The New Moon in Cancer followed close to the solstice, falling opposite Pluto and squaring the Aries Point in the chart. No doubt, this is one of the most important lunations of the year.

The Aries Point is one of the cardinal points which are the first degrees of Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn. They are sensitive points in the chart.

The heavens are said to rest on four corners which are universal in ancient mythologies and symbolize the elements of Fire, Water, Air and Earth. In the Norse creation myth Odin with his brothers placed four dwarves (Nordri, Sudri, Austri and Vestri) to hold up giant Ymir’s skull and create the heavens. Then using sparks from Muspelheim, the realm of fire, the gods created the Sun, Moon and stars.

“These elements were all later personified as Gods, Genii, and Winds, progeny of the Great Mother, the ‘Bearer of the Waters,’ or the enceinte mother. She was the primordial ark, and long before boats were built was called the Ship of Life or the Ship of the North. And this primitive ark or ship contained within herself the causation of all the Fours, which still cling to the cardinal points and the corss,” writes E. Valentia Straiton.

The New Moon occured in exact conjunction with Vesta and in very close conjunction with Cyllarus.

Vesta is the asteroid of burning fire, the eternal flame of creativity. Vesta is comfortable in Cancer, the home sign of the Moon. Vesta represents focus and integrity. This is great time for dedication and commitment. In ancient Greece, a warm hearth dedicated to Hestia, the Greek equivalent for Vesta, was central to every home.

Commitment can be applied also to Cyllarus, one of the Centaurs. Eric Francis writes about him:

“Cyllarus reminds us to be conscious of the choices we are making in our lives — particularly the choice to fight, or walk away from one. Cyllarus says that the decisions we make directly affect our relationships, and we need to be conscious of our choices in this context. We are connected by the threads of our lives to every person in our lives.”

In Greek mythology Cyllarus was a young and beautiful Centaur, and though the Centaurs were not gods but a group of troublemakers, the story of Cyllarus has many points of contact with the Norse myth of Balder, the most beautiful and beloved of the gods.

Balder was a solar god who was pierced by a mistletoe and whose body was burned on a funeral pyre at the summer solstice. After Ragnarök Balder returns to life (symbolized by the lights of the Christmas tree at the winter solstice). The bonfires are still lit in Scandinavia on Midsummer Eve.

A feeling of magical moment is intensified by three minor bodies conjoined in early Libra, at one of the cardinal points: Asteroid Freia is named after the Norse goddess of love, beauty and fertility. Okyrhoe is a Centaur, the daughter of Chiron and Chariklo. Her name means “swift-flowing.” and she was a prophetess. She was transformed into a mare by Zeus for revealing the secrets of the gods. Asteroid Karma was discovered by a Finnish astronomer Liisi Oterma. The name refers to concept of the cycle of cause and effect.

So perish the old Gods!
But out of the sea of Time
Rises a new land of song,
Fairer than the old.
Over its meadows green
Walk the young bards and sing.

— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

References:

E. Valentia Straiton, Celestial Ship of the North, Kessinger Publishing, 1992 (published originally in 1927)

Wikipedia, Creation myth

Eric Francis, Small World Stories, Cyllarus

Holy Nation of Odin, Balder

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Tegner’s Drapa (on the death of Balder the Beautiful)

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 25th, 2009 at 7:41 pm and is filed under 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.