Cosmos and Psyche Planetary Theory

Richard Tarnas, widely read American author of The Passion of the Western Mind and Cosmos and Psyche, presents a scientific theory of astronomy which diverges markedly from the mainstream. Tarnas’ hypothesis, in part, is that cycles of the planet Uranus correlate with innovation on Earth. He supports this theory by presenting a case for links between aspects formed between Uranus and other planets and events on earth. For example, that the long conjunction between Uranus and Pluto in the 1960s demonstrated the combined energies of those two planets, (characterized as innovation and transformation respectively) while the conjunction of Uranus with Neptune combined innovation and mystery in the early 1990s. This latter event he links to postmodernism and a relativist theory of knowledge. This typology uses theory of ideal archetypes from Plato and Jung.

Any physical basis for this analysis is not proven. Tarnas presents an anecdotal series of rhythmic patterns in human history, and argues that it is compelling. Worryingly, his use of the term ‘compelling’ applies a humanistic rather than scientific epistemology. While his writings do not defend astrological theories of sun signs, he does claim that the planetary aspects actually align with rhythms on earth.

An interesting theory for BAUT to test is Tarnas’ observation that major astronomers tend to be born when Uranus is in aspect to the Sun. Using conjunction, sextiles, squares, trines and opposition with an orb of say seven degrees provides 8 x 7 = 56 degrees out of 360 degrees of the ecliptic, or 7/45 = 15.55% of people, roughly one in seven, who should have this aspect. (1/7 is given by orb of 6.42 deg). He argues Sun/Uranus aspects appear more commonly than chance in birth times of famous astronomers such as Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler and Newton. The chance of any four randomly selected people having this aspect is 1/7 to the power of four, or 0.041%, about one in two thousand. To test if this Uranus/astronomer link applies further, BAUT readers could vote for a list of the ten or twenty most innovative astronomers of all time, and then look to see if Uranus/Sun aspects appear in their birth times more often than chance.

Current event: Stellium Mars Moon Node Uranus 14.04.07