The New Moon in Aquarius is a solar eclipse, the first of six eclipses coming this year. The New Moon, which is a conjunction of the Sun and Moon, always marks the beginning of a new cycle. Eclipses are transition points that give us a chance to build new patterns and push ourselves in a new direction. Usually there are four eclipses in a year. Having six of them within one year promises an exceptionally interesting time ahead.

There is a powerful alignment in Aquarius, the sign of friendship, social functions and reformation. Although it is innovative and future-orientated, it’s also one of the fixed signs, which all can be reluctant to change. The planets in the alignment are Juno, Jupiter, the Sun, the Moon, the North Node, Nessus, Chiron and Neptune.

The Sun and Moon, a pair of masculine and feminine symbols in the chart, are in close conjunction with Juno and Jupiter, the celestial married couple, whose expectations towards their relationship didn’t quite meet one another. Juno in Aquarius may want to have an open marriage, while Jupiter wants to focus on mental pursuits.

The eclipse is exactly square to the minor planet Ceto in Scorpio. A square produces action, based on the ongoing tension between the planets aspecting each other. We may find ourselves pondering the following questions: Should we remodel our relationships? Are we going to adopt new roles in the community? Would we rather keep building on traditional values? Are these the values that we want to pass onto our children?

The Sabian symbol for the eclipse degree, Aquarius 7, is “a child born of an eggshell.” To quote Dr. Marc Edmund Jones:

“This is a symbol of the infinite regression in all personal reality, not as a fact of some mysterious loss of self either in source or in final dissolution but as a demonstration of the illimitable potentialities to be found in each immediate moment of self-realization. For his own enlightenment a man may project himself indefinitely into what has been or what may be but his assurance is in the ever-present sustainment of the auric egg or self-matrix in which existence continues to create itself in its own image.”

Ceto is a scattered disk object discovered in 2003 by Chad Trujillo and Mike Brown. It travels on a long, Centaur-like, elliptical orbit around the Sun. The orbital period is over 1000 years. Ceto has a binary companion, Phorcys. They have approximately similar sizes, they form a close binary system, and their mutual orbit is nearly circular.

The names come from Greek mythology. The naming took place in November 2006 according to a new policy. The Committee on Small Body Nomenclature of the International Astronomical Union has adopted a naming convention for objects on unstable, non-resonant, giant-planet-crossing orbits with semi-major axes greater than Neptune’s. Befitting their Centaur-like transitional orbits between TNOs and comets, they are to be named for other hybrid and shape-shifting mythical creatures.

The primary body is named for Ceto, a marine goddess of whales, sea-monsters and dangers of the deep, born of Gaia. In Greek art, Ceto was depicted as a serpentine fish. Sea god Phorcys was her brother and husband. Together they produced a brood of awful monsters.

Mythical sea monsters can take many forms, including dragons, serpents or multi-armed beasts. The word ceto can refer to any sea monster. Often they are pictured threatening ships. Water symbolizes unconscious, and the terrible monster can be seen representing our fears for the unknown future.

Stories about marine monsters are told in myths from different cultures around the world. In Norse mythology the sea serpent Jörmungandr grew so large that it could encircle the world and grasp its tail in its teeth. Jörmungandr represents the Ouroboros, a thousands-of-years-old universal symbol, depicting a serpent swallowing its own tail, constantly creating itself and forming a circle. The Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung saw the Ouroboros as a psychological archetype. The Ouroboros represents cyclicality (especially in the sense of something constantly re-creating itself), self-sufficiency, intergration of the opposite, wholeness, continuity and eternity.

The minor planet Ceto/Phorcys was discovered in Libra, the sign of relationships and the sign where we seek balance and aim at harmonizing polarities. “A Jewish rabbi” is the Sabian Symbol for Libra 20, the discovery degree.

“This is a symbol of man’s self-assurance as gained by bringing a deeper understanding to his fellows. The social nature of the inner being is stressed here by an interest in eternal values such as is characteristic of years and masculinity, and by a feminine receptivity of soul which has its expression in the warmer contacts of a ministration to everyday human needs. Here is the potential of high dedication by which an individual or a group may become a special channel for the aspirations of all. The keyword is heritage. When positive, the degree is the extraordinary insight which comes to those who are able to stand on the shoulders of the giants who have gone before, and when negative, an unhealthy sense of self-superiority.” writes M. E. Jones.

Two examples from the people in the theater field, born with the Sun-Ceto conjunction at the Aries Point are Marcel Marceau (March 22, 1923 – Sept. 22, 2007) and Dario Fo (born March 24, 1926). Both are geniuses whom have constantly been able to re-create themselves and inspire people all over the world.

Marcel Marceau was a French mime artist. The performance of pantomime originates from ancient Greece. In the film First Class, Marcel Marceau played 17 different roles. Marceau established his own mime school in Paris.

Dario Fo is an Italian theater director and actor, who uses methods of the ancient Italian commedia dell’arte. He owns a theater company. His plays have been translated to 30 languages and when they are performed outside Italy, they are often modified to reflect local political issues.

References:

Demetra George & Douglas Bloch, Asteroid Goddesses, 2003, Ibis Press

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

The orbit, mass, size, albedo, and density of (65489) Ceto/Phorcys: A tidally-evolved binary Centaur, Icarus, Retrieved Aug. 31, 2008

Johnston’s Archive

Wikipedia

Theoi Greek Mythology

Hellenica, Michael Lahanas

This entry was posted on Friday, January 23rd, 2009 at 7:18 pm and is filed under Eclipses, New 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.