URANUS, THE TRICKSTER
A very modern archetype
Everyone is talking about Pluto at the moment because of the ingress into Aquarius (btw, this is NOT the beginning of the “Age of Aquarius“ unless you’re dealing with the intellectual equivalent of TikTokers who don’t know the difference between the zodiac signs and the constellations). I decided to take a look at Uranus, Aquarius’ modern ruler since the days when a few individuals decided to revolutionize astrology in the late 19th century. How Uranian of them. There is also a very strange (in my view, anyway) notion of Uranus being the ruler of astrology. This idea derives from the lore of the god Ouranos, the planet’s namesake and mythological “Father Sky“. Given the motivation of New Age astrologers to assign new planetary roles in light of the philosophies they wanted to peddle, it might make sense. But to any classical astrologer, it probably induces a cascade of facepalms.
But don’t worry, this won’t be another “New Age Sucks“ article.
Most casually astrologically inclined people will associate the trickster archetype with Mercury, the planet representing the eloquent god of merchants, thieves, and any type of person that might be witty and charming, but not altogether trustworthy. That Mercury is also a scribe, scholar, messenger of the gods and psychopomp is not mainly focused on as often in the mainstream, interestingly. What seems to be the predominant perception is that of a charming trickster. After all, the quick-witted wordsmith can very well use his keen, ever-curious intellect to be a tad manipulative when he wants to be (Mercury is the planet symbolizing the faculties of the mind, after all).
However, there is another candidate that can proverbially teach him a thing or two about trickery: Uranus. What, Uranus? The planet of revolutionary progress, out-of-the-box thinking, creative technology, the cool maverick archetype? Yes to all of that, but: Uranus doesn’t enjoy natural law and order all that much, and is a lot like the rebellious young wannabe rockstar who wants to topple the status quo in favor of a fantastic new freedom, and is also extremely prone to idealism that easily crosses over into untenable utopia. This can bring a necessary shaking-up of things, fresh new perspectives and ideas, but let’s be honest, in most cases, the first result is going to be unpleasant chaos (Uranus’ role in historical events is worthy of examination – such as the French Revolution, just to name one often quoted example). In medical astrology, Uranus’ presence hints at extreme volatility like the misfiring of nerves, and generally not-so balanced conditions within the nervous system as well as the entire organism, potentially.
Mercury represents the mind working in creative and even cunning ways, but there is always the “dialogue with the gods”, if you will. Messenger of the gods, and all. Uranus’ domain, on the other hand, is liberation taken to extremes, with zero regard for traditions or tried and tested principles, and in the guise of idealistic progress and evolution. “Be your own god” instead of following the old gods. To be fair, Uranus’ presence was very prominent when groundbreaking technological inventions were made. The question is: What are we doing with this modern planet’s qualities in the modern age? What type of consciousness discovered this planet, and where does the (r)evolution lead us? *
Uranus’ futuristic archetype of sudden upheaval and profound reform embodies the highest ideal of freedom of thought, sexuality, self-expression, of dazzling new technologies and a unifying dream of hyper-progressive awesomeness while disrupting and destroying the oppressive, established orders. Out with the crusty old, in with the revolutionary new! For this ideal, Uranus even wants to go beyond Nature. This is why he has become the astrological poster boy for the techno-utopia envisioned by science fiction writers, modern environmental and social justice activists, basically any movement with a pseudo-spiritual twist, or tech billionaires who dedicate their endless resources to finding new ways in which humanity can surpass itself and take the next evolutionary step that they present as inevitable for mankind: Becoming something more than human by merging humanity with technology. This idea is as Uranian as it gets. However, it is very much against Natural Law to try and play creator god when you are clearly not.
Uranus’ unmitigated influence can seduce us into thinking that Mother Nature just isn’t enough and needs an upgrade. Until she reminds us that no, she absolutely does not. And no, she will not put up with this nonsense. There is no way to work against natural law without some kind of backlash, usually of the icky kind for those caught up in their Uranian convictions. The multi-colored brigade comes to mind, whose ideologies are extremely Uranian (along with a good dash of Pluto’s extra layer of decay and perversion). How sustainable is their worldview? You can imagine yourself to be whatever you like, but you must respect and collaborate with natural law in whatever you do, or you can absolutely expect a very rude awakening once the makeup comes off, because guess what: You’re still what Mother Nature created you as, right down to your DNA. You will also not hack human consciousness (sorry, billionaire tech nerds) when you do not understand human beings to begin with. This, too, will lead to the inevitably harsh reality check when the novelty factor has worn off in light of the fact that your nifty gadgets simply don’t work. At least not in the way you wanted them to.
Classical astrology has Saturn as the ruler of Aquarius, Pluto’s placement until March 2043, while Uranus is the modern ruler devised by the aforementioned tricky thinkers of the late 19th century whose ideas were then marketed in the many books about “modern astrology“ since the 1960s. In this sense, Uranus is very much a New Age planet, too.
Ideally, Uranus’ potential for creative upheaval should go hand in hand with Saturn’s structure and discipline, but we’re very far from ideal conditions in this day and age. The consciousness that has discovered Uranus is a very different one from the days of Mercury’s discovery, long, long, long ago.
When unbalanced (not just by a lack of astrological counter-influences, but also the unbalanced consciousness beholding and interpreting his role), Uranus’ qualities are the epitome of raging chaos, of pretending to be something you’re not, and his influence generally equals potentially big trouble when in a conjunction or difficult aspect with…pretty much anything. In the Aquarian context, it is good to remember Saturn’s qualities as the wise, just, zero-tolerance-for-BS type of stern (grand-)father who will lay down the law despite all the “Okay, boomer“ eye-rolling from Uranus.
© Olivia Solner
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