Uranus turned retrograde at 00:34 this morning (UT time) at 04Ari33 and will remain retrograde until the 10th December 2011.

Uranus is the Awakener of the zodiac, a cosmic alarm clock who periodically jolts us out of our slumber. Unlike Saturn, he’s not interested in convention or keeping up with the Jones’s. His mission is to bring change when life has gotten a little too safe.

Change keeps us growing, developing and moving. Without change we become stuck in the same old routines, beliefs and habits. Life becomes stupifying, dull and monotonous. Under that kind of atmosphere, we humans tend to shut down, moving through the daily drill on robotic auto-pilot, disconnected and discontent yet falling under Saturn’s spell of ‘better the devil you know‘.

And then Uranus leaps into the field dressed in a Mad Hatters costume and throws you a curve ball.
“CATCH!” he yells. His unfamiliar devilish eyes glitter.

Uranus has already been busy this year, shifting onto the Aries point and trumpeting his power to the world. Rebellion and shocking change have been a reverberating theme. The devastating earthquake in Japan ominously occured as Uranus ingressed into Aries. Just as Uranus stationed retrograde, Japan has suffered another large earthquake. Thankfully this time there have not been any reports of injuries although a magnitude 7 is certainly not to be sniffed at. With Fukushima still unstable, these aftershocks remind us that we cannot forget the issues raised by the initial earthquake. In Aries, Uranus is an ‘in your face’ energy that cannot be ignored. He’s literally shaking us up, pushing us to change the structures that we have built in order to gain a new perspective and create a new society: one which is better for everyone.

In the UK, we are experiencing ‘shocking change’ as the long running Sunday rag [sorry, I'm sure I was meant to type the word 'newspaper'] the News of the World comes to an untimely end due a phone hacking scandal. In the US, the long running shuttle program came to an end with the last lift-off occuring on Friday. On the same day, a new country was born as South Sudan declared independence. Uranus’s petticoat is showing in all these stories.

With Uranus retrograde we take this energy inwards. As our external structures experience change, so must we change. When we sleep, we dream but dreams can evaporate when we wake up warm and comfy. Uranus however has no reservations about waking us up mid REM bringing the dream to consciousness in an abrupt bang.

Often the effect of Uranus retrograde is felt as a growing discontent with the tried and tested, a desire to go off the beaten track and to stop following the rules. These may the rules created by others or the ‘rules’ you have created for yourself. There’s an impetus to be free to do as you want and go where you please. Sometimes, in the process of casting off the shackles, you may discover pieces of yourself that have long since been cast adrift. Uranus retrograde helps us to reclaim what was once rejected as well as dismissing that which is past it’s sell by date.  Depending upon the aspects Uranus makes to the natal or progressed chart, these stirrings may be felt inwardly or may occur due to experiences that seem to slam into your life as if from nowhere. Uranus doesn’t act out of spite however. If the world ‘out there’ is forcing you to change then there is a suggestion that Life has been asking you to shift your perspective for a while. Uranus often will leave us with no choice other than to pick up the pieces and create a new picture from the puzzle.

Uranus is high energy, communicative, inventive: in Aries he has a daring desire to up and go. Work with Uranus and he’ll take you on an exciting and possibly life-changing journey. To take some of the heat out of this transit, it may be useful to start planning changes now, incorporating them little by little into your life. Whilst sweeping changes may be initially highly motivating, they can also be disruptive and simply result in chaos.

Uranus rules Aquarius, the 11th house of the natural chart. The changes you make are not isolated events. You are part of the intricate network of humanity. Uranus may be a rebel and likes to do his own thing but at best he never loses sight of the global community. From his detached perspective, he knows how to be an individual amongst the collective. Essentially his retrograde message is simple: -

Be brave, be yourself.