URANUS IN ARIES: SETTING THE WORLD ON FIRE

Eighty-four years ago, Uranus entered the fire sign of Aries.  The huge mid-section of the United States known as the Great Plains slowly dried out during a prolonged drought.  The topsoil loosened and lifted so that by the time Uranus left Aries, seven years later, the fertile part of the land simply blew away, carried on giant windstorms.  The Great Plains became the Dust Bowl, the banks foreclosed on farms, and the farmers became the Great Depression’s migrant workers—driven off their land and hitting the road for California with all their possessions in tow.

On March 11^th, 2011, Uranus enters Aries again, for the first time since then.  The next seven years are likely to be a time of excessive heat, drought, and fires.  Because Uranus will be square Pluto in Capricorn, much of the upheaval it creates will come from deep within the earth—earthquakes and eruptions.  Man-made upheavals—the revolutions we are already seeing—will probably become more violent, consistent with the warrior nature of Aries. 

Presumably, the United States is now better equipped to deal with natural disasters than it was during the Depression.  After all, a lot of safety nets were built into our society in response to the suffering of the 1930’s.  In addition, we’ve learned a great deal about conserving the land and, in the near future, Uranus in Aries should bring pioneering breakthroughs in science and technology.

Last time around, Uranus was also square Pluto, but Pluto was in Cancer.  So the destruction was to the homeland, the heart of America (which, after all, is a Cancer nation, born on the 4^th of July).  With Pluto in Capricorn, much of the destruction will be to the institutions and rules of society, to governmental authority—and to the bedrock of the land.  We might also see a reversal of the direction of some wars, for good or ill.

Currently, a systematic dismantling of the safety nets by certain political factions is underway, as well as a willful disregard of the lessons of human suffering from the past.  The coming unrest and upheaval, symbolized by Uranus in Aries, are bound to be directed at those in governmental and financial institutions (Capricorn) who threaten the wellbeing of the people.  Uranus is the planet of equality and brotherhood and pushes to attain these ideals.

Capricorn not only represents the structures of society, but as an earth sign, it also symbolizes the most solid natural structures of the land, so Pluto will bring upheaval from the Earth’s depths.  How devastating all of this will be depends on how quickly we can reverse course regarding destructive policies, and how quickly we can embrace the idea that we’re all in this together. 

The Great Depression wasn’t the end of the world (though it must have seemed like it), and this period won’t be, either.  But the next seven years will be a very great test of our character, our will, and our humanity.  Let’s buck up, locate our courage, and join hands to work for the common good.