Perhaps it’s purely coincidence that there have been three big lightning strikes over the past few days as Jupiter and Uranus conjoin at zero degrees Aries, the most fiery of fire signs.  

It began last week when a man’s fiancee was struck by lightning as he was proposing to her in the mountains of North Carolina.

Then a bolt of lightning struck a tank at a gas tank farm in Greensboro, resulting in a huge fire that closed two North Carolina interstates.

Then lightning struck a ship in the Gulf of Mexico that was involved in the attempt to clean up the disaster, slowing down relief efforts there.

Last night a 62-foot tall statue of Jesus outside a church in Monroe Ohio was struck by lightning and erupted in flames.  The pastor said that Jesus took the hit to protect the home for at-risk women next door.

There have been lots of more minor stories about lightning as well: a letter carrier was struck by lightning in St. Louis during a storm; a motorcyclist was struck in the head by lightning in Colorado, lightning has been setting houses on fire in Atlanta and North Carolina.

Lightning is associated with Jupiter (Zeus).  He was called the Lightning Maker and he is commonly depicted holding lightning bolts in his hands.  But lightning is more Uranian in nature: it comes quickly, with no warning; it produces electricity which is ruled by Uranus; it occurs in the sky, the realm of Uranus, the Sky God.  People who are struck by lightning are forever changed by the experience, and Uranus rules sudden events that change our lives in radical ways. 

With Jupiter and Uranus both in Aries – cardinal (initiatory) fire – the symbology of these lightning strikes is unmistakeable.  A big alteration of the planet is afoot, and this conjunction is the harbinger.