Uranus in Gemini - You say you want a revolution...
Early this morning, the planet of revolution and awakening entered Gemini. If you have been reading any astrology, this is the topic of the moment: The last time Uranus was in Gemini was from 1941-1949, and historically, each time it has been in Gemini, the US has gone to war. Uranus is in Gemini in the chart of the US (Revolutionary War), its return brought us the
Civil War, and, of course, in the 1940s, it was WWII.
To me, the larger thing to consider is that each of these wars, which aren’t the only wars the US has been in, was connected to the overthrow of some sort of tyranny. In many ways, each of these was at its core about freedoms and the rights of some group that had been dehumanized. That’s why the words “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights” were so radical at the time. And while we clearly have not always lived up to this declaration (from slavery to Jim Crow and women’s rights, for example), this idea profoundly broke with the past and the belief in the divine right of kings.
In myth, Uranus himself was the tyrant who was overthrown. Thus, no matter what sign he is moving through, he is connected to a radical break from the past and a move towards freedom. He shakes things up - often literally; in 2011, his ingress into Aries coincided with the Japan earthquake and tsunami.
In Gemini, an air sign that invites us to question ideas and make new discoveries, it is about awakening the mind. Ruled by Mercury, Gemini is connected to the words we use (or don’t) and the stories we tell or are not allowed to tell. Both individually and collectively, in all likelihood, we will be dealing with questions of duality, light and dark, what is seen and hidden shadows emerging, hopefully so that they can be transfigured…or perhaps a better way to put it is so they can begin the process of transfiguration. Uranus is in Gemini for seven years.
All transformation is a process. It is about progress, not perfection, which is the dark side of Uranus. In myth, he was the sky God, consort of Gaia, and they were very fruitful. However, because some of their children did not live up to his ideas of who they should be or what they should look like, he shoved them back into the womb of the earth. Which eventually led to him being overthrown by his child, Kronos (Saturn).In other words, his search for perfection led to revolution and his downfall.
Collectively, I can’t deny we are seeing shades of this across the globe; battles over the correct ideas to live by, a rise in the “othering” of people, and the attempt to shut down opposing voices, books are being banned or in the case of Afganistan being allow to speak in public at all if you are female.
Yet, this transit offers an opportunity (or we could say commands us) to open our minds, to see things differently. To be willing to change our minds about what we know and let go of the biases that we hold have imprisoned us, whether against ourselves or others. Gemini is the sign of the twins, two beings that are mirror images of each other.
In my current Artist’s Way class, we just began week 7, Rediscoving a Sense of Connection. One of the chief exercises this week is the jealousy map. It goes like this: Name three people you are jealous of and why? It is the why that holds the gold because the why helps you see something you are yearning for that, for whatever reason, you feel is beyond your grasp. From there, you can map out a tentative path. One of the examples she uses in the book is her Sister Libby because she has a real art studio. The solution is to fix up the spare room. But the larger point here is that it is an exercise in freeing your mind.
The 1968 Beatles hit Revolution was written when Uranus was in Virgo, the other sign ruled by Mercury and the next sign in the mutable modality. It was written by John Lennon, and he was expressing doubt in regard to some of the tactics used by the 1968 protests. These lyrics in particular have been playing through my head: “You tell me it's the institution/ Well, you know, you better free your mind instead.”
And that’s the root of it all. It’s time to free our minds.
**Uranus will back into Taurus from 11/8/25-4/26/26
One of the things I do during these transitional periods is take an inventory. Uranus briefly entered Taurus in 2018, firmly ingressing on March 6, 2019. What has shifted for you personally since then, around what your own, both literally and your sense of self-worth? What have you brought into being (Taurus is an earth sign - they like to make things real)? Thursday’s Full Moon in Capricorn, another earth sign, is an auspicious time for this.
