A couple of weeks ago Uranus shifted signs out of fiery Aries, where its been inciting rebellion since 2011, into earthy Taurus. As with all the planets in all the signs, there are so many levels on which the symbolism could play out, that what follows is just my initial ponderings. The rule with Uranus, if there is one, is always to expect the unexpected, and to create our own path rather than doing what's expected of us.
Taurus is concerned with the physical, the material, the body. Perhaps Uranus will bring a revolution in how we connect - or don't - to our own bodies. Many of us feel disconnected from or unhappy with our physical bodies. Western society, with its habit of dualism and separation, tends to see the body simply as a vessel for the superior mind. The body is seen as an impediment to spiritual progress, trapping the light of our spirit in the murky material. To achieve enlightenment, to connect to the divine, we must ignore the body, ignore its needs, dismiss it as an ignorant animal. But what if we are not ignorant animals seeking to ascend some ladder, up the spiritual hierarchy until we reach some distant mystery called god? What if the '
soft animal of the body' is where wisdom, and beauty, and the divine, are to be found? What if each of us is already god/dess? Our physical bodies, our hands and limbs and voices, are what allow us to act in this world, to give and receive pleasure, to manifest our dreams. Its been said that the basic dilemma of Taurus is what we do with the physical body, with this physical incarnation in which we find ourselves. Perhaps Uranus in Taurus will awaken us to the power of our flesh and bones, the wisdom we all carry in every cell of our being. Perhaps we will break out of the boxes we try to squeeze our bodies into, forcing them to conform to society's expectation that we are youthful, slim, conventionally attractive. Instead of punishing, or disliking, our bodies for being "wrong", Uranus in Taurus can teach us the deep truths of our physical self, the gifts of all of our senses, the pleasures of physical incarnation. Its all about intent - our bodies are not perfect or imperfect, its what we do with them that counts. Do we dedicate ourselves to happiness, pleasure, enchantment (and there's whole other post on the way about those very things...), or to futile attempts to conform to a stereotype which brings no joy and merely perpetuates our lack of self worth? Venus-ruled Taurus is all about worth, about value, and Uranus in Taurus challenges us to to figure out what our values truly are, and then live by them, every day.
As well as our individual bodies, Taurus is the body of the earth, the planet on which we are incarnated. Nature, the land. And there's a disconnect here too. Western thinking sees nature as something to consume, resources that we can take take take without ever giving anything back. Like our bodies, the physical place that we occupy is often seen as incidental, unimportant, merely a backdrop for our oh so meaningful human drama. Our relationship with the land is one way only, and I strongly believe that if we are to survive on this earth, we need to restore the reciprocity of that connection. Uranus in Taurus can radically shift our perspective, bringing us back into genuine relationship with the land we live on. Last Sunday I stood with my daughter in a square in London's West End, the heart of urban Britain, for the Pagan Pride parade. As the ritual circle was set up and the spirits of the land were invoked, there was a rush of power, an awakening of energy. The land wants to awaken, to come into reciprocal relationship with us. All of it, not just the pretty countryside bits we think are there for our leisure, or the bits which have been declared sacred or special. Uranus in Taurus awakens the land, awakens the spirit in the matter. What will you build with this knowledge?