Uranus in Astrology

Uranus is a transpersonal (or generational) planet in Astrology, which moves approximately 3 minutes a day and takes about 84 years to move through the entire zodiac, spending about 7 years in each sign. House 11 is associated with the planet, which is also co-ruler of the Aquarius sign along with Saturn, the official ruler according to traditional astrology.

Both the forces of Uranus and Saturn are fundamental and each archetype has its purpose. In astrology, you cannot eliminate either force, the most there can be is a dynamic balance between them. When there is one force acting in excess, the other must come into play to maintain balance.

Astrologically, the planet is associated with technology, the internet, electronic devices, speed, electricity, revolution, sudden changes, interruptions, clashes of order, and breaking patterns. It spurs new thinking, grants intuition, and inspires innovative solutions to difficult problems. The planet is symbolic of the “starry sky” and considered the third power of Mercury, an expansion of consciousness and communication, amplifies Mercury themes into a broader scope. In a simple analogy, while Mercury symbolizes the device that is accessing the internet, Uranus is the internet itself.

In the glyph of Uranus, the cross of the matter is open to both the perceptions of the right and left sides of the brain, embedded in the spirit circle. Uranus’ symbol is complex and indicates how we perceive things quickly and intuitively. They are stimuli that look more like flashes and that provide us with an “out of the box” understanding, beyond conventional perceptions, as true insights. It is no different from a radio or television antenna that picks up signals from afar so that the device converts them and transmits information. It is a symbol of those sudden moments of clarity, revelation, and creative bursts, which stimulate us to come up with new ideas.

The arrow over a sun circle is another symbol associated with Uranus and conveys the idea that spirit and vitality are enthusiastically directed upwards towards ideals spontaneously. On Uranus, the energies are actually directed upwards, unlike on Mars whose arrow is diagonally. Such energies go straight to the superconscious ideals. Meanwhile, laterally turned crescents focus on conscious perceptions of the present.

Uranus speeds up the mind and processes, shows alternative routes that transcend plastered or logical conclusions, generating “quantum leaps” of the kind that when we realize it, it vanishes, it is already changed, it is gone...

If left unchecked, Uranus' electricity can unleash destructive or explosive energies. However, if grounded in practical considerations and experience, Uranus encourages innovations that breathe new life into worn structures and concepts, directing energies into the future.

As with the other outer planets, Uranus' position in the sign is less important than its position in the house in delimiting individual differences in the affairs ruled by the planet. The position in the sign has more historical than personal importance because this is a planet that goes beyond the individual. But, of course, it also influences us, bringing originality and a different way of seeing things in each person.

On the other hand, the house occupied by Uranus can reveal sudden changes, eventual breakups, and areas of life where the person can be more restless or have impulses of genius. When Uranus is more prominent in the birth chart, the individual can become a modifying agent, causing agitation wherever they go and awakening the awareness of others around them. They are generally more independent and original people.

The influence of Uranus in the birth chart

As Uranus takes seven years to cross only one sign of the zodiac, everyone born during a given seven-year period has Uranus in the same sign (although the position of Uranus in the houses will vary greatly).

Therefore, the sign is important to indicate differences between generations and the common destiny of a group of people born in the same period, i.e. it influences the behavior of a large portion of people and indicates what changes they will leave in society, what their legacy will be, as well as how a person's desire for freedom and individuality manifests itself, showing how they establish an intuitive connection with the universal mind, which allows them to receive original ideas and the inspiration to understand life and solve their problems. It also indicates the hidden motivations in the individual's desires, hopes, and goals, especially in the goals set by the mind, and can reveal the type of friends a person is likely to seek, the interests and activities that are related, influencing the circles they frequent.

Uranus is associated with the universal mind, with humanity in general, and is reformist energy. Wherever it goes, it grants the advantage of breaking down barriers and innovating, being one of the channels that allow us to transcend the existing reality with new colors every 7 years. New impulses are always needed for the individual and the collective to evolve and tread new paths.

The positive side of Uranus brings independence, versatility, willingness to change, creativity, freedom, originality, and the ability to invent, to not just conform to the reality that surrounds us, to see something more. It deals with the dynamism and genius of Being. It forces sudden changes when something can be improved when an update is ready to be installed.

Freedom of thought, intuition, and inspiration are other characteristics of the planet, which awaken avant-garde thoughts, the commitment to explore new concepts and representations of the world, tolerance, detachment, and extroversion. Uranus also represents friendship, solidarity, and collective creativity.

Its disharmonious side can bring behaviors such as fanaticism, eccentricity, perversion, unbridled rebellion, stubbornness, irresponsibility, and disorganization. Individuals tend to believe in absolute and indisputable truths, becoming radical, developing a narcissistic individualism and an inability to help or compromise, emotionally withdrawing from other people.

Balancing these energies helps Uranus point the direction for building a new future. The planet works in our minds and brings out our capacity to create alternatives. Unlike Saturn, it brings change, love for what is unusual and contrary to standards, to established rules. It brings the desire to get rid of matter, the attraction to metaphysics and subjects that help us to express and develop our psyche.

Saturn, as the last of the social planets, brings the evolution of consciousness through maturity, responsibility, and hard work, Uranus brings innovation, “the beyond”. As consciousness expands, structures become obsolete, have served their purpose, and need to be replaced by new concepts. Uranus is a symbol of this change, often brutal and unexpected. Its task is to bring good news to change old things, whether old concepts, traditions, emotional patterns, or physical structures, paving the way for the new (even if this new one is just an update of what already exists).