Encounters with Uranus, the Planet of Technology

By Lilly Alcantara

The Uranus glyph
looks like an antenna.

Sometimes it is good to take a break from reading about the knowledge of other astrologers and invent one's own. After all, all throughout the ages it was how astrology blossomed and branched out. 

As this author had kept repeating to herself over the years she had studied the art of astrology - astrology is an intuitive study. It takes a degree of imagination and thinking out of the box to uncover its secrets. 

Usually the systematic way works, but testing one's own theories can help one test how well one has grasped the concept. The Universe has blessed the author with a 00 degree Aries Mercury, the symbol of new beginnings. This author would be wasting it if she did not invent a few new concepts of her own.

Take for example the relatively new planet Uranus (in terms of discovery). Named after the husband of Gaia, Mother Earth, who gave birth to the Titans, astrologers have had no idea about its existence in the centuries before the time it had been discovered, and instead based their astrological charts only up to the planet Saturn. 

However, the theory of this writer is that this has always been fated so. There seems to truly be a consciousness manipulating the happenings in the Universe, perhaps also the singular cause of astrology itself. One may call this God if he wished.

Uranus was discovered on March 13, 1781 by Sir William Herschel, but had been sighted as early as 1690. The discovery is coincidental with the boon in the discoveries of the science behind electricity. The words "electric" and "electricity" first made their debut in print in 1646. In 1752, Benjamin Franklin performed his famous kite experiment. 

After the year 1781, the progress in studies about electricity became almost exponential, with Galvani's works in 1791, Volta's in 1800, Oersted's and Ampere's in 1819-1820, and so on with other scientists. Its name Uranus was not finalized until 1850, and is the only planet with a name based on Greek mythology instead of Roman. 

To an astrologer, it would have been expected, given Uranus' rebellious energies. With the first Uranus return since its discovery (about 80-84 years after it was discovered), James Clerk Maxwell linked electricity to magnetism in 1862. 

With the second Uranus return in 1950, the transistor was invented, another milestone in the history of electronics, paving the way to semiconductor diodes, integrated circuits, and other devices with which we power our gadgets today. 

The next Uranus return would be in around the 2030's. Because it would be happening in the Aquarian age of electricity, it would probably be something incredible.

The author's conclusion was that the secrets of electricity had been hidden from mankind over the centuries preceding, just like the planet Uranus. And now that the planet is acknowledged, so has the science.

In a personal chart, what Uranus touches by transit or progression, it usually jolts or "electrifies." The unexpected may happen, and there can be a great surge of energy waiting to be unleashed. When Uranus went into conjunction with this author's Aries Mercury-Moon conjunction a few years ago, her emotions and ideas went into a new plane. Her study of astrology deepened and she discovered many new ideas. Her feelings became unstable and she went into public outbursts when the urge arose.

Even in the Philippines, Uranus' effects are noticeable. Early this year, the Board of Electronics Engineering of the Philippines made a rather strange announcement - the board exams set for October 19 and 20 were to be postponed indefinitely. 

There have been previous postponements of the licensure exams but only for a few weeks, and never indefinitely. Curious, this author pulled out the chart of that day, and lo and behold, coincidentally Uranus went retrograde that day, July 22, 2013. 

Perhaps it was a symbol of how the progress of electronics (at least in the Philippines) was delayed by keeping new electronics engineers from getting their licenses. Because of this, this author theorized that the board exams would most likely take place during the time Uranus went direct once again, on December 14, it turned out. 

About a month after the announcement, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) did in fact announce that the re-scheduled date for the board exams would be on December 13 and 14 for electronics engineers, to the joy of this author, who would be taking them.

At the present, there are three planets retrograde in the sky: Mercury, Neptune, and Uranus. With Mercury and Uranus both retrograde, one can expect their electronic gadgets malfunctioning in one way or another. This author's internet connection and cellphone have become erratic over the past week or so. Or perhaps the PRC had some astrologers on their pay list. One cannot know for certain.