land – could be a matter of underground testing), the ‘cradle of civilization’, is also very real, and the Capricorn Pluto power players are invested up to their goat horns in the arms trade. Guess they didn’t read Dante.
Findings of plastic, and other toxins in milk (human and animal) are sure to increase, and if we don’t find a natural way to transform plastic and start putting to use the existing ones, we may literally start turning into Barbie and Ken, as our DNA changes to absorb the new information. Well, maybe we have become too attached to all the beautiful forms of the present ‘maya’ (illusion) we are in. Taurus finds the destruction of the garden very hard to take, but there is nothing here that didn’t always exist in our cozy, alembic vessel. What does the spirit in plastic have to teach us ?
The wave of discoveries regarding how information is recorded in and changes our DNA is going to get tidal. Minds will be blown. The fact that our destiny is in our own hands will become ever more apparent, some will see this as a precious thing, others will go power-mad.
Human-robot hybrids are also coming, which is what this new, robot sex-craze is leading up to. (Made you laugh, good).
Uranus in Taurus, in Greek myth, is the union of Titan Gods Ouranus (sky God) and Gaia (earth Goddess), but take your pick of Sky + Earth creation myths. Since we are all children of this union, the duality of spirit and matter exists within each of us, but man and woman are not true opposites. Rather we are of one ‘gender’, with various levels of the same hormones. We all start out, in utero, as a Mercurial, ‘feminine’ androgyne. (Men have nipples, and the penis is just a little clitoris that grew). The battle of the sexes becomes ridiculous when you understand the biology. But biology alone is alchemy minus the philosopher’s stone; a study of material building blocks, of product, which does not take it’s inherent, living spirit into account. Dr. Frankenstein stuff. Maybe the fact we are drowning in ‘product’ is a testament to this.
I doubt we will all awaken to the inherent, transmuting power of our Mercurial/Uranian spirit-nature en masse (unless aliens land and set off millions of visionary gas bombs – it could happen), but I do believe it has something to do with secret we are supposed to unlock, and that we are going to see some very interesting meta-physical developments, over the next 7 years, which will bear exotic fruits for years to come.
When you make the two into one,
and when you make the inner like the outer
and the outer like the inner,
and the upper like the lower,
and when you make male and female into a single one,
so that the male will not be male nor the female be female,
when you make eyes in place of an eye,
a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot,
an image in place of an image,
then you will enter the Kingdom.
~ from the Gospel of Thomas
Read more about the spiritual nature of Alchemy here
Uranus in Taurus meta-physical types:
William Lilly (infamous 17th c astrologer and occultist)
Fomalhaut (19th c French astrologer, Sun exact conjunct Uranus)
Thomas Burgoyne (American occultist, mystic, astrologer, clairvoyant)
Mademoiselle Lenormand (sybil of Napoleon’s court)
Noel Tyl (famous contemporary astrologer)
Anne Toth (Canadian astrologer)
Hildegarde of Bingen (abbess, doctor, composer, artist, mystic)
Marsilio Ficino (humanist philosopher, astrologer, reviver of Neoplatonism and translator of Plato’s works)
Charles Fourier (French utopian socialist/philosopher, credited with originating the word ‘Féminisme’)
Thomas Moore (spiritual writer and Jungian therapist)
Emile Durkheim (helped establish sociology as an accepted science)
Emanuel Swedenborg (inventor, scientist, mystic)
Nicola Tesla
George Eastman (founder of Eastman Kodak company, invented roll film)
André-Marie Ampere (one of the discoverers of electro-magnetism)
Daniel Gabriel Farenheit (self explanatory)
Charles Kowal (discovered Chiron)
Catherine Kraft (French volcanologist who died with her husband in pyroclastic flow on Mt. Unzen)
Sigmund Freud (father of modern psychoanalysis)
Kenneth Ring (co-founder of Intl Association for Near-death Studies)
Max Planck (founder of quantum theory)
Fritjof Capra (The Tao of Physics, quantum physicist and ecologist)
Stephen Hawking
Valentina Tereshkova (first woman in space)
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