Uranus influences can manifest as a defiant and rebellious energy in an effort to challenge authority. Uranus energy is erratic and unpredictable. Uranus rules uranium, an element that, if enriched, can supply the fuel to build a nuclear weapon. These characteristics of Uranus could describe the behavior of the Iranian government.

Photo: desi.italy, Creative Commons, Flickr

We live in a yin/yang world of light and dark, positive and negative. We have free will in deciding how we view and act in our world and in turn our views and actions reflect how the world responds to us. Therefore, individuals and nations can choose how they wish to express the planetary energies that influence the Earth – for good or for ill.

Uranus relates to youth, and 70% of Iran’s 65 million people are under the age of 30. A front page article in last week’s Wall Street Journal describes how the younger generation is rejecting conventional religion and traditions and replacing it with the universal wisdom that transcends all religions, cultures, races, and boundaries. This is the flip side of Uranian energy.

The universal wisdom teachings, or what the media has labeled "new age," have become hugely popular in Iran; in some ways even more so than in America. The Secret, a movie and book written by Rhonda Byrne that primarily focuses on the universal law of attraction, has been popular in America. In Iran, The Secret has been shown on Iranian state run television four times in the last six months. (The documentary has never been shown on American television.) The book is in its 10th printing in the Farsi language. Excerpts from The Secret have been serialized in Happiness, a popular Iranian magazine.

Iranians also practice yoga, meditation, balance their chakras (the body’s energy centers), and use feng shui techniques to decorate their homes. Many Iranians will travel hours by bus to attend seminars conducted by Alireza Azmandian, who has a Ph.D. in industrial engineering from the University of Southern California. Azmandian’s company, The Center for Technology of Thought, publishes motivational books, calendars, flash cards, CDs and DVDs. He tells the crowds: "I have control over my life, not God and not the regime."

Despite such talk, Azmandian has given lectures to commanders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, clerics leading Friday prayer sessions, managers employed by Tehran’s municipality, and has lectured at the mostly state-owned factories and universities.

Observers believe that young Iranians have embraced the new age movement because they are better educated than their contemporaries in Egypt and Turkey who have instead sought solace in their Muslim roots to cope with difficult economic times. But these countries do not have such a strong Uranian energy in their national horoscope like Iran does.

Iran’s natal Uranus is in Scorpio*, reflecting Azmandian telling his crowds to "Think of yourself as an eagle and not as a pigeon." The eagle is a symbol for Scorpio, a secretive sign that desires to understand the occult (hidden) mysteries of the universe.

The Journal article quotes Bakhtiar Khazaee, a 38-year old maintenance engineer who says: "I used to think everything was God’s will, but now I don’t think this way anymore. I know that whatever I set my mind on achieving will happen."

Skeptics are right to say that the Iranian government is allowing the people a certain amount of latitude to keep them content in a bad economy. But as Gandhi said, "Be the change you wish to see." As more and more Iranians change how they view themselves, Uranus making a series of oppositions to Saturn in Virgo over the next couple years could change how their government expresses Uranian energy as well.

* There are two charts to look at when examining Iran; both have Uranus in Scorpio:

• February 11, 1979 at 10:20 AM LT is when the Shah’s regime officially surrendered to Ayatollah Khomeini who had returned from exile on February 1.
• April 1, 1979 at 3:00 PM LT is when the already established Khomeini government formally declared the nation to be the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Both charts project a rebellious stance to the world regarding uranium and nuclear energy by Iran’s leadership in an effort to achieve attention and power on the global stage. However, the Islamic Republic chart features Mars (aggression/military/weapons) challenging Neptune (idealistic beliefs/illusions) – an aspect shared with the USA’s July 4, 1776 5:10 PM Philadelphia, Pennsylvania horoscope.