Uranus in Aries II: Surges of Wild Individualism

3.7.11


Uranus will be back in Aries as of Friday (Mar 11), after having first tempted our yen for radical do-it-yourself solutions to established inefficiencies and ineptitudes for a brief spell last year.

Uranus had dipped into Aries from May to August 2010, as part of a high-drama astro-configuration also involving Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto… one which created a tight squeeze between these planets, effectively inhibiting any one of them from finding full expression.

But as I recently wrote in describing Jupiter's current square with Pluto, Saturn (who, in this context, we could think of as 'the great obstructer') is no longer a principal player in this drama. As far as Uranus in Aries is concerned, his prior dialogue with the fair-minded, concession-oriented Saturn in Libra can now be seen as a quaint relic of the past.

In his newer unfettered guise, Uranus's main foe is Pluto—symbol of the gradually accumulated-and-consolidated power that grants certain slices of 'the ruling class' a habitual dominance over all else.

Needless to say, Uranus, who'll be increasingly emboldened in his rebellious attitude, doesn't easily submit to inherited injustices. As an innovator-spokesperson for the Aries cause, he'd sooner abandon the whole edifice and build a new one rather than struggling to scale walls somebody else (of questionable fiber?) built atop a rotten foundation.

In so many areas, personal and collective, it seems there is little time to waste. The sign of Aries courses with this sense of urgency… a directness that operates at its best when it can immediately act toward its desired result. Though sometimes crude in its efforts, the flip-side benefit to this approach is a simplicity that instinctively reduces overly convoluted situations to the basics: yes or no, stop or go, black or white, with us or against us. The presence of both Jupiter and now Uranus in Aries is a well-timed gift of accelerated pace. Winners will be those who can ride this speeding bullet.

We cannot genuinely decipher Uranus-in-Aries's lessons for us over the coming several years without always already considering its position in square to Pluto in Capricorn. Indeed, this entire epoch (say, 2010-2017 roughly) will make the most sense if interpreted as 'the Uranus-Pluto Square era', as that is precisely how instrumental this single aspect will prove to understanding our moment in history.

And what does this 'era' mean, exactly? Across different zones of activity, we will witness parallel archetypal manifestations of revolutionary resistance to entrenched conglomerations of power, authority and wealth. We're already catching glimpses of this on the stage of global politics. Let's not, however, overlook the relevance of this spirit of insurgency in our personal lives. If indeed the personal is political, then the manner in which we choose to conduct our everyday activities—how willingly we settle for disempowering roles we've been 'assigned' by those with the titles and the money, or how defiantly we create alternatives for ourselves that provide greater freedom and individuality—becomes the very battleground for determining what kind of world we'll live in.

Uranus in Aries is the rebel spark in our arsenal, ready at any minute to enliven us with the bravery to reject polite submission. When its energy fills us, we are unafraid to snap 'fuck you!' to undeserving dictators. Uranus is the split-second epiphany in awareness, spontaneously informing us we will no longer 'take it anymore', whatever the 'it' that has us fed up and fuming. We want Uranus as an inspirational ally, spurring our drive to leap headfirst into a future that, while largely unknown as far as the details are concerned, will at least put us in a more hands-on driver's-seat position to direct our fate. He gets us doing something, which seems better than doing nothing, regardless of what the 'something' is.

But Uranus is neither well-behaved nor predictable. And especially in Aries, his thrust to liberate ('all at costs!') can easily go too far. It's one thing, for instance, to chop down a tree that's directly in the path of the road you're building; it's altogether another to clearcut the entire forest in one exhilarating high of 'get out of my damn way!' Once invigorated with Uranian troublemaking, we may suddenly find we've expelled an opinion or taken an action from which there is no going back. We might shake the wrong support-beam and find the entire tent collapsing on our heads.

It only takes one excessive jolt or a single stray gunshot to instantly turn 'constructive chaos' into 'destructive anarchy'… so we must try to bear in mind a constant awareness of where exactly that faint, indistinct line dividing the two resides in any situation.

Yet, when push does come to shove, the Aries energy as unleashed by Uranus assumes a prioritization of self-liberation over everything else. If it's between my personal satisfaction and yours, then you're shit out of luck. While this needn't be an invitation for each of us to become an unyielding asshole as we seek to suit ourselves, it does make a pretty clear statement in favor of independence—and against sitting quietly with our hands folded neatly in our laps, as other people abscond with all the goodies while telling us to look the other way and get back to our mindless obedience.

We obviously need this dose of crude self-assertive rebelliousness (Uranus in Aries), if we hope to overthrow the smug oppressors who profit long-term from our perpetual acquiescence (Pluto in Capricorn). This goes for the shaming, self-repudiating voices inside our heads that must be conquered, as well as the individuals or circumstances that flourish through our squelching the fire of individuality… and of course bespeaks of the macro-level reorientation of economic and governmental power, which is still barely getting underway. That said, it won't necessarily be neat, comfortable or pretty.

Also check out:
Uranus in Aries: Radical Reinvention (5.31.10)