Uranus was the primal Greek god personifying the “Father Sky”. He was the son and husband of Gaia, Mother Earth, who gave birth to the first generation of Titans, ancestors of most of the Greek gods. From the astrological perspective, Uranus is the first generational planet. While the classical septenary (planets from the Sun to Saturn) describes astral forces ruling the individual, transaturnian planets deal mainly with generations and the collective unconscious.
Being the first generational planet we encounter (Saturn is the first Threshold Guardian) it is the bearer of the astral energy that breaks with the past.
Uranus as a Force
Uranus is the astral power ruling technology. By definition it is “the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes” (cit. Oxford Dictionaries). Also, we find this aspect in the myth of Prometheus, the “uranian hero” who gave mankind the sacred fire stolen from Mount Olympus. By the divine fire of knowledge, mankind learned writing, mathematics, astrology, agriculture, medicine, and science.
The force of Uranus strongly relates to rebellion and freedom. In fact Prometheus stole the fire because Zeus wanted humanity to remain in a state of harmless ignorance, fearing that one day mankind could dethrone him. After all, technology is the medium that allows us to reach a goal and—as such—it makes us free. Moreover, technology brings progress and modernity that go hand in hand with rebellion to the old way of thinking. Real revolution is just one step away.
After discovering what Prometheus had done, Zeus punished him by tying him to a rock. Every day an eagle devoured his liver (an organ related to Jupiter), which regrew overnight to start the torture over again. Freedom has a price that ancient myth wanted to remark.
The Rebel, the Robot
Uranus’ main keywords are summed up in the french revolution motto (the planet was discovered in that period): “Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité”—freedom, equality and fraternity. Basically, we can say that from a political perspective Uranus inspires mankind with egalitarian ideals and social justice, based on the belief that “men and women are all equal and born free”.
Although from a social rights standpoint this view sounds comforting, we can’t forget that Uranus is the ruler of technology. For this reason we must take a closer look in order to understand all the consequences of an industrial approach to society. The other side of the coin is the idea that everybody is replaceable. After all every person is equal to the other, right? Like gears of a clock, men work, they wear out, break and are in the end replaced.
As a matter of fact, this mentality is typical of large industrial companies and multinationals. In those work environments human relationships are distorted by the fear of making mistakes. In addition, you must constantly optimize every production process. And only to this end social activities are encouraged. To err is taboo, being efficient is the totem.
The dark side of Uranus wants us to be free and independent—without ties—like machines that run on fuel-money only. But we are not robots. Being without connection and a sense of belonging is to be heartless and inhuman. In conclusion, we have to learn to handle carefully the uranian force if we don’t want to make ourselves something that functions rather than lives.
Key Words
- Breaking with the past, revolution, rebellion, uprising,
- Sudden change, accidents, destruction,
- Ideals, freedom, social justice, equality, fraternity,
- Technology, engineering, the industry, fire of knowledge,
- Collective thoughts, science, objectivity
