When No One Heeds Your Call

Today is Zero Shadow Day in Bangalore. It is a day when, around noon, the sun is at its zenith and there are no shadows for a few minutes. It was cloudy today, so you didn't miss much. Make a note for April, next year, when we can observe this phenomenon again. And for those of you who are not from Bangalore, please check to see when this happens in your location.

Today feels like the opportune time to talk about the Great Awakener- Uranus. Pronounced 'your-anus' he seems to do things in his own way. He has a tilt of around 90 degrees. Imagine the earth, she is tilted at 23 degrees, she spins like she is leaning a little to the side. Uranus on the other hand spins as though he is lying down. He takes 84 years to go around the sun. And although he is not the farthest planet from the Sun, he is, somehow, the coldest.

The discovery of Uranus was by a woman and her brother, though of course you will only see the name of William Herschel, as the astronomer and music composer who is credited with the discovery.

For thousands of years, Saturn was the boundary line that defined the edge of our Solar System. When Uranus came into our consciousness, things changed overnight. Uranus, we discovered, has an orbit that is twice as big as Saturn's. Saturn is at a distance of 9.5 AU from the Sun and Uranus is 19 AU away from the Sun. All of a sudden boundaries were stretched, the Solar System expanded, and we never saw things the same way again.

Where is Uranus Now?

Uranus moved into the sign of Taurus in June 2024. We are living through a transit of Uranus that can easily be called one of the most definitive moments in history.

Astrology is a complex study. However, it doesn't exclude anyone. At every stage of this study, from the beginning to wherever you reach, you can gain perspective, understanding and something to fill your core.

Astrology is always rooted in history. It is a way of studying what happens in the world around you. So today we are going to look at certain historical events that occurred when Uranus transited in the sign of Taurus.

'History Doesn't Repeat Itself, But It Often Rhymes.'

Let's look at some events in three periods of time in history when Uranus has been in Taurus. There is an interesting point to note here, in the period just before the entry of Uranus into Taurus, that is when Uranus is still in Aries, there is a significant paradigm shift in technology.

Period 1

Just before the entry of Uranus into Taurus: The Industrial Age was a shift from agrarian and handicraft based economies to machine-based manufacturing and mass production. The first factory in the world was set up in 1771. There were also significant discoveries opening up in electricity, chemistry and technology.

The East India Company that had entered India as a trade company began to increase its power and role in the middle of the 18th century. They waged wars with kings of different states and in 1764, they got the right to collect taxes in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. Their tax policies were so exploitative that in the years 1769-1772, Bengal saw the horrors of a famine which killed 10 million people by starvation.

1773-1780 Uranus in Taurus

By 1773, the Company was in financial shambles. Since their inception they had to pay the British government to maintain a monopoly over trade in India and the east. For a few years now they were not able to pay this commission.

Dissent against the Company was growing strong and the British Parliament stepped in with the Regulating Act of 1773, to supervise its activities. This turned out to be the first significant step towards establishing a centralized administrative system in British India. They brought the Presidencies of Madras and Bombay under the Presidency of Bengal. They set up the Supreme Court in Calcutta and appointed a Governor General.

These were supervisory measures, rulership remained with the Company which now declared ownership of all opium grown in India.

One of the reasons the Company had faced losses was over their tea trade in America. The Company had stockpiled excess tea in their warehouses and they sought the help of the British Government. The British Government made a policy giving the Company monopoly rights to sell tea in the their colonies of America. They also controlled the price by not allowing any tariff to be imposed on tea that came to America. Britain still collected a tax on the tea sold, however. 

This was a key factor that led to the American Revolution and their ultimate independence from the British in 1776.

Period 2

Just before the entry of Uranus into Taurus: There was a huge advancement in technology in the western world by the laying of telegraph cables and railway lines. Steel production was revolutionized by a new process. There was the introduction of mechanization into households with the invention of the sewing machine, prototypes of washing machines and dishwashers etc.

1857-1864 : Uranus in Taurus

The First War of Indian Independence was fought. This was a landmark event that created, in essence, the first idea of a united India. The seed of a national sentiment was sown.

And the resistance caused the fall of the East India Company.

The Government of India Act was formed. There was a transfer of power from the Company to the British Crown. This was the beginning of the British Raj, when they declared India as their colony. A Secretary of State was appointed.

1857 was also the time, China fought the Second Opium War against the alliance of Britain and France. The Company had high trade deficits in China. There was high demand for opium in China. To balance their trade deficits, the Company, would send opium grown in India to China. This was illegal and caused a severe addiction epidemic and several socio-economic problems. The ruling Qing Dynasty sought to halt the illegal import of opium, but the British cited violations in free trade principles and sought compensations for the opium destroyed by the Chinese. This led to the Opium Wars and the defeat of China, where they had to cede territories, make opium legal and accommodate increasing Western influence. The following century is symbolically called 'The Century of Humiliation', by the Chinese who were at the mercy of western countries.

1857 in the U.S saw the Dred Scott vs Sandford case. Dred Scott was a slave and he filed a case demanding his freedom. The court turned him down saying African-Americans did not have citizenship rights, so they had to remain the property of their owners. This case is said to be the turning point that led to the American Civil War. The North fought the South, won, and abolished slavery. It also led to African Americans getting citizenship.

Period 3

Just before the entry of Uranus into Taurus: 1929- 1939 was the time of The Great Depression, a severe downturn of the global economy impacting countries around the world. 1939 was the start of The Second World War. 1939 was also the time of a significant paradigm shift in technology: Scientists in Berlin split the atom. Albert Einstein who understood the implications of this, wrote a warning letter to the President saying that the U.S should initiate their own nuclear research.

1941-July 1947 Uranus in Taurus

The U.S joined the Second World War in December 1941. In 1942 they set up The Manhattan Project to produce the first nuclear weapons.

The world was staggering under the war. In 1943, Bengal in India, saw a famine so brutal that 3 million people died from starvation. This was not because of drought or scarcity. India had a surplus of food produce for the past three years. But Winston Churchill, the then Prime MInister of the U.K, diverted this food to the British troops and the United Kingdom warehouses.

1944, the U.S convened a meeting of 44 countries (many of whom were under colonial rule) at a ski resort area, Bretton Woods. A new money system was launched. The U.S dollar is now adopted as the primary reserve currency of the world. The International Monetary Fund and The World Bank are formed.

1945, the U.S bombed Japan. And then formed The United Nations.

1946 Albert Einstein says he made a mistake.

Several countries were breaking the shackles of colonialism around the world.

The U.S is far from the Great Depression times it was in before the war. By now they own 70% of the world's gold. The U.S establishes itself as the new colonizer.

What about today?

We are in a similar cycle today. A new technology is launched, on November 30th, 2022, before Uranus transits Taurus. And then similar themes follow: tariffs, taxes, Companies who have overarching control, policies pushing control of food and commodities into economies through threat but under the guise of free trade. New monetary systems being pushed. Threat to the sovereignty of nations. Hunger for more and more power.

The colonizer's position is shaky. People are starving. Wars are being fought as a business.

And there is always a veil thrown by the mainstream powers over reality. They are always very noble, working towards the benefit of humanity and saving us from all harm.

What Can I Possibly Do?

It is difficult to see through the smoke and mirrors. Uranus is called the Great Awakener, because he makes us suddenly see something for what it is. But we have to deal with the shock of seeing.

It's difficult to look at history. It's difficult to see our atrocities. It is difficult to see how the status quo sees us as cogs in a machine. It is difficult to see how powerless we have been.

It is difficult to swallow how unfair everything is.

But it is difficult for us to see things changing as well. Some of us even think that we shouldn't upset the apple cart, we shouldn't disturb the status quo because that would be bad.

What's more dangerous is buying into the bullshit. The idea of stability they sell you is a veil on the actual dead complacency they try to enforce on you.

Don't be scared of change.

When an idea is floated, look carefully to see who benefits.

Don't mistake ordinary people of a country with the status quo powers that rule it.

Don't get fooled by the sweet words. You know even your AI is trained to constantly praise you. Don't fall for it.

Embrace Uranus. He is very capable of making you crazy enough to think you can make a difference.

Make a difference to yourself. If you want to keep up, then learn how to use AI. Figure out how.

If you want to be balanced learn some non-tech skills. Figure out what they are.

Be individualistic. People won't like it...until they will. Dare to think. Don't submit , and believe you are stupid just because you don't understand a concept. Or you get confused when someone throws big words and high flying concepts at you. Don't think you are stupid because you can never store enough data as a dictionary or a AI data center.

AI may be alien-level, mind boggling-ly amazing. But still, true wisdom came from a stone mason, Socrates. It came from a school dropout, Ramana Maharishi who said "Your own self realization is the greatest service you can render the world".

Times may look formidable, don't doubt your power. A single drop of silence can make tremendous ripples of change. Until next week, take care of yourself.