Archive for November, 2019

New Moon in Sagittarius – Nov. 26, 2019, 15:05 UT

Monday, November 25th, 2019

The New Moon at 4+ degrees of Sagittarius is opposite asteroid 10 Hygiea in Gemini. The New Moon is always a conjunction of the Sun and the Moon.

Last month asteroid 10 Hygiea was in the headlines of the science news, and now its prominent position in the New Moon chart brings me a good opportunity to talk about it.

Hygiea is a main belt asteroid, orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. It was the 10th asteroid to be discovered, which happened in 1849 by Annibale de Gasparis, an Italian astronomer (the first being 1 Ceres, discovered in 1801). Hygiea is the fourth largest asteroid. Its diameter is just over 430 km, less than half of that of Ceres. Because of Hygiea’s dark surface some smaller asteroids were found before it. It is the main member of the Hygiean asteroid family, which was formed billions of years ago, when another object collided with it.

Hygiea made news about a month ago, when astronomers announced that Hygiea is round and thus meets the requirements of a dwarf planet, the smallest in the solar system. This observation was possible because of the improvement of optical instruments and telescopes. So far Ceres has been considered to be the only dwarf planet in the main asteroid belt.

When astronomers in 2006 approved the definition of a planet (first time ever), they also created a dwarf planet category, in which officially belongs only Ceres, Pluto, Eris, Makemake and Haumea, although the total number of objects that qualify as dwarf planets is thousands. According to the official definition, a dwarf planet is a celestial body that is in orbit around the Sun, is not a satellite, unlike a planet has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit, and has sufficient mass for its own gravity to pull it into a roughly spherical shape (nearly round). The IAU has not yet officially accepted Hygiea to the dwarf planet class.

Originally at the time of its discovery Hygiea was considered to be a planet (as were also Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta, among others). The rapidly expanding number of objects found between Mars and Jupiter prompted their reclassification as asteroids in the 1850s.

History has shown that the man-made classifications can be changed when the scientists get new relevant information. They are not so important for astrologers anyway. But the celestial facts and properties of the objects are worth knowing also for the astrologers. Sometimes they can have an effect to the astrological delineation of a body.

Asteroid Hygiea was named after the Greek goddess Hygieia, the personification of health, cleanliness and hygiene. She was associated not directly with healing, but more with preserving good health. The symbol of this asteroid in astrological programs is usually the caduceus staff, the symbol of medicine. However, the older symbol of Hygieia is a serpent crowned with a star. Many astrologers have found that Hygiea is also astrologically connected to health matters. The current conjunction of the Sun and Hygiea emphasizes the need of feel well and healthy.

The New Moon in Sagittarius is square 2007 OR10 in Pisces, the fifth-largest trans-Neptunian object and likely a dwarf planet. This body is still without an official name. It was first nicknamed as “Snow White” for its presumed white color. However, 2007 OR10 turned out to be very red, and the nickname was dropped. Last spring the discovery team hosted a poll for the general public to help choose the name between three possible options: Gonggong from Chinese mythology, Vili from Norse mythology, and Holle from German mythology. Gonggong was the winning name, and it was proposed to the International Astronomical Union, but IAU has not announced the official name yet.

In Capricorn Saturn is approaching Pluto. The exact conjunction takes place on Jan. 12, 2020. At the moment Saturn is in tight conjunction with 486958 Arrokoth, the latest named trans-Neptunian object, a contact binary and the most distant world ever visited by a man-made spacecraft. Arrokoth was discovered in 2014 by astronomer Marc Buie and the New Horizons Search Team using the Hubble Space Telescope. It was targeted for the space probe New Horizons’ next destination after it would have completed a flyby of Pluto (in 2015). This body was long known by the nickname Ultima Thule, which means a place beyond the borders of the known world. On Jan. 1, 2019, New Horizons spacecraft made a close pass of it.

The official name Arrokoth, a term meaning “sky” in the Powhatan / Algonquian language of native people from the Chesapeake Bay region, was announced on Nov. 12, 2019, at a ceremony at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Institutions in the region played a prominent role in facilitating the discovery and exploration of the object.

“The name ‘Arrokoth’ reflects the inspiration of looking to the skies, and wondering about the stars and worlds beyond our own,” said Alan Stern, New Horizons principal investigator. In acknowledgement to the Powhatan people’s significance to the Tidewater region of Virginia and Maryland, Lori Glaze, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division, asserted that Arrokoth’s name “signifies the strength and endurance of the indigenous Algonquian people of the Chesapeake region. Their heritage continues to be a guiding light for all who search for meaning and understanding of the origins of the universe and the celestial connection of humanity.”

Full Moon in Taurus – Nov. 12, 2019, 13:34 UT

Wednesday, November 13th, 2019

The Full Moon in Taurus was in conjunction with asteroid 4 Vesta and plutino 341520 Mors-Somnus. The Sun in Scorpio is in conjunction with Mercury retrograde. A relatively rare event, a transit of Mercury across the Sun, took place the day before the Full Moon, on Nov. 11. Mercury’s transit occurs on a regular basis, but the next one won’t happen until in November 2032.

Mors-Somnus is a binary system beyond Neptune, discovered in 2007 and named after the Roman twin gods of the underworld. Mors was the personification of death and Somnus the personification of sleep. Their equivalents in Greek mythology were Thanatos and Hypnos. Hypnos was able to trick even the chief god Zeus. Apropos on the evening of the Full Moon, the Finnish broadcasting company Yle was screening the praised documentary by Arthur Franck of the sensational hypnotist Olliver Hawk (May 1930 – August 1988). The current Full Moon makes a transit conjunction to Olliver Hawk’s Taurus Sun.

Asteroid Vesta orbits the Sun within the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It is the brightest asteroid visible from Earth. It is named after the virgin goddess of hearth and home from Roman mythology. Vesta represents devotion and integrity, and can show great dedication to one’s work and goals. Astrologer Martha Lang-Wescott’s interpretation of the Moon-Vesta conjunction includes “to need a career where one can feel really committed.”

Mercury was the messenger of the gods in Roman mythology. Creatures or deities who guide newly deceased souls from Earth to the afterlife are called psychopomps, and Mercury was one of them. Additionally, Ovid has written that Mercury carried Morpheus’ dreams from the valley of Somnus to sleeping humans. Morpheus was a god associated with dreams and a son of Somnus. In Jungian psychology, the psychopomp is a mediator between the unconscious and conscious realms, appearing in dreams as a wise man or woman, or a helpful animal.

Olavi Hakasalo (May 8, 1930 – August 28, 1988), better known as Olliver Hawk, was a Finnish master hypnotist, who dedicated his life to hypnosis through performing and teaching hypnosis by publishing literature and releasing videos and recordings. He was an eccentric, a showman and a celebrity, who could change water into wine. Some would say that he was a fraud. He became interested in hypnosis already as a child. He became famous in the 1960s. Hundreds of thousands of Finns saw his show, and volunteers let him hypnotise them. He has told that he performed every night. In 1981 he was convicted for illegal practice of medicine, because he had private customers with mental disorders.

Olliver Hawk had a grand trine in the fire signs. A grand trine is a pattern of three trines, each of the planets 120 degrees away from the others, forming a triangle. A trine is an easy flowing aspect, but the energies in question can be in a way locked in the grand trine. Hawk’s grand trine was consisting of Mars-Uranus conjunction in Aries (crossing boundaries), Vesta in Leo (having pride in one’s work), and Lempo conjunct Mors-Somnus in Sagittarius (dedication to hypnosis). Olliver Hawk had powerful stationary Mercury about to turn retrograde in Gemini.

Olliver Hawk died as spectacularly as he lived, on stage during a performance. The Sun, the giver of life, was opposite Mors-Somnus.

Olliver Hawk has said: “Some things that we see are not always true, and you know it.” But we also know that there are things in life that can be seen only with invisible eyes, or sensed with extrasensory perception. Filtering these things can be challenging. Write down your dreams during the following weeks!