As my first and only URANUS RETURN begins: A Retrospective

Note: the “meaning” of any planet in one’s life is gleaned from the first experience of  its cycle as a whole. Saturn, for example, with a 29-30 year cycle, is the most obvious, the one that anybody over 30 can grok, and anyone over 60 can recognize in yet another, deeper way. Each cycle builds upon the one before it, in an ever spiralling dance into infinity.

For those who live long enough, they can also experience, and, thus, begin to understand, the significance of, the full cycle of, yet another planet, Uranus — its cycle of 84 years.

To wit:

 I have been sitting here, attempting to understand just what my entire life has been about. And I mean entire life. It’s really odd. Haven’t really ever been here before. Does this mean I’m getting ready to die? That I’m doing the “life review” early (i.e. pre-death)? Or, more prosaically, does it mean I’ve got too much time on my hands, so I busy myself that way? Or does it just mean that my Sagittarian ambition, to reach out mentally, ever seeking a more expansive understanding, is at work? If so, then it’s nothing unusual. I’m always doing that. I can’t help but do that.

But somehow, this is different. My entire life cycle: what’s it been about? How to bring it to closure, how to review the entire 82 years as a whole. This question bedevils me, right now. 

Okay: here’s the clincher: I am now enjoying/enduring my first ever Uranus return to its own natal position since I was born. In other words, I’m now beginning to (finally) close down a cycle that took 82 years to even begin to complete! (The actual cycle of Uranus in 84 years; so it’s a process.)

Natal Uranus: 1°36 Gemini.

Transit Uranus now: 0°23 Gemini.

Uranus moved into Gemini for the first time in 84 years on July 7, this year. The very next day, my 7-year-old computer died and I began a long, ongoing struggle to regain the mental ground I had grouped into various files on that computer and luckily, did put some of it on a hard drive. But then, within days, another significant disruption: I almost, but not quite, succumbed to an intensely clever scam; in the process my bank data was compromised, and so I’ve had to get all new accounts, and since many of my monthly payments were on automatic, I have to go back and change all of them . . .

Yes, as eruptive Uranus entered mental Gemini, and began to conjunct my natal Uranus, all of the above suddenly occurred. Rendered more powerful in my case due to the combination of Uranus with Mars at 2°42 Sagittarius, opposing Uranus natally within one degree.

The cycle of Uranus: eruptive, volatile, revolutionary, innovative, experimental.

So, I ask myself, how, if at all, have I been a revolutionary?

Well, actually, I have been a revolutionary. There have been a number of times, in my long life, when I suddenly broke through some kind of old traditional mold deliberately — and usually, more or less messily — seeking to  birth something new, or at least, to midwife the birth of something new.

Examples:

• At 29, in 1971: My PhD dissertation in Philosophy, where I aimed to expose the  history of western philosophy since the 17th century as relying on the Cartesian mind/body split, and therefore deeply unnatural, disconnected from both our own bodies and the Earth Mother, so that “common sense” means having no senses in common..
• At 36, in 1978: Founding a new community magazine, OpenSpace, back in my deeply conservative, traditional-religion dominated hometown of Twin Falls, Idaho, which aimed to encourage free thinkers and dreamers of all kinds to come out of their closets and shine! That experiment lasted two years.
• At 36, in 1978: Announcing myself as a professional “astrologer,” in that same deeply conservative town, and actually attracting clients. Thus launched a 20-year practice, “making my living” as an astrological consultant, presenter, teacher and writer.
• At 40, in 1982: Co-founding another magazine, Heartland, to network peace activists in the Deep West region, during the years when Reagan was deciding to put the MX (Peacemaker) missile in Wyoming. This one also lasted two years.
• At 44, in 1986: Moving into a yurt community in Jackson Hole Wyoming, as per long term goal of reducing my living costs and simplifying my life.
• At 47, in 1989: Starting yet another magazine, Crone Chronicles: A Journal of Conscious Aging. This magazine took off, and lasted for 30 years. It also inspired other Crone publications and events, and continues to do so.
• at 66, in 2009: Visualizing, grounding, and gradually emerging: our tiny little paradise, consisting of three homes and gardens, the Green Acres Permaculture Village,  in the heart of suburban Bloomington, Indiana. This experiment is ongoing, and constantly revolutionizing itself over time.

And actually, when I think about it, I realize that ever since I ran an experiment back in my mid-20s, I’ve actually treated my entire life as a Uranian experiment. Here’s what happened:

I wondered if I would continue feel guilty if I decided not to go to Mass on Sunday, as usual, for several Sundays in a row. In other words, was “guilt” a conditioned response, that would fade with time?

Well, guess what! I didn’t feel guilty even after the very first time! That blew my mind. What? I didn’t feel guilty for missing Mass, not even the first time? Made me wonder: have I been brainwashed?

And so that’s when I decided to run my entire life as a (Uranian) experiment.

So yeah, I guess I am completing a very Uranian life cycle. Which, BTW, won’t be done  until Uranus has not just finished with itself, but has crossed over Saturn as well, since my natal Saturn is only five degrees from it, at 7°37 Gemini. This closing period (of transit Uranus conjunct Uranus/opposed Mars and then conjunct Saturn) will continue through April, 2028.

Meanwhile, I will be sitting here, deeply comfortable, just the way my Moon in Taurus like it, in one of the homes in Green Acres Village, loving life, and newly, thanks to this detailed list, recognizing that yes, I have led a very revolutionary life, very Uranian, never satisfied with the status quo, always pressing onwards.

Okay, here’s a sudden Uranian pivot:

I wonder, should I be writing my own obituary now, and of course, updating as time goes on?

What got me started on this track was discovering that one of the most amazing astrologers I know, Ingrid Naiman, died this last January, with barely a mention on the internet. I looked back through her substacks, and discovered that, in December 2024, she wrote that she was about to undergo the third crossing of Saturn over her Ascendant. So I presume that’s what “took her out.”

But geez? Shouldn’t the world be celebrating the life of this pioneer?

Luckily, she wrote and published a number of books.

On the other hand, in the local paper two days ago, a wonderful obit, celebrating the life of Laura Liell, someone I’ve never met, but sure do appreciate those who appreciated her.

https://www.heraldtimesonline.com/obituaries/psbn1227028