In dealing with Uranus generally and in his position in the signs it has been necessary to emphasise his interior effect, his influence upon character, his position in the houses of heaven, though still to some extent important in this regard, is less so than his external effect.
Having defined Uranus as the interior, subconscious, magical will of the native, so far as it refers to himself, it follows that this planet as applied to the non-ego will represent its will. Uranus may consequently be called the planet of destiny. It is consequently very shallow to class him crudely as fortunate and unfortunate. At one time the native may be in complete harmony with his surroundings and he will naturally describe himself as ‘lucky’. At another time he will be entirely out of unison and complain accordingly of his misfortune. Either view is, of course, prejudiced and unworthy of a philosopher. There is, however, no doubt that Uranus more than any other planet, produces the most extraordinary vicissitudes. Sometimes he may occasion death, but not often. His force is too vital, and one might also say spectacular, to bring about anything so banal as the mere fall of the curtain. Where he does bring death, it is usually of a catastrophic and tragic kind, but for initiating critical events in the career and for determining the whole tone thereof, he has no equal. The influence of Neptune is so subtle and obscure that even though it be more truly profound it does not strike the eye in the same way. The tragedies of the soul are invisible, except to the eye of the poet and the philosopher.
The incidence of the operation of Uranus depends entirely upon the house in which he is situated. In his case, as in that of Neptune, the problem is not complicated by any question of the sign upon the cusp of the house, because these two planets are beyond the zone of the Sacred Seven and do not possess the same close correspondences with the signs as the lesser planets. Pertaining as they do to the operations of the inscrutable Will of the All-Father, they have not the same dependence upon the lesser laws of the universe. The Seven are much more mechanical and calculable in their action. Perhaps it would be at least useful as an explanation of certain difficulties in interpreting the action of the two greater planets, were we to suggest that they are not so simple and constant as the others. It is quite conceivable that from time to time they receive new and varying influences of force from the higher planes, and if so, however far we might advance in the science of astrology pure and simple, there would always be a possibility of our calculations being upset by some such cause of disturbance. This hypothesis is, to a certain extent, supported by the already discovered characteristics of both these planets. In each case there is a peculiar uncertainty about their action which we, living as we do, mostly upon 1he material plane and upon a planet comparatively close to the Sun, are apt to call tricksy, or at least unaccountable.
To return from this digression, let us repeat that the actual effects of Uranus upon the career of the native will depend almost exclusively upon his mundane position. The exception to this rule will be in the case of his possessing some important aspect to the ruler of the sign upon the cusp of any given house. Instances of such action are given in the chapters upon the aspects of the various planets. Our present purpose is to demonstrate the exact effects of the mundane positions.