”The maiden whom the Valar chose from among the Maiar to guide the vessel of the Sun was named Arien, and he that steered the island of the Moon was Tilion. –

”…But Tilion was wayward and uncertain in speed, and held not to his appointed path; and he sought to come near to Arien, being drawn by her splendour, though the flame of Anar scorched him, and the island of the Moon was darkened.

“…Tilion went with uncertain pace, as yet he goes, and was still drawn towards Arien, as he shall ever be; so that often both may be seen above the Earth together, or at times it will chance that he comes so nigh that his shadow cuts off her brightness and there is a darkness amid the day.”

This is how J.R.R. Tolkien describes eclipses in The Silmarillion. The Silmarillion is a posthumous collection of J.R.R. Tolkien’s works, providing the background to The Lord of the Rings.

Each year there are two eclipse seasons, and in every eclipse season there are commonly two eclipses, one Solar and one Lunar, and sometimes more. The New Moon two weeks ago was an Annular Solar Eclipse in Virgo. The second eclipse of this eclipse season is a Penumbral Lunar Eclipse in Pisces.

The Full Moon in Pisces is conjunct Chiron. In the same degree with Chiron and conjunct the Moon is 385446 Manwë. In Sagittarius 174567 Varda is square to the Mercury retrograde in Virgo. Varda is also widely squaring Manwë. Manwë and Varda are two trans-Neptunian objects discovered in 2003 and named in 2014. The names come from J.R.R. Tolkien’s fictional mythology.

Manwë was the King of the Valar in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth legend. Manwë was a kind, compassionate ruler. He sought peace. He was lord of air, wind, and clouds. Birds were his servants, especially eagles, which flew back and forth and brought to his knowledge everything that was going on in the world. Poetry was Manwë’s delight and the song of words was his music. He lived with Varda, the Star-Queen, on Mount Taniquetil by the sea.

Varda is the Queen of the Stars, and being associated with light she is central to the dualism of light and darkness in Tolkien’s cosmology. She made the stars and constellations, and she established the courses of the Moon and the Sun. Her face radiated light.

It is almost impossible to talk about Manwë without mentioning Varda. Manwë and Varda complemented each other. If Varda is beside Manwë, he “sees further than all other eyes, through mist, and through darkness, and over the leagues of the sea. And if Manwë is with her, Varda hears more clearly than all other ears the sound of voices that cry from east to west, from the hills and the valleys…”

385446 Manwë is a binary trans-Neptunian object. The secondary is named Thorondor after the Lord of Eagles, the “mightiest of all birds that have ever been”, in Tolkien’s writing. Manwë and Thorondor are predicted to be going through a period of mutual occultations and transits between 2014 and 2018, when one object crosses in front of the other as seen from Earth.

174567 Varda is highly likely to be a dwarf planet. Its moon is named Ilmarë after Varda’s handmaiden. Tolkien was inspired by many mythologies, and the name Ilmarë possibly comes from the magical Finnish blacksmith Ilmarinen in our national epic, the Kalevala.

The Full Moon in Pisces is conjunct Chiron. This composition suggests intense emotions, confusion, and perhaps feeling like being a bit out of control. The eclipse takes place on the South node of the Moon. The South node has to do with the past. The Moon is a warehouse for memories. Pisces is one of the Water signs, and water remembers.

This can also be a moment of intuitive understanding, which with the aid of Chiron, the Maverick, offers an opportunity to something extraordinary and radiant.

The New Moon in the sign of Virgo on Sept.1, 2016, was an Annular Solar Eclipse. Annular eclipse occurs when the Moon is at its furthest point from the Earth and appears smaller than the Sun. The Moon does not cover the whole disc of the Sun, so a bright ring around it can be seen.

There are several factors emphasizing the Virgo nature of this eclipse. Also Mercury and Jupiter are in Virgo. Mercury is the ruler of the sign, and it is in exact conjunction with the magnifying Jupiter, to the degree. Mercury has turned retrograde just two days before the eclipse.

However, as I tend to focus on the new planets in the Kuiper belt, I would like to draw your attention to 90482 Orcus, which is in conjunction with the Sun and the Moon. So far Orcus has been noted in astrology much less than it deserves.

Orcus was discovered in 2004. It is probably a dwarf planet. It is a binary plutino, locked in a 2:3 resonance with Neptune, as all plutinos are. Orcus’s orbit is similar to Pluto’s, but it is oriented differently. They have the same orbital period (247 and 248 years), and both have perihelia above the ecliptic. For a brief time during their revolution around the Sun, each of them comes closer to the Sun than does Neptune. But their elongated orbits point in nearly opposite directions. Orcus is at aphelion when Pluto is at perihelion and vice versa. Because of the same orbital period and their mutual resonance with Neptune, they will always stay in opposite phases of their orbits. Orcus will come to aphelion (farthest distance from the Sun) in 2019.

Orcus’s personality was quite apparent from the beginning to Mike Brown, the discoverer. He has called it the anti-Pluto. That is why the name Orcus was chosen. Orcus was the Etruscan god of the underworld and equivalent of the Roman Pluto, and later became an alternate name for Pluto. The name was also a private reference to the homonymous Orcas Island, where Brown’s wife Diane had lived in her youth and that they visit frequently.

Orcus has a large satellite named Vanth. Mike Brown suspects that like the Pluto–Charon system, Orcus and Vanth are tidally locked. In other words, Orcus and its satellite have their same faces locked towards each other constantly.

In 2009 Brown asked readers of his weekly column to suggest possible names for the satellite. The name Vanth, after the Etruscan goddess who guided the souls of the dead to the underworld, was chosen. Brown had seen a picture of a fresco at the tomb in Anina depicting Vanth with a tear in her eye. She was waiting for the dead, carrying a torch, and silently crying. “Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone who weeps for the dead? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a guide to light the way?” wrote Brown.

Vanth in a fresco in an Etruscan tomb, image: Wikipedia

From the astrologer’s point of view, there is one more thing about the orbit that raises interest. Astrologer Raimo A. Nikula has noted that in the astrological chart, Orcus and Pluto never are in conjunction with each other, nor oppose each other. They never get closer to each other than 51 degrees, and they never get further away from each other than 150 degrees. In other words, the smallest possible aspect between them is a septile and the widest is a quincunx.

Raimo also reminded me about the long-term opposition between Neptune and Orcus, which still is valid. The opposition has been going on several years. It has slowly started to come apart, but is now intensified by the eclipse in the near vicinity.

Establishing the astrological meaning of Orcus is in progress. Environmental issues and themes of survival, among others, have been connected to Orcus. Because of the homonymous name, also orcas, the killer whales, are associated with Orcus.

Orcas have been the main attraction of SeaWorld theme parks. The parks’ marine mammals have been a subject of criticism for years, and finally the campaigns against the captivity of dolphins and orcas have borne fruit. In 2016, SeaWorld has announced that they would end their in-park breeding programs, and eventually phase out their killer whale shows altogether.

Särkänniemi Dolphinarium in Finland has been receiving similar criticism as SeaWorld. The dolphinarium was closed in 2015. The last performance of the bottlenose dolphins was on Sept. 6, 2015, when Neptune was opposing a triple conjunction of Jupiter, Orcus and the Sun. Dolphins are symbols of the sea god Neptune.

Last week the effects of the eclipse started to show in Finland, when the management of Särkänniemi tried to transport the four dolphins of Särkänniemi from Tampere to Attica Zoological Park in Greece. The operation was started in secrecy, in the dark of the night. The animal activists and the media got wind of the transfer though, and a huge media tumult burst out. It became the main news. The management refused to communicate. They lied that because of security concerns, the authorities had advised to keep the operation secret. The hullabaloo just kept swelling and it has not calmed down.

An estimated 200 people gathered in the parking lot near the dolphinarium to follow the proceedings Saturday night. Image: Kaisu Jansson / Yle

Many rumors have been floating about the welfare of the animals in Attica Park. Activists from the animal rights group say that it is not the best location for the dolphins. Many people wish that the four dolphins, which never should have captured in the first place, could have stayed at Särkänniemi until a better place for their retirement had been found.

The closing ceremony of the Särkänniemi summer season will be held on next Saturday. Several noted artists that were supposed to perform at the celebration, have cancelled their gigs due to the park’s operations. Rock singer Jonne Aaron is the only scheduled artist who will step on stage. He is a dependable and committed Virgo. The Solar Eclipse and Orcus fall conjunct his Sun.

The New Moon in Virgo on Sept. 13 was a partial solar eclipse. Eclipses are more powerful than ordinary New Moons. In astrology, even if the eclipse is not visible where you live, it has an impact nevertheless. Eclipses are the emissaries of change.

In the eclipse chart in Pisces opposite the luminaries was Chiron. Chiron has affinities with Virgo, some astrologers even consider it to be the ruler of the sign.

The symbol of the earth sign Virgo is a maiden. The natives born in this sign are often practical, dependable and strongly inclined to serve their human fellows. The sign is associated with the sixth house, where matters of health, service and daily work belong. Virgo represents nurses, cleaners, servants and laborers.

There are going to be a massive demonstration and strikes in Finland on Friday. We haven’t seen anything like it since the general strike in 1956. The demonstration will close harbors and cause cancellations of flights. Policemen, bus drivers, teachers, shop personnel, health care workers etc., everybody is protesting. The whole labor union movement is prepared to show its power.

The demonstration is aimed against the centre-right government’s cuts, which will affect mostly women in low paid branches and those working in the public sector. The cuts treat people unjustly. According to the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle calculations, midwives are losing most. Yes, that’s right, the midwives have to bear the heaviest burden and save Finland!

The government is also restricting the right to agree on terms of employment and wrecking the policy of consensus, a process of decision-making that seeks widespread agreement among group members. So far employers, trade unions and the government have been able to negotiate the terms themselves, rather than the terms being imposed by law.

In Pisces, opposite the solar eclipse and in conjunction with Chiron is Borasisi, a minor planet in the Kuiper belt region. The name comes from Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Cat’s Cradle. In the novel, the fictional religion of Bokononism is based on lies. One who believes harmless untruths will have peace of mind and a happy life. Borasisi’s presence could refer to some people’s difficulty to accept the urgent need to make economical adjustments in Finland. People want to believe that everything is fine. On the other hand, it may refer to some people’s willingness to believe that the government’s acts will get us safe. There are many who don’t believe so, as Friday’s demonstration shows.

We are now past the Uranus-Pluto square, the long-term transit of our era, but we will be experiencing its effects still a long time. Saturn, which represents boundaries, limitations and fears, is changing signs. This solar eclipse belongs to a Saros series 18 North. According to Bernadette Brady’s delineation, “a high stress level accompanies the energy of this series and individuals will experience a taxing of their strength.”

Mercury in the mid-degrees of Libra has turned retrograde on Thursday. It aspects several planets in Finland’s birth chart: Saturn in Leo, the Moon-Mars conjunction in Virgo, Pallas in Scorpio, the Sun in Sagittarius, and Juno in Aquarius. It is commonly known, that Mercury retrograde can cause confusion and complicate communication. Signing contracts is not recommendable under this influence. This is not promising any easy negotiations or quick solutions here in Finland.

New Moon in Pisces was a Total Solar Eclipse, one of the highlights of the year.

Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac, and the Sun was eclipsed by the Moon in the last degree of Pisces. Only about thirteen hours later, the Sun ingressed Aries and entered a new phase on its cyclical journey around the zodiac. The Sun’s ingress into Aries marks the spring equinox, when the length of night and day is equal everywhere on Earth. It is also the beginning of a new astrological year.

The eclipse occurred near another notable event, namely the last of the seven Uranus-Pluto squares, which have taken place between 2012 and 2015. The last square happened on March 17, 2015. Uranus-Pluto square is the long term aspect defining our era.

At the time of the Solar Eclipse, the luminaries were in conjunction with 120347 Salacia. Salacia is a binary Kuiper belt object, named after the goddess of salt water, the wife of Neptune. Salacia is orbiting the Sun at an average distance slightly greater than that of Pluto. The primary body was discovered in 2004 and assigned a name in 2011. The companion was named Actaea. Both bodies in this binary system are named after sea nymphs, nereids, which are said to be sailors’ friends.

I was witnessing the eclipse in the City Port of Kotka, where about 82% of the Sun’s disc was obscured by the Moon. Thin clouds were moving across the sky, but they did not prevent seeing the phenomenon. At the peak moment the color of the light was extraordinary.

The ocean plays a fundamental role in the world’s water supply, as do the major ice fields. The water cycle is powered from solar energy. 86% of the global evaporation occurs from the oceans. When water evaporates, it takes up energy from its surroundings and cools the environment. Today is the World Water Day. It is celebrated around the world every year on March 22. It’s a day to celebrate fresh water.

The Full Moon of October in Aries is also a total lunar eclipse. It is best seen from the Pacific Ocean and bordering regions. The eclipse occurs two days after perigee, and although according to the original definition of a supermoon by astrologer Richard Nolle, this one does not quite count as a supermoon, the Moon will appear big. When a total lunar eclipse happens, the Moon is still visible but has a reddish color. That is why a total lunar eclipse is sometimes referred to as a blood moon.

Eclipses can feel shaky, and this one may seem a bit ominous. But I agree with astrologer Jonathan Cainer, who wrote: “This blood moon eclipse restores light to your heart.”

The Moon is in Aries. Mars, the ruler of Aries, is in conjunction with 174567 Varda, a trans-Neptunian minor planet named after a deity in J. R. R. Tolkien’s legendarium. The Mars-Varda conjunction is in flowing trine to the Moon and sextile (which is another “easy” aspect) to the Sun.

174567 Varda is highly likely to be a dwarf planet. It was discovered in 2003 by Jeffrey A. Larsen, but the precovery images go back to 1980. The name was announced in January 2014. 174567 Varda has a large moon, which is named after Varda’s handmaiden in Tolkien’s mythology, Ilmarë.

Varda is the Queen of the Stars, the Lady of Light. She made the stars and constellations, and she established the courses of the Moon and the Sun. “In light is her power and her joy,” wrote Tolkien. She is said to be too beautiful for words, and her face radiates light.

In the eclipse chart the Moon-Uranus conjunction in Aries, the Mars-Varda conjunction in Sagittarius, and Jupiter (“the greater benefic”) in Leo, are forming a grand trine in Fire. When we add the Sun in Libra (the sign associated with peace, love and harmony) to the configuration, we get an aspect pattern called a kite. The opposition of the Sun and the Moon forms the spine, and the Sun is the apex of the kite.

The kite flies towards the light.

New Moon in Libra — October 5, 2013, 03:35 UT

The New Moon, the conjunction of the Sun and the Moon, starts the monthly lunation cycle. When the New Moon occurs in conjunction with a planet, the whole month ahead can be colored by the symbolism of that planet.

The New Moon on October 5 was conjoining Typhon, the namesake of the Greek mythological monster, whose name is considered to be a possible etymology for the word describing a tropical cyclone, typhoon. Since the Libra New Moon we have been reading about typhoons, cyclones and earthquakes emerging in different parts of the world. Even in Finland a giant white tornado, though not a natural phenomenon, but caused by an airplane, was seen in the sky and causing wonder. The shape of a spiral is characteristic for Typhon.

The scattered disc object 42355 Typhon was discovered in 2002. Typhon is considered the first known binary centaur, when using an extended definition of a centaur. The companion Echidna was identified in 2006. In Greek mythology Typhon was a terrible monster who was the source of destructive storm winds and volcanic eruptions. He was so huge that his head was said to brush the stars. He shot hot rocks and fire from his mouth. Typhon was trapped beneath Mount Etna in Sicily by Zeus. Echidna was his wife.

When typhoon Fitow made the landfall in China on October 7, 2013, soon after the Libra New Moon, the Sun and Typhon in Libra were in conjunction to the degree. Hundreds of thousands of people had been evacuated before the storm hit the coast. Fitow brought heavy rains, causing power cuts and travel chaos.

Then there was typhoon Nari impacting the Philippines and Vietnam.

Cyclone Phailin prompted India’s biggest evacuation in 23 years. According to hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy, “You really don’t get storms stronger than this anywhere in the world ever. This is the top of the barrel.” On October 12, 2013, Phailin made a landfall in Odesha as a very severe cyclonic storm. Because of the evacuation many lives were saved, but the material loss is massive. People have lost their homes and businesses. Around 12 million people may be affected.

On the same day, October 12, 2013, an earthquake caused panic in Greece. The Greeks are used to quakes, but this one was strong and lasted long. Fortunately, it did not cause any serious damage. The quake occurred near Crete and was felt also in Israel.

On October 15, 2013, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake shook the Philippines, killing more than 140 people and damaging buildings. The next day a powerful typhoon Wipha was threatening Japan. Luckily the storm weakened and passed the islands closely without causing any additional problems to the Fukushima nuclear plant.

Typhon creates ash clouds. We still have fresh in the memory the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland in April 2010, which caused enormous disruption to air travel in Europe over a period of six days. The ash cloud covered large areas of northern Europe sky, and about 20 countries had to close their airspace. When the first small eruption started on March 20, 2010, the Sun was at the Aries point opposing Saturn. Only a week earlier the Sun had opposed Typhon, and then passed over Uranus. The second phase of the eruption started on April 14, 2010, at the New Moon. By then the Sun had travelled to a quincunx aspect to Typhon, crossing Eris (the goddess of disorder) on its way. The ash plume rose to a height of approximately 9 kilometers – like a monster whose head reaches the stars.

A typhoon making its landfall and one of the largest volcanic eruptions of the 20th century occurring at the same place on the same day is what happened in the Philippines on June 15, 1991. The conjunction of the Sun and Typhon was wide, but Typhon was also the focal point of a yod configuration formed by Pluto, Neptune and Typhon. In addition, Typhon was the midpoint of Pholus and Chaos, two other minor planets, which fit in the symbolism of that moment. The ash from the Mount Pinatubo eruption brought total darkness to the area. Typhoon Yunya’s rainfall mixed with the ash and formed a heavy blanket, which made roofs collapse. The effects of the eruption were felt worldwide, as the ashes reached high in the atmosphere.

Another event which happened when the Sun and Typhon were in conjunction was the Palm Sunday tornado outbreak in 1965. It is among the most intense tornado outbreaks ever recorded.

The Sun was squaring Typhon on July 9, 1958, when the largest known tsunami in modern times occurred in Alaska. Because of a big earthquake, a huge amount of rock and ice fell into the Lituya Bay and caused a wave of 516 meters in height. The event is known as the Lituya Bay megatsunami.

There has always been, and will continue to be floods, hurricanes and other extreme weather events. However, human activity like deforestation and burning fossil fuels causes global warming, which increases intense weather phenomena. Just around the New Moon the news told, how a wave of hundreds of small earthquakes has been worrying people in Spain, in an area which normally is not known for seismic activity. A link between the quakes and work on a big offshore gas storage plant is suspected. The plant aims to inject gas in a depleted oil reservoir under the Mediterranean Sea. The Spanish government has now suspended the work.

We feel helpless when facing the force of nature and natural disasters. There’s plenty we can do though as individuals and as part of our community. Not many of us have the courage to face a Russian prison, like Sini Saarela and other Greenpeace activists, for example. But it does not have to be something big, because our everyday choices count.

The first Earth Day celebrations on April 22, 1970, took place when the Sun was conjunct Typhon in the first degree of the earth sign Taurus. Now that degree is occupied by the conjunction of Bienor and 1992 QB1. Bienor can give us strength and initiative to challenge ourselves. The Aries Full Moon last night was a Lunar Eclipse in vicinity of Bienor, and eclipses are famous of their ability to move stuck energy and push us on a new path in life. This is a good time to start listen the Earth and take responsibility of its future, even in small ways.

Last Thursday’s Scorpio Full Moon was a partial lunar eclipse conjunct Saturn. Saturn rules structures. Thursday was the 60th anniversary of the discovery of the structure of DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid, the nucleic acid that carries the genetic information in the cell. On April 25, 1953, James D. Watson and Francis Crick published a paper in Nature magazine, describing the double helix structure of DNA.

On the day of the publication an asteroid which became later named as 55555 DNA – then not yet discovered – was at 26+ degrees of Gemini in conjunction with Ceres, Orcus and Logos, aligned precisely with the Galactic Center in Sagittarius. The stellium of the aforementioned minor planets in Gemini was trine to James Watson’s natal Moon. The transiting Venus was exactly conjunct his Sun, which can be described as a transit of creativity. The transiting Mars-Jupiter conjunction in the late degrees of Taurus was conjunct Watson’s asteroid 55555 DNA.

The actual discovery of DNA structure had been made on February 28, 1953, on the day of the Full Moon. The luminaries were tightly squaring the yet to be discovered asteroid DNA. Asteroid DNA was in trine to the North node of the Moon. The transiting Uranus in the mid Cancer was exactly at James Watson’s descendant conjunct his Pluto. The transiting asteroid DNA was at Watson’s lunar North node.

In 1962 James Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins were jointly awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries concerning the structure of DNA. The award ceremony took place in Stockholm, Sweden, on December 10, 1962. The transiting asteroid DNA (still yet not discovered) was at Watson’s midheaven in Scorpio. The midheaven is the point which indicates a person’s career and public reputation.

It still took almost 40 years before the main belt asteroid 55555 DNA became discovered, on December 19, 2001. On that day the Sagittarius Sun, the lunar node axis and the Galactic Center were in perfect alignment. The North node in Gemini was conjoining asteroid DNA’s position at the time of the publishing of Watson’s and Crick’s paper in Nature magazine.

The discovery of the DNA structure started a new era in molecule biology and has enabled genetic modification. Earlier in this blog I have mentioned Paul Berg, who created the first recombinant DNA molecules. In Berg’s natal chart Saturn is in conjunction with asteroid DNA and a trans-Neptunian minor planet Teharonhiawako, named after a god of maize. Maize is probably the best known representative of genetically modified food.

Also in the lunar eclipse chart of last Thursday asteroid DNA and Teharonhiawako are in a close conjunction. The conjunction of these two minor bodies symbolizes the serious concerns regarding genetically modified food, such as health risks and environmental issues. A study has shown that rats fed with GM corn suffered tumors and died earlier than those on a standard diet.

There has not been much GM food on the market in Finland so far. According to the EU regulations, genetically engineered food must be labeled. But the law does not compel to inform on the milk package or in the meat package label, if the cow was fed by GM animal feeds. Accruals can end up in humans. Suomen Rehu, an important Finnish feed product provider, will receive its first shipment of GM feeds in May, and the first pigs and chickens fed by it will be on the consumers’ plates in June. In the natal chart of Finland, asteroid DNA; Ceres; and Teharonhiawako are located in Scorpio in the sixth house, the house of health related matters. The transiting North node of the Moon in the lunar eclipse chart was in exact conjunction to the minute with Finland’s asteroid DNA.

I read on Planet Waves that labeling of GM food has moved forward in U:S., when “The Genetically Engineered Food Right-to-Know Act” was introduced last Wednesday by U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and U.S. Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR). That’s good news. We are entitled to know what is in the food package, and make a choice.

Our deepest desires and anxieties appear in our dreams masked in symbols. A Full Moon has a tendency to stir emotions. Some of us find it difficult to get sleep at the time of a Full Moon. The Full Moon in Gemini was a lunar eclipse on the south node of the Moon, which may heighten the possibility that fears and insecurities arise from the unconscious. The aspect pattern of the eclipse chart shows that overcoming these anxieties will require some conscious adjustments, and one’s success in this work is perhaps best achieved through cooperation in a group or a collective.

The Gemini Full Moon formed a quincunx (150 degrees) to Venus-Saturn conjunction in Scorpio and another quincunx to Mars-Pluto conjunction in Capricorn. This aspect pattern is called a yod. The signs involved represent different modes and elements. This is why quincunxes may make us feel stressed and uncomfortable. In addition, Chiron from Pisces was square to the luminaries.

In the focal point of the yod pattern was the eclipsed Moon. The Moon moves swift and the pattern dissolved quickly, so is the effect only momentary? The eclipse degree remains potent for a long time, sometimes for years. Also, the current eclipse fell in conjunction with Altjira, an interesting Kuiper belt object which moves real slow. The orbital period of this binary is almost 300 years.

In Australian Aboriginal mythology, Altjira is the sky god of the Arrernte. He created the Earth, then retired to the sky and remained there. Altjira was the central god of a sacred era called the Dreamtime. The Aboriginal people believe that every person essentially exists eternally in the Dreaming. For unknown reasons, Altjira had emu’s feet. A surreal figure like him might appear in a dream.

Dreams belong to the dominion of Neptune. My research for this blog also indicated that Altjira has something to do with sleep and dreaming.

Altjira was discovered in 2001. In the discovery chart of Altjira, asteroid 14827 Hypnos, named after the personification of sleep in Greek mythology, is in the same degree with Jupiter, in contact with Jupiter’s magnifying effect.

The Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud, the founding father of psychoanalysis, wrote extensively about dream theories and interpretations. He also used hypnosis, which is a sleep-like state, in his work. He has Altjira on his ascendant in Scorpio. Probably the best known of the many books he published is The Interpretation of Dreams (1899), his own personal favorite.

Carl Gustav Jung, a Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist, became acquainted with Freud’s work through The Interpretation of Dreams. Such concepts as the archetype, the collective unconscious, and synchronicity are created by Jung. Jung was a productive writer himself. His autobiography is titled Memories, Dreams, and Reflections. Jung’s Altjira is conjunct his midheaven in Sagittarius and trine his Sun.

In Finland in 2009 the swine flu vaccine caused narcolepsy in children and youngsters age 4 – 19. Narcolepsy is a rare sleep disorder that causes a person to fall asleep suddenly and unexpectedly. Narcolepsy is a disease with lifetime consequences. The condition has a strong genetic linkage. The mass vaccination of this particular age group started in the beginning of the week 48. At that time the Sun had just opposed Altjira in early Gemini. Mercury, representing children and youngsters, was tightly aligned with the Pholus-Chaos opposition. Pholus is associated with toxins –in this case the medicine had become toxic. Mars (sharp objects like needles) was opposing Nessus, which also has a connection to toxics. Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune were in triple-conjunction. Asteroid DNA and 14827 Hypnos were in quincunx, and they also aspected many of the aforementioned planets.

In recent years sleeping disorders have become a growing health problem around the world. People use more and more pills, which in turn can cause other problems. Could insomnia have a link with Altjira’s current journey in the mutable air sign Gemini? The energy in this sign can be nervous. In The Contemporary Astrologer’s Handbook Sue Tompkins says about planets in Gemini: “Gemini lightens up – seems to almost add air – to any planet found in the sign. The qualities of the given planet will not only seem to become lighter and less serious but also more scattered and difficult to get hold of.”

Gemini is a social sign concerned with gathering and sharing information. A method of social dreaming has become widely used in many countries in recent years. It is a form of enquiry into social phenomena through the use of dreams. The purpose is not to interpret the dream, or focus on the dreamer’s personality, but through free association to think afresh and help people to understand different points of view.

Social dreaming takes place with many participants simultaneously. People come together to share their dreams. A person is needed to voice a dream. The dream comes from the individual but once it is voiced, it ceases to be a personal property and becomes a shared object available for the social unconscious that we all share. In the context of social dreaming the terms finite and infinite are proposed to be used instead of the terms conscious and the unconscious. In the process of social dreaming, something grows and develops, and new knowledge is gained.

The Scorpio New Moon on Nov 13 was a powerful total solar eclipse. Eclipses can be stressful, but they offer us a moment to pause, to notice the matter which calls our attention, and to choose a new path if necessary. In Finland we are experiencing the Scorpio eclipse at full force. We are in the midst of the worst environmental crisis in our history.

Often the energy of an eclipse can be felt before the actual event. On Nov 4 a waste water pool at the Talvivaara mine in Northern Finland started to leak and spill out poisonous water at a speed of 5000 – 6000 cubic meters an hour. The mining company’s attempts to block the leak failed and the waste water pool drained empty. Part of the contaminated water gushed right away out of the mine area and continued into nearby rivers and lakes. Part of it ended up in emergency pools, but the emergency pools lack bottom structures, so the water which contains toxic heavy metals, chemicals and uranium will eventually soak through the soil into groundwater.

The Talvivaara mine is one of the largest nickel mines in Europe. Talvivaara applies a new method, bioleaching, to extract the metals from ore. The production started in 2008 and the short history of the mine is full of problems. Finally, a couple of weeks ago the situation got totally out of control.

The eclipsing Moon on Nov 13 was at its perigee, which means that it was closest in its orbit to the Earth. The eclipse was forming a semi-square aspect (45 degrees) to Pluto, the ruler of Scorpio. Mining, toxins and pollution belong to the dominion of Pluto. Uranus is square to Pluto. The Uranus-Pluto square has been called the 2012 aspect. Uranus governs modern technology and metallic element uranium. It is associated with sudden events and breaks. The transiting Uranus is in exact square to Finland’s natal Pluto at 4+ degrees Cancer (Finland, Dec 6, 1917).

Neptune stationed direct just before the eclipse and in the chart it is in conjunction with the stationary Chiron. The energy of stationary planets is concentrated and powerful. Leaking and absorption belong in the rule of Neptune. Chiron raises awareness. Saturn in Scorpio is in aspect with Uranus, Chiron and Neptune. Saturn represents boundaries and structures. Besides the aforementioned square from the transiting Uranus, Finland’s Pluto in Cancer received transits from Saturn, Chiron and Neptune, too.

The eclipse is square to Nessus in Aquarius. Nessus speaks of the abuse of power. It has correspondence with poisons and sometimes with eczema. The local residents near Talvivaara mine have suffered from itching and skin symptoms for some time. In recent years the transiting Nessus has been hovering over the natal Uranus of Finland at 20+ degrees of Aquarius. On Nov 4, the day when the leaking started, Nessus stationed and turned direct.

The solar eclipse took place in conjunction with a plutino called Huya. The eclipse chart’s Huya forms a sesquiquadrate aspect (135 degrees) to Finland’s Pluto.

Semi-squares and sesquiquadrates are minor aspects, but there is no reason to overlook them. Just keep in mind when working with them that the orb has to be tight. Semi-squares and sesquiquadrates are irritating and frustrating in nature and they require practical action. They belong to the same aspect family with squares and oppositions.

At the time of its discovery in March 2000, Huya was the biggest and brightest trans-Neptunian object found since Pluto. Like Pluto, Huya spends part of its orbit closer to the Sun than Neptune. It is currently inside the orbit of Neptune and will come to perihelion in 2015.

Huya is named after the rain god of the indigenous Wayuu people of Colombia and Venezuela. In Wayuu mythology Pulowi and Juya, a married deity couple is associated with procreation and life. Juya is a male, a wanderer, a hunter, a warrior, and a seducer. He is a master of rain, and he lives in a distant place beyond the Sun. The Wayuu inhabit the arid Guajira Peninsula. The lack of water is a huge problem there.

The Wayuu have had to deal with problems caused by the coal mining industry. Their environment has been polluted and they suffer from health problems. They are forced to relocate and leave their ancestral land. In the coastal area the Wayuu people for their part have practiced artisanal sea salt mining for centuries. In recent years there has been struggle between the Wayuu and the government that has industrialized the salt production.

The Wayuu believe that the life cycle doesn’t end with death, but that a relationship with one’s bones continues. Burials are important. According to their tradition, a few years after the first burial, a woman gathers the bones of the deceased and cleans them. Then the remains are buried again. Long-dead Wayuu are believed to return on the Earth in the form of rain, which assures the rejuvenation of vegetation and life.

The traditional Wayuu style of living seems to be on a collision course with the changes caused by modern technologies. A Wayuu leader Jorge Montiel has said: “We will not be removed from the lands where our ancestors are buried. We are defending the animals, the forests and the water. This planet can’t withstand any more contamination. What good is all this wealth from oil and coal if we are dying of diseases and misery?”

The astrological meaning of Huya seems to tell something about the interaction between a man and the nature and about the consequences of our actions on the environment.

One more minor aspect is worth mentioning. There is a decile (36 degrees) between the eclipse and the Galactic Center. A decile belongs to the same aspect family with quintiles, and these aspects are found in the pentagram pattern. F. Sakoian and L. Acker write about this aspect group: “One of the abilities unique to this family of aspects is the capacity to understand the inner relation between seemingly isolated sets of circumstances.” About decile they say: “The division of the circle by ten suggests the number ‘1’ since ten reduces to one by adding its digits – ‘1’ is the number associated with will power, action and new beginnings.”

Centaur planet Echeclus is conjoining the Galactic Center at the moment. Echeclus was discovered in 2000 and initially classified as a minor planet. In December 2005, a cometary coma was detected around it. After the cometary outburst it was given a double designation as a centaur and a comet and renamed 174P/Echeclus. There was another outburst in 2011. Like Huya, also Echeclus comes to perihelion in 2015.

In Greek mythology centaur Echeclus was killed in a fight between the Centaurs and the Lapiths. He was hit in the face with a lance that lacked its point. Eric Francis has delineated: “It has a tendency to break apart and explode. It’s a comet-like centaur, with a 35 year orbit. The name is associated with gluten. Echeclus was killed by being hit in the face with a spear. I take this as losing face, or having one’s identity shattered. So there is something here about how we finally no longer identify with what is wrong with us, but this can only happen after we identify with it for a while.”

The mining company and the Kainuu ELY Centre (centre for economic development, transport and the environment) certainly have lost their face. Regulations have been broken, there has been deficiency in control, and authorities did not intervene fast enough. The Finnish government has been inept in handling the situation.

The police have started a preliminary investigation concerning the leak. The Talvivaara mine is under suspicion for an environmental crime. There is also a need for amendments to legislation. A massive clean-up needs to be done. A danger for the last safety bank to fail is hanging in the air. Protests have been held and people are demanding the closure of the mine.

Disasters like the one we are currently facing in Finland happen everywhere on the Earth. We have reached the point where we have to recognize our personal responsibility for the pollution and take action for the future of this planet. Australia has just set a good example by creating the world’s largest network of marine reserves, protecting oceans around its coast. The Earth needs our protection.

We have just passed the Venus transit, a rare event which we won’t get a chance to witness again in our lifetime. This was preceded by a Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius the day before.

Venus transits occur in pairs, separated by eight years. These pairs are separated by about 105 or 121 years. The last time there was a transit of Venus was in 2004. The event is so rare, because the orbits of Venus and Earth do not lie in the same plane, and a transit can only occur if both planets and the Sun are situated exactly on one line.

There has been such hype around this event that your expectations may run high for something exceptionally beautiful or enlightening to happen. The Sun is now conjunct Chaos, so your life may not be filled with peace, love and beauty of Venus at the moment.

I was delighted to notice that asteroid Nemesis is in Sagittarius opposite Venus. In Greek mythology, Nemesis was the goddess of divine retribution who maintained the equilibrium of the human condition. The word Nemesis originally meant the distributor of fortune, neither good nor bad, simply in due proportion to each according to what was deserved. I have always loved Demetra George’s interpretation for asteroid Nemesis as a symbol of our conscience. According to her, asteroid Nemesis shows how our conscience and morality guide us toward right action.

The symbol of Venus, a circle with a small cross below it, resembles a hand mirror. You can think of the current situation of Venus opposite Nemesis, as if you were facing your conscience in a mirror. Whatever your life situation is at the moment, if you follow your conscience, you can’t go wrong.