Every astrologer knew it was going to happen. But it still caught them by surprise. You check out the last time it happened (31st March 1927 and 13th January 1928) and study the historical events. But 84 years have gone by and civilization has changed immeasurably, making it difficult to predict what will happen in the 21st century, when Uranus once again enters Aries. Nobody wants to be a prophet of doom, so many predictions have been reasonably upbeat. But we know that once Uranus enters Aries it is just a matter of time before it goes on to square Pluto… and that’s a kind of meltdown, isn’t it?
Actually when Uranus entered Aries 84 years ago there was an 8.0 magnitude earthquake in Tango, Japan (Note 1), but then Japan did not have any nuclear reactors. Weeks afterwards there was an 8.3 magnitude quake in China which killed 200,000 people. It is curious to see that the 8.9 magnitude earthquake, the largest recorded in Japan’s history actually struck when Uranus was at 29.57 Pisces and it was the ravages of the ocean (Pisces) that went on the create the energy (Aries) crisis. The best symbol for this transition point from Pisces to Aries was perhaps the image of a large ship carried into the middle of a Japanese city.
So welcome to Uranus, which is commencing a new 84 year cycle through the solar system. In 1927 to 1928 there was a myriad of inventions like color television, the first TV broadcasts, the flight of Lindbergh from New York to Paris and tremendous advances in commercial passenger flight. 84 years on science has advanced exponentially. In March last year, two months before Uranus made its first (short) entry into Aries, Richard Branson of the Virgin empire successfully launched the first test flight of a commercial spacecraft, and such pioneering innovation is typical of Uranus in Aries. You can already book your flight. (Note 2)
Uppermost in people’s mind at the time of writing – one week after the Japanese earthquake – is the fate of the nuclear reactors in Japan.
EARTHQUAKE: March 11th, 2011 14:46:23 at 38N22 and 142E32 (AS 17.57)
You might expect to see powerful planets on the MC/IC or AS/DS at the time of the earthquake and subsequent devastating tsunami, but there is nothing except MC square Venus. But Pluto is at the exact midpoint of Saturn/Uranus, and Saturn is exactly sesquiquadrate the Moon/Neptune square. And of course Uranus in square the Moon’s nodes… never a good sign when it comes to disturbances on Earth. For those interested in harmonics, the Sun, Moon and Pluto configure as an exact conjunction in the 5th harmonic, in other words they are in exact quintile. The Ascendant in the earthquake chart is in fact on Japan’s Saturn (Note 3) and Neptune at 29.12 Aquarius is exactly square Japan’s own Neptune… and in the next couple of months Neptune changes sign and will transit Japan’s Mercury at 0.36 Pisces. Obviously the repercussions of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear failure on Japan’s communication and infrastructure will be apparent for months to come.
Whilst Japan builds all major constructions to cope with earthquakes and has training programs for the population in the event of tsunamis, the combination of earthquake and tsunami was enough to create a nuclear disaster for Japan. Reactors automatically shut down with the occurrence of the earthquake, but the tsunami knocked out diesel back-up generators that supply cooling water. It seems even when you stop a nuclear reaction, the fuel still gives off vast amounts of energy, and if the coolant is not constantly circulated, the water turns to steam and lots of explosive hydrogen is produced, which is why the buildings that house the reactors exploded, making it more and more difficult to cool nuclear fuel which is still producing immense heat.
This is the process that leads to meltdown, and as mentioned before, Uranus in fire sign Aries, moving to square Pluto, is the astrological signature of nuclear meltdown. As this aspect gets stronger and stronger over the next four years, this does not bode well for the nuclear industry, which was just entering a new phase of popularity with the growing shortage of oil. Germany, Sweden and Britain are going to have great difficulty continuing their growing investment in the nuclear industry, for which the Fukushima reactor explosions have been a total disaster, even though modern reactors (the Fukushima plant is from the seventies) have in fact many more safeguards in place. (Note 4)
Certainly for Japan, it is unlikely that public confidence in nuclear power will recover in the near future. One of the main consequences for Japan of the entry of Uranus into Aries, will be major efforts to find alternative power sources, which in the long term may be a good thing. Right now, as Neptune changes sign on April 4th to conjoin Japan’s Ascendant-ruler Mercury, which, being in the 10th house is related to government policy, there will be disarray for months to come. Neptune goes on to square Japan’s Pluto, which may bring some kind of dissolution of the Japan’s nuclear industry.
Adrian Duncan 20th March, 2011.
1. Chronology of World History – Ken Polsson
2. Check out http://www.virgingalactic.com/
3. The Meiji chart from 1889: Feb 11th 12.05 LMT Tokyo (AS 9.50 GE)
4. Modern systems can shut down and cool fuel without power being available, and have double and even triple backup systems. www.guardian.co.uk 20.03.2011