Uranus in the fifth house is not at all favourable, so far as children are concerned. A! a general rule there are none, but where this is not the case, either the first-born is destroyed by some accident of gestation or its non-viability or it turns out very peculiar in character. They are likely to be extremely independent and difficult to manage, and must be treated accordingly. It is quite possible that they possess genius or something very like it, and in order to bring out their best qualities, it is necessary to give reason for the course of action taken much more than would be the case with ordinary children. It is not sufficient to give the reason ‘because I say so’, This advice is not intended to imply indulgence. The child would be apt to regard it as an insult. What is wanted is the establishment of a feeling of mutual respect and affection. Such children should be treated as responsible beings and appeal made to their better natures.
With regard to the pleasures of life, more particularly those involving the question of sex, Uranus exercises a very full influence. There seems to be no limit to the violence of the temperament indicated. It is not so capricious and fantastic as when Neptune is in this house, but it is more passionate and violent and it is more likely to lead to violations of conventionality. With some people this may amount to crime. The affections are subject, in any case, to sudden and constant changes of the spirit of revolt. against conventionality and even against the bonds of love itself will be extremely strong. It does not necessarily follow that the irregularity of the vita sexualis will imply the upholding of any unusual theories. The mind of the native may be perfectly conventional and his violations of rule may cause him extreme mental disturbance and regret. Whether this is so or not will depend principally upon the first, third and ninth houses, their rulers and aspects.
With regard to other pleasures, the same tendency to caprice and extravagance will be evident. Very often such pleasures will take an undesirable form. The fifth house itself is connected with gambling, in so far as gambling is undertaken for excitement and dissipation rather than with any clear idea of gain; and when Uranus is there situated, he will accentuate the tendency of the native to indulge in this respect. In fact, he will probably be a somewhat desperate and violent gambler, whether fortunate or unfortunate will depend upon the aspects to Uranus, and so on, as usual.
In milder form, this position may imply what is sometimes known as ‘3 taste for low company’, and it is certain that the native will never find any pleasure in the ordinary amusements of his own class. Dinners and dances will bore him to distraction; he will prefer to wander about congested districts of the city in which he lives and exchange his views of life with loafers or policemen.
Addiction to drugs or drink is not shown so strongly as when Neptune occupies this house. It is only to be looked for when Uranus is in a watery sign or afflicted by the Moon. When it does occur, it is likely to be marc violent and fatal than in the case of Neptune, for there is a continuity of purpose, a desperation about this planet which Neptune does not possess, and where he turns to evil, he is far more to be feared.
In the best condition, the unusual nature of the heart’s love will show itself in mystic longings. This is to be distinguished from the preoccupation of mystical subjects given by Uranus in the first, third or ninth, just as the mind differs from the heart. Coleridge, Dickens, Swami Vivekananda, Savonarola and Luther all had this predisposition, and it is to be contrasted with the mystical speculation of Goethe, who had it in the third house, and with the mystical aspirations of Blake, who had it in the ninth. In the one case, it is the mind which was interested; in the other, the soul. But with the five people mentioned above, it is the affections of the heart that are involved. The very peculiar form which this took in Savonarola is explained elsewhere by the aspect of Venus, but the sex irregularity of Luther is fully explained by this position itself, if the reader will refer to the general remarks upon the subject made above. The ordinary irreligious reader of the present day can hardly realize how startling it must have been in the Middle Ages for a monk to marry a nun, and he will find a better example in the career of Madame Steinheil, which is extremely characteristic of Uranus in this house at his most efficient.
It is to be understood that where the temperament of the native is scientific or philosophical, some of these forces will either not operate at all or else their operation will not become manifest. Consider, for example, Sir William Hamilton, who has the purely intellectual sign of Gemini rising, with its lord Mercury upon the cusp of Virgo not very far from the cusp of the fifth house, and squared for greater coldness by the Moon. Saturn, too, is in the fifth house, only 6 degrees from the conjunction of Uranus. It would be absurd to suppose that the pleasures of such a man could exhibit any similarity with those of Savonarola with Aries rising and Saturn and Venus in conjunction squaring him. Neglect to consider such details is a constant pitfall to the unwary student of this science.
To return for a single moment to what was originally said with regard to children, it will be remarked that only two of the seven people named had any children.
The fifth house has a special connection with public appearances in connection with amusements; many people with this position of Uranus become public entertainers and often acquire the greatest distinction in this line. Their careers, however, are likely to be even more checkered than IS usually the case, even with this profession.
The native should always be ready to receive shocks in the matter of his pleasures. Great good-fortune is likely to come his way in this respect, but on the other hand, he must ~ not take it too much to heart if those things and people on which he has set his affections suddenly go back on him.