In 1987, Shirley Maclaine premiered her autobiographical miniseries, Out on a Limb, on network television. In a gutsy and controversial move, Maclaine was motivated enough to create a visual document about her ongoing spiritual journey and investigation into the metaphysical. In a style typical of Uranus, Maclaine's Out on a Limb—with its talk of the meaning of human existence and religious pilgrimage—was a shocking juxtaposition to the more prosaic television diet of sitcoms, soaps, and docudramas. With Out on a Limb, many viewers of the American television audience were introduced to the New Age for the first time. Through its premiere, the miniseries allowed closeted metaphysicians across the nation to feel more comfortable to disclose their private encounters with the paranormal and religious dimensions of life. Moreover, Maclaine would help to popularize New Age phenomena such as channeling, reincarnation, and extra-terrestrial encounters. Although the made-for-television movie was mocked and maligned by skeptics in Hollywood, it would be Maclaine who would ultimately have the last laugh as the world would very shortly embrace a new religious vision.

In 1985, a political initiate by the name of Mikhail Gorbachev would become the youngest premier in the U.S.S.R.'s history. In less than five year's time, the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc would dissolve, the cold war would abruptly end, and the sociopolitical landscape of the world would be permanently altered—and Gorbachev's particular brand of politics would in no small part be the catalyst for such widespread change. With his policy "perestroika" (reform), Gorbachev captured Uranus's proclivity for progressive alteration and democratization, however—and arguably more importantly—with his strategy of "glasnost" (openness), Gorbachev helped to instill world politics of the 1990's with a particularly Neptunian cast. With glasnost, the Soviet Empire created an open door policy toward foreign nations and allowed candidness toward its citizens about the hidden corruption of the regime. The reform-minded Gorbachev would set a precedent for 1990's style politics where international alliances and cooperation would be the norm rather than the exception.

In 1986, Bill Gates, a small entrepreneur within the then-insular business world of computers, went public with his fledging corporation, Microsoft. A year later, Gates and Microsoft would unveil Windows^TM, an intuitive, user-friendly software system used for managing and navigating personal computers. The rest, as they say, is history. Not only would Gates and Microsoft become synonymous with the ultimate Uranian technology—personal computers—but Microsoft and Gates would be key players and innovators in the world of the ultimate Neptunian connecting fabric that sprawled over the globe—the world wide web.

From the perspective of the status quo of the mid-to-late 1980's, Gorbachev, Maclaine, and Gates were true representatives of the Uranus archetype: mavericks, oddities, and progressives to the point of being misunderstood. However, as the following years would unfold, it became clear how much all three would embody the Neptune archetype as well. Gorbachev's insight allowed him to see that the growing complexity and mounting tensions of Soviet era domination could not be tackled head on with force, aggression, or dominance. Like a martial artist who bends and moves with an oncoming assault, Gorbachev did not initiate revolution and reform as much as capitulate and yield to a system that was moving toward a higher order of redefinition. Maclaine's brand of New Age spirituality was founded on an interconnectivity with all things, which perhaps became the cornerstone of belief for the time period. Finally, Gates not only redirected Microsoft's direction into the world wide web but in no small part helped to redefine business culture with less emphasis on formal hierarchies and more interest in casualness and networks.