This series of three in-depth webinars on the planetary symbol of Uranus were given by world renowned astrologer Liz Greene for MISPA and the CPA in 2019. Duration: 7 hours 7 minutes
Part One – Uranus in the natal chart: Stranger in a Strange Land
This seminar, the first of three on Uranus, will explore the myths and psychology of this eccentric planet that, unlike any other body in our solar system, orbits horizontally on its axis. Although Uranus is sometimes equated with ‘individuality’, it has little to do with the individual self, and its placement in the natal chart connects us with larger collective movements and ideas that may be inimical to individual needs and feelings. This outer planet reflects far-reaching ideas, emerging from within the collective psyche, that are geared to visions of progress and perfection – ideals that necessarily require compromise to be grounded in the world, but whose uncompromising nature can yield both inspiration and a fanaticism that can stifle individual values and emotional bonds.
Mythology: Ouranos, the Starry Heaven; The Mind of God; The vision of progress; Prometheus the fire-bringer; Gods who are culture-bringers: gifts that advance life
Psychology: Dissociation and psychopathy; Perfection and its Problems; Collective ideas and ideologies; Inspiration: acting as a mouthpiece; The importance of the individual ego
What does Progress mean? Breaking eggs to make omelettes; Social and political revolutions; Dictators and demagogues; Opinions versus ideas; The great ‘We’
Part Two – The transits and progressions of Uranus: Coping with Surprises
This second seminar on Uranus will explore our individual human experiences under the transits of Uranus to the natal chart, and the transits and progressed aspects of other planets to natal Uranus. Uranus is sometimes seen as ‘malefic’ and sometimes as ‘benefic’, but as a collective planet, it is neither, and does not lend itself to being evaluated according to personal feelings and wishes. It can reflect extremes of every kind, and the only certainty is that, whatever one explores in terms of its possible expression, its transits always herald the one thing we did not think of. Inspiration and revolutionary new ideas are, in themselves, nobly Promethean; but their impact on the individual can be explosive and shattering, as well as transformative and profoundly life-enhancing.
Part Three – Uranus in the collective: the Cycles of Progress
This final seminar on Uranus will explore our concept of ‘Progress’, and the ways in which Uranian ideas develop and enact themselves in various ways in the course of the planet’s cycle of 84 years. Each Uranian generation group has its own ideal of progress and perfection, which might or might not be in accord with earlier or later generations, and which also might or might not conflict painfully with one’s individual values and personal expression. We will examine ‘myths’ of progress in history, and the ways in which Uranian ideas, and the ideologies that emerge from them, can generate dictatorships and the utter suppression of the individual as often as they can generate new inventions, social changes, and transformations that help us to fulfil more creatively our range of human potentials and possibilities.