The Full Moon showed up in the Neptunian haze. Pisces is a dual sign. The glyph of this water sign depicts two fish tied together swimming in opposite directions. The Full Moon conjoined Neptune and Chiron, thus soaking up their energies, which strengthened the inherent feeling of sensitivity and vulnerability of the Pisces Moon. Orcus, a minor planet in Pluto’s class, was opposite the Moon and emphasized the theme of duality in the chart.

The Moon at 1+ degrees of Pisces occupies the same degree with one of the largest dwarf planet candidates, 2007 OR10. This Kuiper belt object has been nicknamed Snow White. This object has not been officially named, as the discoverers want to learn more about the planet before proposing a real name for it. Also the astrologers need to study the planet carefully before they can establish the astrological meaning of it. More about this relatively new discovery in my blog post from November 2009.

A Full Moon takes places once a month when the Sun and the Moon are opposing one another. The Virgo Sun shared its degree with asteroid Sphinx, centaur Elatus and trans-Neptunian Orcus. The Sun is still in close conjunction with these three bodies.

In Virgo we are analyzing information, concentrating on details, and striving for perfection. Asteroid Sphinx represents a great mystery. In the chart it can refer to missing information or lack of understanding. Sphinx in Virgo may feel nerve-racking. A little bit of Piscean compassion will help.

Chiron and Elatus are both Centaur planets traveling in space between Saturn (limitations) and Uranus (freedom) and symbolically bridging the conflicting meaning of these giants. Saturn and Uranus have recently made their last opposition in the current series of five. Chiron and Elatus will continue their long ongoing opposition till 2015. Astrologer Len Wallick elaborates further on the opposition of Elatus and Chiron on the Full Moon axis on Planet Waves Daily Astrology blog.

The Kuiper belt object Orcus shares some fascinating similarities with Pluto. Their orbits are nearly identical. Both are locked in 3:2 resonance with Neptune, making two revolutions around the Sun, while Neptune makes three. Both have perihelia above the ecliptic, but their orbits point in nearly opposite directions. Pluto and Orcus will always stay in opposite phases of their orbits because they are forced by Neptune to have precisely the same orbital period.

Mike Brown, whose team discovered Orcus in 2004, calls Orcus the anti-Pluto. It is named after a god of the dead in Etruscan and Roman mythology. Orcus was a punisher of broken oaths and portrayed as a hairy, bearded giant. Like the name Hades, or the Norse Hel, Orcus could also mean the land of the dead.

Orcus is actually a binary system. The big and bright companion is named Vanth after a daimon in Etruscan mythology who guided the dead to the underworld. She was depicted with wings and a torch, and frequently shown in the presence of Charun, a guard of the underworld.

A true binary planet is a pair of worlds that usually are similar in mass. Each orbits the other around a gravitational balance point in space between the two. This center of mass, also called the barycentre, is not located within the interior of either object. Orcus and Vanth are probably tidally locked, which means that they have their same faces locked towards each other constantly, just like Pluto and Charon.

Orcus and Vanth form an unusual system in the Kuiper belt. It seems to be some kind of intermediate, which offers always two possibilities or choices. The origin of the companion is uncertain. Two scenarios appear equally plausible for explaining the formation of this binary: a giant impact or by capture. While most large Kuiper belt objects like Orcus have small satellites, and smaller objects and their satellites tend to be much closer in size, Orcus sits in the middle. Orcus is one of the larges objects in the Kuiper belt with a relatively large companion.

Astrologically Orcus can be associated either with the underworld or with orca whales, sometimes called killer whales. Killer whales despite their name are not a threat to humans, and actually they are not really whales but dolphins.

Mercury, the ruler of Virgo, is currently retrograding in its own sign. This can add confusion and misunderstandings. Be extra careful if you are making important decisions now. Check the facts and the missing bits.

References:

Martha Lang-Wescott, Treehouse Mountain

Mike Brown’s Planets, S/1 90482 (2005) needs your help

Brown, M. E.; Ragozzine, D.; Stansberry, J.; Fraser, W. C.; The size, density, and formation of the Orcus-Vanth system in the Kuiper belt

The New Moon starts the monthly lunation cycle. At the time of the exact conjunction of the Sun and the Moon, the Moon is invisible from the Earth. The conjunction occurs in the middle of the Dark Moon period, which lasts about 3 days.

The dark phase of the lunar cycle is personified by various dark goddesses, which symbolize the feminine shadow. Two of these goddesses, Nyx, the queen of night, and Nemesis, one of her daughters, were present at the Leo New Moon: asteroids 3908 Nyx and128 Nemesis were in conjunction with the luminaries. They are still in focus, closely conjunct the Sun.

Asteroid 128 Nemesis is a very large and dark main belt asteroid, discovered in 1872. Asteroid 3908 Nyx was discovered in 1980. It is 1-2 km in diameter and it may be a fragment of the asteroid Vesta.

In all astrological cycles, there is the last, dark phase preceding the beginning of a new cycle, new growth. The dark period is for healing and renewal, and we all have many of these periods during our lifetime. These are times when we may experience a loss, an ending of a relationship, or some other kind of change in our personal lives. We tend to fear the unknown, but still we have to let go of the old in order to start something new.

A threefold lunar cycle consists of three phases: the waxing New Moon, the Full Moon and the waning Dark Moon. These phases symbolize the three stages of womanhood: maiden, mother and crone (the wise woman). The dark phase before the New Moon represents the crone.

The Dark Moon also represents the Jungian shadow, the rejected part of the psyche. We all have a shadow, which we tend to project into other people, and the more these projections are unrecognized, the blacker and denser the shadow grows. The shadow is the messenger of our unconscious mind.

The underworld of the ancients is a metaphor for the unconscious. The dark goddesses were all queens of the underworld. If we acknowledge our inner dark goddesses and are able to develop a compassionate relationship with our shadow, the healing and renewal can occur.

Nyx, Mother Night, was a figure of exceptional power and beauty. She was one of the Greek primordial gods. This group of gods represents various elements of nature, and they were born of Chaos. Nyx took on an even more important role in several poems attributed to Orpheus. In them, Nyx, rather than Chaos, was the first principle.

Nyx was was the black-winged goddess of the night. According to the myth, she laid a silver egg out of which the world is born, in the lap of the infinite deeps of darkness. In her triple aspect, Nyx displayed herself as Night, Order and Justice. The Fates, the Furies, the Hesperides, Nemesis, and sometimes Hekate were said to be her daughters. The task of the daughters was to ensure that the natural laws of the universe were carried out and maintained.

Nemesis, the daugher of Nyx, was the goddess of retribution. She was depicted with a wheel of fortune in one hand and an apple bough in the other. Nemesis symbolizes our conscience and guides us towards right action. When we pay honor to this goddess, then she resides within us as a wise, kindly influence. If we don’t pay attention to her, then we have to deal with the consequences.

Quoting Demetra George: “Nyx, Goddess of Night, teaches us that we are, at our most fundamental level, all part of the same whole. Her daughter Nemesis then guides us toward respecting others as extensions of ourselves through right action with the natural laws of an orderly universe.”

References:

Demetra George, Mysteries of the Dark Moon, HarperCollins Publishers, 1992

Demetra George, Finding our Way Through the Dark, ACS Publications, 1995

Wikipedia, Triple Goddess (Neopaganism)

Wikipedia, Protogenoi

During the Full Moon, the Sun and the Moon are opposite each other, face to face. The Moon is fully lit by the Sun, and in the reflected light we are able to see things clearly. Ideas which originated on the previous New Moon have matured, and now they can be carried out.

Oppositions have much to do with relationships. The aspect brings us awareness, but there is also a challenge involved how to integrate the confronting energies. An opposition calls for compromise.

The Cancer New Moon two weeks ago was also a powerful solar eclipse. The Moon was in conjunction with Juno, drawing our attention to relationship issues. Relationship concerns are still in focus, indicated by asteroid Cupido in conjunction with the Full Moon. Now we are able to look at things more objectively though. The Moon in Aquarius is sociable, but it tends to be emotionally detached, cool and rational.

In Roman mythology, Cupid was the god of erotic love and beauty. He was the equivalent of the Greek Eros. The story of Cupid and Psyche can be understood as describing the process of psychological integration. The Moon and asteroid Cupido are trine to asteroid Psyche in Gemini. Astrologically Psyche represents a psychological wound from which one hasn’t recovered.

The healing planet Chiron has re-entered Aquarius due to its current retrograde motion. According to Martha Lang-Wescott, retrograding Chiron implies a struggle between living up to parental / societal / conventional expectations and values, or seeking to live the life what feels right.

The ruling planets of Aquarius, Saturn (ancient) and Uranus (modern) are opposing each other tightly. Saturn changed signs about a week ago and is now in its exaltation in Libra, the sign concerned with relationships. Both planets are forming soft, harmonious aspects to the Moon.

In close conjunction with Saturn we find asteroid Panacea, another minor planet associated with healing. A panacea means a remedy for all diseases, evils, or difficulties. It was sought by the alchemists as an elixir of life and the philosopher’s stone, the legendary alchemical substance which would enable the transmutation of lead into gold. In the chart, asteroid Panacea suggests what you believe it takes to find solutions. She represents cures for all kinds of problems, not just those related to health.

Is it realistic to assume that we can find a cure for everything? Maybe not, but at least the conjunction with Saturn is a reliable, responsible factor. This is an appropriate time for aiming at solutions.

References:

Treehouse Mountain, Astrological Keywords: Asteroids

Wikipedia, Cupid and Psyche

Martha Lang-Wescott, Mechanics of the Future: Asteroids, Treehouse Mountain, 1996

Wikipedia, Panacea

Wikipedia, Panacea (medicine)

The New Moon in Cancer is a total solar eclipse, the second of the eclipses of this season. Two weeks ago we experienced a lunar eclipse conjunct Pluto. The intense cross alignment formed by the slow-moving planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Pluto, gives extraordinary potentiality to these two eclipses.

The Moon in Cancer has a tendency to play safe. The eclipse takes place at the South node of the Moon. The South node represents the past, the familiar territory of life, and the things which we may want to cling to. This creates some amount of resistance to change. Nonetheless, the current sky urges to try something new.

Eclipses are powerful transition points which offer us a chance to move stuck energy and take a new approach in life. The sextile between the New Moon and Mars helps the start-up. The eclipse falls in conjunction with Juno and Varuna indicating a revaluation of our relationships. Profound honesty is required for a functional outcome.

In mythology, Juno was the patroness of marriage. She was the loyal and jealous wife of Jupiter and the mother of Mars. Asteroid Juno represents committed and meaningful relationships. It can symbolize the rewards and fulfilment that they offer, but it can be an indicator of possessiveness, jealousy and power struggles as well.

Varuna, a potential dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, was discovered nearly ten years ago. The object was named after an important Hindu god, who was believed to be present at every gathering and know all thoughts of all humans. As a sky god Varuna could be associated with Uranus. As the god of oceans and rivers he can be identified with Neptune. Varuna judged the actions of humans and punished those who did not keep their word. He was riding a sea monster Makara and catching the liars with his noose. In other words, Varuna loves truth. In the eclipse chart he encourages us to look at ourselves and our relationships honestly and act righteously.

The Venus-Neptune opposition shows proneness for romantic idealism. The energy of Neptune can be delusory. It can blur the reality and give illusions about love. Chiron in conjunction with Neptune helps in facing the truth. Chiron works through raising awareness.

Each eclipse belongs to a larger pattern and is a member of a particular eclipse family, which has certain characteristics. These series of eclipses are called the Saros series. They were first discovered by the ancient Babylonians. Each Saros series will run for well over a thousand years and produce a solar eclipse every 18 years when the Sun, Moon, Earth and nodes of the Moon have returned to the same positions relative to each other.

Each Saros series has a beginning, a middle and an end. The series starts as a tiny partial eclipse at either the North or South Pole and will finish at the opposite Pole to where the series started. At any given time, there are about 42 Saros series active, half running from North Pole to South Pole and the other half running from South Pole to North Pole, all at different stages of their lives. As one series finishes another will be starting, and taking its place. There is an overlapping period when the two series are both producing eclipses within a month of each other. This will be the case next year, when we will experience two solar eclipses during the summer season.

We can study the characteristics of a particular Saros series by delineating its birth chart. Also, we can look back and find similarities between events that have occurred 18 years apart at the time of the eclipses. The current Cancer solar eclipse is a member of a Saros series number 12 South. The first eclipse in this series in 1541 occurred in Libra, the sign concerned with relationships and justice. Based on the aspects and planetary patterns of the chart, Bernadette Brady suggests that a long-term worry “at first seem worse and then clear, with successful outcomes.”

References:

Wikipedia, Juno (mythology)

Encyclopedia Mythica, Varuna

Wikipedia, Saros cycle

Mary Dowton and Steve Cahill, The Astrologer’s Textbook Of Astronomy, 2002

Bernadette Brady, The Eagle and the Lark, Samuel Weiser, 1999

Summer Solstice – June 21, 2010, 11:28 UT

The Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere and marks the beginning of the summer. Last Monday the Sun reached the first point of Cancer and added the fourth cusp to the cosmic cross in the sky. An impressive grand cross was formed.

In a grand cross pattern at least four planets in two oppositions are at square angles to each other, forming a cross shaped pattern. In the current cross Saturn in the late degrees of Virgo is opposing the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction on the Aries Point; the Cancer Sun is opposing Pluto in the early degrees of Capricorn and Ceres in late Sagittarius. Ceres was right at the Galactic Core on the solstice day.

In pre-Christian times in Scandinavia the time of Midsummer was sacred to the Norse sun god Balder. Midsummer was known to be the anniversary of his death. His body was burned on a funeral pyre, and bonfires are still lit in Northern Europe for Midsummer eve celebrations. After the solstice the days soon begin to shorten and darkness will reign for a period of time. Balder descends into the underworld, but he will be reborn.

Balder was the son of Odin and Frigg. He was the most beautiful and beloved of the gods. He was radiantly handsome, wise and fair, and all praised him. His home in the heaven was a hall called Breidablick — the wide-shining — possibly a reference to the Milky Way. Balder had a twin brother called Hoder, a blind god of darkness (representing the winter months.)

Balder and his mother Frigg had ominous dreams of Balder’s death. Frigg made all things on earth vow never to harm her son. All objects made this vow except one little plant, the mistletoe, since Frigg had thought it too young to threaten Balder, she allowed the exception. After this the gods amused themselves by flinging darts and hurling objects at Balder, knowing that that they could not hurt him. But the trickster Loki had found out that the mistletoe had not taken the oath. Loki gave a twig of mistletoe to Hoder and persuaded him to throw it at Balder, secretly guiding Hoder’s hand. Balder fell dead to the ground, pierced by the twig.

The gods were weeping for Balder. He was ceremonially burnt upon his own ship. His horse was also burned on the pyre. Balder’s wife Nanna was heartbroken and threw herself on the funeral fire. Then the burning ship was set to sea.

Balder is said to return to life after Ragnarök. The Earth will appear again from the sea, it will be fertile, green, and cleansed of all its sufferings.

The Norse myth of Baldur’s death reminds me of Greek Centaur Cyllarus. Even though the Centaurs were not gods but a bunch of troublemakers — except Chiron and Pholus, the two civilized centaurs — these two stories from two different cultures share some mutual characteristics.

In Metamorphoses Ovid describes Cyllarus as a young, handsome Centaur with a golden mane. He was loved by many, but Cyllarus loved only Hylonome. They were inseparable in life and they died together, too. They were present at a wedding party, where fighting broke out and Cyllarus was hit by a javelin. Cyllarus died in the arms of his beloved. In her despair Hylonome killed herself by throwing herself onto the same spear that had pierced her partner.

At the solstice, the Centaur planet Cyllarus was conjunct the Sun. Commitment, self-sacrifice, or feeling of falling the victim of someone or something are themes that may suddenly arise. Things may seem to happen to us for no reason. We need to be conscious of the decisions we make, because our actions always have consequences, not just for ourselves but for the people close to us. They may also affect on a larger scale the world around us. At present Chiron and Neptune are in trine to the Sun, and can offer us awareness, healing and compassion on the personal and collective level.

Full Moon in Capricorn / Partial Lunar Eclipse — June 26, 2010, 11:30

The Full Moon takes place on Saturday. The Moon aligns opposite the Sun and takes part in the spectacular cardinal grand cross. We get to experience a partial lunar eclipse in conjunction with Pluto. We enter a transitional zone, where a shift from an old state to a new one takes place.

By the time of the lunar eclipse, the Sun has passed Centaur planet Cyllarus. Mercury has just ingressed Cancer and now conjoins Cyllarus. We may feel the pressure, but please remember that the light will be eclipsed only for a brief moment. We are part of eternal cycle of the planets. There is always a new dawn after the dark hours.

I want to wish you all a happy Midsummer Full Moon!

References:

H. R. Ellis Davidson, Gods and Myths of Northern Europe, Penguin Books, 1990

Eric Francis, Small World Stories, Cyllarus

The Gemini New Moon invites us to dance. Besides the Sun and the Moon in Gemini, also Mercury has newly arrived to its home sign.

Gemini is a youthful and sociable air sign, where planets want to have fun. Both the sign and its ruler, Mercury, are concerned with communication, contact and motion.

The Roman god Mercury was a swift-footed messenger between gods and men, who, with his winged golden sandals, travelled like the wind between the worlds. He was a playful trickster. He was musical; Mercury inherited his attributes from the Greek equivalent, Hermes, who invented several musical instruments. He made the first lyre, and he knew how to play it, too.

The Sabian symbol for the New Moon degree Gemini 22 is A barn dance. This is a symbol of self-fulfillment through participation and shared experience. Dr. Marc Edmund Jones’s keyword for the symbol is gregariousness.

In Sagittarius, opposite the Sun and the Moon dances Quaoar.

Quaoar is a Kuiper belt object discovered eight years ago by Chad Trujillo and Mike Brown. It is possibly the densest known object in the Kuiper belt, a rock ball among the icy population of the belt.

Quaoar is named for the creation deity of the Tongva tribe. The Tongva are the native people of the area around Los Angeles, where the discovery of Quaoar was made. The planet has a tiny moon named after Quaoar’s son, Weywot. The name for the moon was chosen by the Tongva tribe and made official last year.

According to the myth, at first there was Chaos, and then along came Quaoar, who was lonely and began to dance and sing the song of creation. God of the Sky, Weywot, was first to be formed of the creation melody. Next came the goddess of the Earth. These new deities joined Quaoar in the dance and created the Sun and the Moon. Together they sang and danced everything else into existence.

References:

Encyclopedia Mythica, Hermes

Marc Edmund Jones, The Sabian Symbols in Astrology, Aurora Press, 1993

Frequently Asked Questions About Quaoar

Wikipedia, 50000 Quaoar

From the ocean rose a giant,
Mighty Tursas, tall and hardy

– Kalevala, translated by John Martin Crawford

The Full Moon in Sagittarius feels edgy and unpredictable. The Moon proceeded into the opposition aspect to the Sun just when Uranus was entering Aries for the first time in 84 years. The ruling planet of Sagittarius, Jupiter, will soon follow Uranus into a new sign, but at present it is processing the challenging last degrees of Pisces.

The Gemini Sun is in conjunction with Centaur Thereus. Quoting Eric Francis: “…the Centaurs all possess a Sagittarian quality of journey, quest, or adventure — though it’s often expressed on the inner level. …The Centaur metaphor is usually a man’s torso with a horse’s body, so there is that sense of transit, of movement, and the sound of a horse’s hoofs hitting the ground passionately. There is the contact with the ‘animal nature’ — the instinctual level of reality.”

The mythical Centaur Thereus used to capture mountain bears and bring them home, alive and snarling. The name Thereus means “beast-like.” It is obvious that Thereus was strong and fearless.

To the ancients, the bear was symbolizing resurrection. The hibernation is a kind of death, from which the animal awakens when springtime is approaching. A she-bear usually wakes up to a new season with newborn cubs.

In Greek mythology, the bear has a relation to the Moon goddess Artemis, also known as “The Mistress of Animals” (Potnia Theron). She often was depicted as a huntress carrying a bow and arrows. In ancient Greece, one of her most celebrated shrines was that of the bear-goddess of Brauron in Attika. Young women playing the bear used to celebrate a festival for Artemis, who was not only the goddess of wilderness, but also the protectress of girls and women.

Apropos of the theme, in the Full Moon chart, asteroid 105 Artemis can be found prominently in early Capricorn in conjunction with Ceres and Pluto, and in exact square to Uranus at the Aries Point.

In Norse mythology the bear is sacred to Thor, the son of the chief god Odin and the Earth goddess Jörd. Thor is a fertility god and a strong protector of the world. Invoking Thor could help in the struggle against the exploitation and pollution of the Earth.

As a thunder god, Thor is the equivalent of Roman Jupiter. Thor’s magical hammer has the power to throw lightning bolts, and it is also his main weapon when fighting giants. Giants represent unconscious forces and they act as harbingers of chaos and disorder.

Thor’s rune is Thurisaz, which stands for both Thor and the giants. In psychological terms, Thurisaz represents the shadow and repressed material in the unconscious. Once the shadow is acknowledged and integrated, it can become a great source of strength. Jung believed that the shadow is the seat of creativity.

Numerous Old Norse sources mention berserkers, Odin’s warriors who wore bear-pelts and rode into battle in a trance-like fury, or a holy rage. There are many theories about what caused berserker behaviour. An explicit connection between the berserker rage of soldiers and the hyperarousal of post-traumatic stress disorder has been made.

“The Crescent Moon Bear,” a Japanese folktale, which is retold by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés, a Jungian psychoanalyst and a post-trauma specialist, deals with rage and forgiveness, and healing from rage.

In the story, a badly injured husband returns home from war and refuses to sleep in the house or eat the delicious dish that his young wife cooks for him. He rages continuously. The wife goes to see a healer, who advises her to climb the mountain, find a crescent moon bear, and bring back a hair from the throat of the bear. Then the healer would be able to help the woman. She climbs the mountain and with patience manages to get the hair.

Patience will help anger, and it is called for in order to heal the pain beneath our anger, so that we can move on. Our rage can become teacher. We can use it as a creative force, but it takes a conscious practice to contain and heal rage. Estés writes: “So rather than trying to ‘behave’ and not feel our rage or rather than using it to burn down every living thing in a hundred-mile radius, it is better to first ask rage to take a seat with us, have some tea, talk a while so we can find out what summoned this visitor.”

Thereus carrying the snarling bear into his home cave?

References:

Eric Francis, Sagittarius Secrets Revealed, act one

Metamorphoses, Book XII

Theoi Greek Mythology, Kentauroi Thessalioi

Wikipedia, Potnia Theron

Theoi Greek Mythology, Artemis Cult 1

Wikipedia, Berserker

Freya Aswynn, Northern Mysteries & Magick, Llewellyn Publications, 2006

Wikipedia, Thurisaz (rune)

Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Women Who Run With the Wolves, Ballantine Books, 1997

Sedna is not happy today. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, caused by a drilling rig explosion on April 20, is still gushing thousands of barrels of oil daily into the sea. Efforts to stop the leak haven’t been successful so far.

Sedna is a trans-Neptunian object which astrologically has a strong association with the climate change and other environmental issues. She is conjunct the Taurus New Moon and wants to be heard now! At the moment she is also tightly opposite to the Sun of her discovery chart. My attention was drawn to this current transit by the Planet Waves astrologer Len Wallick. Thank you, Len!

Sedna is a peculiar little planet with her extremely long orbital period at somewhere between 10,500 and 12,000 years. She works almost as a fixed point in the chart. She will reach her perihelion within this century, before moving farther away from the Sun again for another 12 thousand years or so. We could say that now that Sedna is relatively close to us spending “only” about 100 years in one sign, we are able to experience a transit of Sedna.

Sedna is named in honor of the Inuit goddess of the sea. Sedna was a beautiful young girl who had many suitors. She and her father had no food. One day a hunter came and said that if he could have Sedna, he would give her father fish in return. Sedna’s father agreed. The hunter was really a birdman who took Sedna to a big nest on a cliff where she had nothing else but rotten fish to eat. Sedna cried for her father to take her back, so he came to rescue her, but the birdman caused a terrible storm which nearly sunk their kayak. In desperation, Sedna’s father threw her into the raging sea. Sedna tried to hold on to the boat, but he chopped off her fingers, which became marine animals. Sedna descended into the depths of the ocean and became the mighty queen of the underworld.

There are several variants of the myth. In some of them Sedna is an innocent victim, in others she is portrayed as a hungry and greedy creature. But all tales agree that she became the goddess of the icy waters. When Sedna is happy, she releases her mammals and allows the humans to eat from the bounty of the sea. If she is not respected, she sends storms and starvation. Then a shaman must visit her in the deep waters and calm her down again.

Astrologer Karen Hamaker-Zondag has noted that Sedna wants to be known. She gives us subtle warnings. If we don’t pay attention to her, we may have to deal with her strength.

In the New Moon chart, Ceres (the goddess of grain) and Pluto (the god of underworld) are retrograding together in the early degrees of Capricorn, one of the four cardinal signs, and squaring the Aries Point. The first degrees of any of the cardinal signs are related to the Aries Point, the point where affairs of the world become personal. Chiron (cave) which has just recently entered Pisces, is in conjunction with Neptune (water).

In the light of the chart aspects, the news release on the day of the New Moon, concerning the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, made sense to me. The local newspaper on Spitsbergen, Svalbardposten, reported that the temperature in the secure seedbank is too high, and that there is water in the surrounding tunnels.

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a backup storage for seeds from gene banks around the world. It is an effort to protect the globe’s rapidly diminishing biodiversity. The seed vault is located on Spitsbergen in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago. The vault is an underground cavern surrounded by arctic permafrost. The permafrost will help maintain the low temperature of the seeds even in the worst-case scenario of global warming, or if mechanical refrigeration should fail. Seeds from most major food crops could preserve for hundreds of years. The seeds of important grains could survive far longer, possibly thousands of years.

There has been significant public interest in the seed vault project. The laying of the first stone took place on June 19, 2006. This was an Aries Point event, having its orientation in the future, symbolized by the North node of the Moon in the first degree of Aries. The Sun was in exact conjunction with asteroid 55555 DNA (genes) to the degree. The Sun-DNA conjunction was opposing Pluto, and the opposition was aligned with the Galactic Core, emphasizing the large scale of the project.

The opening of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault was held on Feb. 26, 2008 with Centaur Bienor at the Aries Point. In the Lunations solar eclipse article only few weeks earlier Eric Francis had phrased it like this: “Bienor may be associated with the strength of mankind expressed through technology, and when we combine it with the Aries Point, it affects ‘everyman’.” Pluto had recently ingressed Capricorn for the first time squaring the Aries Point. Sedna (cold) was in conjunction with Ceres (grain) in the same degree of Taurus (seeding). The Ceres-Sedna conjunction was in opposition to asteroid DNA (genes).

“Biological diversity is under threat from the forces of nature … and from the actions of man,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said at the opening ceremony of the seed vault. Today the biodiversity of the sea is in jeopardy in the Gulf of Mexico because of the actions of man. This is a wake-up moment for us. We have to start noticing Sedna.

References:

Wikipedia, 90377 Sedna

Wikipedia, Sedna (mythology)

Wikipedia, Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Sedna, Karen Hamaker-Zondag, Astro Logos Ltd

For varmt frølager, Svalbardposten 14/05/2010

Wikipedia, Svalbard Global Seed Vault

The Aries New Moon is in exact conjunction with 1992 QB1, a minor planet in the frontier beyond Neptune, the Kuiper Belt. The planet is small and still without a proper name; nonetheless it’s a special one.

The Kuiper Belt remained for a long time only as hypothesized. 1992 QB1 was the first trans-Neptunian object discovered after Pluto and Charon. The discovery confirmed the existence of the belt. It was an important step for astronomers. David Jewitt and Jane Luu, two determined astronomers, had spent several years searching the sky without any certainty that they would actually find anything from that part of the solar system. Finally, after five years of searching, they found this faint object beyond Pluto’s orbit and were able to announce the discovery of candidate Kuiper Belt object 1992 QB1.

The size of 1992 QB1 is roughly one-tenth the size of Pluto. The composition of the planet is half rock and half ice. The orbit is a little larger than Pluto’s and is almost circular. It takes about 289 years to orbit once around the Sun. Since the discovery of QB1, thousands of icy minor planets have been found in the region. Similar objects were later called cubewanos.

At the time of its discovery in August 1992, QB1 was on the Aries Point. Len Wallick has studied the discovery chart:

“It was 15 arc minutes into the first degree of Aries – talk about an Aries Point event! Venus was at 28 degrees Virgo, in near-opposition. Luna was in early Libra, also nearly opposed and just off a conjunction with Venus. Given this chart, the sense is that the feminine energy is expressed by transition across thresholds. The sort of experiences that are culturally expressed as rites of passage and ceremonies of initiation.”

1992 QB1 is officially unnamed. Eric Francis has proposed Radharani, the supreme goddess of Hindu mythology and the consort of Lord Krishna. Eric describes QB1 as representing the archetype of the thresholder. That is the person who watches the edge, and guides people over: midwives, hospice workers, orgasm coaches, grief counselors; people who assist others at that moment of total transition.

In Norse mythology the Valkyries, the maids of Odin, are representing this kind of energy. The Valkyries were female spirits, warrior women with spears and helmets. Their task was to guide the slain warriors to Valhalla, the warrior’s paradise. They were complex mythic figures who formed a link between the worlds of the living and the dead. The goddess Freyja was their leader.

In Valhalla the heroes spent the day fighting and the night drinking mead and feasting. The mead, the “drink of the gods,” was carried to them by the Valkyries. After the battle these spirit-beings were also rewarding the warriors with erotic love.

Freyja’s representatives, the völvas, were seeresses, who could travel and see across the threshold of ordinary reality into the otherworld. They conducted oracular ceremonies, in which incantations were chanted by a choir of youths and maidens, perhaps producing a state of enchantment. The seeress then was able to answer questions put to her by those present. The völvas possibly were midwives trained in healing and the use of herbs. “The accounts indicate that the völvas originally travelled around in groups of nine or thirteen to perform their divinatory rituals, suggesting that seership was an organized and recognized professional role for women,” writes Ralph Metzner.

Freyja, as the leader of the Valkyries, was a goddess of battle. She was also the “Lady”, gentle protectress who ruled over love, fertility, and abundance. Her healing powers are available to us at this lunation.

References:

Wikipedia, Kuiper belt

Wikipedia, (15760) 1992 QB1

Len Wallick, The Rights and Responsibilities of Passage

Eric Francis, Radharani New Moon in Aries

Ralph Metzner, The Well of Remembrance, Shambhala Publications, 1994

Freya Aswynn, Northern Mysteries & Magick, Llewellyn Publications, 2006

A new astrological year has begun with bold cardinal energy. In Finland a heavy snow cover is melting. Due to climate change cold winters are becoming increasingly rare here in Southern Finland, but during the past winter we got more snow than in decades. Easter is approaching, and we are welcoming the spring.

The Sun entered Aries on March 20 and formed a cardinal T-cross with the retrograding Saturn in Libra, and Ceres-Pluto conjunction in early Capricorn. The ruling planet of Aries, Mars, turned in direct motion already before the equinox. The Libra Full Moon is in conjunction with Saturn. The cardinal point action continues.

The Pisces New Moon earlier in the month was tightly conjunct Mercury and Uranus. The creatively sparking conjunction was in exact opposition to one of the new planets, Makemake. The Uranus-Makemake opposition in Virgo-Pisces is one of the long time transits of the current era. These two planets form a series of oppositions between April 2009 and January 2011. The Virgo-Pisces sign polarity deals with being in service to others.

After the Pisces New Moon the Sun moved on opposite Saturn, thus giving us an opportunity to stabilize what was started at the time of the new moon. The Uranus-Makemake opposition still holds.

Makemake is a bright Kuiper belt object covered with almost pure methane ice. It is the third-largest known dwarf planet in our Solar System after Eris and Pluto. Its orbital period is nearly 310 years. The body was discovered five years ago, and the discovery team nicknamed it as Easterbunny, because of its discovery near Easter. The permanent name of Makemake after the creator god of the native people of Easter Island was chosen in part to preserve this connection. The official naming took place in July 2008 at the time when Uranus and Makemake had reached a near exact opposition.

Makemake in the Rapa Nui mythology of Easter Island, was the creator of humanity, the god of fertility and the chief god of a birdman cult. The cult ritual was a dangerous competition. The contestants raced to collect the first egg of a seabird from an islet near by. They had to swim in waters which were heavily populated with sharks, then climb sharp cliffs with the egg. The winner became the birdman and spent the next year in seclusion. His clan got sole rights to collect that season’s harvest of wild bird eggs and fledglings from the islet.

Makemake the dwarf planet was discovered at 20+ degrees of Virgo. The Sabian Symbol for Virgo 21 is A girl’s basketball team. Dr. Marc Edmund Jones has delineated the symbol: “…The self cannot exist in a vacuum, and there is no satisfaction in any effort expanded for ends in which others are not vitally concerned. Man’s fulfillment is primarily a continued participation in common goals, with rewards to which his fellows contribute as consistently as himself. The keyword is expression.”

Lets take a look at what was happening in the world during the last major Uranus-Makemake transits.

The first Uranus-Makemake opposition in the current series of five occurred on April 12, 2009. It was the day when the Maersk-Alabama hijacking ended and Capt. Richard Phillips was freed. In the series of events involving the pirate seizure, the captain had offered himself as a hostage to save his crew.

The latest square between Uranus and Makemake took place in 1980, which was also the year when Lech Walesa at a Polish shipyard founded Solidarity, the first independent labor union in a Soviet-bloc country. Solidarity gave rise to a broad anti-communist nonviolent social movement and contributed to the fall of communism.

Uranus conjoined Makemake in 1955. Year 1955 marks the beginning of the African-American Civil Rights Movement. During the period 1955–1968, nonviolent protests and civil disobedience produced crisis situations between activists and authorities. In December 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a public bus to make room for a white passenger. There had been similar incidents before, but Rosa Parks’s action led to Montgomery Bus Boycott, and she became the icon of resistance to racial segregation.

These examples seem to point to events where courageous individuals have stood up for the common good of their community. Two more exact Uranus-Makemake oppositions are ahead (in October 2010 and January 2011) and we can expect to learn more about Easterbunny.

References:

Wikipedia, Makemake (dwarf planet)

Wikipedia, Makemake (mythology)

Mike Brown’s Planets, What’s in a name? [part 2]

Wikipedia, Tangata manu

Dr. Marc Edmund Jones, The Sabian Symbols in Astrology, Aurora Press, 1993

On the Maersk: ‘I Hope if I Die, I Die a Brave Person’, The Wall Street Journal

Wikipedia, History of Solidarity

Wikipedia, African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968)

Wikipedia, Rosa Parks