Uranus Return in the history of the Romanov Dynasty: An Excursion to the Astrology of Ruling Regimes

The Emperor of Russia, Alexander I
within a Zodiac wheel,
Orest Kiprensky

Finding Uranus returns for the United States was a fun exercise, and the fun will start again at the end of the upcoming decade. But what about a regime that has run its historical course? The Romanov dynasty that ruled Russia since the sixteenth century must have had quite a few of these Uranus returns. How they relate to its history, I will try to find out in this post. 

I will use a chart I have calculated for the beginning of the Romanov dynasty, the Zemsky Sobor of 1613. We find the planet Uranus at exactly 3 degrees of the sidereal Gemini (I employ the Fagan and Bradley horoscope). The natal Sun of the Romanovs is in the sidereal Aquarius, a sign traditionally associated with Russia. I called it, the Romanov T-Square after a difficult aspect that appears there. 

So, the first Uranus return for Russia comes in 1697, I found it at 3 degrees Gemini on 20 March, on 9 March, the Tsar Peter the Great set out on his Grand Embassy. The interesting point about the Romanov placement of Uranus is the Sign Gemini, unlike the placement of Uranus in the chart of America, which is in Taurus, this placement seems rather positive. In the spirit of Gemini we see the theme of learning, travel, exploration. In America's case, the transits of Uranus through Taurus usually coincides with war and mass death. 

So, another Uranus return comes in 1781. In 1782, the famous Bronze Rider statue of Peter the Great in St. Petersburg was erected. This is the reign of Catherine the Great and the time of the conquest of Crimea. Most importantly, in 1781, Catherine signed treaties with Prussia and Austria, which led to the Division of the Rzeczpospolita, and further expansion of Russian territory.

The other Uranus return I found at 1865. One of the themes of Uranus is freedom and this is roughly 4 years after the abolition of serfdom. Here however, it has to be understood that the abolition of Serfdom in the Russian Empire was a gradual process that lasted until 1866, serfdom in Georgia was abolished in 1864 for instance. In 1863, the Polish rose up against Russian rule. The events happen during a time of the Uranus-Pluto conjunction that comes exact in 1851 in Aries.