Uranus: From a Mythological and Symbolic Perspective
As I’ve been on my astrology journey, one of the ways I’ve connected to the planets has been through their mythological and archetypal correspondences, accompanied by the symbolism astrologers use to describe what the planets signify.
With that in mind, this series of posts about the different parts of astrology, where I’ll cover the luminaries and each of the planets in our solar system (including Pluto), I’ll write about their mythology, archetypes, and some general symbolism, including my own observations.
In this post, I will focus on Uranus.
[I will add to this post when I broaden my knowledge of myths, deepen my knowledge of the planets, and make new observations concerning them.]
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The Mythology of Uranus
Like Neptune and Pluto, Uranus is one of the more recently discovered planets in our solar system and may, therefore, not always have a clear-cut association with the deity it’s named after (more on that below).
Just like Mercury, Uranus is also associated with the trickster energy. A well-known trickster in Norse mythology is Loki, who may be a fitting archetype.
In the Yoruba tradition in West Africa, Uranus is connected to the goddess Oya. She is associated with lightning, sudden and certain changes, and earthquakes.
Additionally, since lightning is connected to Uranus, other mythological deities associated with lightning include Zeus (known as Jupiter in Roman mythology), the Norse god of thunder, Thor, and the Celtic thunder god Taranis.
In Cosmos and Psyche, Richard Tarnas comments on the not always so clear-cut link between the more recently discovered outer planets’ archetypes and the deities they’re named after:
“Compared with the planets known to the ancients, with their Greco-Roman mythological associations and corresponding astrological meanings, the names and meanings of the three planets discovered by telescope in the modern era present a very different situation. Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto were named by modern astronomers without any archetypal correspondences in mind. They therefore inherited no archetypal meanings sanctioned by ancient tradition, meanings that were in turn affirmed, refined, and elaborated by continuing observations over many centuries. [...] While correlations involving the ancient planets out through Saturn consistently suggest a definite coherence between the planets’ inherited mythological names and the observed synchronistic phenomena, correlations involving the outer three planets point to archetypal principles that in crucial respects differ from or radically transcend their astronomical names.” (Tarnas, 2006, ch. 3).
Below, I’ll first write a bit about the deity the planet is named after, before exploring the archetypes that fit the planet’s qualities better.
Ouranos
In Greek mythology, Ouranos was the son and consort of Gaia. Ouranos became the personification of the sky. He also became the father of the Titans, who were six men and six women, with his mother and consort Gaia. One of the sons was Kronos (also known as Saturn in Roman mythology).
Not content with these children, Ouranos and Gaia continued to procreate. At first, Gaia gave birth to the Cyclopes–three siblings called Brontes (thunder), Steropes (lightning), and Arges (brightness)–and after that, she gave birth to the Hecatonchires, another set of triplets, these with their fifty heads and a hundred hands each. They were so hideous that Ouranos, most likely out of fear, pushed all of them back into Gaia’s womb.
Through her unbearable agony, Gaia sprang up a hatred against Ouranos and began plotting her revenge. After asking her children to help her overthrow Ouranos, and all of them saying no, Rhea, one of Gaia’s daughters, suggested that Kronos might like the idea of overthrowing his father. He agreed, and they came up with a plan.
One night, when Ouranos came to bed Gaia, Kronos used an enormous sickle Gaia had made for him to strike his father. With a swift strike, Kronos gelded his father and threw his genitals far from sight, across the plains of Greece and into the darkening sea (which, in some sources, is Aphrodite’s, also known as Venus, birth story).
With another sweep of his sickle, Kronos sliced open Gaia’s side and the Cyclopes and Hecatonchires tumbled out. Kronos then led Ouranos and his hideous siblings down into Tartarus. With that, Ouranos was buried as far from his natural domain of the heavens as he could be. But not before he cursed Kronos, saying that his children would destroy him as he had destroyed his father.
While the mythology of the other gods and goddesses that the planets in our solar system are named after usually go very well hand-in-hand, Uranus is a fairly newly discovered planet, as mentioned above. With Uranus, it feels like those who chose to name this planet decided to use Uranus because Ouranos was the father of Kronos/Saturn, who was the father of Zeus/Jupiter, and therefore kept that line of succession because that’s their positions in our system (Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, if you go from the furthest away to the closest to us out of these three).
In other words, it can be beneficial to look at other mythological beings and archetypes to understand the archetype of Uranus better. For example, Prometheus.
Prometheus
In Greek mythology, Prometheus was the son of the Titan Iapetus and Clymene, daughter of Iapetus’s brother Oceanus. To summarize him, Prometheus became the creator, developer, and savior of mankind. “Prometheus, whose name means ‘forethought,’ was known both for his cunning and for his kindliness toward humans” (Giesecke 2020).
But let’s start from the beginning. When Zeus decided to go to war against his father and the other Titans, Prometheus took Zeus’s side. When they won, he was rewarded with Zeus’s companionship, and they became great friends for a while. Their friendship was what created humankind.
One time when Zeus was bored, he asked Prometheus to create men out of clay. They were created by Prometheus with Zeus’s spit, clay from mother Earth (Gaia), warmth from the sun (Helios, who, in some sources, was drawn by Apollo), and the breath of Athena. They were all delighted by these new creations, for a time.
“On an occasion when the gods and mortals were at odds, Prometheus prepared a joint meal for them, asking Zeus to choose his own portion. The portion that Prometheus rightly suspected Zeus would choose consisted of an animal’s bones wrapped in glistening fat, which looked larger and richer than the portion consisting solely of meat. In anger that he had been outwitted and that humans had benefited from his choice of the less nutritious portion, Zeus decided to withhold fire from humans” (Giesecke 2020).
Prometheus, however, was so mesmerized by these mortal beings that he had created that he disregarded Zeus’s order, stole fire from Olympus, gave it to the mortals, and taught them everything he could.
“Given the importance of fire to the advancement of human civilization and culture, it is not surprising that Prometheus was not only presented as a benefactor of humankind but also as a culture hero credited, according to the tragedian Aeschylus, with introducing the arts of shelter-building, agriculture, mathematics, writing, animal domestication, and navigation” (Giesecke 2020).
Enraged by this, Zeus created Pandora and gave her a jar she was not supposed to open. But curiosity took over, and she released plague and misfortune onto humankind. That was Zeus’s revenge on the humans.
For Prometheus, however, Zeus had another punishment. Zeus had Prometheus chained to a rock and cursed him, saying that vultures would eat his liver for all eternity. And since Prometheus was immortal, his liver would regenerate every day so that it could be eaten by the vultures for all eternity.
“The reason for inflicting this torture was not only to punish Prometheus, but also to force him to disclose a secret very important to the lord of Olympus. Zeus knew that fate, which brings all things to pass, had decreed that a son should some day be born to him who would dethrone him and drive the gods from their home in heaven, but only Prometheus knew who would be the mother of this son. As he lay bound upon the rock in agony, Zeus sent his messenger, Hermes, to bid him disclose the secret [...] But nothing, no threat, nor torture, could break Prometheus. His body was bound but his spirit was free. He refused to submit to cruelty and tyranny. He knew that he had served Zeus well and that he had done right to pity mortals in their helplessness. His suffering was utterly unjust, and he would not give in to brutal power no matter at what cost” (Hamilton 1942).
In the end, Prometheus was released, and he and Zeus were reconciled. According to Edith Hamilton, it’s not known why this happened. “One thing, however, is certain: in whatever way the two were reconciled, it was not Prometheus who yielded. His name has stood through all the centuries, from Greek days to our own, as that of the great rebel against injustice and the authority of power” (Hamilton 1942). That’s pretty Uranian in nature.
The Symbolism of Uranus
Fast Facts
Keywords: Change, disruption, shock, unexpected events, awakening, independent, freedom, rebellious, originality, revolution, innovation, science, electricity, the future, the unconventional and non-normative
Domicile: Aquarius (in modern astrology)
Detriment: Leo (in modern astrology)
Anatomy: Angles, nervous system, body, electricity, circulatory system
Colors: Electric blue
Metal: Uranium and copper
Stones: Turquoise and malachite
Discovered in 1781.
Uranus spends approximately seven years in each sign
Symbolism
Uranus is a planet associated with sudden and fast-paced changes, uncertain events, unpredictability, and impulsiveness. It teaches us that the only constant in life is change. Wherever Uranus goes, disruption, progress, and liberation follow. It shows us where we can rise and make change happen, that there are alternatives to the ruling norm, that justice can be had, etc. Uranus is also connected to removing the shackles, so freedom and independence are associated with it.
In the not-so-positive aspect, Uranus rules catastrophes, tragedies, and bereavements as well. Perhaps it alludes to Pandora’s jar and the spread of plagues and misfortunes upon humankind as it was opened.
Uranus is also connected to innovations and technology, often things that use electricity, since Uranus is associated with that. Uranus can also signify natives who are ahead of their time in some area of life, perhaps in how they live, the relationships they choose to have, the work they do, how they perceive the world, etc.
Uranus also signifies unconventionality, like unconventional jobs, non-normative relationships and structures, and things that seem out of the ordinary or “going against the stream”. Eccentricity is another signification.
Richard Tarnas summarizes Uranus’s correspondences and archetype in the following way in Cosmos and Psyche:
“Since at least the turn of the twentieth century, the unanimous consensus among astrologers is that the planet Uranus is empirically associated with the principle of change, rebellion, freedom, liberation, reform and revolution, and the unexpected breakup of structures; with sudden surprises, revelations and awakenings, lightning-like flashes of insight, the acceleration of thoughts and events; with births and new beginnings of all kinds; and with intellectual brilliance, cultural innovation, technological invention, experiment, creativity, and originality. In addition to the occurrence of sudden breakthroughs and liberating events, Uranus transits are linked to unpredictable and disruptive changes; hence the planet is often referred to as the ‘cosmic trickster.’ Another set of themes associated with Uranus is a concern with the celestial and the cosmic, with astronomy and astrology, with science and esoteric knowledge, and with space travel and aviation. With respect to personal character, Uranus is regarded as signifying the rebel and the innovator, the awakener, the individualist, the dissident, the eccentric, the restless and wayward. These various qualities are considered to be so pronounced in persons born with a prominent Uranus and expressed so conspicuously in a person‘s life during Uranus transits that there seems to have been no significant disagreement among astrological authorities, for at least the past century that these characteristics reflect the archetypal nature of the planet Uranus.” (Tarnas, 2006, ch. 3).
As with Neptune and Pluto, there was also a range of historical and cultural phenomena that coincided with the discovery of Uranus that have become a part of its significance. As Tarnas writes:
“More recent astrological sources suggested that the historical period of the planet’s discovery in the late eighteenth century was relevant to its archetypal meaning, reasoning that the discovery of the physical planet in some sense represented an emergence of the planet’s corresponding archetype into the conscious awareness of the collective psyche. In this regard the parallels with Uranus’s astrological meaning were certainly clear: The planet’s discovery in 1781 occurred at the culmination of the Enlightenment, in the extraordinary era that brought forth the American and French Revolutions, the Industrial Revolution, and the beginning of Romanticism. In all these coinciding historical phenomena, the figure of Prometheus is of course readily evident as well: the championing of human freedom and individual self-determination, the challenge to traditional beliefs and customs, the fervent revolt against royalty and aristocracy, established religion, social privilege, and political oppression; the Declaration of Independence and the Declaration of the Rights of Man, liberté and egalité; the beginnings of feminism, the widespread interest in radical ideas, the rapidity of change, the embrace of novelty, the celebration of human progress, the many inventions and technological advances, the revolutions in art and literature, the exaltation of the free human imagination and creative will, the plethora of geniuses and culture heroes. Here too were the Romantic poets with their great paeans to Prometheus himself. If the age of Uranus’s discovery is to be given an archetypal characterization, none seems more appropriate than ‘Prometheus Unbound.’” (Tarnas, 2006, ch. 3).
Wherever Uranus is in a chart, it’s “where we can tend to play the rebel, establishing an independence style that sets us apart from everyone else and lifts us above the ordinary. […] You are unlikely to play by the rules where this planet is in your chart. Here we can break down barriers and borders, breathe new life into old traditions, and courageously break convention to bring about social, political, or personal change.” (Taylor, 2018, p. 79).
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Sources
Ausubel, Kenny & Schwartzberg, Louie (directors). Changing of the Gods. Artemis Rising Productions, 2022-02-02.
Brennan, Chris. The Astrology Podcast, episode 320: “Uranus in Astrology: Meaning Explained” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfY8Du9xD54), 2021-09-24.
Fry, Stephen. Mythos. Michael Joseph (Penguin Random House), 2017.
Giesecke, Annette. Classical Mythology A to Z. Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2020 (ebook).
Gillett, Roy. The Secret Language of Astrology: The Illustrated Key to Unlocking the Secrets of the Stars. London: Watkins Media Limited, 2012.
Kent, April Elliott. The Essential Guide to Practical Astrology: Everything from zodiac signs to prediction, made easy and entertaining. San Diego, California: Two Moon Publishing, 2023.
Hamilton, Edith. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 1942 (ebook).
Parker, Julia & Derek Parker. Parkers’ Astrology: The definitive guide to using astrology in every aspect of your life. London: Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2020.
Tarnas, Richard. Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View. Viking Penguin, 2006.
Taylor, Carole. Astrology: Using the wisdom of the stars in your everyday life. London: Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2018.
