The spring has kept us waiting. When I look out of my window I can still see a huge mound of snow just outside my garden. The chill in the air is perhaps a breath of Sila, the arctic weather god of the Inuit. Sila has given his name to a distant little body, previously known as 1997 CS29. It is the latest of the transneptunian objects that has acquired a proper name, and this happened in January, 2012. The name in its entirety is Sila-Nunam.

The current Full Moon is in Scorpio. The Moon, and the Sun opposite it in Taurus, is squared by Sila-Nunam in mid-Leo. Since the Taurus New Moon two weeks ago, Sila-Nunam has stationed direct and is now in forward motion. This gives me a good opportunity to tell you a bit about this little transneptunian, about the mythology behind the name, and about the recent events related to it.

Sila-Nunam is a classical Kuiper belt object, also called a cubewano, in a subclass of so-called cold population objects. The majority of the cold population objects have relatively round orbits and low inclinations like the classical planets, as has also Sila-Nunam. Its orbital period is little over 291 years.

Sila-Nunam is a binary system, a double cubewano, consisting of two bodies tightly bound and with nearly equal sizes. It is quite common that the transneptunians have companions, and some systems even have more than two components, like the Pluto-Charon system. In a binary system the two objects are orbiting each other around a point in the free space between them. This point is called a barycenter, and it is a point where the bodies, which usually have a similar mass, balance each other.

Classical transneptunian objects are given mythological names associated with creation. Sila is the Inuit god of the sky, weather, and life force. Though identified as male, he is formless and not thought to have many personality characteristics, and thus he is seldom depicted. Nunam is the Earth goddess, Sila’s wife. Nunam created the land animals and, in some traditions, the Inuit people. Sila breathed life into the Inuit. Sila-Nunam is the second transneptunian body named after Inuit deities, the first being Sedna.

Sedna is the Inuit goddess of the sea and marine animals. In the Full Moon chart Jupiter is in conjunction with Sedna. This aspect emphasizes the arctic theme, because Jupiter tends to magnify everything it touches.

Sila is one of the oldest Inuit deities, even older than Sedna. According to anthropologists, the belief is extremely old. The dominant religious system of the Inuit today is Christianity, but many Inuit still hold to at least to some extent of their traditional religious beliefs. So, at least a few people have believed in Sila, without interruption, from the distant past up to the present time. This is beautifully in accordance with astronomical facts. The cold classical transneptunians are thought to have formed very far from the Sun, in the outermost part of the protoplanetary disk. Having formed and remained so far from the Sun, they are thought to preserve solids from that environment in a relatively unaltered state. And in Eskimo language, the word Sila has meanings of universe, outer world, and space.

Currently Sila-Nunam is undergoing a pretty rare season of mutual events, in which the two bodies alternate in passing in front of one another as seen from Earth. The season stretches from October 2011 to May 2013. These mutual events only occur twice each Sila-Nunam’s almost 300 year-long orbit around the Sun. Sila and Nunam orbit around each other every 12.5 days. They are very close in size, so by turns one of the two objects is hidden from view by the other during these occultation and eclipse type events as seen from Earth.

The Taurus Sun squared Sila-Nunam on May 2, 2012. Squares create tension, and tension usually leads to action. Perfectly synchronous with the square, the news concerning the Arctic region caught my eye. Greenpeace activists tried to prevent the Finnish icebreaker Nordica from departing for the Alaskan Arctic.

Sadly, Finland is involved in oil drilling in the Arctic. The icebreaker Nordica and its sister ship Fennica are owned by a Finnish state-owned firm Arctia Shipping. The oil company Shell is planning to open up the Arctic for oil drilling. Shell has leased both vessels for keeping the icepack from threatening their drilling platforms on the north coast of Alaska. Fennica already departed for Alaska in March.

Last Tuesday (May 1) the Greenpeace activists boarded and occupied the icebreaker Nordica in Helsinki harbor. Police removed them after several hours of negotiations. Two days later (May 3) the activists boarded the ship again at open sea. They were removed again, this time by the Swedish police.

The Arctic region is a unique area among Earth’s ecosystems. It is one of the last continuous wilderness areas in the world, and so far it has remained comparatively clean. The Arctic also holds 1/5 of the Earth’s water supply. Endangering this pristine area and putting profit before the environment is a disgrace. Arctic oil drilling is dangerous, because in freezing conditions oil is known to behave very differently than in lower latitudes. An oil spill would have a catastrophic impact. There is no way to clean up oil underneath the thick ice.

Finland is one of the Arctic nations and we should be protecting the Arctic, not helping to destroy the vulnerable nature of it. As a Finn I am ashamed of our involvement in oil drilling in Alaska.

The April Full Moon is glowing in Libra together with Haumea, one of the largest Kuiper belt objects, and perhaps the strangest one in the whole Solar System. Finding balance is the challenge now. You may need to make tiny adjusting moves just at the right moment, like a tightrope artist dancing on the wire. Philippe Petit, a highwire-walker, who is famous for his walk between the towers of the World Trade Center, was born with his Sun conjunct Haumea.

The Full Moon is an opposition of the Sun and the Moon. Libra is a sign ruled by Venus, thus we can say that the Moon in Libra is ruled by Venus. The Sun is in Aries, which is a sign ruled by Mars. Venus and Mars for their part are both in signs ruled by Mercury (Venus in Gemini and Mars in Virgo), so, in a way, Mercury is leading the show.

Mercury is moving forward again after the direct station, which occurred shortly before the Full Moon, so we can anticipate mental energy to flow again. However, Mercury is unaspected in the chart, i.e. it is not receiving any major aspects from the planets. This can appear as difficulty to express the mercurial capacity. On the other hand, unaspected Mercury is unrestrained by other planets and can act in exaggerated manner.

Haumea is named after the goddess of childbirth and fertility in Hawaiian mythology. The Sabian Symbol for the discovery degree for 13 Libra is Children blowing soap bubbles. The myth reflects physical properties of this icy distant world.

The goddess Haumea represents the element stone. She is Mother Earth. She takes many different forms and has experienced many different rebirths. She once lived as a mortal woman and took a husband among men. Haumea’s many children sprang from different parts of her body. Her children are also described as “born from the brain.”

Most things out in the Kuiper belt are about equal portions of rock and of ice, but, unusually, Haumea is almost entirely composed of rock. Haumea has two moons, and it is followed in its orbit around the Sun by a swarm of small icy bodies that were ejected from the surface of Haumea, when another object slammed into it in the distant past. Scientists call them the Haumea family. Haumea is the fastest rotating body of its size class, and its shape is therefore stretched out like an American football.

To establish astrological meaning for a new planet can be a painfully slow process. There are different methods of doing this. We can study charts of people who have the object in question prominently situated in their birth chart, for instance, in a tight conjunction with their Sun, and observe mutual factors. Sometimes the influence is subtle; in other cases it can be quite tangible.

Among the musicians and artists who were born with their Sun conjunct Haumea are Ian Anderson, Mark Knopfler, Amy Winehouse and Pink. Anderson and Knopfler are Leos, Pink and Amy Winehouse are Virgos.

The singer-songwriter Pink shares Philippe Petit’s interest in acrobatics. She has performed doing dashing trapeze acts while singing. She is a fearless artist, who does things her own way.

Balance is required also when standing on one leg while playing a flute, like Ian Anderson, the leader of the legendary Jethro Tull. He introduced flute to rock music. As a flautist, he is self-taught, and his style is unconventional and recognizable.

Another self-taught musician, whose distinctive sound is recognizable, is Mark Knopfler. His fingerpicking technique is not common among electric guitar players. In an interview Knopfler has said: “…if there is a definition of freedom, it would be when you have control over your reality to transform it, to change it, rather than having it imposed upon you. You can’t really ask for more than that.” Perhaps the shape-changing goddess Haumea contributed.

Amy Winehouse was unique. It’s been said that she made it easier for unconventional women to have mainstream pop success. A continuing wave of fearless female musicians has emerged in her footsteps – like the offspring of Haumea.

One of the biggest news events of 2010 was the rescue of 33 Chilean miners, after they had been trapped underground for more than two months. At the time of the rescue, the Sun was conjunct Haumea. The element of stone is concrete. The theme of rebirth and transformation is obvious. Since the usual access to the mine was collapsed, an alternative “birth canal” had to be drilled for the delivery. In fact, the first miner to ride the rescue capsule to the surface, Florencio Ávalos, has afterwards described the event as a rebirth.

Overall, the energy of Haumea feels bold, but not unsound. What was conceived during the New Moon two weeks ago is ready to be burst in the air now.

Lunar Eclipse / Full Moon in Gemini – December 21, 2010, 08:13 UT
Winter Solstice – December 22, 2010, 23:38 UT

This special Full Moon in the last degree of Gemini was a total lunar eclipse at the South node of the Moon. The eclipse took place on the Winter Solstice.

The Sun-Moon opposition was squared by the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction in Pisces. A pile of minor planets and asteroids including Logos, Juno, Makemake and Typhon on the cusp of Virgo and Libra, completed a mutable grand cross. The Sun in the last degree of Sagittarius was accompanied by a large diversity of planets and asteroids including Mercury retrograde, Pallas, Crantor, and Pluto. The Moon conjoined the Centaur planet Cyllarus in early Cancer. The rich symbolism contained in the prominent heavenly bodies parallels the news and events unfolding in the world.

In the Northern Hemisphere the Winter Solstice marks the shortest day of the year. After the Solstice the days get gradually longer and the light starts to increase. In the current charts asteroid Balder, named after the shining god of the Vikings, is squaring asteroid Hoder, the namesake of the twin brother of Balder. Asteroid Saga is in conjunction with Balder. Balder gets additional sparks from Vesta. This is the time to be reminded of the story of Balder.

Balder was the most beautiful and beloved of the old Norse gods. Because of Loki’s trickery, the blind brother Hoder threw a mistletoe at Balder and thus caused Balder’s death. The gods were weeping for him. He was ceremonially burnt upon his own ship at Summer Solstice, symbolized by the Midsummer’s bonfires. Balder is said to return to life after Ragnarök. The Earth will appear again from the sea, it will be fertile, green, and cleansed of all its sufferings.

The myth clearly has its origins in the change of seasons. The joy of people is present in the sunlight, in the presence of the radiant god Balder. The gloom of the winter months is symbolized by the death of Balder, carried out by the twin brother. The god of light is reborn at the Winter Solstice and greeted with the burning of the yule log and also with the lights in contemporary Christmas trees.

Happy Winter Solstice!

“With our fingers we make million holes
We run and we fall into pot holes
On a mission to savor the world oooh
We peek at the sky through tree holes
Comet oh damn it…�?

– Björk and Sjón, The Comet Song

Last week I went to say hello to a friend who works in the local day care center. The cheerful environment and atmosphere of the visit still affects me. The Full Moon chart appears to me like a playground of little mermaids and comet chasers, in spite of some clearly stressful chart factors present.

The Full Moon in the last degree of Taurus was loosely conjunct Sedna, one of the strangest little planets in our solar system. The Moon squared Chiron and strictly opposed two other Centaur planets, Chariklo and Echeclus, which both have an association with Chiron.

Chiron works through raising awareness and at the Full Moon was asking for our attention by squaring the Sun-Moon opposition. The apex of any T-square is the driving force of the configuration. Chiron is in conjunction with Neptune, the god of water and the sea. After a long retrograde period, Chiron and Neptune have stationed direct earlier this month, which gives boost to their impact. The empty arm of a T-cross shows where the tension can be released. In this case it points to Leo, the sign which, among other things, can be associated with childlike playfulness.

In astrology comets can be seen as messengers. Astronomically comets are distinguished from asteroids by the presence of a coma or a tail. However, the line between comets and asteroids is not always clear. Sometimes a comet can lose its tail, as it passes close to the Sun many times in its orbit. The ice evaporates away and the comet may come to resemble an asteroid. Chiron was the first object to be given a double designation of a comet and an asteroid (95P/Chiron). Echeclus is the only other Centaur object besides Chiron which has the dual comet and asteroid designation (174P/Echeclus).

The Sun is in conjuction with Echeclus and Chariklo. Centaur planet Chariklo is named after Chiron’s wife, a water nymph in Greek mythology. Caring and commitment are her qualities.

Venus rules two signs, Taurus and Libra. The Full Moon fell in Taurus. Venus in Libra is strong and she stationed direct just a few days before the Full Moon. In the chart Venus forms a yod pattern with the Moon and Uranus. Astrologer Anne Massey reminds us in Venus: Her Cycles, Symbols & Myths that originally the essence of Venus was more diverse than that of the contemporary goddess of love and beauty. We have “sanitized�? Venus over the centuries. Anne Massey writes further:

“Aphrodite emerges from sea foam, or spirit, into matter. We symbolically link the ocean to the unconscious or collective — the realm of Neptune. In fairy tales, the little mermaid becomes sea foam to be washed away by the ocean — ascension from matter into spirit.�?

A reflection of the duality of the goddess shows in two images on a news page telling us how the statue of the Little Mermaid was placed back on her stone in Copenhagen after the long journey abroad. The images instantly reminded me about Sedna, the Inuit goddess of the sea. In the art Sedna is often depicted as a mermaid. In one of the many versions of the Sedna legend she is a skeleton woman.

Sedna is a primordial, distant object beyond the edge of the Kuiper belt. Mike Brown discovered this reddish little planet seven years ago, in November 2003. Sedna travels 12,000 years around the Sun on its exceptionally long and elongated orbit, far from the planets. In an astrological chart Sedna is in Taurus, moving slowly and acting almost like a fixed star. Scientists are puzzled about Sedna’s crazy orbit. Why is it so strange? So far Sedna has kept her secrets. Until the astronomers find more objects in similar orbits, there is no way to know for sure.

Mike Brown writes about the exciting possibilities on his blog: There is something out there — part 1 and part 2. The chase for more Sednas continues…

References:

Wikipedia, The Comet Song

Wikipedia, Comet

Anne Massey, Venus: Her Cycles, Symbols & Myths, Llewellyn Publications, 2006

Mike Brown’s Sedna page

Mike Brown’s Planets

On the 20th October Ceres conjoined Pluto in early Capricorn. In October’s Aries Full Moon chart the tight Ceres-Pluto conjunction is right on the North node of the Moon and square the Aries Point, the point where personal comes political. The Sun is in Libra.

Ceres brings the myth of Persephone into the focus. Hades (Pluto) abducted young Persephone and she became the queen of the underworld. Her mother Demeter (Ceres) was desperate. Eventually Persephone was able to return to her mother. Persephone had eaten pomegranate seeds though during her stay in the underworld, and therefore every year she has to go back for a part of the year with Hades, the other part she is allowed to spend with her mother. The myth explains the change of the seasons.

The Moon’s Nodes are the points in space where the yearly path of the Sun and monthly path of the Moon intersect as seen from the Earth. In astrology the North node is considered future oriented (while the South node is associated with the past). The Full Moon is always an opposition of the Sun and the Moon. The Sun is currently in Libra, the sign symbolized by the scales. The sign is concerned with justice, equality and relationships.

The 20th of October was the Global Dignity Day. People in more than 40 countries took part and celebrated our oneness in being human. The mission of the Global Dignity program is the universal right of every human being to lead a dignified life. One of the co-founders of the program is philosopher and professor Pekka Himanen, a Libra, whose breakthrough work, HimEros (1996), portrays Socrates escaping Hades to Helsinki.

We all want dignity and have the right to be treated equally and with respect. During the past week people in Finland have suddenly shown remarkable consistency in claiming this right. Already more than 33,000 people have left the Finnish Evangelical-Lutheran Church after last week’s televised debate over gay rights. The mass flight from the church is a reaction to anti-gay statements expressed in the broadcast.

Poverty and malnutrition are among the things which threaten a dignified life. Ceres was the goddess of agriculture, so food and nutrition belong to her domain. Ceres addresses, for example, the issues of how we develop feelings of self-worth, how we care for others, and the principle of sharing.

References:

Wikipedia, Persephone

Wikipedia, Global Dignity

Wikipedia, Pekka Himanen

Helsingin Sanomat Intrnational Edition, Oct. 18, 2010

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

The Full Moon showed up in the Neptunian haze. Pisces is a dual sign. The glyph of this water sign depicts two fish tied together swimming in opposite directions. The Full Moon conjoined Neptune and Chiron, thus soaking up their energies, which strengthened the inherent feeling of sensitivity and vulnerability of the Pisces Moon. Orcus, a minor planet in Pluto’s class, was opposite the Moon and emphasized the theme of duality in the chart.

The Moon at 1+ degrees of Pisces occupies the same degree with one of the largest dwarf planet candidates, 2007 OR10. This Kuiper belt object has been nicknamed Snow White. This object has not been officially named, as the discoverers want to learn more about the planet before proposing a real name for it. Also the astrologers need to study the planet carefully before they can establish the astrological meaning of it. More about this relatively new discovery in my blog post from November 2009.

A Full Moon takes places once a month when the Sun and the Moon are opposing one another. The Virgo Sun shared its degree with asteroid Sphinx, centaur Elatus and trans-Neptunian Orcus. The Sun is still in close conjunction with these three bodies.

In Virgo we are analyzing information, concentrating on details, and striving for perfection. Asteroid Sphinx represents a great mystery. In the chart it can refer to missing information or lack of understanding. Sphinx in Virgo may feel nerve-racking. A little bit of Piscean compassion will help.

Chiron and Elatus are both Centaur planets traveling in space between Saturn (limitations) and Uranus (freedom) and symbolically bridging the conflicting meaning of these giants. Saturn and Uranus have recently made their last opposition in the current series of five. Chiron and Elatus will continue their long ongoing opposition till 2015. Astrologer Len Wallick elaborates further on the opposition of Elatus and Chiron on the Full Moon axis on Planet Waves Daily Astrology blog.

The Kuiper belt object Orcus shares some fascinating similarities with Pluto. Their orbits are nearly identical. Both are locked in 3:2 resonance with Neptune, making two revolutions around the Sun, while Neptune makes three. Both have perihelia above the ecliptic, but their orbits point in nearly opposite directions. Pluto and Orcus will always stay in opposite phases of their orbits because they are forced by Neptune to have precisely the same orbital period.

Mike Brown, whose team discovered Orcus in 2004, calls Orcus the anti-Pluto. It is named after a god of the dead in Etruscan and Roman mythology. Orcus was a punisher of broken oaths and portrayed as a hairy, bearded giant. Like the name Hades, or the Norse Hel, Orcus could also mean the land of the dead.

Orcus is actually a binary system. The big and bright companion is named Vanth after a daimon in Etruscan mythology who guided the dead to the underworld. She was depicted with wings and a torch, and frequently shown in the presence of Charun, a guard of the underworld.

A true binary planet is a pair of worlds that usually are similar in mass. Each orbits the other around a gravitational balance point in space between the two. This center of mass, also called the barycentre, is not located within the interior of either object. Orcus and Vanth are probably tidally locked, which means that they have their same faces locked towards each other constantly, just like Pluto and Charon.

Orcus and Vanth form an unusual system in the Kuiper belt. It seems to be some kind of intermediate, which offers always two possibilities or choices. The origin of the companion is uncertain. Two scenarios appear equally plausible for explaining the formation of this binary: a giant impact or by capture. While most large Kuiper belt objects like Orcus have small satellites, and smaller objects and their satellites tend to be much closer in size, Orcus sits in the middle. Orcus is one of the larges objects in the Kuiper belt with a relatively large companion.

Astrologically Orcus can be associated either with the underworld or with orca whales, sometimes called killer whales. Killer whales despite their name are not a threat to humans, and actually they are not really whales but dolphins.

Mercury, the ruler of Virgo, is currently retrograding in its own sign. This can add confusion and misunderstandings. Be extra careful if you are making important decisions now. Check the facts and the missing bits.

References:

Martha Lang-Wescott, Treehouse Mountain

Mike Brown’s Planets, S/1 90482 (2005) needs your help

Brown, M. E.; Ragozzine, D.; Stansberry, J.; Fraser, W. C.; The size, density, and formation of the Orcus-Vanth system in the Kuiper belt

During the Full Moon, the Sun and the Moon are opposite each other, face to face. The Moon is fully lit by the Sun, and in the reflected light we are able to see things clearly. Ideas which originated on the previous New Moon have matured, and now they can be carried out.

Oppositions have much to do with relationships. The aspect brings us awareness, but there is also a challenge involved how to integrate the confronting energies. An opposition calls for compromise.

The Cancer New Moon two weeks ago was also a powerful solar eclipse. The Moon was in conjunction with Juno, drawing our attention to relationship issues. Relationship concerns are still in focus, indicated by asteroid Cupido in conjunction with the Full Moon. Now we are able to look at things more objectively though. The Moon in Aquarius is sociable, but it tends to be emotionally detached, cool and rational.

In Roman mythology, Cupid was the god of erotic love and beauty. He was the equivalent of the Greek Eros. The story of Cupid and Psyche can be understood as describing the process of psychological integration. The Moon and asteroid Cupido are trine to asteroid Psyche in Gemini. Astrologically Psyche represents a psychological wound from which one hasn’t recovered.

The healing planet Chiron has re-entered Aquarius due to its current retrograde motion. According to Martha Lang-Wescott, retrograding Chiron implies a struggle between living up to parental / societal / conventional expectations and values, or seeking to live the life what feels right.

The ruling planets of Aquarius, Saturn (ancient) and Uranus (modern) are opposing each other tightly. Saturn changed signs about a week ago and is now in its exaltation in Libra, the sign concerned with relationships. Both planets are forming soft, harmonious aspects to the Moon.

In close conjunction with Saturn we find asteroid Panacea, another minor planet associated with healing. A panacea means a remedy for all diseases, evils, or difficulties. It was sought by the alchemists as an elixir of life and the philosopher’s stone, the legendary alchemical substance which would enable the transmutation of lead into gold. In the chart, asteroid Panacea suggests what you believe it takes to find solutions. She represents cures for all kinds of problems, not just those related to health.

Is it realistic to assume that we can find a cure for everything? Maybe not, but at least the conjunction with Saturn is a reliable, responsible factor. This is an appropriate time for aiming at solutions.

References:

Treehouse Mountain, Astrological Keywords: Asteroids

Wikipedia, Cupid and Psyche

Martha Lang-Wescott, Mechanics of the Future: Asteroids, Treehouse Mountain, 1996

Wikipedia, Panacea

Wikipedia, Panacea (medicine)

Summer Solstice – June 21, 2010, 11:28 UT

The Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere and marks the beginning of the summer. Last Monday the Sun reached the first point of Cancer and added the fourth cusp to the cosmic cross in the sky. An impressive grand cross was formed.

In a grand cross pattern at least four planets in two oppositions are at square angles to each other, forming a cross shaped pattern. In the current cross Saturn in the late degrees of Virgo is opposing the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction on the Aries Point; the Cancer Sun is opposing Pluto in the early degrees of Capricorn and Ceres in late Sagittarius. Ceres was right at the Galactic Core on the solstice day.

In pre-Christian times in Scandinavia the time of Midsummer was sacred to the Norse sun god Balder. Midsummer was known to be the anniversary of his death. His body was burned on a funeral pyre, and bonfires are still lit in Northern Europe for Midsummer eve celebrations. After the solstice the days soon begin to shorten and darkness will reign for a period of time. Balder descends into the underworld, but he will be reborn.

Balder was the son of Odin and Frigg. He was the most beautiful and beloved of the gods. He was radiantly handsome, wise and fair, and all praised him. His home in the heaven was a hall called Breidablick — the wide-shining — possibly a reference to the Milky Way. Balder had a twin brother called Hoder, a blind god of darkness (representing the winter months.)

Balder and his mother Frigg had ominous dreams of Balder’s death. Frigg made all things on earth vow never to harm her son. All objects made this vow except one little plant, the mistletoe, since Frigg had thought it too young to threaten Balder, she allowed the exception. After this the gods amused themselves by flinging darts and hurling objects at Balder, knowing that that they could not hurt him. But the trickster Loki had found out that the mistletoe had not taken the oath. Loki gave a twig of mistletoe to Hoder and persuaded him to throw it at Balder, secretly guiding Hoder’s hand. Balder fell dead to the ground, pierced by the twig.

The gods were weeping for Balder. He was ceremonially burnt upon his own ship. His horse was also burned on the pyre. Balder’s wife Nanna was heartbroken and threw herself on the funeral fire. Then the burning ship was set to sea.

Balder is said to return to life after Ragnarök. The Earth will appear again from the sea, it will be fertile, green, and cleansed of all its sufferings.

The Norse myth of Baldur’s death reminds me of Greek Centaur Cyllarus. Even though the Centaurs were not gods but a bunch of troublemakers — except Chiron and Pholus, the two civilized centaurs — these two stories from two different cultures share some mutual characteristics.

In Metamorphoses Ovid describes Cyllarus as a young, handsome Centaur with a golden mane. He was loved by many, but Cyllarus loved only Hylonome. They were inseparable in life and they died together, too. They were present at a wedding party, where fighting broke out and Cyllarus was hit by a javelin. Cyllarus died in the arms of his beloved. In her despair Hylonome killed herself by throwing herself onto the same spear that had pierced her partner.

At the solstice, the Centaur planet Cyllarus was conjunct the Sun. Commitment, self-sacrifice, or feeling of falling the victim of someone or something are themes that may suddenly arise. Things may seem to happen to us for no reason. We need to be conscious of the decisions we make, because our actions always have consequences, not just for ourselves but for the people close to us. They may also affect on a larger scale the world around us. At present Chiron and Neptune are in trine to the Sun, and can offer us awareness, healing and compassion on the personal and collective level.

Full Moon in Capricorn / Partial Lunar Eclipse — June 26, 2010, 11:30

The Full Moon takes place on Saturday. The Moon aligns opposite the Sun and takes part in the spectacular cardinal grand cross. We get to experience a partial lunar eclipse in conjunction with Pluto. We enter a transitional zone, where a shift from an old state to a new one takes place.

By the time of the lunar eclipse, the Sun has passed Centaur planet Cyllarus. Mercury has just ingressed Cancer and now conjoins Cyllarus. We may feel the pressure, but please remember that the light will be eclipsed only for a brief moment. We are part of eternal cycle of the planets. There is always a new dawn after the dark hours.

I want to wish you all a happy Midsummer Full Moon!

References:

H. R. Ellis Davidson, Gods and Myths of Northern Europe, Penguin Books, 1990

Eric Francis, Small World Stories, Cyllarus

From the ocean rose a giant,
Mighty Tursas, tall and hardy

— Kalevala, translated by John Martin Crawford

The Full Moon in Sagittarius feels edgy and unpredictable. The Moon proceeded into the opposition aspect to the Sun just when Uranus was entering Aries for the first time in 84 years. The ruling planet of Sagittarius, Jupiter, will soon follow Uranus into a new sign, but at present it is processing the challenging last degrees of Pisces.

The Gemini Sun is in conjunction with Centaur Thereus. Quoting Eric Francis: “…the Centaurs all possess a Sagittarian quality of journey, quest, or adventure — though it’s often expressed on the inner level. …The Centaur metaphor is usually a man’s torso with a horse’s body, so there is that sense of transit, of movement, and the sound of a horse’s hoofs hitting the ground passionately. There is the contact with the ‘animal nature’ — the instinctual level of reality.�?

The mythical Centaur Thereus used to capture mountain bears and bring them home, alive and snarling. The name Thereus means “beast-like.�? It is obvious that Thereus was strong and fearless.

To the ancients, the bear was symbolizing resurrection. The hibernation is a kind of death, from which the animal awakens when springtime is approaching. A she-bear usually wakes up to a new season with newborn cubs.

In Greek mythology, the bear has a relation to the Moon goddess Artemis, also known as “The Mistress of Animals�? (Potnia Theron). She often was depicted as a huntress carrying a bow and arrows. In ancient Greece, one of her most celebrated shrines was that of the bear-goddess of Brauron in Attika. Young women playing the bear used to celebrate a festival for Artemis, who was not only the goddess of wilderness, but also the protectress of girls and women.

Apropos of the theme, in the Full Moon chart, asteroid 105 Artemis can be found prominently in early Capricorn in conjunction with Ceres and Pluto, and in exact square to Uranus at the Aries Point.

In Norse mythology the bear is sacred to Thor, the son of the chief god Odin and the Earth goddess Jörd. Thor is a fertility god and a strong protector of the world. Invoking Thor could help in the struggle against the exploitation and pollution of the Earth.

As a thunder god, Thor is the equivalent of Roman Jupiter. Thor’s magical hammer has the power to throw lightning bolts, and it is also his main weapon when fighting giants. Giants represent unconscious forces and they act as harbingers of chaos and disorder.

Thor’s rune is Thurisaz, which stands for both Thor and the giants. In psychological terms, Thurisaz represents the shadow and repressed material in the unconscious. Once the shadow is acknowledged and integrated, it can become a great source of strength. Jung believed that the shadow is the seat of creativity.

Numerous Old Norse sources mention berserkers, Odin’s warriors who wore bear-pelts and rode into battle in a trance-like fury, or a holy rage. There are many theories about what caused berserker behaviour. An explicit connection between the berserker rage of soldiers and the hyperarousal of post-traumatic stress disorder has been made.

“The Crescent Moon Bear,�? a Japanese folktale, which is retold by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés, a Jungian psychoanalyst and a post-trauma specialist, deals with rage and forgiveness, and healing from rage.

In the story, a badly injured husband returns home from war and refuses to sleep in the house or eat the delicious dish that his young wife cooks for him. He rages continuously. The wife goes to see a healer, who advises her to climb the mountain, find a crescent moon bear, and bring back a hair from the throat of the bear. Then the healer would be able to help the woman. She climbs the mountain and with patience manages to get the hair.

Patience will help anger, and it is called for in order to heal the pain beneath our anger, so that we can move on. Our rage can become teacher. We can use it as a creative force, but it takes a conscious practice to contain and heal rage. Estés writes: “So rather than trying to ‘behave’ and not feel our rage or rather than using it to burn down every living thing in a hundred-mile radius, it is better to first ask rage to take a seat with us, have some tea, talk a while so we can find out what summoned this visitor.�?

Thereus carrying the snarling bear into his home cave?

References:

Eric Francis, Sagittarius Secrets Revealed, act one

Metamorphoses, Book XII

Theoi Greek Mythology, Kentauroi Thessalioi

Wikipedia, Potnia Theron

Theoi Greek Mythology, Artemis Cult 1

Wikipedia, Berserker

Freya Aswynn, Northern Mysteries & Magick, Llewellyn Publications, 2006

Wikipedia, Thurisaz (rune)

Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Women Who Run With the Wolves, Ballantine Books, 1997

A new astrological year has begun with bold cardinal energy. In Finland a heavy snow cover is melting. Due to climate change cold winters are becoming increasingly rare here in Southern Finland, but during the past winter we got more snow than in decades. Easter is approaching, and we are welcoming the spring.

The Sun entered Aries on March 20 and formed a cardinal T-cross with the retrograding Saturn in Libra, and Ceres-Pluto conjunction in early Capricorn. The ruling planet of Aries, Mars, turned in direct motion already before the equinox. The Libra Full Moon is in conjunction with Saturn. The cardinal point action continues.

The Pisces New Moon earlier in the month was tightly conjunct Mercury and Uranus. The creatively sparking conjunction was in exact opposition to one of the new planets, Makemake. The Uranus-Makemake opposition in Virgo-Pisces is one of the long time transits of the current era. These two planets form a series of oppositions between April 2009 and January 2011. The Virgo-Pisces sign polarity deals with being in service to others.

After the Pisces New Moon the Sun moved on opposite Saturn, thus giving us an opportunity to stabilize what was started at the time of the new moon. The Uranus-Makemake opposition still holds.

Makemake is a bright Kuiper belt object covered with almost pure methane ice. It is the third-largest known dwarf planet in our Solar System after Eris and Pluto. Its orbital period is nearly 310 years. The body was discovered five years ago, and the discovery team nicknamed it as Easterbunny, because of its discovery near Easter. The permanent name of Makemake after the creator god of the native people of Easter Island was chosen in part to preserve this connection. The official naming took place in July 2008 at the time when Uranus and Makemake had reached a near exact opposition.

Makemake in the Rapa Nui mythology of Easter Island, was the creator of humanity, the god of fertility and the chief god of a birdman cult. The cult ritual was a dangerous competition. The contestants raced to collect the first egg of a seabird from an islet near by. They had to swim in waters which were heavily populated with sharks, then climb sharp cliffs with the egg. The winner became the birdman and spent the next year in seclusion. His clan got sole rights to collect that season’s harvest of wild bird eggs and fledglings from the islet.

Makemake the dwarf planet was discovered at 20+ degrees of Virgo. The Sabian Symbol for Virgo 21 is A girl’s basketball team. Dr. Marc Edmund Jones has delineated the symbol: “…The self cannot exist in a vacuum, and there is no satisfaction in any effort expanded for ends in which others are not vitally concerned. Man’s fulfillment is primarily a continued participation in common goals, with rewards to which his fellows contribute as consistently as himself. The keyword is expression.�?

Lets take a look at what was happening in the world during the last major Uranus-Makemake transits.

The first Uranus-Makemake opposition in the current series of five occurred on April 12, 2009. It was the day when the Maersk-Alabama hijacking ended and Capt. Richard Phillips was freed. In the series of events involving the pirate seizure, the captain had offered himself as a hostage to save his crew.

The latest square between Uranus and Makemake took place in 1980, which was also the year when Lech Walesa at a Polish shipyard founded Solidarity, the first independent labor union in a Soviet-bloc country. Solidarity gave rise to a broad anti-communist nonviolent social movement and contributed to the fall of communism.

Uranus conjoined Makemake in 1955. Year 1955 marks the beginning of the African-American Civil Rights Movement. During the period 1955–1968, nonviolent protests and civil disobedience produced crisis situations between activists and authorities. In December 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a public bus to make room for a white passenger. There had been similar incidents before, but Rosa Parks’s action led to Montgomery Bus Boycott, and she became the icon of resistance to racial segregation.

These examples seem to point to events where courageous individuals have stood up for the common good of their community. Two more exact Uranus-Makemake oppositions are ahead (in October 2010 and January 2011) and we can expect to learn more about Easterbunny.

References:

Wikipedia, Makemake (dwarf planet)

Wikipedia, Makemake (mythology)

Mike Brown’s Planets, What’s in a name? [part 2]

Wikipedia, Tangata manu

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

On the Maersk: ‘I Hope if I Die, I Die a Brave Person’, The Wall Street Journal

Wikipedia, History of Solidarity

Wikipedia, African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968)

Wikipedia, Rosa Parks