There are many ways that an aspect (angle) between the Sun and Uranus can manifest. Generally, we associate the Sun with intentionality and creative self-expression. Uranus, on the other hand, represents our impulse toward change, revolution and progress. If these two functions are in hard aspect (a difficult angle) to one another, then the individual may show an intention to resist change. In politics, we call such an individual a "reactionary," which means someone radically opposed to progress and liberalism and, by definition, all things Uranian. In such instances the solar ego struggles against the Uranian drive, and finally becomes possessed by it.

Pat Buchanan: A Uranian Reactionary

A good example is would-be reform party presidential candidate, Pat Buchanan (Sun opposite Uranus), who is renowned for his strident conservatism and rabid Republicanism—so rabid, in fact, that he has been branded as too conservative for his own party (hence his Reform Party candidacy). Note that “reform” is a Uranian word. That Buchanan has now become identified with “reformers” exemplifies what Jung called enantiodromia, the tendency for things to revert to their opposites when they become too one-sided.

In his fury to defend the status quo against radicals, Buchanan has himself become one—a shrill voice on the fringe that few take seriously. Many regard his policy of isolationism in an era of global politics as bizarre. Called “Crackpot Pat” for his defense of Hitler and soft-on-Nazism views, Buchanan has become a radical conservatist, a contradiction that aptly expresses the lack of integration between his Sun and Uranus.

Fear of Change

Fear of change is a natural consequence of the Sun’s resistance to Uranus. It may seem that the Sun-Uranus person wants to introduce changes all over the place, but their desire to change things is actually a reaction to changes that are already occurring. A reactionary wants to change things back, i.e., to return to a simpler, more manageable time.

The reactionary’s fear of change extends to a fear that one group or another (Uranus) is trying to change his identity (Sun)—i.e., his thoughts, values and convictions. If this fear is strong enough, it can be converted into zealous devotion to a cause that the individual seeks to advance with fanatical fervor. In other words, the person becomes what he fears the most: an extremist who desperately tries to change another person’s thinking.

Pat Buchanan’s former role in the television show, Crossfire, in which he was the impassioned champion of conservative values, provides a good example of the Sun-Uranus fanatic. He was one of “those furious zealots who blow the bellows of faction until the whole furnace of politics is red-hot,” as Washington Irving once said. Anyone who has witnessed Buchanan’s rancorous style of debate will know what Irving meant.

Other Fearful Uranians

Fear of change is also evident in Slobadan Milosevic (Sun square Uranus), the Serb tyrant who refused to allow various sectors of Yugoslavia—Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosovo—the freedom to be self-governing. We see it again in the loathsome former Grand Wizard of the Klu Klux Klan, David Duke (Sun-Uranus conjunction), who opposed desegregation and racial equality in Louisiana.

Former Governor of Alabama, George Wallace (Sun-Uranus opposition), became infamous in 1963 for defying a federal court-ordered integration of Alabama schools. Wallace actually attempted to bar the entrance of black students at the University of Alabama by standing at the doors. Fear of change is likewise obvious in “unibomber” Ted Kaczynski (Sun-Uranus conjunction), who was so threatened by technological progress that he waged a one-man war against it.

More recently, in Austria, the emerging political influence of conservative Joerg Haider (Sun-Uranus quincunx) has Europe in an uproar. When Haider's far-right Freedom Party was sworn in as part of Austria's new coalition government, the European Union (EU) immediately imposed political sanctions to isolate Austria. Labeled by his critics as a "yuppie fascist" and the "Austrian David Duke," Haider won international notoriety for his anti-immigration stand and opposition to rapid EU expansion.

To his opponents, Haider is a dangerous right-wing extremist

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Glenn Perry, Ph.D. is a licensed psychotherapist in Marin County, California. A professional astrologer since 1974, Glenn has written three books, including Essays In Psychological Astrology. He is Adjunct Professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies, where he teaches graduate classes in psychological astrology. Glenn also offers an online mentorship program, which is a personalized course in natal chart interpretation from a psychological perspective. Visit the author's website. Send an email to the author. For more information about Glenn Perry, click here.