On May 15th, 2018 the planet Uranus will begin its transit through the sign of Taurus. This will usher in a seven-year period of tremendous evolution and revolution (Uranus) regarding humanity’s relationship to wealth, natural resources, and the value of the earth’s beauty. (Taurus)
As one of the slow moving transpersonal planets, Uranus takes 84 years to circle the entire zodiac. Thus, this period from May 2018 to April 2026 will be a time for reckoning upon much of what was established and invented over 8o years ago.
This current passage of Uranus through Taurus will be a time for honoring many of the legacies of the last transit as well re-inventing and innovating upon what no longer works in the modern world.
Uranus is a Titanic force of nature, most akin to the effects of electric storms and earthquakes. On an individual basis, the Uranian influence is best observed in sudden paradigm shifts, strokes of genius, and great surges of rebellion. And for the collective, it is upon the axis of Uranus that the march of history abruptly pivots, inspiring humanity to follow a new star all the way towards the future!
For those prone to fear the future, remember that:
“The only thing that is constant is change.”
This is the most famous quote by the pre-Socratic philosopher, Heraclitus, whose natural philosophy centered around the idea of eternal flux. This law of the universe, or divine Logos, demonstrated that nothing is ever truly in stasis, but is instead undergoing a constant state of transformation.
Heraclitus observed the eternal flux in the unity of all opposites, which reveals that heat eventually transforms into cold, that day transforms into night, that life transforms into death and death into life.
Thus, whatever changes are brought about during Uranus’ transit through Taurus are a necessary part of the eternal flux.
The only constant is change and Uranus has a special talent for catalyzing cell division, stirring the sea and turning the tide. But this volatile electric energy will find a strange home in the fixed earth sign of Taurus.
Taurus represents the fertility of the land, represented by beauty, wealth and material possessions. The sign of Taurus craves security and stability whereas Uranus stirs up unpredictable and volatile conditions.
Left to its own devices, the sign of Taurus is a quiet place of repose, where change is never hurried and natural rhythms are honored with unerring loyalty. The soul purpose of Taurus is to transform a barren wasteland into a tranquil garden, where time may seem to stand still.
But now that Uranus is in Taurus, the bliss of homeostasis will be disrupted by little earthquakes, cracking the walls of your reality and opening dark caverns of archaic memories.
Well-fed modern people tend to take their comfort and stability for granted, assuming there is more order and certainty in the world than there actually is. But when Uranus enters Taurus, primordial fears of flood and famine, etched into the marrow of your bones, will begin to arise.
The lightning bolts of Uranus may strike with tremendous fears about future prosperity and stability.
Like it or not, this transit will challenge you to remember that absolutely nothing is permanent, stable, predictable or constant throughout the universe, except change. But there is nothing intentionally wrathful in Uranus transits. Instead, think of this period as an opportunity for spiritual, intellectual and even physical growth.
The knowledge of instability and flux is not meant to paralyze you with fear, but give you new life!
If the universe is defined by eternal flux, then you, as a divine child of heaven and earth, are more than capable of responding to the upcoming changes intelligently. It may not always be pleasant to have to switch directions, climb up over walls and break through concrete, but you have the organic evolutionary power of the eternal flux within you.
Electric Feel
For a little perspective on recent history, let’s take a quick look at Uranus’ last transit. In May 2010, Uranus moved into the cardinal fire sign of Aries, whose warring energies were quite compatible with the revolutionary energies of Uranus.
The evolutionary purpose of Aries is to fight for individual Selfhood and independence. As such, during the era of the selfie and self-promotion, very serious issues of personal sovereignty and privacy have emerged.
With such an emphasis on the SELF, identity politics successfully atomized people into many warring kingdoms, fighting for their place in the Sun.
During this transit through Aries, there were seven squares between Uranus and Pluto in Capricorn, creating conditions for significant institutional and ideological fractures. Over the last seven years, the unprecedented access to information and open lines of communication created many significant movements of resistance and rebellion. The Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street are two excellent examples.
In response, the hands of power have been altered in some dramatic ways.
Uranus routinely enjoys disrupting the status quo, for good or for ill. A few more highlights of Uranus’ influence over the last seven years include: BREXIT, the election of Donald Trump, and the Women’s March.
In the sign of Taurus, the Uranian energies will shift their focus significantly. The Arian issues of identity and sovereignty will deepen into issues of integrity, becoming less abstract and more tangibly focused upon your health, wealth, and personal values.
This Uranus transit through Taurus will sing the body electric, inspiring a deeper awareness of physicality. Without health, there is no wealth. Even more importantly, without devotion to the rhythms of earth, there is no quality of life to speak of.
The world of astrology is predicting that the next seven years will be the time when the antiquated banking systems will be forced to evolve. Some of the dams that are preventing positive change will finally break, bringing an unstoppable wave of diverse digital currencies, gift economies, and permaculture farming.
With the rise in social justice movements during the last seven years of Uranus in Aries, I think it is safe to speculate that a massive global shift in economic divides will continue to unfold.
Before you prepare for a jubilee, remember that it will require a lot of hard work and focus to bring order out of this chaos. Though many positive changes will commence, the corruption and the debt that is smothering the world economy is not likely to be solved overnight. (or even in seven years) Healing the economy may require a period that looks and feels a bit like chaos.
Uranus is an awakener, not a messiah.
However, with the awakening power of Uranus grounded deeply in the earth, expect this transit to bring concentrated focus and efforts to improve the irresponsible use of fossil fuels and monoculture farming.
Uranus in Taurus will inflame the minds of those who are ready to enact solutions to the earth’s problems. In Uranus’ quest for great inventors and visionaries, the collective will feel an ever increasing weight upon such questions as:
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“Why is the soil and water being poisoned in the name of agriculture?”
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“How much longer will industrialized people conceive of nature as being something outside of themselves?
Unless you are a promising MIT student or a radical political activist, you may not feel like you have any influence in these matters. But Uranus wants you to remember that your mind is connected to the Universal Mind.
Thus, your thoughts and feelings on these massive issues can create rippling effects that shift the tide. And there are always small things you can do to support the change you want to see in the world.
Where Time Becomes a Loop
Astrology is often used to make predictions, but just like economists, mathematicians, and political theorists, astrologers can only speculate. Astrology studies cycles of history, allowing a working hypothesis to form about what the future holds.
Though the educated guess of an astute astrologer can be very useful, you should never assume that they know what the future holds with any certainty. When you’re reading astrological predictions, be sure to use your own instincts, intuition, and wits. The same goes for predictions made by scientists and economists.
To develop your connection to the Uranian spirit of boundless imagination and intellect, there is no mantra more important to follow than:
“Think for Yourself. Question Authority.”
So that you can derive your own thoughts about the future and begin to question the consensus, let’s look at some of the highlights from past transits of Uranus through Taurus.
The last transit of Uranus in Taurus occured between 1934 and 1941 and the one prior to that was between 1850–1859.
The mid-19th century transit of Uranus through Taurus was one of the peaks of the Industrial Revolution, where the earth’s raw materials were dug up for innovative inventions and destructive exploitation. This was the birth of the metropolis as we know it.
In the mid-1930’s, the social climate was severely affected by the events that led towards the outbreak of World War II in 1939. One of the reasons there has been so much fear surrounding this transit of Uranus through Taurus is because of the vivid cultural memory of the darker aspects of that time.
Images of the Great Depression (1929-39), the Dust Bowl (1930-36), and World War II still have the power to incite terror.
In response to the crises of that time, President Roosevelt signed the Banking Act of 1935 (granting unprecedented power to the Federal Reserve) and the New Deal (granting unprecedented power to the labor unions). Now that Uranus has returned to Taurus, the positive and negative effects of these economic shifts will have to be reconciled.
The last transit of Uranus in Taurus is correlated with some devastating events. But it should bring you some comfort to know that these economic and natural disasters had actually begun while Uranus was still in Aries.
As a student of astrology, you must now awaken to the current crises of global war, pollution, overconsumption, and insurmountable debt. But rather than assuming that this transit will bring nothing but destruction, remember that the inventive spirit of Uranus in Taurus is what actually brought an end to the Great Depression.
The best attitude to have at the moment is one that is prepared for shocks, knowing that from these shocks are born the many inventions, ideas, and solutions that you need to continue thriving in the world.
Any focused observation of nature will reveal how many elements of life actually benefit, grow and evolve from the experience of stress and shock. Likewise, the lack of stress creates the conditions of weakness and decay.
Uranus cycles represent the integration of human awareness with new information and technology, demanding radical adaptation to the shocks and stress of a new paradigm.
In the 1930’s, such radical adaptations to a shocking new paradigm can be viewed in the many significant inventions that arrived on the scene. For good and for ill, the following examples still remain powerfully influential in the world today.
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- President Franklin Roosevelt signs the Social Security Bill – (Taurean values of security)
- First x-ray photo of entire body– (technology and the body)
- Invention of DDT, a highly toxic insecticide (agricultural technology)
- Oil discovered in Saudi Arabia- (earthly power of vast wealth)
- Seismologists introduce the Richter scale (safety and security through science and technology)
- Otto Hahn discovers nuclear fission marking the beginning of the Atomic Age (Uranian innovation of the earth’s natural resources)
- LSD first synthesized by Albert Hofmann – (Uranian innovation of the earth’s natural resources)
From this list alone, you can begin to formulate a vision of what the next seven years will need to grapple with and improve upon.
What legacies from the last transit of Uranus in Taurus do you think should be appreciated and honored?
And what is in great need of revolution and reinvention?
It seems pretty clear that the banking systems and social welfare programs created during the last transit of Uranus in Taurus are about to be up for serious review. And hopefully, the Taurean earth wisdom will propel less abusive, more ecologically responsible agricultural practices forward.
But none of these improvements to the infrastructure of the world can happen unless consciousness is raised.
Uranus is a planet that awakens and liberates humanity from ignorance and imprisonment, but it needs channels and vehicles through which it can reveal its inspiring message.
With this in mind, I think it is essential to acknowledge one of the most important inventions of the last transit through Taurus, one that fully embodies the Promethean spirit of Uranus and has been responsible for some of the most sweeping evolutionary leaps in science, art, and magic over the last 80 years.
In my opinion, the most significant Uranian invention of the last transit through Taurus was LSD, a potent psychedelic drug that was created by accident.
Surprise!
The Swiss scientist, Albert Hoffman, had intended to synthesize a chemical that would stimulate the respiratory and circulatory systems. He began by using the active substance in ergot, which was a fungus found in rye that had been known for its medicinal and poisonous effects for centuries.
Guided by a distinctly Uranian spirit of experimentation, Hofmann developed a synthetic process to recreate ergot’s active ingredients. When he combined lysergic acid with diethylamine, a derivative of ammonia, LSD-25 was born.
After discovering its shockingly psychotropic effects sometime later, LSD was introduced as a psychiatric medication in 1947. There were many government funded LSD experiments, involving top notch universities and medical facilities that took place throughout the 1950s and 1960s.
Now that LSD is having its Uranus return in Taurus, it would be wise to appreciate the impact of this singular invention upon the collective paradigm over the last 80 years!
It has been widely reported for years that the tech entrepreneurs of the Silicon Valley use LSD, almost as casually as coffee, for the purpose of enhancing their intellectual and creative abilities. As far as I can assess, this means that there is nothing more influential upon the architecture of the future than LSD.
The inventors of share-economy start-ups, the blockchain platform and the digital currencies that promise to decentralize the financial system are all getting high on LSD.
Therefore, it may be that LSD is one of the main channels that Uranus in Taurus uses to spread its inventive and innovative spirit.
Based upon the successful case studies conducted by M.A.P.S and all these observable cultural trends, it would appear that psychedelics are on the precipice of becoming an acceptable form of mainstream medicine and therapy. Legalization in the United States could very well happen over the next seven years.
To conclude this point, I could not help but notice that the totally mainstream bestselling author, Michael Pollan’s new book is called: How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence.
And its release date is May 15th, 2018, making it an obvious wink from Uranus in Taurus.
Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder
Uranus represents the destruction of old ideologies and is the ruler of invention, individuality and liberation from bondage. When Uranus was discovered, it was a moment of great catharsis as the ill-effects of authoritarian traditions and dogma had reached a breaking point, forcing political and economic structures to crumble under the weight of social and technological innovation.
For the most part, modern technocrats of the Information Age view the late 18th and early 19th century in a positive light. After all, modern democracy, feminism, and the abolition of slavery were all catalyzed into motion by the cultural waves of this time.
As positive as this era may seem in hindsight, take a moment to imagine what it required of people to endure these major shifts. Imagine what it was like to have your world crumble or your high ideals crushed. According to history, revolutions seem to be natural and necessary, but they are never inherently good nor do they bring lasting peace.
Transitional times, like the beginning of the 21st Century, always carry an apocalyptic feeling, which is why it is so important to adopt a philosophical perspective that allows for you to thrive in chaos and gain from disorder. This is the very definition of the neologism, ANTIFRAGILE.
Modern philosopher Nassim Nicholas Taleb coined the term ANTIFRAGILE to inspire people to be fearless in the face of the world’s chaos.
Rather than breaking apart in response to the wildly vacillating politics, values and economies, the philosophy of antifragility proposes that you can access your natural ability to become stronger and more agile from stress.
It is comfort, convenience, and predictability that breeds fragility.
Antifragility is the exact opposite of fragility. A wine glass is fragile because it needs gentle handling and a low volatility environment. The antifragile needs high volatility and stressors to thrive.
Antifragility is more than just a philosophical preference. It is an essential aspect of human evolution. A simple example of your innate antifragility can be witnessed in the integrity of your muscles and bones, which demand stress and pressure in order to become stronger. For example, the prescription to prevent osteoporosis is strength training because without stress or strain, the body slackens into weakness and decay.
You can see from this basic example that, within reason, stress is a signal for strengthening and growth. Even more interesting is Taleb’s observation that:
“If you are alive – something deep in your soul likes a certain measure of randomness and disorder.”
To go back to the architects of reality, the Silicon Valley is deemed to be antifragile by Taleb because it exalts the spirit of innovation and continuously takes risks. In this culture of invention, failure is simply used as information to enable the creation of better products and services. Eric Smith the CEO of Google, has said:
“We celebrate our failures”.
In keeping with the Uranian spirit of invention, Taleb celebrates mistakes and the innovators that make them.
The mark of a true innovator is one who thrives on mistakes. To celebrate error is to be antifragile.
“If you take risks and face your fate with dignity, there is nothing you can do that makes you small; if you don’t take risks, there is nothing you can do that makes you grand, nothing.”
From this perspective, I would say that this transit of Uranus in Taurus has lots of potential to help you grow stronger from the stress and strain you experience.
The economic and creative conditions that arise during the Uranus in Taurus era will ask you to choose between being fragile or antifragile. The most challenging path is also the most rewarding path. To realize your innate antifragility will require you to take risks, make mistakes and evolve!
During this transit, ask yourself daily, how can I grow from the mistakes I have made? This era of Uranus in Taurus may herald a time of great healing–but only if you make the choice to learn to gain from disorder.
