Wheel of Light Astrology by Rio Olesky - March 2019
In a year when there are not many important transits, this month brings one of the most significant. Uranus enters Taurus on March 6. The New Moon in Pisces will also take place that day. The monthly New Moon represents a time of new beginnings, as does a slow moving planet entering a new sign. Now Uranus first entered Taurus on May 14 last year and remained there until November 6. It’s interesting that the day the planet representing extreme, often revolutionary change retrograded back into Aries, a sign quite comfortable with risk, on election day. The results brought a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, flipped state houses and legislatures into the Democratic column and saw more women and minorities elected that at any time in our history.
The placement of Uranus in Taurus can be challenging. The last time Uranus was in Taurus was 1935-1942. This was during the Great Depression and the early years of World War II. Dictators in Europe and the Japanese monarchy were attempting to take control of the world. They were defeated by countries who relied on the people in democratically elected governments.
The paradox of this transit rests in the challenge to integrate the energy of progressive, inspired, experimental change into the sign that prioritizes safety, comfort and routine.The potential extremes of this transit are daunting. How does the energy of ever-change function in the sign of never-change? There seem to be two obvious options. One is Uranus breaking up the traditional, conservative values and priorities upheld by Taurus, a sign that is associated with money and the financial industry. This could be most impactful in the realm of financial markets and the economy. It could reflect significant changes in the Big Banks, leading to bank closures. It could indicate cyptocurrency becoming more popular and successful.In both cases the revolutionary nature of Uranus is preventing stable Taurus from maintaining status quo. This could be a transit that reverses the tax cut passed last year by Congress that cuts taxes to the wealthy but not to the middle and lower classes.
There is also the potential for the forces of conservatism to push back against innovative ideas and changes that inspire financial freedom for the masses. It’s interesting to note that when Fascism was fighting Democracy for global control, state controlled communism was also on the rise. Ironically, even though that system seemed designed to support and give power to the common person, it allowed true control to remain in the hands of the government, not the people. A different type of fascism.
Uranus will remain in Taurus until 2026, so we need to find a way to integrate this energy with this sign in ways that are neither extreme nor destructive. Taurus is the second sign of the zodiac and as such is pretty basic. It prioritizes things that bring value, meaning and quality to our lives. It focuses on the tools and resources available that can ensure our safety and stability. In its higher octave Taurus likes to preserve and protect that which it values and that which provides lasting structure. In this context we can project that one of the major, and most important, changes that this transit can reflect is a renewed campaign to alter the pattern of climate change. Uranus has a lot to do with technology. If we put our collective political and economic will to the task, with the perseverance of Taurus, perhaps we can slow and alter the environmental destruction that humanity faces.
However, the lower octave of Taurus is fine with monetizing everything so that our natural resources as well as our time become seen as commodities that can be bought and sold rather than appreciated. Taurus is an earth sign; hence it is deemed to be a yin or feminine sign. Furthermore, it is the sign of fixed earth and as such can be thought of as the sign that represents the Earth itself. It’s revealing that over the past many millennia women have been oppressed even as we have developed industries that have been largely responsible for destroying the Earth and our quality of life. As noted, the transit of Uranus back into Aries brought women into political prominence in an unprecedented way. Perhaps this, too, is part of the Uranus in Taurus transit: as women become more powerful, they will work to shift our values from dominance and control to gentleness and nurturing, a perfect expression of the higher octave of Taurus.
On the personal level, this is a transit that requires each of us to review our values, the qualities that give our life meaning and significance. Uranus provides the freedom to leave behind values, and the habits that flow from them that are outmoded and boring. We can detach from upholding priorities that are reflective of our traditional culture but are no longer serving the collective needs for such things as financial stability for the common person. Similarly, there are cultural patterns that are preventing certain people such as minorities, immigrants or woman of all demographics from being able to create their own realities.