Planet Series: Uranus' own cycle thru the chart

We have been discussing Saturn and Uranus and how it portrays the manner in which we move out from ourselves and direct social partnerships into a more expansive community and world environment -- and how the pressures and exposure to others brings changes into our personal growth cycles.

In this posting I want to consider Uranus itself as it moves thru our individual chart relative to its own natal position and relative to the other large planet cycles implied within the chart. In order to do this we have to first look at our own chart and determine Uranus' aspectual relationship to Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and (yes) Pluto, as well as that most central of all astrological bodies, the Sun.

It will take several postings to cover all of this, but I want to invite discussion at any point on any of the posts within this thread. Meanwhile, the Planets-between-Partners series will continue.

SUN and URANUS THRU THEIR HOUSE EXPRESSION:
One way to look at Uranus' role in our chart is to, perhaps, consider the house positions of each body. We can play with this concept, and also consider the Sun (no matter where it is) as being in the first house and then counting the houses until we reach Uranus -- getting a speculative "derived" house. Lets play the game and see what we get.

I have a 4th house Sun, home and personal beliefs and values are important to me. I have a 11th house Uranus, I am attracted to friends who have their own unusual (to me) beliefs and individualistic traits as well as opportunities that bring change into my life. From the perspective of the Sun's position, Uranus is in a derived 8th house, suggesting that I look for what others can bring into our relationship that causes me to change and share in ways that require a lot of give and take. (NOTE: for those following the Partner series, the Sun-Saturn relationship, compare this statement with my observation about my Saturn squaring the wife's Sun -- this explains that).

TRANSITING URANUS RELATIVE TO NATAL SUN:
Once we have considered Sun and Uranus in the natal chart, we can look at how transiting Uranus may be affecting or changing our expression of our Sun (identity, direction, will, health, etc.). Uranus is now in Pisces, my 10th house area, and opposing my Sun (broadly). Change in my status has occured -- I'm now retired. Change in my focus has occured -- I'm now more deeply into the tarot and wood carving, plus we are changing our lifestyle to suit our age and responsibilities relative to teenage grandchildren that we are raising.

SUMMARY TO THIS POINT:
First, we can look at our Sun and our Uranus by natal house position and synthesize their meaning.
Second, we can treat the Sun as being in a first house position and then look at the relative or derived house position of Uranus and then create a statement that expresses this other way that Uranus can manifest in our life.
Third, we can look at transiting Uranus to see what house it is in and blend that with our basic Sun's expression.

In doing this we can create a view or a "slice" thru our life that shows the nature of the changes we seek and most easily respond to. Its an interesting exercise. Dave.

Hi Dave,
Taking in what you said, I will try and follow the same formula

I have a natal Sun in the 9th house, so a personal philosophy of life is important to me. I have an interest in tarot, astrology and the like which help me get closer to spiritual issues which interest me.
My natal Uranus is in the 2nd house, so my finances as well as how I value myself(self-confidence) can, at times, be a roller coaster ride. At times I may invite "chaotic" situation if I feel stifled in any manner. I seem to value freedom in regards to how I make my money and how I feel about myself.
Derived house: Uranus in the 2nd, Sun in the 9th...derived 6th house? So, if I am correct(please let me know), my health can in many ways be affected by how I perceive myself and the service I offer to others, professionally. I am likely and have held more than one job at once and have had many different jobs which do not realte to each other, on the surface. I value the "oddness" of co-workers and the working enviroment. Am I close? LOL!
Transiting Uranus:
Now it is 12 degrees(rx)in Pisces which is my 7th house, change in the nature of "partnerships". I suppose this may be felt when it is in a tighter square to my natal Sun in Taurus at 18 degrees, which won't be for a couple of years, I think. It seems that with the transiting square(soon to be) there will be challenges in integrating this change. Although there will be conflict, struggle in this change of partnership, if I tweak it just right, it hopefully will enrich not only my life by the others in my life as well. Feels like a life lesson
Squeak

I have a 1st house Sun with Uranus in the tenth. My sense of who I am has always been important to me, and I would like the world to know I am unique and they value my freedom/creativity as much as I do. I value my freedom of creativity above a lot of things. Since the Sun is first house already, I must be a double manifestation of 1st to the 10th. I can be very gregarious and open mouthed, although when I want to be left alone, I can disappear into thin air and not speak a word. I relish making my own decisions, not allowing others to tell me what is what. I need to see it for myself, although if I come to trust someone, (meaning if they are a person who also values the individual) I will ask for their opinion. I have worked for others all my life, but have always wanted to be my own boss. I've had clashes of will with people who are my boss, but I've never done anything to get fired. I tend to hate rules unless I see them as pertinant to the situation, and trust me, I can find imperfection in any rule. ) I tend towards the value of the individual, rather than the whole as a team, althought a whole team of individuals pleases me. (Is there irony in that?) Hopefully, I will be able to earn money as writer in the future, and work at home. My husband and I are also working on a separate project towards being our own bosses. I am sure Joe Public sees me as changable and erratic, maybe even cool and untouchable, and that's okay by me. I'm pretty particular about who my closest friends are.

Uranus has been traveling my fifth house of creativity, which is at home there for me, and except for a few car accidents because of a conjunction with natal Mars, I'm liking it. I've been able to rely on a lot of inspirations and when Uranus makes it to the 6th, I plan on utilizing his influence towards making practical use of good business. Meaning I hope to be published and have lots of contracts, lol.

I just realized, transiting Uranus is in a 135 Square aspect to my Sun. Since I'm at home with the influence, it's just icing on the cake to me.

Uranus as an agent of change as we enter our mid-life.

In the early centuries people often were lucky to experience a single Saturn Return cycle. Life was harsh. As the human race left the middle ages and a middle-class emerged, signifying the establishment of a more ordered and stable society, life spans became generally longer as some were able to escape a life of harsh, minimal existance. By the early, middle 1900's, many were reaching their second Saturn Return as medicine, diet and cleanliness improved.

While all of this was happening, Uranus was discovered and the concurrent changes in social expectations and individualness started to impact society. We had another cycle that took on relavance for us. Today, many are reaching their first Uranus Return and the mid-life crises at/near 39 to 42 years of age that signifies Uranus' half-cycle is now commonly accepted as a "happening."

When considering Uranus' own cycle thru our charts, we have to also take a look at Uranus in terms of how it represents our growth into a full individual, and how it signifies a change at mid-life that sets us up for pursuing a different form of life-style in the 2nd half of our life.

This mid-life half-cycle of Uranus follows our 3rd Jupiter Return and coincides, more or less, with Saturn reaching its half-cycle point following the first Saturn Return -- a point that is significant also. So, we have two great half-cycle positions to contend with; Saturn opposite its natal position, Uranus opposite its natal position.

SATURN/transiting opposite SATURN/natal: Have we learned our lessons in how to get along, work along, adapt to social and business relationships? Have we defined our manner of adapting, adjusting, addressing the world around us?

URANUS/transiting opposite URANUS/natal: Having learned Saturn's lessons, are we no prepared and open to the inner-drive to change the rules and just be ourselves? Are we ready to grow beyond the rules and expectations of others? Can we sense and puruse our own individual potential? How fast and in what ways will we initially show our intent to change? How well will we proceed thru change and toward being truly changed?

So, what I am saying here is that once we reach our mid-life period, we need to start comparing how we identify with Saturn and how we might want to start identifying with Uranus. Are we ready, at that point in life, to take on a Uranus challenge? We had better be! So, all of a sudden Uranus equals a new kind of identity or potential identity. The Sun had that job, and Saturn helped the Sun. At this new half-cycle point, Uranus steps into the picture.

What you each have to do now is to start considering -- if you have reached or are approaching that half-cycle point -- how you can change, why you want to change, what the new you might want to be. This is were this tread is seeking to go; helping each of us to consider how we might truly indivduate ourselves -- is that a real word? So, think and respond, please. Dave

Comments . . .

In September of 1977 Uranus made its first opposition to its natal position in my chart. A year later, in September of 1988, Saturn made its second opposition to its natal position in my chart.

At the Uranus opposition of 1977, Pluto was crossing my natal Mercury-Venus conjunction at 12-15 degrees Libra, while Neptune was approaching a conjunction with natal Jupiter (whom it squared in the natal chart). Jupiter had crossed my Ascendant along with its (then) traveling partner Mars. I had a lot of activity going on then.

The activities in my life then included:
** Participating in the Marriage Encounter movement sponsored by the various churches. This program put people in touch with their feelings and the means to express them and improve communication.
** Taking over the management and improvement of a military defense plant which built propulsion systems for the U.S. Navy ships and merchant ships. This included introducing new technologies that greatly improved production efficiencies and profits.
** Expanding my astrological studies with a large group that met weekly, and of which I was President.
** One of our daughters was having emotional problems relating to all of her peers moving out of the neighborhood due to their mobile parents jobs.

A year later when Saturn made its second opposition to its natal position, things had changed.
** The Marriage Encounter experience was a disappointment -- the sharing of feelings and communication was too much for my wife and I was feeling very let down and disappointed. A large gulf developed between us.
** The defense plant was succeeding in terms of productivity and profits, but was taking a lot of my time.
** My astrological work was accelerating and I was deeply involved in two larger metropolitan/regional organizations which were merging. Also I was doing counseling and seminars, beginning to teach courses and making some money for the astrological computer I was seeking to purchase.

I offer these incidents as a basis for a following discussion about how Uranus and Saturn can be interpreted in terms of their cyclic processes. We don't have to look for specific dates and exact transits/conjunctions, just to see the overall picture is enough. I think this will be helpful for those who participate. Dave

Comments . . . more

So now, lets break all of this astro-babble and events down to see how the world of astrology interacts with the world of people issues.

My natal Uranus was in Taurus, close to 9 degrees, and in the 11th house. The challenge to become individualized then focused on the 5th house when Uranus opposed its natal position. The challenge, then, involved love, creativity, the value of partnerships, shared versus individual values and inequalities. This was certainly reflected over the following few years.

Pluto was transiting my Venus (12 degrees) and Mercury (15 degrees) in Libra during this period. This conjunction in Libra has always manifested in my art work in various ways -- painting, sculpting, music, illustrating, etc. However, those were not part of my working world, this aspect of myself was reserved for hobbies and home. My idea was that if I involved this aspect of myself in my work-world that it would no longer be fun to do. Libra and Scorpio both make up my 5th house. This period, upon reflection, was a time when I expanded my creativity, my artwork, and moved into professional endeavors wherein I expanded my involvement and brought balance to complex business situations. Creativity can show up in manufacturing, technology and new ways of conducting business. So, a quiet revolution and change was started wherein I moved into larger corporate challenges instead of staying engaged in smaller companies and projects.

Jupiter and Mars were travelling together for a short period when they crossed my ASC degree during this same period. Isn't it amazing how those transits seem to bunch up together at critical times instead of each taking their turn? Natal Mars is in Leo, my 3rd house, and trines Jupiter broadly. This period was marked by increased academic studies, new metal cutting technologies being applied to naval armaments, investment proposals that greatly changed the character of the defense plant I was running and the scope of business that we could attract. Jupiter was in my natal 6th house at 15 Sag at birth. So work applications with Mars as they crossed the ASC degree were most appropriate.

Neptune was approaching Jupiter's natal position, so the tie in with both naval matters in terms of manufacturing, and intuitive explorations relative to my expanding astrological studies and involvement were both appropriate factors.

SUMMARY COMMENT
All I have done here is apply simple planet-house-aspect statements to each relative factor that was occuring in my life at the time of the Uranus opposition and following it. You can do the same, following these guidelines:
1) Develop a simple statement about how Uranus could express itself thru its opposite-to-its-natal-position house. You can factor in the sign meaning if you are so inclined.
2) If Uranus in your natal chart had any aspects to other factors in your chart, and if any of those factors are in any way active or close to being active in your Uranus-return period, then develop a simple statement that will reflect their planet-aspect-house meaning.
3) If any other major happenings (transits) are currently or about to be seen in the next several months following your first Uranus opposition, then develop a simple statement about them also.

When you have these few/several statements written out, you will have a broad outline of what to expect in your life as a general theme for that year and probably for a couple of years afterward. This will give you a good idea to guide you thru the changes that can occur if you are open to change and open to becoming more of an individual.

There is more to this process than just the Uranus Opposition, of course, We have yet to address the second Saturn Opposition and how it fits/conflicts with what Uranus is presenting to you. I'll cover that in the next posting. Dave.

The glyph of Uranus and its meaning, and then Saturn.

Lets pause in our discussion of Uranus and how it signals changes in our life as we enter our mid-life period and take a look at the glyph for this planet. There are two crescents or moons, each facing away from each other, and there is a central symbol segment -- a circle, upright line and a cross line, in other words a modified Mars symbol. For the purposes of our discussion we can deal with this simply while avoiding a deep examination of mythological symbolization. The moons/cresents represent two distinct and opposing phases, while Mars (action and physical experience over the spirit) represents the physical change and challenges of dealing with these two faces of the self.

Lets also consider that Uranus is often called one of the "generational" planets. When younger we were aware of the older generation -- parents, uncles and aunts, older family members. As we became adults we could recognize the differences between how we and our peers generally acted and what values they/we held relative to the older generations. As, we in turn age, we see the next generation(s) emerging and recognize their values and goals. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to recognize that we live in a changing world and that we ourselves are under pressures to change.

When Uranus reaches its oppositional point to its natal position we come to realize that something has to change. What we do for work, how we interact with our family, the things we like to do, the goals we had -- over a short period of time these things become questionable within our consciousness.

So, do we change right away? Not often. Sometimes dissatisfaction with one part of our life is not enough for us to change. Sometimes we have to wait until our dissatisfaction becomes deeper or more widespread as we come to dislike other areas of our life. Some times we just need a kick in the butt to get moving. ENTER SATURN.

Near the same time that Uranus opposes its natal position, or within a year or two later, Saturn also reaches an opposition with its natal position. For Saturn, this is its second opposition and it occurs between ages 40 and 44 as a rule. It is fruitful to now look at how Saturn works in this phase. We can use the same simple techniques used to determine Uranus' role for laying out Saturn's role in our chart.

The manner in which Saturn will fight to define its importance and role in our chart will occur in its opposite (to the natal) house also. The role of "polarity" in astrological charts is important to remember and to consider. As in the previous posting, we need to develop a sentance or two about the dynamic meaning of Saturn and how it tends to work in this opposite house. With my natal Saturn, as an example, in Pisces and the 10th house, the challenge for Saturn will focus on the 4th house and Virgo -- I will need to re-define basic values, family meanings and involvement, the use of resources. The Uranus mid-life changes (5th house focus for me, remember) will be linked to my 4th house meanings.

Since this 2nd opposition occured in September of 1979, two years following the Uranus opposition point, it is important to see if any of the planets that Saturn was natally linked to are active (at that time) in my chart.

Mars was transiting natal Pluto at 28 Cancer, Jupiter had passed over natal Mars' position at 22 Leo and was approaching natal Moon at 3 Virgo, Neptune was transiting over my natal Jupiter at 16 Sag, Pluto had passed over natal Mercury at 15 Libra.

Before looking at the astrological factors lets look at the events that occured then or shortly thereafter. Communications were at a low point in my marriage, I was considering divorce while the wife was just distressed over my views on this subject. She was also acting as a manic-depressive and was withdrawing socially. One of the children was going thru the drug and depression scene and could not help herself or allow others to help, putting a lot of strain on everyone. I was very successful at my work and was full of self-confidence and was at a "take charge" point in my life relative to just plain social and financial circumstances. I had noticed another person in my social circles that was a huge contrast to my wife in terms of personality and personal conduct. Our circumstances, when we pass thru these milestone phases of our lives, often show up in many ways such as these -- ITS ALMOST AS IF SOMEONE WAS WRITING A SOAP-OPERA SCRIPT WITH ALL KINDS OF TWISTS AND TURNS.

So, with all of the above, we can see Mars/t Pluto/n energies of being able or willing to make catastrophic and irrevocable changes, we can see Neptune/t over Jupiter/n energies in high levels of self-confidence and and visions of better things, we can see Jupiter/t over Mars/n and Moon/n in terms of wanting to take strong actions and overact relative to our feelings, we can see Pluto/t over Mercury/n as a total change in how we perceive and think about our world.

This is an understandable and typical example of how people experience and react to this critical period in our lives -- the period between 40 and 44 years of age. What we do then, how we disrupt or modify the foundations we have built under our lives up to this point, how we adjust to the changes we make and the changes that are given to us will affect our character, our sense of self-esteem, our ability to move forward into true maturity and a greater sense of self-achievement and value in our lives.

Of course, it doesn't all stop there. There are many more crises points that we are likely to face at other age-points. But, now, at this point in these postings, WE HAVE THE BASIS FOR A DEEP DISCUSSION AND EXPLORATION OF ASTROLOGY'S SIGN-POSTS IN OUR LIVES. I will now pause and wait for your comments and experiences. Dave.

When transiting Saturn and Uranus sit opposite their natal counterparts, the 2nd and 8th houses will be highlighted. In turn a natal trine will be set off (sun, moon, mercury trine Uranus Pluto)a creative opportunity, change of scenery?...and then of course, my natal opposition of Neptune with sun, moon, mercury(I guess) will be affected. So that seems like a lot going on in a short amount of time. But what does it mean to me and where do I wish to go as I mature?
First with the 2nd and 8th houses directly involved with the transits, makes me think of ways of making money as well as how my values develope. Also speaks of other's people's money, partnership, blah, blah, blah. At present, I feel like I am being confronted with issues of how I find value in what I do. Frustrating because, I feel lost in what I do for money, at present. Where will this take me? Perhaps in expressing The Uranian need for freedom, independence, creativity, will lead to having my own business. I can only guess, is this what I wish to do? No. Your guess is as good as mine. When saturn transits my 2nd house it will hit my natal pluto and uranus...what will happen? There will have to be a maturation of values, how I handle money, what else could it mean??? Perhaps I will have to experience a loss before a gain, hope not, but I do not know! I fear something catastrophic will happen again when transiting Uranus opposes natal Uranus/Pluto conjunction. I'm not sure what I should do or what is expected of me in asto terms. The only thing that I do is try to do my best, meditate, pray(natal neptune opp sun, moon mercury) that I will be able to go with the flow when I need to. Any help from you Dave would be nice.

Another example of how to look at our "transition" period in our 40's.

squeakmo9, the first thing to do is to get organized. We can do that by making a list of the major transits of the outer planets to see what will happen when.

2002, July: Jupiter/t conjunct Jupiter/n
2002, Nov.: Pluto/t square Pluto/n
2008, Mar.: Neptune/t square Neptune/n
2008, Apr.; Uranus/t opposed Uranus/n
2008, Dec.; Jupiter/t opposed Jupiter/n
2010, Sep.; Saturn/t opposed Saturn/n

One of the major patterns in your chart to keep in mind while examining the above listing is the Sun-Moon-Mercury-MC opposed Neptune pattern along the 4th-10th house axis. The personal planets can be "triggers" to set off the major planets.

In every case, we can follow the same simple sentance-writing development of a core-idea for each planet -- first by considering the transiting house, second by considering any other involved natal planets, thirdly by considering any other transiting planets.

In 2002: Jupiter conjunct Jupiter, Pluto square Pluto.
The third Jupiter return is in the hidden 12th house; quiet pleasures & rewards but also an uncertainty about whether you were doing what was right for you or whether it fit with an inner vision of your future. (I'm tying in the square- phase from Saturn and the trine to Neptune in the 4th house).

Pluto square Pluto, 2nd to 5th house, suggests a conflict in how to rearrange circumstances such that you can pull value, take pride, and feel like you are expressing yourself within the environment you are in or in another (changed) environment. Because of the trine from Pluto to the MC group, this has also to do with your status, your pride, your goals. With Neptune linked into this pattern (opposite the Sun-Moon-Mercury-MC) you may have been promised much or delude much -- or both, by your self or another or both.

I'm not trying to deep analysis here, just show how the short-description process works. The whole process involves doing this for phase-relationships in the chart to get a sense of how the person (you) operates, and then to do it for the major planet cycle points to see what the growth-developmental processes are bringing to you. Then, we can do the deeper stuff.

So, lets see how this sort-of-foundation-phase worked out for you, then we can step thru the three 2008 cycle points. Dave

Almost at midlife...

My Uranus opposition is not scheduled for a few more years (2011 I think to get to 3 Aries) but I did have an interesting event attached to transitting Uranus.

In July 2003 transitting Uranus was at the midpoint between natal Venus in 1st house and North Node in 2nd house. Also, Uranus was opposing my moon in 7th house. *scratches her head* - if only the node would be a planet I would have a yod on my hands. Also at this same time I had Pluto exactly conjunct my sun - for the second time - in 11th house.

My natal Uranus is in the 8th house, conjunct Pluto, Jupiter and let's not forget the south node. The Uranus opposition will also bring me 2nd house/8th house emphasis.

My life home and relationship circumstances changed VERY quickly in July 2003. I'm sure it was Pluto's doing, but I felt like someone was leaning on every hot button I have for nearly a year. Everything went miraculously wrong. My ideas of how my life was going to be were ripped to shreds. I have spent the past few years trying to recover from all of the insanity during that month. I had health problems, a divorce, extremely difficult and costly child custody issues, lost my job, and sold my house. Virgo/Libra in the 8th house.

Where I'm at now: I have decided that I will no longer pursue that type of close relationship with another person (Venus in Aquarius 1st house). It appears that most relationships I have had in my life have been detrimental - that last one being the worst. I have enrolled in college in an effort to improve my earning potential. (transitting Pluto square Pluto, Uranus, Jupiter - and let's not forget that south node.)

I am still a little too shell-shocked to worry about the Uranus opposition in 2011 right now- but I'm sure it will be a big year for me. All of these same planets will be activated all over again.