Uranus in Aquarius

Big Brother, U.K, 2010, is set to end this year. The series is based on a reality show which films a group of individuals in a house for 12 weeks. The first series aired in the Netherlands in 1999, this was during Uranus' transit through Aquarius. The show is a social experiment designed to test people in a confined space, with no outside contact. The people chosen are of different backgrounds, class, race and religion. The contestants are filmed 24 hours a day and all cast votes for members of the house to face eviction. The final contestant left wins a large a sum of money.

Uranus transiting through Aquarius signifies the social aspect in society and introduced one of the biggest social experiments. The transition describes the need to break free from social prejudice and snobbery in order to achieve a more enlightened social interaction. During the process boundaries are likely to be broken down. The Jupiter-Uranus conjunction in Aquarius also brought the comet Hale-Bopp in the night sky. It was referred to as the 'Great Comet' and was the most spectacular astronomical sight of 1997. Observations conducted in N.A.S.A observatries estimated that Hale-Bopp's nucleus is between 19 and 25 miles in diameter. By comparison, the comet that is thought to have struck the Earth 65 million years ago, probably causing the extinction of the dinosaurs, is estimated to have been 6-9 miles in diameter. After the 1997 appearance, it is calculated that the Hale-Bopp comet will disappear from sight again until the year 4397.

The 'Heavens Cult Mass Suicide' believed that the Hale Bopp comet is a sign that they should leave their earthly bodies behind to join  a spacecraft flying behind the comet. Thirty nine members of the cult commit suicide by drinking a deadly cocktail of vodka and barbiturates. The transit of Uranus-Neptune was still powerful and the 'mass spiritual enlightenment' and disillusionment influenced the time. The emphasis on 'brotherhood' would be evident and more socializing via the World Wide Web.  Political movements, social, cultural and group vision were the favour of this transit. Uranus' duration through Aquarius highlighted areas of social intolerance, futuristic vision and heightened interest in outer-space and universal ideas.