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Uranus symbol

Uranus - Father Sky

  1. The Myth
  2. The Astrology
  3. The Sky

The Story of Uranus

Uranus and Gaia Fall In Love

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.

The Mutiliation of Uranus by Saturn, by Giorgio Vasari & Cristofano Gherardi - 1555

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.

Lightning Strikes

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. 

Expect the Unexpected

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

Ceres - NASA Photo
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.