Full Moon in Virgo – February 27, 2021, 08:17 UT
The Full Moon is in exact conjunction with centaur Aphidas retrograde at 8+ degrees of Virgo. 121725 Aphidas was discovered in 1999 and named after the Greek centaur who remained in a drunken sleep during the battle between the Centaurs and Lapiths.
The myth and my earlier studies on Aphidas proposed to me that astrologically Aphidas may represent one’s complicated relationship with publicity and some kind of withdrawal. Many celebrities with a prominent Aphidas have a difficult relationship with the media and have even withdrawn from their career at the peak of their fame.
A week ago the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, confirmed that they will not be returning as working members of the British monarchy. Harry and Meghan announced their intention already, about a year ago, and are now living in Southern California. Meghan Markle retired from acting in 2017 when she became engaged to Prince Harry. Yesterday Prince Harry revealed in an interview that he stepped back from his royal duties because the British press was toxic and was destroying his mental health.
The aforementioned news propelled me to check Aphidas in the charts of Harry, Meghan and some other members of the British royal family. Divorces in the royal family are interesting in this respect too. The royal duties of the other party are simultaneously taken away with the divorce. Uranus is the classical indicator of divorce, but I was curious to see if also Aphidas had some part in these cases.
Both Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have a Chiron-Aphidas conjunction in their natal charts. Harry’s conjunction is in Gemini opposite his Uranus in Sagittarius, and Meghan’s is in Taurus. Meghan’s Chiron-Aphidas conjunction at 21-22 degrees of Taurus, forms a yod configuration with her Pluto in Libra and Neptune in Sagittarius.
In a direct chart comparison Harry’s Moon at 21+ Taurus is exactly conjunct Meghan’s Aphidas, and thus also affected by all the planets in Meghan’s yod. Also Harry’s Sun at 22+ Virgo is aspected by those planets. The transiting Aphidas in Virgo is now tightly squaring Harry’s natal Chiron-Aphidas conjunction in Gemini and also his natal Uranus in Sagittarius.
Princess Diana’s death in 1997 and the role of the press in it traumatized Prince Harry in his childhood and contributed to his recent reactions and his willingness to protect his own family. In the natal chart of Princess Diana, she has the conjunction of Aphidas and Varda at 23+ Libra right at her Midheaven, the cusp of the 10th house. She really was the Star-queen, the queen of the light, symbolized by Varda. The 10th house represents one’s most cherished goals and the “calling” in the life. While the aggressive press certainly was not anything what she aspired, it was what she encountered, and it is one of those things that we instantly remember when we think about her. Thus we can understand Aphidas at her Midheaven.
When Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson was born, the Sun was in conjunction with Aphidas and Varda in Libra. She has been constantly in the tabloids. Prince Andrew and Sarah announced their separation on March 19, 1992. Sarah did not carry out royal engagements after the separation. The transiting Aphidas at 2+ degrees of Cancer was opposite Sarah’s natal Saturn in Capricorn and strictly squaring Sarah’s nodes of the Moon on the Libra and Aries axis. The lunar nodes symbolize our karmic pathway from the past to the future. When a planet is in a square aspect to the nodes, it must be addressed before growth can be attained. The transiting Uranus-Neptune conjunction in Capricorn was squaring Sarah’s natal Aphidas in Libra.
When the marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana was dissolved, and Diana also resigned from most of her charities on Aug. 28, 1996, Aphidas was transiting in Cancer in conjunction with Venus and Mars. These three planets made a transit square to Diana’s natal Aphidas at her Midheaven.