Full Moon in Leo — January 28, 2021, 19:16 UT
The Full Moon at 9+ degrees of Leo opposed the Sun in Aquarius. The Sun is in exact conjunction with Jupiter. The Moon was in exact conjunction with asteroid 10 Hygiea, which is the fourth largest asteroid in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter (after 1 Ceres, 4 Vesta and 2 Pallas). Both the Sun and the Moon triggered Mars at 10+ Taurus with tight square aspects. In Taurus Mars and Uranus are still in conjunction, although the conjunction has gradually started to loosen.
No matter how tired you are of reading about the corona virus or about the precautions of the covid-19 disease, asteroid Hygiea in this chart is reminding us precisely of them. The Leo-Aquarius axis is connected to the interests of an individual versus those of a community.
The name of asteroid 10 Hygiea comes from Hygieia, the Greek goddess of health, cleanliness and hygiene. She was one of the sons and daughters of Asclepius, the god of medicine. Asclepius was more directly associated with healing; Hygieia was associated with the prevention of sickness. Her name is the source of the word hygiene. 10 Hygiea is also astrologically connected to health matters. Astrologer Martha Lang-Wescott, who has specialized in working with asteroids, has summarized the meaning of Hygeia in the perception that “cleanliness is next to godliness!”
Mutated virus variants are spreading and the rollout of widespread coronavirus vaccinations have to be postponed because of the low levels of deliveries of the vaccine. The Moon in the sky is always changing. Its shape, color and place in the sky changes constantly, and thus we can associate the Moon with mutations. Mars represents all sharp equipment, including needles. Mars is also associated with infectious diseases.
The Full Moon is always an opposition of the Sun and the Moon. The Moon does not have a light of its own, but reflects the light of the Sun, and at the Full Moon the face of the Moon is totally lit. Asteroid Hygiea is now in the spotlight too. Jupiter acts like a magnifier.
10 Hygiea was discovered in 1849 by Annibale de Gasparis, an Italian astronomer. The Sabian symbol for the discovery degree of Hygiea is Libra 7: A woman feeding chickens and protecting them from the hawks. At the time of its discovery, Hygiea was considered to be a planet, like several other asteroids that were found before. The rapidly expanding number of small bodies discovered between Mars and Jupiter lead to their reclassification as asteroids in the 1850s.
There was no definition of a planet until in 2006, when the International Astronomical Union (IAU) established the categories of planets, dwarf planets and small Solar-System bodies. The first members of the dwarf planet category were Pluto, Eris and Ceres. According to the definition, a dwarf planet has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium shape (they are nearly round).
In 2008 the IAU announced the subcategory of plutoids for the trans-Neptunian dwarf planets. The IAU stated: “The dwarf planet Ceres is not a plutoid as it is located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Current scientific knowledge lends credence to the belief that Ceres is the only object of its kind. Therefore, a separate category of Ceres-like dwarf planets will not be proposed at this time.” Little did they know.
In 2019 it was announced that Hygiea had been observed to be nearly as spherical as Ceres and is close to a hydrostatic equilibrium shape, and therefore could be reclassified as a dwarf planet. A recent study showed that Hygiea is also the only known asteroid whose surface composition appears similar to that of the dwarf planet Ceres. This fact has an interesting point of contact with the astrological meaning of these two asteroids as taking care of the wellbeing of humans.
In 2008 two more trans-Neptunian bodies, Haumea and Makemake, were added to the category of dwarf planets / plutoids. There have been no new additions since, and nobody uses the term plutoid, whereas everybody talks about minor planets or asteroids instead of using the new term “small Solar System body”. The establishment of a new subclass for the main belt dwarf planets and the possible reclassification of 10 Hygiea hardly happen in any time soon.