Last Thursday’s Scorpio Full Moon was a partial lunar eclipse conjunct Saturn. Saturn rules structures. Thursday was the 60th anniversary of the discovery of the structure of DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid, the nucleic acid that carries the genetic information in the cell. On April 25, 1953, James D. Watson and Francis Crick published a paper in Nature magazine, describing the double helix structure of DNA.

On the day of the publication an asteroid which became later named as 55555 DNA – then not yet discovered – was at 26+ degrees of Gemini in conjunction with Ceres, Orcus and Logos, aligned precisely with the Galactic Center in Sagittarius. The stellium of the aforementioned minor planets in Gemini was trine to James Watson’s natal Moon. The transiting Venus was exactly conjunct his Sun, which can be described as a transit of creativity. The transiting Mars-Jupiter conjunction in the late degrees of Taurus was conjunct Watson’s asteroid 55555 DNA.

The actual discovery of DNA structure had been made on February 28, 1953, on the day of the Full Moon. The luminaries were tightly squaring the yet to be discovered asteroid DNA. Asteroid DNA was in trine to the North node of the Moon. The transiting Uranus in the mid Cancer was exactly at James Watson’s descendant conjunct his Pluto. The transiting asteroid DNA was at Watson’s lunar North node.

In 1962 James Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins were jointly awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries concerning the structure of DNA. The award ceremony took place in Stockholm, Sweden, on December 10, 1962. The transiting asteroid DNA (still yet not discovered) was at Watson’s midheaven in Scorpio. The midheaven is the point which indicates a person’s career and public reputation.

It still took almost 40 years before the main belt asteroid 55555 DNA became discovered, on December 19, 2001. On that day the Sagittarius Sun, the lunar node axis and the Galactic Center were in perfect alignment. The North node in Gemini was conjoining asteroid DNA’s position at the time of the publishing of Watson’s and Crick’s paper in Nature magazine.

The discovery of the DNA structure started a new era in molecule biology and has enabled genetic modification. Earlier in this blog I have mentioned Paul Berg, who created the first recombinant DNA molecules. In Berg’s natal chart Saturn is in conjunction with asteroid DNA and a trans-Neptunian minor planet Teharonhiawako, named after a god of maize. Maize is probably the best known representative of genetically modified food.

Also in the lunar eclipse chart of last Thursday asteroid DNA and Teharonhiawako are in a close conjunction. The conjunction of these two minor bodies symbolizes the serious concerns regarding genetically modified food, such as health risks and environmental issues. A study has shown that rats fed with GM corn suffered tumors and died earlier than those on a standard diet.

There has not been much GM food on the market in Finland so far. According to the EU regulations, genetically engineered food must be labeled. But the law does not compel to inform on the milk package or in the meat package label, if the cow was fed by GM animal feeds. Accruals can end up in humans. Suomen Rehu, an important Finnish feed product provider, will receive its first shipment of GM feeds in May, and the first pigs and chickens fed by it will be on the consumers’ plates in June. In the natal chart of Finland, asteroid DNA; Ceres; and Teharonhiawako are located in Scorpio in the sixth house, the house of health related matters. The transiting North node of the Moon in the lunar eclipse chart was in exact conjunction to the minute with Finland’s asteroid DNA.

I read on Planet Waves that labeling of GM food has moved forward in U:S., when “The Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Act” was introduced last Wednesday by U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and U.S. Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR). That’s good news. We are entitled to know what is in the food package, and make a choice.

The Sun, Venus and Mars have moved from Pisces to Aries and have joined Uranus there. Planets in Aries are spontaneous and daring. Have you felt the energy shifting?

The Sun is in exact conjunction with Venus. Venus in Aries is enthusiastic, passionate and loves surprises, and Uranus is able to provide them for her. The Mars-Uranus conjunction can add explosiveness to the combination, so try to keep your calm, as emotions can run high at the time of the Full Moon in general. In addition Mars is strictly sextile to Jupiter (expansion) in Gemini, semisextile to Chiron (awareness) in Pisces and square to Pluto (transformation) in Capricorn.

The Libra Full Moon opposes the stellium of planets in Aries. The Moon in Libra is inclined to seek balance and harmony. It is diplomatic and able to consider different points of view.

Exciting relationships or surprising new projects may come into being now.

Happy Libra Full Moon!

The water sign Pisces is crowded with planets. In addition to the Sun and the Moon, there are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Chiron and Neptune. Venus is in conjunction with the New Moon. Neptune is the ruler of the sign. Venus is exalted in Pisces, which means that we can expect it to express its energies most purely now. Also the trans-Neptunian minor planet Salacia, named after Neptune’s wife, is in Pisces. Water is the symbol for emotions. Love, romance and compassion may be strongly present in your life.

There is another side in Pisces, the tendency for escapism and delusion. Borasisi, a trans-Neptunian minor planet, is also in Pisces, which emphasizes the theme. The name Borasisi comes from Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Cat’s Cradle, meaning the Sun in a fictional cosmogony of Bokononism. In the novel, the fictional religion of Bokononism is based on harmless untruths. One who believes those lies will have peace of mind and a happy life.

The sign of Sagittarius is square to Pisces. Sagittarius is packed with Centaur planets, and there are a couple of trans-Neptunians, too. These minor planets represent the shadow, something which we may fear, but which we have to deal with somehow, in order to get the healing process to start. Of these minor planets, Pholus is forming the tightest square to the New Moon. In mythology Centaur Pholus was the guardian of a jar of wine, which was communal property of the Centaurs. The jar was not supposed to be opened for four generations, but Pholus opened the jar for Heracles. Other Centaurs became intoxicated with the smell of wine, and a huge riot broke out. There is an ancestral theme related to Pholus.

Pisces represents the collective unconscious. You may find it difficult to recognize the boundaries between yourself and the rest of the world. Discerning the truth from lies, or knowing what belongs to you and what belongs to the others, may not be simple.

In Gemini, exactly opposite Pholus and square to the New Moon is Thereus, a Centaur planet, which offers help in the current confusion. Thereus is named after a fearless Centaur, who used to capture bears and carry them home, alive and struggling. I think Thereus is asking us to pause, to take a look inside ourselves, and not to be afraid of the dark stuff which we may encounter. The healing can begin after acknowledging the shadow.

The Moon was full in Virgo, the sign which is symbolized by a Virgin carrying a sheaf of corn. The Virgin represents purity. We connect the sign with the harvest time. The Sun in the opposite sign Pisces was in exact conjunction with the god of maize, Teharonhiawako. Magnifying Jupiter in Gemini was tightly in the midpoint squaring the luminaries.

Teharonhiawako is a binary Kuiper belt object with an orbital period of about 295 years. The name comes from Iroquois mythology. The large companion is named Sawiskera. The binary was discovered in 2001. The Iroquois call themselves the Haudenosaunee, which means “They Are Building a Long House.”

In the Haudenosaunee creation myth Teharonhiawako was a son of the granddaughter of the Great Spirit creation god. He became a farmer and was loved by the people. His cruel and destructive twin brother Sawiskera was a skilled hunter, and he was eventually conquered by his brother. The Haudenosaunee were a mix of farmers, fishers, gatherers and hunters, though their main diet came from farming. Corn was one of the main crops and considered as a special gift from the Creator.

Maize, or corn, has been grown thousands of years. It is the most widely grown grain crop throughout the Americas. More than 85% of the US maize crop and more than 30% of the world’s maize crop was genetically modified corn in 2011. Genetically modified crops are plants, the DNA of which has been altered using genetic engineering techniques.

In 1972 an American biochemist Paul Berg (born June 30, 1926) created the first recombinant DNA molecules. His pioneering work led to the development of modern genetic engineering. Paul Berg has a square aspect between his Saturn and Neptune. A square aspect creates action. Saturn represents structure and Neptune’s principle is to dissolve the structure. In triple-conjunction with his Saturn he has asteroid DNA and Teharonhiawako.

GM crops can benefit farmers and possibly help to grow bigger crops in developing countries, but there are also many serious concerns regarding the subject. Potentially GM foods pose a big health risk, and there are environmental concerns, too.

In the past days a so-called horse meat scandal has spread massively in Europe. DNA testing on meat products has been carried out. Horse meat is not dangerous. The issue is not the horse meat, but the faulty package labels. We are entitled to know what we eat, or what exactly is in the food package that we buy. We are entitled to know if there is horse meat in the lasagna, or genetically modified maize in the breakfast cereals. The positive outcome of the developing scandal hopefully is that tracking of the origins of our food becomes easier.

Lastly I want to mention a newly named Centaur planet, Orius, although it is a bit too early to say anything about the astrological meaning of it. In the Full Moon chart Orius is opposite Jupiter, forming a grand square pattern with the luminaries and Jupiter. The minor planet was named after the Centaur Orius, who lived in the mountains, and was killed by Heracles when he tried to steal the wine of Pholus. The body was discovered in 2009 and the naming took place about a month ago. The orbital period is almost 100 years, and its orbit crosses those of Uranus and Neptune.

The New Moon at 21+ degrees of Aquarius fell exactly square the lunar nodes on the Taurus-Scorpio axis. The luminaries aspected tightly several Centaur planets (Amycus, Bienor, Pholus and Thereus) and several orbit-crossing minor planets beyond Neptune as well (Eris, Haumea, Ixion and Sedna) at 20-22 degrees of the signs that they occupy.

When the Centaurs are present, we are dealing with the psychological term shadow. We all have a shadow, the rejected, irrational part of our psyche, which we tend to project into other people with feelings of anger and fear. The more these projections are unrecognized, the blacker and taller is the shadow. According to Carl Gustav Jung, the shadow may be in part one’s link to more primitive animal instincts, which are superseded during early childhood by the conscious mind.

Juan Revilla, one of the pioneering Centaur astrologers, has beautifully used a wolf as a metaphor of the astrological Centaurs. Quoting Juan: “The wolf is a part of ourselves that is socially feared and shunned. But he has great shamanic power. He is outcast and wounded, he can be both loving and fierce, he knows his ways amidst sheer emptiness and hunger, he lives in the solitude of far away and dangerous places. He is wilderness himself, inhospitable nature, like the dark forces of instinct inside of us, but he also incarnates the nobility and sacredness of the wild, and he may come to us with the wisdom of winter… as teacher and healer of our hunger and loneliness inside.”

Aquarius is known as the sign of equality and social grouping, among other things. The Sabian symbol for the New Moon is Aquarius 22: A rug is placed on the floor of a nursery to allow children to play in comfort and warmth. The symbol for the North node’s degree in Scorpio is talking about different kind of social activity: Hunters shooting wild ducks. Keynote: The socially accepted release of an individual’s or group’s aggressive instincts. Dane Rudhyar has clarified: “What this symbol clearly stresses is the socialization of man’s primitive instincts according to a cultural ritual. Social hunting is a regulated seasonal outlet for male aggressiveness – a safety valve for emotional pressures in human beings in whom animal compulsions and biospheric values are still strong.”

In Finland we are currently experiencing a fierce wolf hunt comparable to the one told by Nicholas Evans in The Loop. The book tells a story about a ranching town in Montana, where appearance of wolves reawaken an ancient hatred. It is a story about man’s fight against his own dark side.

The wolf is classified as a highly endangered species in Finland. In recent years our small wolf population has collapsed because of poaching. When in 2006 there were about 300 wolves in our forests, the current figure is about 150. An unusually ugly case emerged just recently in Perho. Three wolves out of a pack of five were shot dead. The Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute had been planning to equip the herd with tracking collars this spring. The illegal hunt had been well planned, and one of the poachers was in a high post in the local game preservation society.

The wolf-hatred is incomprehensible, as they have not attacked humans. Erkki Pulliainen, popularly known as “Susi” (“Wolf”) Pulliainen, a Finnish biologist and an expert on wolves, said a couple of days ago, that the debate on the evilness of the wolf has reached the point, where it may turn to an advantage for wolves.

Nicholas Evans – who has his natal Sun opposing a conjunction of Pholus and 1992 QB1 in his birth chart, by the way – has described The Loop: “It’s about a pack of wolves returning to a place where they had been cruelly hunted to extinction and how their return sets aflame old hatreds. In a way it’s a fable about racism: how ignorance brees fear and hatred and, ultimately, violence.” It is not surprising that lately in the Finnish news one of the hot topics besides the poaching has been racism in Finland.

The lunar nodes are the points in which the Moon’s orbit around the Earth intersects the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun around the Earth. Thus the nodes involve all three bodies. The South node deals with the past and the matters that are familiar to us, and which we find hard to let go of. The North node shows the direction which we should strive for.

The Moon symbolizes our instincts and emotions; the Sun is the symbol of the ego. The lights were squaring the lunar nodes at the New Moon. Melanie Reinhart calls the points square the nodes as the “balance points”. The New Moon in Aquarius marks the moment in time in which we can let the Centaurs begin to do their healing job and start acknowledging our shadow.

The Moon was full at 7+ degrees Leo in the early morning of 27 Jan 2013. The chart suggests that in order to serve our community or friends, or the group we identify with, we should adjust our own needs to those of the group. We get the help that we need, or we can aid others. If we follow our conscience, major emotional healing can occur.

The Full Moon is an opposition of the Sun and the Moon. An opposition aspect indicates contradiction, confrontation, and polarity. The Sun represents the ego; the Moon is the indicator of our needs. The sign of Leo is typically associated with pride, ambitiousness and a need for recognition, but also with warm generosity. The ruler of Leo is the Sun, which is now in the opposite sign, Aquarius. The Sun is not so self-centered as usual in Aquarius, where cooperation and group effort thrive.

In conjunction with the Moon in Leo are two asteroids, Circe and Askalaphus. The main-belt asteroid Circe is named after the Greek minor goddess of magic, who had vast knowledge of drugs and herbs. According to Martha Lang-Wescott, Circe desires to help, and perceives itself as a facilitator. Asteroid Circe has astrological affinities with planet Jupiter. A Jupiter trojan asteroid Askalaphus is named after a mythical person related to Trojan war, but astrologically this asteroid is often associated with matters of health and healing.

The Leo Moon is in quincunx to Chiron in Pisces. Both the aspect and Chiron have associations with the sign of Virgo. A quincunx refers to the need to adjust something that the planets in question represent. In this case the aspect is a departing quincunx, because the faster moving planet, the Moon, is moving towards the opposition to Chiron. A departing quincunx corresponds to Virgo, the modest sign concerned with service. The sign of Virgo is also associated with health, herbs and healing. Chiron has sometimes been proposed as the ruler of Virgo.

Two main-belt asteroids in Aquarius tightly conjunct the Sun are guiding us to the right and the good, namely Nemesis and Conscience. In Greek mythology, Nemesis was the goddess of divine retribution, but originally the word Nemesis meant the distributor of fortune, neither good nor bad, simply in due proportion to each according to what was deserved. According to astrologer Demetra George, asteroid Nemesis symbolizes our conscience.

Asteroid Conscience is named after Hendrik Conscience, a Belgian writer who lived in the 19th century, so the name of the asteroid is not referring to human conscience. Sometimes the names that are given to asteroids work astrologically very well, although they are chosen quite arbitrarily to honor for example historical figures, scientists, family members or geographical places. Out of curiosity, I researched people who have natally their Sun conjunct asteroid Conscience.

Karen Silkwood was a chemical technician, who worked at the Kerr-McGee Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Site plant making plutonium pellets for nuclear reactor fuel rods. She became labor union activist and discovered numerous violations of health regulations, including exposure of workers to contamination. She died in a suspicious car accident in 1974 just after she had decided to go public with her evidence, and arranged a meeting with a journalist, who was interested in her story. No doubt Karen Silkwood’s decisions were guided by her conscience. In her birth chart asteroid Conscience is exactly conjunct her Sun. The position of her natal asteroid Nemesis at 7+ degrees Gemini is also the discovery degree of asteroid Nemesis.

Another Conscience incarnation is Dave Matthews, the South-African born musician and singer-songwriter, who moved to New York in 1986 to avoid service in the South African military. He is a pacifist. Matthew’s strong social conscience is evident in his lyrics and also in his personal life. He has also Mercury conjunct the strict Sun-Conscience conjunction in Capricorn.

Through the film Schindler’s List by Steven Spielberg many of us know the story of Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist, who saved over 1,200 Jews from death in the gas chambers during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories. Oskar Schindler has a triple-conjunction of Venus, Pluto and Conscience in Gemini. His asteroid Nemesis in Pisces is sextile to his Sun and trine to his North node.

Mohammad Ali, the former heavyweight championship boxer, was born with asteroid Nemesis near his Leo ascendant, opposite his Moon, conjunct Chiron, and sextile to his Jupiter. His asteroid Conscience is at the Galactic Center. Ali converted to Islam in 1964, and refused to take part in the Vietnam War. As a result, his boxing license was suspended and his title was stripped him of. He was not able to box in any state for over three years. Ali has said: “No, I am not going 10,000 miles to help murder, kill, and burn other people to simply help continue the domination of white slave masters over dark people the world over. This is the day and age when such evil injustice must come to an end.”

Aung San Suu Kyi, Nelson Mandela and Veikko Hursti have natal asteroid Nemesis in close conjunction with their Venus. Suu Kyi and Mandela are well known for their exceptional leadership in the fight to promote human rights and human conscience. Suu Kyi’s asteroid Conscience in Scorpio is opposed by her Venus-Nemesis conjunction in Taurus. Mandela’s Venus-Nemesis conjunction in Gemini is on his South lunar node, opposite the Galactic Center.

Veikko Hursti was a well-known Finnish social activist, who over 40 years helped poor, homeless and those who suffered from hunger. After a spiritual awakening he devoted his life to charitable work. Hursti’s Venus-Nemesis conjunction in Libra is opposing his Ceres in Aries and squaring his asteroid Conscience in Capricorn.

The first New Moon of the year – the conjunction of the Sun and the Moon — took place in Capricorn and formed an exact square to two potent minor planets in Aries, Eris and Bienor.

The square aspect calls attention. The planets involved in the aspect represent something that one has to deal with. The outcome may be uncertain, and uncertainty usually brings fear, but if you make a serious effort, you may get an opportunity to reach new ground. Squares are aspects of growth. This symbolism is emphasized by the nature of Centaur planet Bienor.

Bienor was discovered in 2000 and named after one of the mythological Centaurs. Its orbit lies between Saturn and Uranus, and crosses that of Uranus.

Bienor’s name means a strong one. In the myth Bienor attended the Lapith king Pirithous’ wedding with other Centaurs. There was a fight, in which many of the Centaurs including Bienor were killed. Bienor’s death is unique and resembles to me of taming of a wild horse, an act which may be frightening for both parties. Ovid describes the killing of Bienor in Metamorphoses: “He [Theseus] leaps upon the back of tall Bienor, never trained to carry riders, and he fixed his knees firm in the centaur’s ribs, and holding tight to the long hair, seized by his left hand, struck and shattered the hard features and fierce face and bony temples with his club of gnarled strong oak.”

Eric Francis has phrased the astrological meaning of Bienor like this: “The death of a Centaur symbolizes transformation and healing and offers us a possibility to move to another level of awareness. In this case, we have a fitting metaphor for the idea of transforming that human quality known as strength. In short, do we put our strength to work for us, or against us?”

PJ Harvey (born Oct 9, 1969, Bridport, UK) is an English musician and singer-songwriter born with an exact Sun-Bienor conjunction in Libra, and in addition the magnifying Jupiter is tightly next to them. Dark Centaur energy comes strongly through in her songs. Harvey is always challenging herself and trying to cover new ground in her music. The Bienor energy crystalizes in her words:

“…it’s always my first goal, not to repeat, and to press myself and challenge myself, and to do things that scare me, that I think I can’t do.”

In another interview she said: “I was just looking for something that was new, something to excite me because it was new, because it was unknown, because it was frightening.”

The energy of Bienor can be mind-opening, or lead to expansion of your circumstances. One of the historical moments colored with Bienor was when Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the top of Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth in 1953.

Sir Edmund Hillary’s (born Jul 20, 1919, Papakura, New Zealand) natal Bienor is in the persistent sign of Capricorn trine to his Venus (his values). At the time of the conquest of the mountain (May 29, 1953, 11:30 IST, Mount Everest, Nepal), the Sun was in conjunction with Jupiter and Bienor in Gemini. There had been a Full Moon in the adventurous sign of Sagittarius on the day before the last climb, and the Moon was still opposing Bienor when they reached the top. The transiting Bienor was in exact quincunx to Hillary’s natal Bienor. His autobiography is entitled “Nothing Venture, Nothing Win.”

Bienor was present also when Rosa Parks (born Feb 4, 1913) boarded the bus in Montgomery in 1955 and refused to obey the bus driver’s order to give up her seat to a white passenger. Her arrest led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which lasted 381 days, until the city allowed black bus passengers to sit virtually anywhere they wanted. Rosa Parks’ act and the Montgomery Bus Boycott became important symbols of the modern civil rights movement.

Rosa Park’s natal Sun in Aquarius sextiles her Bienor in Sagittarius. The time for her boarding the bus is known (Dec 1, 1955, around 6 p.m., Montgomery, Alabama). At that time Bienor was rising on the ascendant. The transiting North node (the future oriented node) was in Sagittarius conjunct her natal Bienor.

***

“Horses in my dreams
Like waves, like the sea
They pull out of here
They pull, they are free

Rode a horse around the world
Along the tracks of a train
Broke the record, found the gold
Set myself free again

I have pulled myself clear

Horses in my dreams
Like waves, like the sea
On the tracks of a train
Set myself free again

I have pulled myself clear”
- PJ Harvey

The Sagittarius New Moon was on Thursday. There is a prominent yod pattern in the chart, formed by Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto. Saturn is sextile to Pluto, and retrograding Jupiter is the apex of this yod, forming quincunx aspects (150 degrees) to both Saturn and Pluto. The ruler of Sagittarius, the current New Moon’s sign, is Jupiter, which forms the focal point of the yod. This yod will still be valid in the Winter Solstice chart on Dec. 21 and also in the Full Moon chart on Dec 28.

Quincunxes may feel annoying and stressful. This feeling is perhaps signaling that everything is not as it should be. Bernadette Brady writes in Predictive Astrology, that “the quincunx wants to move you into a new situation whether you are ready for it or not. Sometimes this is very stressful; at other times it may be joyful.” To ease the stress, you could make some adjustments, and to be able to do the right kind of adjustments, you first need to understand your present situation and what needs to be changed. We humans seldom manage to do everything perfectly, but even small adjustments can make a difference. Striving for the goal may pay off now.

Sagittarius is an adventurous, enthusiastic and future-oriented fire sign. Exploration and long-distance travel are connected to this sign. Faith, trust, joy and optimism are attributes commonly associated with it.

Jupiter stands for expansion, growth, opportunity, support and faith. Saturn stands for grounding, structures, limits and fear. Jupiter and Saturn are called the social planets. They mediate between the so-called personal planets (the luminaries, Mercury, Venus and Mars) and the collective planets (Uranus, Neptune and Pluto), and connect our personal life to the wider world. Jupiter and Saturn represent opposite principles. We need both of them.

Pluto is known as the planet of renewal, the great transformer. It operates deep in the shadows. Just as the physical planet Pluto cannot be seen without technical equipment, the matters it deals with tend to be hidden in our consciousness.

So, the challenge of the moment is to make these energies represented in the yod work constructively for your goal, whatever that may be. The retrograde movement of Jupiter gives a clue that integrating something from the past might be beneficial for the task.

When considering the nature of the quincunx aspect, it is worthwhile to determine if the aspect is approaching or departing. On which side of an opposition the quincunx takes place, matters. Jupiter, the faster moving planet, is moving towards the opposition to Pluto, away from the conjunction which has already taken place in the past. This is a departing quincunx, which corresponds to the sign Virgo and the sixth house. For a while, dedicate yourself to practical work, remember to take care of your health though, and pay attention to details. There is a strong Mercury connection, because Jupiter is now in Gemini, the other Mercury ruled sign besides Virgo.

The aspect between Jupiter and Saturn is an approaching quincunx. The opposition has already taken place, and now Jupiter is moving toward the conjunction with Saturn. The approaching quincunx corresponds to Scorpio and the eighth house matters. Saturn is in Scorpio, which emphasizes the need for renewal, even if it causes a bit of pain. Perhaps opening up a little bit with others is what is needed. In Minor Aspects, Frances Sakoian and Louis Acker say about the approaching quincunx:

“It is often associated with death of old conditions and birth of new ones on some level of expression. To achieve this successfully, it is essential to learn the lesson of proper recycling of the waste products of the old as a useful part of the new expression. …These waste products can also be mental, emotional or physical in their nature.”

An apt image for this New Moon is Voyager 1 on the edge of our solar system heading to the stars, the news which was widely reported just recently.

Image by NASA

Voyager 1 is one of two space probes launched in 1977 to explore the outer planets in our solar system. On board is a recording of music and voices, greetings from Earth. A favorable alignment of the planets allowed the probes to reach the outer solar system by means of the new gravity assist technique. A slingshot maneuver around a planet was used to adjust the probe’s trajectory and speed relative to the Sun. Voyager 1 flew past Jupiter and Saturn, made new discoveries, and sent detailed pictures of the giants to us.

When the primary mission was over and Voyager 1 was speeding out of the solar system, it was still operational, so the scientists gave it a new one, an interstellar mission. At the moment Voyager 1 is the farthest manmade object ever sent from Earth, still receiving commands and transmitting information to Earth. It is near a new breakthrough in the heliosheath, the last boundary before interstellar space. It has reached a “magnetic highway” where the Sun’s magnetic field connects to the magnetic field of interstellar space. Voyager 1 keeps moving forward in a region unlike anything any manmade machine has entered before, until it exits from our solar system. It has enough power to continue the adventure into the future and keep communicating with Earth until 2020, possibly longer.

As my friend and editor Chad Townsend expressed it, the lesson of the quincunx is to adjust (Virgo) to where you end up and make the most of what you are given (acceptance).

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The news about the tragedy in Connecticut reached me while I was writing the blog. I would like to express my sincere condolences for the community of Newtown.

Our deepest desires and anxieties appear in our dreams masked in symbols. A Full Moon has a tendency to stir emotions. Some of us find it difficult to get sleep at the time of a Full Moon. The Full Moon in Gemini was a lunar eclipse on the south node of the Moon, which may heighten the possibility that fears and insecurities arise from the unconscious. The aspect pattern of the eclipse chart shows that overcoming these anxieties will require some conscious adjustments, and one’s success in this work is perhaps best achieved through cooperation in a group or a collective.

The Gemini Full Moon formed a quincunx (150 degrees) to Venus-Saturn conjunction in Scorpio and another quincunx to Mars-Pluto conjunction in Capricorn. This aspect pattern is called a yod. The signs involved represent different modes and elements. This is why quincunxes may make us feel stressed and uncomfortable. In addition, Chiron from Pisces was square to the luminaries.

In the focal point of the yod pattern was the eclipsed Moon. The Moon moves swift and the pattern dissolved quickly, so is the effect only momentary? The eclipse degree remains potent for a long time, sometimes for years. Also, the current eclipse fell in conjunction with Altjira, an interesting Kuiper belt object which moves real slow. The orbital period of this binary is almost 300 years.

In Australian Aboriginal mythology, Altjira is the sky god of the Arrernte. He created the Earth, then retired to the sky and remained there. Altjira was the central god of a sacred era called the Dreamtime. The Aboriginal people believe that every person essentially exists eternally in the Dreaming. For unknown reasons, Altjira had emu’s feet. A surreal figure like him might appear in a dream.

Dreams belong to the dominion of Neptune. My research for this blog also indicated that Altjira has something to do with sleep and dreaming.

Altjira was discovered in 2001. In the discovery chart of Altjira, asteroid 14827 Hypnos, named after the personification of sleep in Greek mythology, is in the same degree with Jupiter, in contact with Jupiter’s magnifying effect.

The Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud, the founding father of psychoanalysis, wrote extensively about dream theories and interpretations. He also used hypnosis, which is a sleep-like state, in his work. He has Altjira on his ascendant in Scorpio. Probably the best known of the many books he published is The Interpretation of Dreams (1899), his own personal favorite.

Carl Gustav Jung, a Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist, became acquainted with Freud’s work through The Interpretation of Dreams. Such concepts as the archetype, the collective unconscious, and synchronicity are created by Jung. Jung was a productive writer himself. His autobiography is titled Memories, Dreams, and Reflections. Jung’s Altjira is conjunct his midheaven in Sagittarius and trine his Sun.

In Finland in 2009 the swine flu vaccine caused narcolepsy in children and youngsters age 4 – 19. Narcolepsy is a rare sleep disorder that causes a person to fall asleep suddenly and unexpectedly. Narcolepsy is a disease with lifetime consequences. The condition has a strong genetic linkage. The mass vaccination of this particular age group started in the beginning of the week 48. At that time the Sun had just opposed Altjira in early Gemini. Mercury, representing children and youngsters, was tightly aligned with the Pholus-Chaos opposition. Pholus is associated with toxins –in this case the medicine had become toxic. Mars (sharp objects like needles) was opposing Nessus, which also has a connection to toxics. Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune were in triple-conjunction. Asteroid DNA and 14827 Hypnos were in quincunx, and they also aspected many of the aforementioned planets.

In recent years sleeping disorders have become a growing health problem around the world. People use more and more pills, which in turn can cause other problems. Could insomnia have a link with Altjira’s current journey in the mutable air sign Gemini? The energy in this sign can be nervous. In The Contemporary Astrologer’s Handbook Sue Tompkins says about planets in Gemini: “Gemini lightens up – seems to almost add air – to any planet found in the sign. The qualities of the given planet will not only seem to become lighter and less serious but also more scattered and difficult to get hold of.”

Gemini is a social sign concerned with gathering and sharing information. A method of social dreaming has become widely used in many countries in recent years. It is a form of enquiry into social phenomena through the use of dreams. The purpose is not to interpret the dream, or focus on the dreamer’s personality, but through free association to think afresh and help people to understand different points of view.

Social dreaming takes place with many participants simultaneously. People come together to share their dreams. A person is needed to voice a dream. The dream comes from the individual but once it is voiced, it ceases to be a personal property and becomes a shared object available for the social unconscious that we all share. In the context of social dreaming the terms finite and infinite are proposed to be used instead of the terms conscious and the unconscious. In the process of social dreaming, something grows and develops, and new knowledge is gained.

The Scorpio New Moon on Nov 13 was a powerful total solar eclipse. Eclipses can be stressful, but they offer us a moment to pause, to notice the matter which calls our attention, and to choose a new path if necessary. In Finland we are experiencing the Scorpio eclipse at full force. We are in the midst of the worst environmental crisis in our history.

Often the energy of an eclipse can be felt before the actual event. On Nov 4 a waste water pool at the Talvivaara mine in Northern Finland started to leak and spill out poisonous water at a speed of 5000 – 6000 cubic meters an hour. The mining company’s attempts to block the leak failed and the waste water pool drained empty. Part of the contaminated water gushed right away out of the mine area and continued into nearby rivers and lakes. Part of it ended up in emergency pools, but the emergency pools lack bottom structures, so the water which contains toxic heavy metals, chemicals and uranium will eventually soak through the soil into groundwater.

The Talvivaara mine is one of the largest nickel mines in Europe. Talvivaara applies a new method, bioleaching, to extract the metals from ore. The production started in 2008 and the short history of the mine is full of problems. Finally, a couple of weeks ago the situation got totally out of control.

The eclipsing Moon on Nov 13 was at its perigee, which means that it was closest in its orbit to the Earth. The eclipse was forming a semi-square aspect (45 degrees) to Pluto, the ruler of Scorpio. Mining, toxins and pollution belong to the dominion of Pluto. Uranus is square to Pluto. The Uranus-Pluto square has been called the 2012 aspect. Uranus governs modern technology and metallic element uranium. It is associated with sudden events and breaks. The transiting Uranus is in exact square to Finland’s natal Pluto at 4+ degrees Cancer (Finland, Dec 6, 1917).

Neptune stationed direct just before the eclipse and in the chart it is in conjunction with the stationary Chiron. The energy of stationary planets is concentrated and powerful. Leaking and absorption belong in the rule of Neptune. Chiron raises awareness. Saturn in Scorpio is in aspect with Uranus, Chiron and Neptune. Saturn represents boundaries and structures. Besides the aforementioned square from the transiting Uranus, Finland’s Pluto in Cancer received transits from Saturn, Chiron and Neptune, too.

The eclipse is square to Nessus in Aquarius. Nessus speaks of the abuse of power. It has correspondence with poisons and sometimes with eczema. The local residents near Talvivaara mine have suffered from itching and skin symptoms for some time. In recent years the transiting Nessus has been hovering over the natal Uranus of Finland at 20+ degrees of Aquarius. On Nov 4, the day when the leaking started, Nessus stationed and turned direct.

The solar eclipse took place in conjunction with a plutino called Huya. The eclipse chart’s Huya forms a sesquiquadrate aspect (135 degrees) to Finland’s Pluto.

Semi-squares and sesquiquadrates are minor aspects, but there is no reason to overlook them. Just keep in mind when working with them that the orb has to be tight. Semi-squares and sesquiquadrates are irritating and frustrating in nature and they require practical action. They belong to the same aspect family with squares and oppositions.

At the time of its discovery in March 2000, Huya was the biggest and brightest trans-Neptunian object found since Pluto. Like Pluto, Huya spends part of its orbit closer to the Sun than Neptune. It is currently inside the orbit of Neptune and will come to perihelion in 2015.

Huya is named after the rain god of the indigenous Wayuu people of Colombia and Venezuela. In Wayuu mythology Pulowi and Juya, a married deity couple is associated with procreation and life. Juya is a male, a wanderer, a hunter, a warrior, and a seducer. He is a master of rain, and he lives in a distant place beyond the Sun. The Wayuu inhabit the arid Guajira Peninsula. The lack of water is a huge problem there.

The Wayuu have had to deal with problems caused by the coal mining industry. Their environment has been polluted and they suffer from health problems. They are forced to relocate and leave their ancestral land. In the coastal area the Wayuu people for their part have practiced artisanal sea salt mining for centuries. In recent years there has been struggle between the Wayuu and the government that has industrialized the salt production.

The Wayuu believe that the life cycle doesn’t end with death, but that a relationship with one’s bones continues. Burials are important. According to their tradition, a few years after the first burial, a woman gathers the bones of the deceased and cleans them. Then the remains are buried again. Long-dead Wayuu are believed to return on the Earth in the form of rain, which assures the rejuvenation of vegetation and life.

The traditional Wayuu style of living seems to be on a collision course with the changes caused by modern technologies. A Wayuu leader Jorge Montiel has said: “We will not be removed from the lands where our ancestors are buried. We are defending the animals, the forests and the water. This planet can’t withstand any more contamination. What good is all this wealth from oil and coal if we are dying of diseases and misery?”

The astrological meaning of Huya seems to tell something about the interaction between a man and the nature and about the consequences of our actions on the environment.

One more minor aspect is worth mentioning. There is a decile (36 degrees) between the eclipse and the Galactic Center. A decile belongs to the same aspect family with quintiles, and these aspects are found in the pentagram pattern. F. Sakoian and L. Acker write about this aspect group: “One of the abilities unique to this family of aspects is the capacity to understand the inner relation between seemingly isolated sets of circumstances.” About decile they say: “The division of the circle by ten suggests the number ‘1’ since ten reduces to one by adding its digits – ‘1’ is the number associated with will power, action and new beginnings.”

Centaur planet Echeclus is conjoining the Galactic Center at the moment. Echeclus was discovered in 2000 and initially classified as a minor planet. In December 2005, a cometary coma was detected around it. After the cometary outburst it was given a double designation as a centaur and a comet and renamed 174P/Echeclus. There was another outburst in 2011. Like Huya, also Echeclus comes to perihelion in 2015.

In Greek mythology centaur Echeclus was killed in a fight between the Centaurs and the Lapiths. He was hit in the face with a lance that lacked its point. Eric Francis has delineated: “It has a tendency to break apart and explode. It’s a comet-like centaur, with a 35 year orbit. The name is associated with gluten. Echeclus was killed by being hit in the face with a spear. I take this as losing face, or having one’s identity shattered. So there is something here about how we finally no longer identify with what is wrong with us, but this can only happen after we identify with it for a while.”

The mining company and the Kainuu ELY Centre (centre for economic development, transport and the environment) certainly have lost their face. Regulations have been broken, there has been deficiency in control, and authorities did not intervene fast enough. The Finnish government has been inept in handling the situation.

The police have started a preliminary investigation concerning the leak. The Talvivaara mine is under suspicion for an environmental crime. There is also a need for amendments to legislation. A massive clean-up needs to be done. A danger for the last safety bank to fail is hanging in the air. Protests have been held and people are demanding the closure of the mine.

Disasters like the one we are currently facing in Finland happen everywhere on the Earth. We have reached the point where we have to recognize our personal responsibility for the pollution and take action for the future of this planet. Australia has just set a good example by creating the world’s largest network of marine reserves, protecting oceans around its coast. The Earth needs our protection.