"....the basic ingredients of evolutionary progress are change, direction, gradualism, and improvement. These requirements are individually necessary and jointly sufficient for evolutionary progress. Any world in which objects are undergoing gradual directional change embodying improvement would be a world in which there is evolutionary progress" (Ayala 1988).
~from Timothy Shanahan's article, Evolutionary Progress
“The purpose of life is to help all sentient beings to be free from suffering. In order to do this, you need to cultivate unconditional, unlimited and pure compassion towards all, without any exception.”
~Patrul Rinpoche, from Ten Tales from Tibet
We know that embracing Truth and feeling absolutely free to express that is liberation from our own suffering and opens us to compassion. Uranus is a catalyst to that freedom.In June we talked about Saturn and building structures that serve to enhance our experience in this physical reality. Uranus and the energy of ‘the enlightener’, ‘the lightbringer’, is present to wake us up to a new Reality.Uranus is the next experience. Saturn is form. Uranus is energy. Energy that moves us from A to B whatever B is. It is best when dealing with Uranus to remain open to all possibilities! Uranus does not operate on a personal level. Rather it moves ‘mountains’ to which there is a collective response. We move as a single unit toward the light. All 7,714,576,923 of us.
Radical Energy for Inspiration, Awareness, and Personal Evolution
[caption id="attachment_19351" align="alignright" width="300"]
Photo by Jeremy Thomas[/caption]As individuals we identify with our individual form. We tend to take much of what happens personally. This is where we suffer. In the big picture, those grand issues and structures being obliterated by the radical energy of Uranus is not personal. It simply paves the way for greater awareness. We all benefit from this even though change at times can be uncomfortable.When we go through major challenging Uranus transits such as the ones that will occur at age 21 (1st square) 42 (opposition) 63 (2nd square) and 84 (return to place of birth) the influence of Uranus is amplified; not as easy to ignore how it affects one personally. Remembering that the less we resist by arguing with the inevitable the easier transition becomes. The inevitable is our continued journey toward self realization. Knowing what is when all the conditioning recedes.Uranus is the energy that at times hits like a tidal wave but mostly consistently urges us to let go. It is the energy that breaks through convention, shakes the foundation upon which our beliefs rest, shatters our attachment to illusion, releases vision, inspiration, insight into that which is not known.Uranus questions the status quo and the comfort that most of us rely upon for a sense of safety and security. It impels us to open up and be free to embrace every possibility; to be free of identifications that have defined us into limitation. It challenges the ego and all that we hold onto. When Uranus moves we better move with it—resistance is futile!
The Seven Year Cycle
Uranus has an 84 year journey around the Sun; is in an astrological sign for 7 years (at this time Uranus is at 5 degrees Taurus). The number 7 is a ‘highly spiritual number that is associated with intuition, mysticism, inner wisdom, and a deep inner knowing’. During Uranus transits we have seven years to work with that dynamic energy to effect change related to each sign.For example with Uranus transiting Taurus our perception of self worth, security, our personal values and how we provide for our selves may all come into question. These are second house issues, the house which Taurus naturally rules. Taurus’s key phrase, “I seek security”.Imagine now what the world is experiencing with Uranus positioned in Taurus collectively challenging these key and basic issues around our ability to survive. The energy of Uranus, on an individual level can create a strong desire for change that is unsettling to our notion of self. At times when Uranus is most influential and our fears of losing self are the greatest, the fears will not stand a chance compared to the will to move out of limiting beliefs. The self will evolve.
Illumination of Awareness from a Higher Realm
For every inch we evolve, so does the collective. Again Uranus is collective energy—self=Self—all the same no separation. Our ultimate goal is the continued upward spiraling away from and into to grace. Uranus in your natal chart describes areas where you might be seeking freedom and greater awareness in your life and/or points to where you struggle against the status quo. It means seeing things from the ‘big picture’ without the conditioning that the ego represents. It is the ego that limits us and it is Uranus that astrologically speaking, sets us free.The myth of Prometheus is sometimes alluded to in relation to the planet Uranus. (Prometheus the Awakener: An Essay on the Archetypal Meaning of the Planet Uranus, by Richard Tarnas) Prometheus was one of the Titans who brought fire (light) to man. In the beginning Prometheus shaped man from mud and while admiring his creation noticed that they dwelt in ‘darkness’. Feeling sorry for humans in their ignorance Prometheus stole fire from Olympus to give to his creation against the wishes of Zeus.Zeus was determined that humans not share the same knowledge as the gods to ensure their separation. Light unifies. Uranus seeks to destroy all that stands in the way of unity or that which perpetuates separation making way for the transition into Neptune’s domain.
Uranus Influence in the Tarot
In the Tarot all of the 7 cards, again the stay of Uranus in a sign, represent a point at which there has been a moment of enlightenment—the aha! moment. The seeker is now ready to receive what the universe has to offer from that new perspective.For example, the 7 of Cups is realizing that what our imagination conjures and what dreams we have, are possible; that whatever conditioning we have experienced to the contrary slowly evaporates as we know the limitless potential of that which is, without the emotional wounding. Cups are our emotions and the element of water. The 7 of Cups is gaining emotional maturity and being free to go with the flow. The river of life is our new vehicle.The VII of the major arcana, the Chariot, is the power card. By the time the Chariot arrives in a reading, the seeker has ‘been there done that’ repeatedly and is no longer so distracted by what is external. In a space of greater awareness he has clarity and focus to continue the journey to deeper knowing. Deeper knowing is his domicile and is his goal. That applies to whatever area of life one feels most inclined to attend to. All are vital. All are in the great pool and inseparable from evolutionary progress.Anna is available at Paradise Found to answer your astrology questions or any questions you may have regarding your journey. A little clarity now can lead to those moments of illumination and grace!
