Uranus Transits

WHEN URANUS RUMBLES THROUGH A PARTICULAR HOUSE

by Brian Habit

March 13, 2003

As Uranus does every seven years or so, he changed signs this month. He moved from Aquarius to Pisces. People are abuzz now, talking about what to expect when Uranus transits through particular parts of their birth charts.

Some people have a fair amount of concern (in some cases, outright dread even) about Uranus moving through their 2nd house of money, or their 10th house of career, or some other part of their chart. How concerned should you be?

What You Can Expect

Uranus spends an average of roughly seven years passing through each of the 12 houses of your birth chart. Despite what you might have heard, the fact that Uranus enters or exits a particular house does not guarantee bliss in that part of your life. It also does not guarantee chaos.

What is does mean is that you will experience an increased need for major flux and radical change in that arena. Will the pressure to make radical changes be at a constant fever-pitch level? No. It will vary over time.

For example, it may peak during any or all of the following times:

when Uranus first enters a particular house in your chart
soon before Uranus leaves a particular house
when Uranus passes over planets in a particular house
when Uranus triggers major points elsewhere in your chart (your Ascendant, Midheaven, or a planet in another house)

Your Choices Make a Difference

Uranus represents the principle of individuality. Much of how you will experience Uranus moving through a particular house in your chart depends on how you express the principle of individuality in whichever affairs pertain to the house in question.

Are you trying to keep the status quo intact in that part of your life? Are you trying to conform to other people's expectations of how you approach related matters? If so, then you are likelier to experience the Uranian passage as a very disruptive, upsetting period on the whole.

Even if you choose not try to conform to other people's expectations, you may make life harder for yourself than it has to be. If you rebel against what your parents or the neighbors or conventional society expects, then you're still not determining for yourself how to live your life. You're not taking a stand for something. You're only taking a stand against something. Doing that is likely to provoke pointless, unnecessary conflict between you and those who are around you.

During a Uranian period, it is vital to act with genuinely autonomy, based on whatever seems true and normal to you.

Break up old structures and behaviors in your life. You need that now, in whichever house Uranus is touching. Give yourself the gift of greater freedom. Choose situations and behaviors that will allow you to think and act more fully and more freely, in ways that society hasn't taught you to think or act. By doing that, you increase the odds that you'll exhilarating period of creativity and innovation.

OK, It's Not Quite That Simple

Now, I don't mean to sound blithe about Uranian periods. I'm not trying to understate how unsettling they can be. Change can be very messy. Sudden, shocking, undesirable events do happen sometimes. Not all of life is within our control.

Furthermore, if the overall flavour of your birth chart indicates a natural preference for stability and calm, then you may find Uranian transits to be especially challenging.

For example, my chart emphasizes fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius). I do like to continually broaden my horizons, as suggested by my Venus and Mars in expansive Sagittarius. However, once I establish a particular course of action, I naturally tend to continue it rather than change it.

Even if such is the case for you, it is still possible to experience a lot of satisfaction when Uranus comes calling. It probably won't be a mellow time or an orderly time, but it can be a satisfying time.

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