Rules: Aquarius / 11th house
Natal significance: As the first of the slow-moving outer planets (spending six to seven years in one sign), Uranus is the first "generational" planet, whose placement by sign is significant for an entire generation rather than for an individual. So Uranus in your birth chart is more personally significant in terms of its placement by house, and the aspects it makes to other planets in your chart, than in its position by sign. Uranus represents unconventionality, rebelliousness, breaks with tradition, and progressive thinking; the house in which you find Uranus is the house in which you are most likely to be a freedom-seeker, bucking tradition in favor of originality. (However, retrogrades or difficult aspects to Uranus, or its placement in a house -- such as the fourth house of home and family -- where its unpredictability might not be welcome, can lead to a fear of one's own individuality and a compulsion to stay with what is known rather than to innovate.) Uranus, planet of electricity, innovation and the progressive spirit of community, rules the Internet and alternative music, and individuals with Uranus prominent in their charts may be strongly drawn toward these modes of expression.
Transiting significance: Uranus rules sudden and unexpected change, so when Uranus passes over a house in your chart, you may find the affairs of that house in a state of variability or even upheaval. The radical changes that Uranus wreaks can be unnerving, especially for those individuals who are not comfortable with spontaneity and fear change. But since Uranus also rules progressive thinking, the changes Uranus brings can lead to expansion of knowledge and tolerance if we are open to them.
