Introduction
Greetings loyal readers! By now the election has occurred, so folks can go back to their normal lives without all those annoying telephone calls, campaign commercials and fake and biased news reports. Hopefully Ralph Nader received at least five percent (5%) of the presidential votes, so the Green Party is merrily making plans for dispersing its newly acquired $12 million dollars. The radical forces are preparing their January 20th demonstration at the presidential inauguration.
Uranus Moves Forward
After many months in retrograde, the planet Uranus finally went direct at the end of October. Uranus is in its own sign, Aquarius. Aquarius, the water bearer, is the fixed air sign. Aquarius, due to its Uranian rulership, hears a different drummer. Aquarius is about achieving social harmony through freedom of individual expression. (Aquarius can also be harsh and unemotional, but believes it’s all in the pursuit of Aquarian ideals.) Uranus is the planet of sudden, possibly violent change and inspired flashes of brilliant insight. Uranus rules electricity and electrical devices, including information and communications technology and electronic media (e.g., television, radio, etc.)
The retrograde position holds a planet back from the full expression of its energies. The forces and energies the retrograde planet rules are stuck during a retrograde cycle. The full effect of this past Uranus retrograde was attenuated somewhat by Uranus’ transit through Aquarius, the sign Uranus rules. The Aquarian energies lessened the retrograde’s effects somewhat. However, this past Uranus retrograde did feel like pulling teeth in many ways with respect to technology. And of course, the media were not exactly putting forth stellar material during that time. Perhaps it was the boredom of covering a particularly uninspiring election with two particularly uninspiring and barbaric candidates.
It never ceases to amaze me how politicians can put forth their support for the death penalty in such stark terms and act as if this makes them somehow “tough” or “righteous” or strong. It is also amazing that both candidates cite the death penalty’s deterrent effect on crime, when in fact not one of the hundreds of studies done on this subject throughout the twentieth century have uncovered one shred of evidence that the death penalty has any deterrent effect on crime. Why do our politicians continue to insist that killing should be met with killing, violence with violence and barbarism with barbarism?
You may be wondering why I wandered into this tangent. The fact is that Uranus retrograde was affecting people’s abilities to think and question logically. With Uranus direct, people are getting clearer insights into the issues and forces affecting them in their daily lives. It is interesting to note that, despite the media’s fervent attempts to censor him by behaving as if there were only two presidential candidates and only two parties, Ralph Nader nonetheless consistently drew larger crowds than either of the two major party candidates. In addition, those larger crowds paid between $7 and $10 apiece to hear Mr. Nader speak, while the smaller crowds for the mainstream candidates did not pay to rally around the mind-controlled puppets in which they put their misplaced hopes.
One of the other interesting things about Uranus direct in Aquarius is that you can expect to see more and more concern with privacy as newer technologies continue to emerge that circumvent our personal privacy. This is an issue persistently ignored by the mainstream media, but one which polls show is of great concern to the average person. (For excellent resources on privacy and threats thereto, visit the Electronic Privacy Information Center at http://www.epic.org.) People are becoming more aware of what is going and, and will continue to become more vocal about what they will and will not tolerate. There is a direct relation between the loss of individual privacy and the rise of a totalitarian state, as survivors of former iron curtain countries will readily tell you.
With Uranus direct in Aquarius, all of us are enhanced in our abilities to receive insights that will make our society and our world better for everyone. Aquarius is concerned with the welfare of society as a whole, and never before in human history (at least human history that we know about!) has it been more important for us to unify on behalf of all people worldwide. We simply must understand that everyone’s survival on this planet is linked to everyone else’s survival. We ignore the welfare of the plants and animals and people in foreign lands at our own peril. Only through global cooperation can we save our air, our water, our natural resources and our interrelated economies.
Ask the Tarot
The two prior Psychicbabble columns addressed the tarot, as publisher John Derrickson had requested. Continuing on in this vein, I decided to ask the tarot to describe what the rest of this Uranus in Aquarius cycle means for all of us. (Uranus will remain in Aquarius through the first part of March in the year 2003.) Once again, I used the tarot program online at http://www.tarotmagic.com – check it out!
Once again I selected a three-card “Celtic” reading. The program uses three positions: self, situation and opportunities. So the “self” card describes what all of us are supposed to get from Uranus in Aquarius during this particular cycle. The card in the self position was the page of pentacles. Here is the program’s interpretation for this card in this position:
The wise apprentice merges willingly with his new profession. The card in the Self position touches on an aspect of how you perceive yourself right now.
With the Page of Coins in this position, you are typified as a person who is reinventing her or himself to create a better fit with a chosen profession. The wise apprentice shapes him or herself to the needs of the work and embraces a lifestyle, not just a job description. This requires a certain amount of contemplation and study, not to mention the actual physical experience of getting in there and wrestling with your medium until you become adept at it. As you master the skills and techniques as well as the laws and rules of your trade or profession, you create value in yourself and a niche for yourself in your field.This reflects what author and thinker Matthew Fox calls the “reinvention of work.” I strongly recommend you read his book that bears this title. People are increasingly questioning their traditional roles in society, especially with regard to how they raise their children and participate in their children’s lives. Many people in recent years have been restructuring their working lives in order to be able to spend more time with their families, and in order to participate more actively in child rearing. Many couples have chosen to have less money in order to have more quality time with their children and their aging parents. More people are choosing to have their own businesses in order to have more control over their time, and more flexibility in their working schedules. We can expect to see more people adapting their work to better fit their lives over the next few years of Uranus in Aquarius.
The next card is in the situation position. The card that came up was the Chariot. The chariot is the eighth card of the major arcana, the cards signifying higher spiritual activity at work. The program’s interpretation for the Chariot in this position is:
Use the active force of transformation inherent in this situation to bring about change and new directions for yourself. The card that lands in the Situation position refers to social or circumstantial factors which could be affecting your life at this time.
When the Chariot is in this position, an electrifying force may be driving you toward your victory. The wheels of the chariot symbolize both the wheels of time and the motion of the planets. Unstoppable change is sweeping through this situation. It is an exciting time though it can seem chaotic. Those who do not move and grow with the transformational energy may feel overwhelmed by this driving force. Do not allow this to happen in your life.
Discover a way to hitch a ride on this chariot and advance your goals and aspirations. There is no reason to let it go by without you.This means we should take advantage of the powerful Uranian forces transform our lives to be more in accordance with Aquarian principles of personal expression and social consciousness. The Chariot’s power is telling us that we can use Uranus in Aquarius to further not only our personal transformation, but by doing so we can transform our society as well.
The last card is in the opportunities position. The card that came up was the King of Swords. The program’s interpretation for the King of Swords in this position is:
Speak up only when you are clearly aware of your motives and intentions. Maintain the highest standards. The card that lands in the Challenges/Opportunities position refers to ways that you can turn obstacles into stepping stones.
With the King of Swords in this position, you are challenged to rigorously examine all your cherished assumptions in order to maintain the highest possible standard of ethics and morality. In other words, you cannot earn the right to influence others if you haven't first ordered your own life. Listen to everyone else first, and speak last. After others have said their piece, make the pronouncement that resolves the issue. When the King of Swords makes a choice or takes a stand, he does so with the highest and most broad-minded motives. Take this opportunity to point out progressive, democratic and noble paths of action. Stake out the higher ground and stay with it.The King of Swords is pointing to the importance of ethics and morality in accomplishing our individual and societal reformation during Uranus’ powerful transit through Aquarius. We must think and act not only in our best interests, but also in everyone else’s as well. This is the true meaning of Uranus in Aquarius. Now that Uranus has once again gone direct, we are empowered to improve not only our own lives, but also the lives of everyone on this planet.
Copyright 2000 Marcy J. Gordon. All rights reserved. The author wants you to know you are free to copy and distribute this article for noncommercial purposes, provided you reproduce it in its entirety and credit the author. For quotation permission, please contact the author at mgordon@pipeline.com.