What we know about Uranus

This illustrates the relative sizes of Uranus, Earth and Earth’s Moon. The images are shown at the proper relative size, but not the correct relative distance from each other. Uranus is approximately 31,000 miles (50,000 kilometers) in diameter, or about four times the size of Earth. The Earth is approximately 7,900 miles (12,800 kilometers) in diameter, or about four times the diameter of the Moon, 2,100 miles (3,500 kilometers).

First: Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone!

The planet Uranus was discovered in 1781. From then into the 1800s, its discovery ushered in the invention of the parachute, the hot-air balloon, the steamboat, the guillotine, the smallpox vaccine, the battery, printing press, watches, typewriters, sewing machines…. You get the idea here. Astrologically, Uranus is associated with inventions, brilliance, the cutting edge. It’s about the thrust for individual freedom, individuality. It represents the rebel, rebellion, and respect no rules, no authority, no status quo.

It takes Uranus 84 years to circle the zodiac. The last time Uranus was in Taurus was 1935, when the U.S. was in the midst of the Great Depression. Unemployment stood at more than 20 percent. During its seven-year transit of Taurus, FDR raised the top tax rate to 79 percent. Unemployment shrank to under 17 percent. FDR began his second term as president and launched the third New Deal. In 1940, Hitler conquered France and bombed London. Congress reinstated the draft. In 1941, FDR began his third term, and on December 7 of that year, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and off to war the U.S. went.

Yes, the world is vastly different now. Uranus rules the Internet social media, the places where we spend much of our time now. Yet,  some of the same broad patterns may be repeated during this transit of Uranus through Taurus. We may actually be seeing hints of those patterns in the recent government shutdown where federal workers were calling in sick, taking second jobs, going to food banks. In a single week, 14,000 air traffic controllers called in sick, presumably because they weren’t being paid for working 60-hour weeks, and it impacted air traffic in some of the busiest airports in the U.S. – La Guardia, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Philadelphia.

On a personal level, this transit may initially impact your finances, for better or worse, depending on your situation. On May 10, 2018, Uranus entered Taurus for the first time in 84 years and continued in that sign, retrograded back into Aries, then turned direct in January and on March 6, will enter Taurus again until 2026. Think back: what was going on in your life in mid-May?

For us, our home had been damaged during Hurricane Irma in September 2017 and in November, we filed a claim with our insurance company. We had leaks in four rooms, our roof was basically shot. Our insurance company paid us a paltry sum, so we hired a public adjuster. He came out to the house, did a thorough assessment of damage, and filed a claim. Finally, six months later, four or five days after Uranus entered Taurus, we won the substantial claim and spent the summer having our house rebuilt.

Rob is a double Taurus, sun and rising. I have Taurus on the cusp of my 7th house – partnerships. Astrologically, this fit. I started examining Uranus in depth.

If you’re in ill health, it should be easier for you to heal if you engage your full power as an individual who has free will. Your finances are likely to change, for better or worse depending on whee Taurus appears in your chart and where you find yourself at this point in your life. Some things in your life will be chaotic, turned upside down and inside out. The stuff that no longer works in your life – jobs, relationships, beliefs – will fall out of your experience and new opportunities and relationships will arrive. You’ll have opportunities that will enable you to evolve to your full potential, but you have to be vigilant, aware.

Politically this will be a strange time. Governments worldwide will fall and rise. Rebellions and protests will spread as people seek to express their individuality. It may not be the best of times overall, but each of us will have opportunities to grow and evolve as individuals and, ultimately, as a collective of humanity.