Uranus in Taurus

The light and shade – the curious sense of body and identity the
greed that with perfect complaisance devours all things – the
endless pride and outstretching of man – unspeakable joys and sorrows,
The wonder every one sees in every one else he sees . . . and the
wonders that fill each minute of time forever and each acre of
surface and space forever,
Have you reckoned them as mainly for a trade or framework? or for
the profits of a store? or to achieve yourself a position? or to fill
a gentleman’s leisure or a lady’s leisure?

Have you reckoned the landscape took substance and form that it
might be painted in a picture?
Or men and women that they might be written of, and songs sung?
Or the attraction of gravity and the great laws and harmonious
combinations and the fluids of the air as subject for the savans?
Or the brown land and the blue sea for maps and charts?
Or the stars to be put in constellations and named fancy names?
Or that the growth of seeds is for agricultural tables or agriculture
itself?

— Walt Whitman, from Leaves of Grass (Song for Occupations [3]) published with Uranus in Taurus

The ingress of Uranus into tropical Taurus transfigures the astrological atmosphere and strikes a chord inciting a new movement in our collective chorus. Uranus enters Taurus on May 15 and will sustain it’s rupturing, liberating presence until November 6 when it re-enters Aries while retrograde. After revisiting Aries during the end of 2018 and beginning of 2019, Uranus will return to Taurus on 6 March 2019 where it will remain until 25 April 2026. Uranus will only make it to 2º33′ of Taurus before stationing on 7 August 2018, and so will be most impactful this year for those with natal placements in the first five degrees of fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius). Regardless of whether or not you have natal placements in close aspect to the trajectory of Uranus across the next six months, however, you will soon notice its impact. Though life is always in flux, Uranus entering Taurus denotes a coming period of volatilizing change felt from the roots, altering dynamics at core levels. While we can explore archetypal patterns resonant with Uranus in Taurus to get a sense of what this transit could bring, it’s vital to realize that Uranus brings the unexpected to such a degree that its manifestations in Taurus will go far beyond expectations.

Many astrologers have been writing and speaking about the impact Uranus will make in Taurus in terms of earth being the most dense and stable element in astrology, and Taurus being the earth sign most resistant to change. Uranus brings the necessary alchemic fire required to shake and reshape matter, signifying that Uranus impacting the fixed sign of the Bull will bring deep-seated, tectonic shifts in personal and collective events. Uranus brings a whirling vortex of change when it enters a new sign, yet in the current transition it is moving from the fast moving, change inducing sign of Aries into the plodding, patient pace of Taurus that can sustain thorough resolve for long periods of time. Ever since Uranus entered Aries in 2010 it has been under the influence of Mars in a fiery sign ideal for separating us from past attachments and boldly embarking in new directions. With Uranus in Taurus, we can deepen the dynamic changes we initiated with Uranus in Aries as Uranus will be under the influence of Venus in a grounded sign known for its cultivating prowess.

Taurus is the sign of the Bull, and this apt symbol highlights how the calm presence of a bull luxuriating in a field can turn into a raging force thundering the ground once provoked. Uranus will electrify, vivify, and fully awaken the sensualness as well as the stubbornness of Taurus, and just as it can be extremely difficult to slow down a bull once it is racing forward, we also will need to be aware of how events triggered in correspondence with Uranus in Taurus will obstinately persist with inexorable steadiness. We can imagine this to be a good thing when contemplating the emergence of an inspirational, idealistic movement focused on the greater good, but we also know from history and current events that many inspirational movements promote the benefit of proponents at the expense of oppressing others. For example, it is a well known fact that the last time Uranus entered Taurus the world experienced the trauma of destruction caused by Adolph Hitler and Nazi Germany. Other past transits of Uranus in Taurus have involved the crusades, the conquering of America by Spanish conquistadors, and the initiation of direct shipment of slaves from Africa to the conquered Americas where the indigenous population was being displaced.

There has been a long historical pattern of the deep foundational changes brought by Uranus in Taurus erupting into frenzied volatility once Uranus leaves Taurus for Gemini.  In part this could be due to the fact that the North Node of Uranus is in Gemini, as well as the fact Gemini is a volatile sign to begin with. In the United States of America, the revolutionary war broke out with Uranus in Gemini yet all of the necessary events that brought it about occurred with Uranus in Taurus (1767 – 1775). The next time Uranus entered Taurus (1850 – 1859) was the decade of the 1850s that led into the eruption of the civil war with Uranus in Gemini; though there was a “great compromise” that delayed the outbreak of civil war, this compromise also involved aspects such as the fugitive slave act that inflamed conflict.  Finally, while war raged across Europe when Uranus was in Taurus last time (1934 – 1942), it was not until the very end of Uranus moving through Taurus that the Pearl Harbor bombing occurred that led to the USA entering the second world war (the USA combat in the war then occurred with Uranus in Gemini). In current events in the USA as well as all across the world, we can witness how fundamental change is once again rippling throughout the fabric of civilization as Uranus enters Taurus.

This time around, the core changes brought by Uranus in Taurus will be exacerbated by Saturn and Pluto coming together in Capricorn in January 2020. The conjunction of Saturn and Pluto has a long historical correspondence with the fall of powerful civilizations and the rise of new powers, and the coming conjunction in 2020 is even more notable than normal due to Saturn and Pluto uniting close to the degrees of each of their own South Nodes. Yet civilizations are part of the natural environment, and in fact are completely dependent upon nature no matter how much technology is invented. There is an obvious reckoning coming in the time period of Uranus transiting Taurus in which global civilizations will need to face the realities of population growth and the resulting drain on natural resources for energy. It’s also easy to see how the increasing devastation wrought by natural disasters, coupled by the increasing evidence of climate change impact, will become intensified as Uranus in Taurus will force societies to figure out how to survive and adapt. Uranus in a fixed earth sign suggests the voice of the earth will be heard loud and clear, and that human civilizations will need to listen.

Unlike the past eight years of Uranus moving through Aries in which it formed a harsh, catalytic square aspect with Pluto in Capricorn, Uranus in Taurus will be spending the next few years forming a whole sign trine to Pluto in Capricorn. In addition, Uranus in Taurus will be forming a whole sign sextile with Neptune in Pisces, and a whole sign trine with Saturn in Capricorn as it approaches its union with Pluto. These harmonious whole sign aspects on one hand suggest that power structures have supportive aspects to continue amassing increased levels of power and control, but it also means that individuals taking responsibility to collaborate in collective movements will also be able to create structures to bolster the expression of emancipatory ideas and actions. Uranus and Neptune coming into aspect again is especially notable and brings potential to open up a deeper dimension of Neptune in Pisces spirituality for some, amplifying addictive escapism through technology for others.

As Uranus enters Taurus our world population is engaged in unprecedented levels of immersion in virtual technologies and electronic platforms connecting people all across the planet through the touch of fingers on keyboards. This airy age of rapid, interconnected communication is signified by the coming conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the first degree of tropical Aquarius on 21 December 2020.   The union of Jupiter and Saturn in mundane astrology for ages has helped define trends in historical time periods, and so its significant we are now at the beginning of a 200 year cycle of Jupiter and Saturn conjunctions in air signs (after previously being in a cycle of conjunctions in earth signs that began in 1802- for an excellent article on this complex topic, read Benjamin Dykes).  Uranus in tropical Taurus will only be six degrees away from an exact square with Jupiter and Saturn when they begin their upcoming cycle at the end of 2020, signifying the transit of Uranus through Taurus will be a monumental influence shaping unfolding events.

Taurus is a nocturnal, inwardly directed sign in contrast to the diurnal nature of Aries that has an outwardly directed essence.  The other fixed signs, especially Scorpio and Leo, are commonly seen as the places of immense power within the zodiac, yet Taurus is every bit their equal in sovereign strength. The inward, Venusian power of Taurus that can nourish monumental creation may not seem as obvious as the inner martial force of Scorpio which broods and penetrates with intensity. What seems on the surface as calm stability in Taurus is similar to the unfathomable depths of subterranean life concealed by the green grass we lay our heads upon. As the goddess Inanna calls for someone to plow her fields, so will we be called to delve into the nature of our being as well as the natural world around us to discover the inspirational solution to whatever challenges arise. Uranus in Taurus illuminates our capacity to find ways to meld the wondrous magic of nature and all of its constant creation into our creative process and invention.

A native of Uranus in Taurus exemplary of its technological potential is Nikola Tesla, who as a youth transfixed with the wonderment of a crashing waterfall received a brainstorm that he could one day discern how to harness its power. As we know, Tesla not only helped develop the cultivation of hydroelectricity but numerous other inventions harnessing natural energy, including groundbreaking work in wireless power. There have been many historical examples demonstrating the capacity of Uranus in Taurus to birth technological inventions that dramatically transform culture, and the obvious need for technological advancement that can help us mediate environmental crises aligns perfectly with the potential of Uranus in Taurus. At the Northwest Astrological Conference in 2018, Caroline Casey spoke about animism informing technology with Uranus in Taurus, giving the example of Japanese bullet train design guided by the dynamics of kingfishers diving through water without a splash. This idea of biomimicry is not new, but seems fertile ground for new advancements with Uranus transiting Taurus.

Insight gained from the magic of natural creation will be felt from all fields of exploration during the transit of Uranus through Taurus. In science, there have been many examples of new theories in understanding natural laws manifesting with Uranus in Taurus, from the work of Isaac Newton with universal gravity and mechanics to Charles Darwin finally deciding to present and publish his long-standing, thorough research into natural selection that defied aspects of dominant church dogma. Newton and Darwin’s work both displayed the fixed quality of Taurus as their influence within the field endured for centuries. In astrology, the current movement toward a more embodied practice of astrology that connects us more intimately with our living sky will be strengthened. Marsilio Ficino was an astrologer born with Uranus in Taurus opposite his Scorpio Sun, and was a monumental influence on the artistic movement of the Italian Renaissance as well as its underlying philosophy. Ficino translated and brought back to prominence ancient Platonic and Hermetic text which helped him devise remediation practices aligning astrology with medicinal choices, including aesthetic ones such as sound and color.

As Uranus also signifies collective movements, despite the likelihood the mass population will continue to become even further entrenched within virtual realities, there is also a likelihood for movements centered within returning to nature gaining prominence. A past historical example includes Henry David Thoreau publishing Walden, or Life in the Woods with Uranus in Taurus, a work whose influence upon people seeking life lived within natural environments extends to this very moment. Interestingly, Thoreau published his essay Resistance to Civil Government (Civil Disobedience) when Uranus was in the final year of its transit through Aries. Uranus in Taurus will bring both of these ideas together, with acts of civil disobedience being utilized to protect natural environments from consumption.

Exaltation of the Moon

The Moon is exalted in Taurus and accustomed to being celebrated in the sign of the Bull Horns, yet will now find the strange instigator Uranus camping out there. Uranus entering the exaltation of the Moon suggests a radical awakening of soul through mindful descent into subterranean realms of inner sensation. I was recently struck by the link between enlivening inner senses with Uranus entering Taurus while listening to a workshop given by Peter Kingsley, a scholar of ancient philosophers such as Parmenides and Empedocles. Kingsley described inner sensations as “sacred ground” akin to the sacredness of the underworld to the ancient Greeks, yet in this case sacred ground you bear everywhere. Kingsley illuminated the value of the ancient healing practice of incubation, or lying down with full immersion within inner sensation, calling it a “practice of abandonment, the practice of giving up . . . when nothing else worked.”  Kingsley described how ancient people would seek a shrine to lie down within and be as close to death as possible when doctors were not able to diagnose a cure, and how through this process a healing remedy would emerge through submergence within inner senses.

To Kingsley the ancient Greeks had a fundamental need for the wisdom and understanding that comes through the incubation of inner sensation, stating “there was fundamentally no difference between a body that is sick, a mind that needs understanding, and a city that needs new laws.” Kingsley described that just as personal imbalances could be remedied through incubation, so could new systems of laws be brought to civilization by those who had entered and come back from “another state of consciousness by practicing incubation.”  Through incubation we become  “drawn into the underworld, into the depth . . . into that mysterious access point which is available in the underworld that gives you access to every level of existence.” I like these ideas in connection with Uranus entering Taurus since the disruptions that can enter our life with Uranus transits take us into dark nights of the soul and can force us to let go of attachments. It will be helpful to make time for meditative practices, remembering it can really be as simple as lying down in full immersion of senses. The alchemy of incubation to Kingsley reveals the midnight Sun and that “the real light is found at the heart of darkness” and realization that “the source of light is inside.”

While Taurus correlates with inner wealth and riches, it can also correlate with possessiveness, excessive hedonism, and materialistic greed. Kingsley spoke about how exploration of inner sensation can also address the “dynamic of nothing being enough that this [Western] culture thrives on” through nourishing us from within. Kingsley described it as a “whole process of inner agriculture” in which we can become “a farmer in the unseen worlds.” Notably, farming and agricultural have been significations for Taurus since Hellenistic times. Just as we could experience innovations in cultivating our inner fecundity with Uranus in Taurus, so are we also likely to experience collective innovations in agriculture and food production, as well as increased influence from fields such as permaculture. As Vettius Valens wrote in the second century CE:

Within the great cosmic order and turning circle of time, the Bull brings acquisition of resources. It is entirely earthy in nature, acting on rustic and rural places. There is an affiliation between Taurus and farming. Because the Bull is so earthy, its action is carried downward . . . It is oriented towards work of the unending variety, the temperament being entirely unchangeable. The Bull is responsible for the building of foundations, inclining us to collect assets.

— Vettius Valens, Anthology Book One translated by Andrea Gehrz

Home of Venus

Taurus is the earthy, inwardly directed home of Venus with a fixed focus on cultivating enduring qualities. Uranus in Taurus will be influenced by Venus and her flavorful aesthetics, sense of harmony, and sensuality. As a result we can expect Uranus in Taurus to bring innovative changes to fashion, dietary considerations, bodily caregiving and anything else Venusian. There will be a reawakening in relationships, with a need for our partners, friends, and collaborators to accept and support our essentiality. Venus and Uranus do not share much common ground in archetypal meaning, and so we will need to open the Venusian areas of our life to allow for the revelatory flow of Uranus that can be unsettling in its rapid change. As Taurus and Venus both have a lot to do with our inner values, we can make allies with Uranus by engaging in relationships that resonate with our authenticity rather than those that conform to external standards.

Uranus in the home of Venus suggests exciting developments in the arts and inspirational artistic movements are on the way. When researching past historical correlations with the transit of Uranus in Taurus, a pattern that leapt out to me was the numerous examples of masterpieces in storytelling. While Uranus was in the sign of the Bull, the ingenious Don Quixote climbed upon his steed to engage in his fantastical chivalry. The original Globe Playhouse was constructed giving William Shakespeare a stage to write and perform such classics as Henry V, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, Hamlet, Twelfth Night, and Othello. The great white whale Moby Dick, a story paradigmatic as “the great American novel,” emerged from the ocean waves, inspiring obsessive quests. The “body electric” of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass was also published with Uranus in Taurus, as was John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath which captured the trials of survival from the Dust Bowl crisis. Steinbeck wrote about survival with directness evocative of Uranus in Taurus:  “How can you frighten a man whose hunger is not only in his own cramped stomach but in the wretched bellies of his children? You can’t scare him – he has known a fear beyond every other.”

We can also witness masterful storytelling within natives with Uranus in Taurus such as Dante Alighieri, the creator of the enduring, immortal Divine Comedy whose influence has been incredibly far reaching. Masters of modern myths Jim Henson and Hayao Miyazaki were also born with Uranus in Taurus, both capable of creating entire worlds of fantasy that reflected timely messages back to audiences. Among artists, Vincent Van Gogh was also born with Uranus in Taurus (as well as Saturn and Pluto in Taurus) and his works of passion resonate with Uranus in Taurus in the way they capture the soulful aliveness of the ground beneath as well as the stars above. Whatever challenges and difficulties arise with Uranus in Taurus, we can expect they will inspire art, music, and story whose influence will stand the test of time.

The planet Uranus was named for the primal sky god Ouranos, father of the Titans and lover of the primal earth goddess Gaia. Ouranos was fond of stuffing his Titanic offspring deep underground, and so it is interesting that the other mythic figure usually connected with the planet Uranus, Prometheus, was a Titan who took the side of the Olympians in the Titanomachy that led to his Titanic peers also being driven deep into Tartarus. In astrology we connect aspects of Uranus to the unconscious forces that can direct our life suddenly from unseen realms within. In mundane events, Uranus also corresponds to unforeseen forces fracturing and bursting through the facade of consensus reality. Whenever Uranus enters a new sign, unexpected events often erupt with resonance to the zodiacal symbolism.

With Uranus entering Taurus, we can intuit that commerce and economic systems across the planet will be shaken. While there will likely be dramatic periods of instability, it’s also likely that economic innovations will emerge through the volatility. As numerous past transits of Uranus in Taurus have coincided with militarized fights over land rights and natural resources, we can also expect more of the same. As previously mentioned, we can also expect mass movements focused upon environmental concerns such as addressing the need for clean water sources and the protection of what remains of the wilderness. Demetra George has posted a lucid piece connecting environmental concerns and crises with the mythic Uranus giving birth to the Furies within the tumult of his downfall.

Uranus also relates to revolutions, rebellions, and social justice activism in mundane astrology. The past transits of Uranus through Taurus involve many of the threads currently knotted together in the gaping collective wounds polarizing conflict all across our planet. Social unrest, protest and activism is guaranteed in the next six months of Uranus initiating its transit in Taurus, as it will form a harsh aspect with Mars retrograde in Aquarius in June through August followed by a polarizing aspect with Venus retrograde in Scorpio in October. During this same period, Uranus in Taurus will re-enter the orb of a fifteen degree opposition with Jupiter in Scorpio, the orb used by Richard Tarnas in Cosmos and Psyche to define time periods containing the revolutionary fervor activated by Jupiter and Uranus in opposition (June through September 2018).

A previous time Uranus in Taurus was opposite Jupiter in Scorpio, Frederick Douglass gave the rousing speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” on July 5, 1852. Frederick Douglass was exemplary of the emancipatory force of Uranus due to rising from slavery to become a leading intellectual, inspirational orator, and human right activist. The words of Douglass still resonate today:

“. . . At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. O! had I the ability, and could reach the nation’s ear, I would, to-day, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced.”

— Frederick Douglass, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?

The Hierophant arcanum in tarot is traditionally associated with Taurus, an arcanum signifying belief systems, guiding faith rooted in belief, and the search for higher purpose and meaning. It can also signify conformity to established social orders of morality which aligns with its association to the fixed sign of Taurus. The word hierophant has roots in ancient Greek, meaning one who reveals what is sacred. Past transits of Uranus through Taurus have brought the shattering of static religious doctrine, including the 95 theses of Martin Luther that helped instigate the Protestant reformation, as well as Charles Darwin presenting his research into evolutionary biology that contradicted christian dogma. Saint Francis of Assisi was born with Uranus in Taurus and rebelled against the material trappings of religious institutions, devoting himself to a life of poverty. Saint Francis embodied Uranus in Taurus through viewing the natural world as a reflection of spirit, not only finding connection between living creatures and divinity, but also living and serving from this belief. The mystical participation of Saint Francis that rebelled against the christian duality which separated spirit from nature is likely to gain prominence as Uranus transits through Taurus.

In ancient Egypt the great goddess Hathor who was honored and celebrated by hierophants remains an archetypal force resonant with Uranus in Taurus. Hathor was a bovine divinity and sky goddess who emphasized the fertile nourishment of the starry heavens above, the celestial cow who lifted the creator Sun god up within her horns. A bestial goddess whose womb encompasses the stars above, Hathor’s link to Uranus in Taurus suggests spiritual meaning can come through connection with nature, alignment with natural cycles on earth and in the stars above, and ritually honoring the sacred. There is an old debate pitting the mind versus the body, with some arguing that the illusion of the material world means we can’t trust our senses and instead must find spiritual truth through the rationalizing mind. In contrast, others have sought the wisdom of the body, delving within subjective senses to discover higher truth from within. Uranus in Taurus can activate the potential of integrating mind, body, and spirit, bridging the wisdom of inner sensation with the clarification of mind through the tests that will arise in our worldly endeavors.

Tim Addey in his book The Seven Myths of the Soul used a passage from the Platonic philosopher Damascius to illuminate the journey of soul we experience through incarnation. Prometheus, a mythic figure who has become embedded within the archetypal meaning of Uranus in astrology, appears in the passage of Damascius in the line “Like Prometheus and the Titans, she is bound to body.” Addey linked the story of Prometheus to our soul’s incarnation in our bodily form where she must “undergo a series of trials in order to make sense of the world in which she finds herself.” To Addey, Prometheus is both “the inspective guardian of the rational soul” as well as “the descending arc of the cycle of the soul” whose path necessitates “the need to embrace the foundations of the mundane realm rather than reject them.” Addey suggests that “the initiation of Prometheus requires the soul to ask what am I not?” As we enter what promises to be a dramatic time period of Uranus entering Taurus, open awareness to what aspects of your life are ready to be liberated and changed. Analyzing how Taurus is involved in your astrology chart may be helpful, but most of all allow yourself to sense what parts of yourself you’ve been presenting to the world no longer align with your higher truth. It’s easier to ride with the force of Uranus rather than resist it.

References

Addey, Tim. (2000). The Seven Myths of the Soul. The Prometheus Trust.

Kingsley, Peter. (2006). Return to Eternity: a transformational workshop with Peter Kingsley.

Vettius Valens of Antioch. Book One. Rendered from ancient Greek into modern English by Andrea L. Gehrz. (2016). Moira Press.

Whitman, Walt. (1986). Leaves of Grass. Penguin Classics.