The Full Moon in Cancer is a lunar eclipse, and it happens only two days before the Saturn-Pluto conjunction in Capricorn on Jan. 12, 2020. The Moon aligns opposite the Sun and a considerable cluster of planets and smaller celestial bodies gathered in Capricorn. Closest to the Sun is 15810 Arawn, a trans-Neptunian body in the plutino class.

The Sun = 20 Cap 00
The Moon = 20 Can 00
Mercury = 20 Cap 06
Saturn = 22 Cap 33
Pluto = 22 Cap 42
Arrokoth (nicknamed Ultima Thule) = 17 Cap 48
Amycus = 18 Cap 50
Arawn = 20 Cap 42
Ceres = 21 Cap 49
Chariklo = 24 Cap 15

15810 Arawn was discovered in 1994 and named two years ago in 2017 from Welsh mythology. According to the naming rules of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), all plutinos are given mythological names associated with the underworld.

In Welsh mythology Arawn was the ruler of the Celtic otherworld, Annwfn, meaning “the in-world”, derived from an (“in, inside”) and dwfn (“world”). Annwfn was like a paradise, a world of eternal youth where disease was absent and food was ever-abundant. It was not equivalent to Hell of Christians. The influence of Christianity transformed the otherworld to the underworld.

The Mabinogion are the earliest prose stories of the literature of Britain. The stories were compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th – 13th centuries from earlier oral traditions, during the period when the Welsh struggled to maintain their independence. The First Branch of the Mabinogi tells how Pwyll, the prince of Dyfed, and the shapeshifter Arawn met and befriended. Honor is highly revered value throughout the Mabinogi.

Sioned Davies says in her English translation of The Mabinogion (Oxford University Press 2007) about the tales: “Not only do they reflect themes and characters from myth and legend, they also show how Wales responded to conquest and colonization.” The patriotic hymn Gweddi dros Gymru (“A prayer for Wales”), written by Lewis Valentine, a Welsh politician and Welsh-language activist, is sometimes considered to be the second Welsh national anthem. It is usually sung to the tune of Jean Sibelius’s Finlandia Hymn, one of the most important national songs of Finland. Finlandia, Op. 26, is a tone poem written in 1899 and revised in 1900. The premiere was on July 2, 1900, in Helsinki, during the Sun-Arawn conjunction in Cancer. At the time Finland was incorporated into the Russian Empire as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. (Finland declared itself independent in 1917.) In order to avoid Russian censorship, Finlandia had to be performed under alternative titles at various musical concerts.

The Sun represents the main expression of the individual. In astrologer Bernadette Brady’s words, “it reveals the myth or story that the individual follows through life.” The conjunction is a strong aspect which combines the energies of the planets in question. The following examples are soulful artist with the Sun-Arawn conjunction:

Frida Kahlo (July 6, 1907 – July 13, 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many self-portraits and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. She has a stellium in Cancer consisting of the Sun, Neptune, Jupiter, Ceres and Arawn.

Woody Guthrie (July 14, 1912 – Oct. 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, who wrote the song “This Land Is Your Land“. Also Guthrie has a stellium in Cancer, including the Sun, Neptune, Venus and Arawn.

Van Morrison (born Aug. 31, 1945), the “Celtic Soul”, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter. He has said: “If you’re trying to be something other, like something superficial, trying to be someone you’re not, then that would take you away from your true centre.” His Sun-Arawn conjunction is in Virgo.

Freddie Mercury (Sept. 5 1946 – Nov. 24, 1991) was a British singer, songwriter, and the charismatic lead vocalist of the Queen. He has the Sun-Arawn conjunction in Virgo.

Nick Cave (born Sept. 22, 1957), the “Prince of Darkness”, is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, author and actor, whose songs often deal with love, death, and religion. He has a triple conjunction of the Sun, Mars and Arawn in Virgo.

Van Morrison has expressed very likely something essential about Arawn in his lyrics:

Soul is a feeling, feeling deep within
Soul is not the color of your skin
Soul is the essence, essence from within
It is where everything begins

Soul is what you’ve been through
What’s true for you
Where you going to
What you’re gonna do

Soul is your station for the folk of your nation
Something that you wear with pride
Soul can be your vision or something that is hidden
It’s not something that you gotta hide

This entry was posted on Friday, January 10th, 2020 at 12:49 am and is filed under Eclipses, Full Moon. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.