Uranus. God of Heaven Comes to Paris, France

Summary of Contents: Uranus in Mythology | Arrival and Appearance | Blue Pearl in Space | God in the Sun King's Garden | Heaven Rides a Horse | Gods Age Too | Where Did the Creation Story Come From?

Festival Day - 29 July

Uranus in Mythology

Hesiod's creation of the world story - Theogony - told of how everything got started. Planet earth, Gaea, formed from Chaos and familied gods Erebus, Eros and goddess Night.

Next she created the starry sky of Heaven - Uranus and in union with him mothered the first order of Gods, the Titans and some monstrous monsters.

Disappointed and hateful, Uranus hid his children down in the earth's deepest cavern, barred them from seeing the light of day.

Resentful mother Gaea fashioned a weapon for her eldest, Cronus and he removed his father's ability to make more children. Cast it into the ocean. And took his place as ruler of the cosmos.

So Hesiod the poet told.

Uranus Mythological references

"Those are wild mythic stories about Uranus. Did he comment?" Nick Hammond asked out-of-body survivalist Margo Williams.

Uranus Arrival and Appearance

"Stories of celestial body parts crashing into earth seem more likely the fossilised memories of meteor collisions, or maybe a forgotten age of female upmanship.

But that was only a guess and Uranus said nothing of his own bitter myth, and I wasn’t going to ask if the story was true.

His arrival was spectacular. Brilliant orange light burst in the air; a tall fast-moving figure appeared as the orange sequenced vibrant yellow, then orange, then again yellow.

Occasional glints of red until orange exploded in a dazzling white flash.

Uranus arrived fully formed; bare-chested, pleated loin-cloth from waist to knees, worn Indonesian-style. Red-dark straight hair; strong face, aquiline nose. Toned skin accentuated bright extraordinary steel-grey eyes.

Mid-forties in age, or so I guessed. A tough-looking God, he seemed irritable.

"You speak well, pay homage in the correct way. You see and hear," he said, voice slightly staccato. "I accept your offerings. It is always enjoyable to be honoured. I am Uranus, a very important God."

He gazed at the offerings on the altar. "Wine! Wine is good for gods, goddesses and mortals. See you drink plenty, especially in the cold weather, that as mortals you feel."

That December night felt particularly cold.

"In the realm of the Gods it is always pleasantly warm." Long-fingered Uranus tapped the altar top. He turned to me. I couldn’t meet the intensity of his gaze, had to look down. His eyes so piercingly observant, like he saw entirely through me.

I felt his hand on mine.

"Do not fear me, come closer and I will show you a sight a few have seen, but not in the way you shall."

The Blue Pearl in Space

We soared fast into the sky. My vision blurred, just roaring sound in ears as we travelled at high speed up through the blue into darkness; until suddenly it stopped.

I floated above the earth.

Below, outlines of land visible between blue ocean and white cloud. Continents sparkled with light; busy with night and day.

In awed silence I gazed down at the planet on which I lived, on which my parents had lived, and their parents. My home was down there somewhere.

Uranus floated close beside me, he gestured into the dark. "I could take you to other inhabited planets. Planets where there is no cruelty, no hardship and no crime. Where all who dwell love and care for each other, help each other and live to great age."

I thought about that.

The world below looked peaceful, blue, soft cloud-shrouded; and yet endured great suffering. Wars, famine and all manner of cruelties and crimes.

Planet of Humankindness

Zeus told me there is more good than bad. I didn’t doubt that to be true, for there is more kindness and caring evident in the everyday of life, despite the preference for gloomy news headlines.

People living life, working, loving, making stories of their own of family and community.

Uranus interrupted my conclusion, with a promise. "Things are changing. No longer do we sit back, as we have done for centuries," he said. "In the future mortals will respect each other."

I looked down at the world; my world, our beautiful world. The fragile blue pearl afloat in orbit around the sun. Stars, countless stars in an ocean of night. The starry sky was not above, but everywhere.

Other planets twinkled in the dark; I had known their names since childhood, like very distant members of the family. Mercury and Venus, Mars and Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Pluto and Uranus.

Small and giant, I knew they rolled round us in their orbits ringing energy through our world. Waves and currents of invisible influence, more complex than any timepiece on display in Cronus’ great hall.

Affecting the complicated mix of particles at play, including those that make us, us.

God of Heaven in the Sun King's Garden

Uranus returned to earth, surprisingly landed in Paris, in the gardens of Versailles palace.

In silence we walked. Tall trees whispered overhead; gravel path crunched underfoot.

Paintings and statues of our solar system's planetary Gods decorate the palace and gardens of Versailles; they line its wide gravelled pathways and form fantastic fountain ensembles but there is no work of art in honour of Uranus.

Hesiod might have pointed to the sky above Paris and suggested that heaven, the starry sky, is too big for a single statue.

I think Uranus would have appreciated being included, but he didn’t mention such absence as I followed him along the gravel path.

His heavy footstep crunched loud in the evening air.

Tall trees swayed and whispered in the evening breeze. Uranus approached a decorative fountain at a crossroads. Twenty feet wide, a reclining gold-painted winged figure lounged on a small island in the centre of a leaf-strewn basin pool.

A cluster of grasping winged cherubs fluttered around. 'Saturn in Winter' didn’t resemble Cronus, the fountain’s god was bald and long-bearded.

I noticed no change of expression on Uranus’ face as we passed. He always looked mildly irritated. Our route took us close to a crown of arches encircling a fountain group of Hades and goddess Kore.

God of Heaven Rides a Horse

Uranus broke the silence but not his stride as we turned a corner into a wide gently-rising avenue lined with statues facing across a perfect rectangular landing strip of lush grass lawn.

"Those whom the Gods think are worthy, they test. It is pleasing that you are accepting this," he said over-shoulder. "You have to prove your faith to us."

That night, for the palace excursion he wore a long white robe, it accentuated the red in his hair and his muscular physique. The robe hem lifted with each step revealing brown sandals worn on his huge feet. Something about him made me think of an artist.

"One day I shall have my own temple here." He pointed tapering finger toward the gargantuan block palace of stone and glass that ranged across the hilltop above us.

However, my attention fixed on something closer. A horse, a giant grey untethered stallion grazed the grassy lawn. It looked up on sight of the approaching red-headed god. Close proximity to it seemed to please Uranus.

The huge grey watched us approach; its eyes were the same steel grey colour as Uranus’.

He stroked the animal’s mane. "This is the steed I ride."

Gods Age Too

No saddle or reins; the horse snorted again, and this time fire blasted from its nostrils. "You can ride it." Uranus threw me on its back.

The horse reared and launched into motion; galloped at terrifying speed, then turned bucking bronco. I couldn’t hold on to its mane. Horse threw me.

I landed with a bump, grateful to be grounded unhurt.

The horse cantered a few paces; pranced, reared and glared down at where I lay on the ground. It snort-blasted, burned me with its breath, then backed away as Uranus helped me to my feet.

"Sometimes I feel sad I have to test you, but this has to be done," he said. "You gain wisdom through this, not only from my tests. You gain courage and you gain strength, inner strength," he added.

"Working for us, you need much inner strength. But also your powers are increased."

He stared through me, as if assessing that progress, then stepped away and changed the subject in a most extraordinary way. "This is how I was when I was young."

Uranus altered his appearance, not spectacularly like Crius’ beast-metamorphosis but an astonishing reversal of age.

Hair turned curly, though still red, same aquiline nose and extraordinary eyes, but he smiled with the knowing newness of a youth of seventeen years. Brief revelation over, Uranus returned to his old stern self again.

I sometimes witnessed body variations but didn’t know that Gods grow older.

"You fear me, that is understandable but you have gained much knowledge," he said. "You consume it and still, I know, seek more. The price you pay for real knowledge may appear high. Yet in time it will prove to have been worth it."

Uranus didn’t again let me ride his horse.

Where Did Hesiod's Story of Creation Come From?

And didn’t ever comment to me on Hesiod’s creation story - Theogony - or if that is the cause of his irritation.

Some scholars believe Hesiod assembled his origin story from old tales gathered from the ancient world; that the Muses had no part in its composition or grievance, only his own tastes and speculation.

Stories about people and politics in the very distant past. The violence of Uranus’ suffering may be no more than memory of a celestial event, or sociological age in a tale of tribal integration told as creation.

Uranus might have said how we all got here on planet earth wasn’t our ancestors’ issue so much as how everyone here got along together.

And the age-old tension of influence between the sexes, and use of technology; but he didn’t.

Uranus reminded me how earth is a member of a family of planets, in a community of star systems in a galaxy. Stardust part of an enormous community of galaxies in our universe.

And someplace else out there, people care.

Thank you for your company on this introduction to god Uranus. If you would like to know more about Margo Williams' experiences and suggestions for how to survive the hereafter, read this book. Now available from Amazon.