New Moon in Aries — March 26, 2009, 16:06 UT

The New Moon symbolizes new beginnings, especially in Aries, the first sign of the zodiac which marks the beginning of a new cycle. Aries is the sign of pioneers and warriors, those who have courage to take the initiative, embark the adventure, or test their strength. Being first often requires willingness to take a risk.

The Sun and the Moon are in the same degree with Bienor, a Centaur planet discovered in 2000. The retrograding Venus is in close conjunction with these three. The stellium in Aries is squared by Pluto in Capricorn and opposed by the Main-belt asteroid Karma in Libra. The forenamed Aries planets sextile the North Node of the Moon. The sense of this planet and aspect combination resembles the primitive energy of the rune Ur (Uruz).

The visual symbol of the rune Ur is a wild ox, the aurochs that used to roam the forests of prehistoric Europe. The aurochs was an impressive and dangerous ancestor of domestic cattle. In Norse culture the young men were fighting them in order to claim their manhood. This was an initiation through which they became accepted as adult warriors.

Ur is the symbol of a great challenge, a test that one must face in order for personal growth and progress. It can mean danger, but the trial is a necessary one, and afterwards the person will be stronger and wiser for it. Ur represents raw, primitive and healing energy. According to Freya Aswynn, the force of Ur can be felt in nature just before spring, when one can sense the tension of new growth building up.

Venus is about values, and Venus retrograde in conjunction with the New Moon suggests that the challenge we are facing now has something to do with re-defining of our basic values.

Bienor is a Uranus-crossing Centaur with an orbital period of approximately 67 years. Bienor and Pluto have stayed in an ongoing square to each other for several years; the last exact square in this series happened little over year ago exactly when Bienor was occupying the Aries Point.

Bienor’s name means a strong one. In mythology, Bienor was one of the Centaurs that attended the Lapith king Pirithous’ wedding. Centaurs and the Lapiths started to fight and many of the Centaurs died in this battle. Pirithous’ friend Theseus leaped upon the back of Bienor, which was “never trained to carry riders,� and killed the Centaur. There is something unique in Bienor’s death, because in the myth he is the only Centaur who dies in this way. Centaurs were wild creatures, and the way how Bienor dies resembles a bit taming of a wild horse. It is an insulting act, which at the same time represents something positive.

Eric Francis has proposed that Bienor may be associated with the strength of mankind, and when combined with the Aries Point, something which affects everyman. It is up to us whether to put our strength to work for us, or against us.

Perhaps the myth points us to look for the meaning of Bienor in connection of events that have been unique and happened for the first time in the history of mankind.

In the chart of the first lunar landing in July 1969, when the lunar module Eagle landed on the Sea of Tranquility, the Moon was in early degrees of Libra with Bienor (opposing the Aries Point), mirroring two things: the strong men who bravely set out for the Moon; and the strong feelings involved in this event, not just in the USA but worldwide. Jupiter and Uranus were in conjunction in Libra, exactly opposite the Aries Point. The experience was not just historical for the mankind, but also highly personal for the men who walked on the Moon.

When Martin Luther King in August 1963 delivered his I Have A Dream speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to an audience of at least 250,000, the Sun was conjunct Venus, Uranus and Bienor in Virgo.

John Lennon has a natal Bienor-Typhon conjunction at the Aries Point. John Lennon and Paul McCartney met for the first time in July 1957, three years before forming the Beatles. The same day the Sun was conjunct Bienor in Cancer. I doubt if there is a person in this world who hadn’t been influenced by their music.

President Barack Obama’s Sun in Leo is conjunct Bienor, Bienor right at his descendant. As we all know, he is the first African American to hold the office. President Obama’s strength can be easily perceived.

Nelly Furtado is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Her Sun conjuncts Bienor in Sagittarius, and the conjunction is opposite Varuna and Ceto in Gemini. Furtado is known for experimenting with different instruments, sounds, genres, vocal styles and languages (Sagittarius). She has said: “I always know there’s a new genre left to discover (Ceto symbolizing something constantly re-creating itself). For me, it’s like a metaphor for life (Varuna, a force that is “behind everything”). I feel like if you can get down with any style of music, you can get down with any style of person. So it’s fun for me—I get to expose my fans to different vibes and they, in turn, open their minds too. I’m always undergoing mind-opening.”

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurochs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ur_(rune)

Paul Rhys Mountfort, Nordic runes, Destiny Books, 2003

Freya Aswynn, Northern Mysteries & Magick, Llewellyn Publications, 1998

Metamorphoses by Ovid

Annular Solar Eclipse of Feb. 7, 2008, Lunations article

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1957

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelly_Furtado

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