The Full Moon chart looks intense and heavy. The Moon in Aries opposes the Sun, Mars and Haumea in Libra. The Moon is in conjunction with Eris. Pluto in Capricorn squares the planets both in Aries and in Libra. When two planets are opposite each other and a third planet squares both, the aspect pattern is called the t-square. There is confrontation, stress and high energy involved.

The Moon in Aries is spontaneous, and combined with Mars’s initiative it can lead to hasty action, arguments, and even aggression. Eris is the warrior sister of Mars. Pluto can represent the collective shadow. Don’t let your emotions take control over you.

Mercury stationed direct on Oct. 18 in Libra opposite Chiron. When Mercury turns direct, secrets are revealed and the truth comes out. Spain’s literary world is said to be in chaos now that the praised female crime writer Carmen Mola, whose work has been considered as “feminist reading”, turned out to be the pseudonym of three male television scriptwriters. They are now accused of fraud by many fellow writers.

Dwarf planet Haumea was discovered by Mike Brown’s team in December 2004, a little earlier than dwarf planet Eris. It was nicknamed “Santa” because it was discovered just after Christmas. Haumea is officially named after the Hawaiian goddess of fertility and childbirth, with many children who sprang from different parts of her body. She can take many different forms and use disguise. Mike Brown has described Haumea as the strangest and the most interesting object in the Kuiper belt.

The mythology of Eris, the goddess of strife and discord, and Eris’s discovery leading to the debate over Pluto’s status and astronomers’ vote for the definition of the term planet have contributed to the astrological meaning of Eris. This fact and the revelation in the Spanish literary awards ceremony last weekend made me think about the discovery circumstances of Haumea.

There was controversy over who should receive credit for Haumea’s discovery. Mike Brown’s team had first found the body in 2004, but a Spanish team announced the discovery first, claiming that they had found it in July 2005 on images taken in March 2003. In science the first to announce takes the credit. However, the Caltech observation logs showed that the Spanish team members had accessed the logs just before their announcement of the discovery. Brown accused the Spanish team of fraud. The body was officially named in 2008 as Haumea on the proposal of Brown’s team. However, the discovery date was listed on the announcement of the Spanish team as March 7, 2003, and the name of the discoverer was left blank.

It is not automatically illegal to use a pseudonym. The same goes with ghostwriters, which can be hired for instance by political leaders or celebrities and for numerous reasons. A ghostwriter is someone whose works are officially credited to another person as the author. What is the most intriguing ghostwriter case in the world? Some respectable figures like Charlie Chaplin and Mark Twain, among others, have expressed their doubts if William Shakespeare actually wrote the works that are credited to him.

During the decades several candidates have been proposed as the real author of Shakespeare’s works. One of them is Christopher Marlowe, a contemporary poet and playwright of Shakespeare. The two likely knew each other. Marlowe died at the age of 29, only a week or two before Shakespeare’s name appeared the very first time in any publication. The “Marlovians” believe that Marlowe’s death was faked and he continued writing using Shakespeare as a front.

In 2016 Christopher Marlowe was the first time officially credited by Oxford University Press as Shakespeare’s co-writer on the title pages for three plays. The research, by 23 international scholars, has identified 17 of 44 Shakespeare plays as being co-written with other authors. The new research involved both traditional textual analysis and the use of computerized tools to examine the scripts. Marlowe’s presence in those three plays had been verified strongly and clearly enough.

In Shakespeare’s time a child was customarily baptized three days after its birth. Only the baptism day is documented for both Marlowe (Feb. 26, 1564) and Shakespeare (Apr. 26, 1564). However, Astro-Databank at www.astro.com also gives a speculative birth chart for Shakespeare (Apr. 23, 1564 at 08:30 a.m. LMT), which I have used. Since Mercury is the planet of writing, my focus is on Mercury and Haumea. Marlowe and Shakespeare were born so close each other that the slow planets in their natal charts, such as Pluto, Eris and Haumea, are in conjunction with those of the other person.

William Shakespeare’s natal Sun at 12+ Taurus is in tight conjunction with his Eris. His Mercury at 16+ Aries is semisextile (30º) his Pluto, Haumea and Midheaven (10th house cusp, the house of career, ambition and reputation) in Pisces. Haumea is exactly conjunct his 10th house cusp at 17+ Pisces. Christopher Marlowe’s natal Sun at 16+ Pisces is conjunct his Pluto and Haumea. At the time of his baptism the Sun and Haumea were in the same degree. In the chart comparison Marlowe’s Sun is in conjunction with Shakespeare’s Midheaven.

Christopher Marlowe died on May 30, 1593. The transiting Pluto (transformation, renewal) at 16+ Aries was exactly conjunct Shakespeare’s natal Mercury. The transiting Mercury at 29+ Gemini was in conjunction with Shakespeare’s South node of the Moon (past, where we are coming from).

Solar arc direction is one of the astrological techniques, by which the positions of the planets are progressed to some specific moment. At the time of Marlowe’s death, Shakespeare’s solar arc directed Mercury at 14+ Taurus was conjunct Shakespeare’s natal Sun-Eris conjunction. The solar arc directed Haumea was at 15+ Aries conjunct Shakespeare’s natal Mercury. Marlowe’s solar arc directed Sun at 15+ Aries was also conjunct Shakespeare’s natal Mercury. At the time when the news about Marlowe as the co-writer was published in October 2016, Marlowe’s solar arc directed Mercury at 28+ Gemini was conjunct Shakespeare’s natal South node of the Moon.

The meaning of Eris is much more profound than just the indicator of discord. Pluto symbolizes many things from the Hells Angels to rebirth. No doubt also the meaning of Haumea is broader than what I am presenting here. This is just one facet.

Autumnal Equinox – Sept. 22, 2021, 19:21 UT

The Full Moon in Pisces was in conjunction with Neptune and trans-Neptunian Borasisi. The Sun in Virgo is in conjunction with Mars, brother of Eris. Mercury, the ruler of Virgo, is opposite Eris. The Autumnal Equinox falls on Sept. 22, when the Sun enters Libra.

Mercury is already in its shadow phase, and it will station retrograde a week later, on Sept. 27. Mercury retrograde is famous for disruptions in technology and communication, and sometimes the effects can be experienced already in advance. Now it is important to stay calm and think before you act or speak.

We can associate Neptune with confusion and delusion, among other things. Borasisi may tell about the tendency of accepting untruths, because they make one feel better than the unpleasant truths. The Moon opposite Mars means strong emotional reactions; it is prone to act on feelings. Uranus in Taurus opposite Typhon in Scorpio is capable of adding volatility in situations.

Eris is astrologically more complex energy than just the source of strife and discord, but opposite Mercury it can cause provocative communication and arguments. Its positive manifestation could be intelligent thinking outside the box, for instance. Eris and Mars/Ares are children of Zeus and Hera. According to some myths Eris was the daughter of Nyx, the personification of the night. Asteroid 3908 Nyx happens to be in Virgo in conjunction with the Sun now.

One of the daughters of Nyx and sister of Eris was Apate, the Greek personification of deceit. I noticed that there is a main belt asteroid discovered in 1989 and named Apatheia after a philosophical word that means “an immovable soul” in Greek philosophy. According to Online Etymology Dictionary the noun apathy means “freedom from suffering, passionless existence.” The Greek apatheia originally meant a positive quality, without the negative connotation that the word nowadays has. Asteroid 8273 Apatheia is now at 1+ degrees Capricorn, squaring the Full Moon in Pisces and the Sun-Mars conjunction on the Virgo-Libra cusp.

Draw on Virgo’s analytical nature and capacity for sorting information, as well as asteroid Apatheia’s calm energy in the coming weeks.

The first Full Moon in Aquarius happened a month ago, when the Sun and the Moon lined up opposite each other in the early degrees of Leo and Aquarius. This is the second Full Moon in Aquarius. Just before opposing the Sun in the last degree of Leo, the Moon made contact to the Jupiter-Damocles conjunction in late Aquarius.

There is a kite configuration in the chart. The Leo Sun and the triple conjunction of the Moon, Jupiter and Damocles in Aquarius form the spine. Chaos in the last degree of Gemini and Hidalgo, which has just changed signs from Libra to Scorpio, are the wing tips of the kite. These minor planets are apt symbols for the present situation in Afghanistan. The situation of women and children is most alarming.

According to the official naming citation of 5335 Damocles, “Legend has it that Damocles, a courtier of the tyrant Dionysius the Elder of Syracuse, was invited to a feast, where he was seated below a sword suspended by a thread. Intended to demonstrate the impermanence of power, the ‘sword of Damocles’ has become a symbol of impending disaster. This minor planet, in an unusual orbit of very high eccentricity and inclination and crossing the orbits of Mars to Uranus, could itself be seen as such a sword during periods of its orbital evolution when it becomes an earth crosser.”

Both 5335 Damocles and 944 Hidalgo can be classified as centaurs according to the definition of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JLP). However, different institutions have different criteria for classifying the centaurs. Therefore the Minor Planet Center does not consider them such. Damocles was discovered in 1991. It is the namesake of the damocloids group. Its orbital period is nearly 41 years. In the astrological chart it spends most of it, around 30 years, in Aquarius, and then hurries through the eleven other signs in about ten.

Hidalgo was discovered already in 1920 and named after Mexican revolutionary Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (1753 – 1811). He was a Catholic priest and leader of the Mexican War of Independence. The orbital period of Hidalgo is 13 years and 9 months. It has traditionally been considered an asteroid, but its elliptic orbit takes it from the inner edge of the asteroid belt as far as to the orbit of Saturn. Hidalgo was possibly once a comet.

According to astrologer Martha Lang-Wescott (Mechanics of the Future: Asteroids, revised edition,1996), in its most specific and mundane manifestation, Hidalgo shows as an affinity for or contact with Spanish, Mexican, South or Latin American cultures, languages or influences. But she continues: “Hidalgo also deals with Church vs. State conflicts (ie., the abortion issue) and ‘revolutionary’ governments, or governments based on strong religious or political ideologies.”

August 19 is celebrated as Independence Day in Afghanistan. When Afghanistan gained independence from Britain in 1919, the Sun at 25+ degrees of Leo was opposite Chaos and Hidalgo at 24+ Aquarius and Uranus at 29+ Aquarius. The Taliban declared the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” a few days ago, on Aug. 19, 2021, when the transiting Sun was strictly opposite the current Jupiter-Damocles opposition. The aforementioned oppositions align tightly together, as does today’s Full Moon.

President Biden decided to withdraw the troops from Afghanistan, but Trump had already started the process. This Full Moon puts pressure on both of them. The Sun-Moon opposition falls right on Joe Biden’s lunar nodes in the last degrees of Leo and Aquarius and square to his natal Sun in late Scorpio. In addition, his Chiron is conjunct his North node in late Leo. Trump’s descendant is in the last degree of Aquarius, and his Mars is rising in Leo, a few degrees away from the ascendant.

The Full Moon in early Aquarius is in conjunction with Chariklo. The Sun entered the opposing sign Leo on July 22. The Sun is in conjunction with Cyllarus. Both Chariklo and Cyllarus are centaurs, minor planets orbiting the Sun between Jupiter and Neptune and crossing the orbits of one or more of the giant planets.

Astrologically Chariklo can be linked to death and mourning, but specifically to holding space for the process of grief. According to Melanie Reinhart, “her qualities and themes include a particular capacity for silent witness and reflection which can be an essential part of healing.” Caring and compassion are important keywords for Chariklo.

July 22, 2021, was the 10th anniversary of the Utøya massacre. Ten years ago the right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik killed eight people in central Oslo and 69 people, mostly teenagers, on the island of Utøya at an annual summer camp of the Labour Party’s youth division. In 2011 when the shooting on Utøya started, Chariklo was rising near the ascendant.

When the memorial service in Oslo started on the morning of July 22, the Sun was still in the last degree of Cancer (just like it was ten years ago). Mercury in Cancer was in conjunction with asteroid 2254 Requiem. Mercury represents youth, among other things. Asteroid Requiem was semisquare (45º) to Venus in the first degree of Virgo and sesquiquadrate (135º) to Jupiter in the first degree of Pisces. The Mercury-Requiem conjunction was exactly opposite centaur Hylonome in Capricorn.

2254 Requiem is a main belt asteroid discovered in 1977 and dedicated to the memory of the discoverer’s mother, who died on the same day that this asteroid was discovered. The Requiem is a mass held in honor of the dead. Astrologically, Requiem indicates acknowledgement of grief or acceptance of loss. Centaur Hylonome is another indicator of grief. It has showed up in the event charts of mass grief. Hylonome was a female centaur who lost his beloved husband Cyllarus in the battle against the Lapiths. The Sun is currently conjunct the centaur planet Cyllarus.

At the highest point of the memorial chart, at the Midheaven in Taurus, is asteroid Ceres. In mythology Ceres is the Mother Goddess who grieves the loss of her child. Ceres’s position in the chart in a way reminds us specifically of one of the first victims on Utøya, Monica Bøsei, the island hostess, known as ”Mother Utøya”, who had been organizing the summer camp for over 20 years.

At the descendant of the chart in Pisces is 57 Mnemosyne, a large main belt asteroid. Mnemosyne is the goddess of memory in Greek mythology. The name means “remembrance” or “memory”. The descendant is the angle of relationships; it is the point where the self meets the other. We can encounter the victims of Utøya only by remembering.

Many of the survivors are still suffering from serious health issues. Some of them have been threatened. In ten years hate speech has only increased everywhere and the right-wing extremism is still alive. The 2011 attack was political terrorism aimed at democracy, it was not just an isolated act carried out by some lunatic. “We must not let hate stand unopposed,” said Prime Minister Erna Solberg at the ceremony. We all must work for empathy and tolerance.

Never again July 22!

Full Moon in Capricorn — June 24, 2021, 18:40 UT

In many parts of the Northern hemisphere, including Finland, people are sweating under a heat dome. The severe heatwave arrived early, fueled by global warming. We are facing the consequences of climate change.

The Sun entered Cancer on June 21, 2021. The summer solstice is the longest day in the Northern hemisphere. Saturn in Aquarius is square to Uranus in Taurus. The Moon was in Scorpio, opposing Uranus. In the solstice chart Mercury at the middle degrees of Gemini was still retrograding. It stationed direct the next day, on June 22. The Full Moon in Capricorn takes place on June 24. The Sun is conjunct centaur Echeclus in early Cancer and trine Jupiter in Pisces.

60558 Echeclus was discovered in March 2000 and initially classified as a minor planet. In December 2005 a large chunk of Echeclus broke off, possibly caused by an impact, and a cometary coma was detected. The body was given also the cometary designation 174P/Echeclus. Echeclus burst out again in 2011 and in 2017. It last came to perihelion in April 2015. Typically, when a comet approaches the Sun, the ice vaporizes and the coma shows. Also centaur Chiron is classified as both a minor planet and a comet. The orbital period of Echeclus is 35 years and its orbit crosses the orbit of Saturn.

Echeclus was named from Greek mythology after one of the centaurs that fought with the Lapiths at King Pirithous’s wedding. The centaurs were guests at the party, but they got drunk and tried to abduct the bride and other women. Echeclus was killed by the Lapith Ampyx, the son of Ophion, who had thrust his lance that lacked its point into the face of Echeclus.

When the cult film Fight Club was released at the Venice International Film Festival on Sept. 10, 1999, the Sun was in conjunction with Mercury and Echeclus in Virgo. The film is based on Chuck Palahniuk’s novel of the same name. Plahniuk (born Feb. 21, 1962) has the Sun-Chiron conjunction in Pisces. His Sun is in tight opposition to Echeclus in Virgo.

The director David Fincher (born Aug. 28, 1962) has a Sun-Echeclus conjunction in Virgo in his chart. He is a perfectionist and demands one retake after another to capture a scene perfectly. Fincher’s Sun-Echeclus conjunction is sextile Mars in Cancer and opposing Jupiter and Chiron in Pisces. Martyrdom and alienation are examples of themes in his film. The characters are often troubled and flawed, and they act on their dark, inner impulses. “We sort of attach the sinister to the mundane in order to make things interesting… I think it’s also because in order for something to be evil, it almost has to cloak itself as something else,” has Fincher explained.

At the time of the release of the film, the transiting Jupiter in Taurus was trine to David Fincher’s Sun-Echeclus conjunction in Virgo and sextile his Mars in Cancer.

Fight Club starred Brad Pitt (born Dec. 18, 1963) and Edward Norton (born Aug. 18, 1969). Brad Pitt was having his Echeclus return during the filming and at the time of the release. Pitt’s natal Echeclus is in exact conjunction with his Pluto in Virgo and trine to his Mercury in Capricorn.

Edward Norton’s Echeclus is conjunct Jupiter in Libra, opposite Chiron in Aries, and novile (40º) his Sun in Leo. When Fight Club was released, the transiting Echeclus was right at his Midheaven at 14+ degrees of Virgo. The transiting Mars in Sagittarius was sextile to his natal Jupiter-Echeclus conjunction.

Another interesting case study is the release of the film Face/Off on June 27, 1997. The director John Woo (born May 1, 1946) has natally Echeclus conjunct Mercury in Aries, sextile Uranus in Gemini, and opposite Chiron in Libra. Chaos in Pisces is exactly squaring his nodal axis of the Moon. Woo’s films are action films and he is known for highly chaotic action sequences.

At the time of the release of Face/Off, Echeclus was in the beginning of Virgo. The transiting Echeclus was square to Woo’s natal Venus in Gemini, sesquiquadrate (135º) to his natal Mercury-Echeclus conjunction in Aries, and formed a semisquare aspect (45º) to his Chiron in Libra. The semisquare and the sesquiquadrate belong to the same family of challenging aspects with the square and the opposition. They are not weak aspects, if the orbs are tight.

Nicholas Cage (born Jan.7, 1964) and John Travolta (born Feb. 18, 1954) played the leading roles in Face/Off. In Nicholas Cage’s chart Echeclus is conjunct Pluto in Virgo and trine the Sun in Capricorn. When the film was released, the transiting Echeclus was in sesquiquadrate aspect to his Sun in Capricorn.

John Travolta has natally Uranus in conjunction with Echeclus in Cancer. At the time of the release of Face/Off, the transiting Echeclus in early Virgo was opposing his Sun in the last degree of Aquarius and his Venus in early Pisces.

Face/Off was written by Mike Werb (born June 21, 1977) and Michael Colleary (born Jan.1, 1953). Michael Colleary’s Echeclus is in exact conjunction with Uranus in Cancer. They are opposite the Sun-Chiron conjunction in Capricorn. His Mars in Pisces is sesquiquadrate to the Echeclus-Uranus conjunction in Cancer.

In Mike Werb’s chart Echeclus in Sagittarius is opposite his Mercury in Gemini and with wider orb also opposite his Sun in the first degree of Cancer. The transiting Echeclus in early Virgo at the time of the release of Face/Off was sextile his natal Sun.

Mike Werb is also the screenwriter of The Mask, which was released on July 29, 1994. The transiting Echeclus was then in Leo sextile to Werb’s natal Mercury in Gemini and trine to his natal Echeclus in Sagittarius. It was also in conjunction with the North node of the Moon of Jim Carrey, who starred The Mask. Carrey’s performance helped his way to superstardom.

The Full Moon in Sagittarius is a total lunar eclipse. The ruler of Sagittarius is Jupiter, which recently changed signs from Aquarius to Pisces, about two weeks ago.

Another notable sign change happened only three days ago when the trans-Neptunian Manwë moved from Pisces to Aries. It is now at the Aries Point. It was named after the fictional deity in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth legendarium. Both Jupiter and Manwë are sky gods and leaders of their pantheon. You can read more about Manwë here: The Vernal Equinox — March 20, 2021, 09:37 UT

Jupiter has a magnifying effect. In tight conjunction with Jupiter in the first degrees of Pisces is Damocles, the unusual object on an orbit of high eccentricity and inclination, crossing the orbits of Mars to Uranus. Damocles travels almost 41 years around the Sun, but in the astrological chart it spends most of that time, around 30 years, in Aquarius. Damocles entered Pisces in April and turned retrograde yesterday. It was named after a courtier of the tyrant Dionysius the Elder of Syracuse. Damocles was invited to a feast, where he was seated below a sword hanging in a thread. The ”sword of Damocles” has become a symbol of impending disaster, faced especially by those in positions of power.

In July both Jupiter and Damocles are retrograding back to Aquarius and will stay there the rest of the year.

At the moment the Europe is shocked about the hijack of a civilian airplane on Sunday. Ryanair flight 4978 from Athens to Vilnius was forcibly diverted to Minsk, Belarus, and journalist and activist Raman Protasevich, who was aboard, was arrested. The authorization of this outrageous action came personally from President Alexander Lukashenko.

The lunar eclipse at 5+ degrees of Sagittarius squares Lukashenko’s natal Sun at 6+ degrees of Virgo and the transiting Jupiter-Damocles conjunction in early Pisces opposes his Sun. The Jupiter-Damocles conjunction transits also Lukashenko’s natal Mars in early Capricorn and his Damocles in the first degree of Aquarius. Belarus declared independence on Aug. 25, 1991. The Sun of Belarus is at 1+ degrees of Virgo, and thus the current Jupiter-Damocles conjunction opposes also the Sun of Belarus.

Is the sword of Damocles finally going to hit Lukashenko? EU leaders have condemned his action and agreed on sanctions against Belarus. Lukashenko has been in office since 1994, the same year that Damocles ingressed from Capricorn to Aquarius. Hopefully the era of Lukashenko is coming to its end now that Damocles has started to change signs again.

The Sun, Mercury and Venus have moved to Taurus. The Sun is in conjunction with Uranus and 15760 Albion, the thresholder that proved the existence of the Kuiper belt in 1992. The Full Moon in Scorpio is in conjunction with 184314 Mbabamwanawaresa, one of the latest named residents of the Kuiper belt, discovered in 2005.

Both Albion and Mbabamwanawaresa are cubewanos with the orbital period roughly around 300 years. The diameter of Mbabamwanawaresa is approximately 242 km, which means that it is bigger than Albion, perhaps even twice the size of Albion.

184314 Mbabamwanawaresa was officially named last summer after the Zulu fertility goddess Mbaba Mwana Waresa, the goddess of rainbows, the symbol of the link between heaven and Earth. She has also another name, “She who chooses the state of an animal”. The Zulu call on her when they need guidance to make an important decision.

Indeed, the astrological meaning of Mbabamwanawaresa could have something to do with decision-making. Some people with their Sun natally in close conjunction with Mbabamwanawaresa have been in a tough situation, where they’ve been forced to make a life-altering decision. The Chilean President Salvador Allende committed suicide during the 1973 military coup (Mbabamwanawaresa conjunct the Sun and the North node). Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the Belarusian opposition politician, decided to flee to Lithuania after the 2020 presidential elections. She was afraid on behalf of her children and how the repercussions would affect them (Mbabamwanawaresa conjunct the Sun and Haumea). Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, stepped down from his role as the working member of the British royal family and moved to the United States. His worry over his family and children was contributing to his decision (Mbabamwanawaresa conjunct the Sun, Rhiphonos and Haumea).

The Zulu mythology offers hints of other possibilities, too. Last summer after the naming I followed my hunch and noticed that many people who are linked to the 2007 film Into the Wild, have a prominent Mbabamwanawaresa in their charts. The film tells the story of Christopher McCandless, a young man who hiked into the Alaskan wilderness and died there. Since then I have discovered that many people who are naturalists, evolutionary biologists, or have studied man’s place in nature, have tight Mbabamwanawaresa aspects. The examples follow at the bottom.

One can try to examine the astrological meaning of a body from the discovery chart of that body. This is not always a fruitful method, but in Mbabamwanawaresa’s case it seems to work. In its discovery chart, Mbabamwanawaresa is in Libra in conjunction with Jupiter. The ascendant is in Sagittarius (ruled by Jupiter) in conjunction with the Galactic Centre. Pluto, the great transformer and the symbol of rebirth, is rising.

The Sabian symbol for the ascendant degree of the discovery chart is Sagittarius 28 An old bridge over a beautiful stream. According to Dr. Marc Edmund Jones, “this is a symbol of the eternal stability of the world at large, and of each person’s ability to preserve its form and function in full accordance with his own convenience. Implicit in the static symbolism is the complete dependability of man-made structures at their best, and the joy of nature in making them an enduring part of herself in every respect. What is ephemeral in any possible phase of the real is merely that which serves no purpose in its transient state of existence. The keyword is conservation.

Examples:

Charles Darwin (Feb. 12, 1809 – Apr. 19, 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist and biologist, best known for his contributions to the science of evolution. He published his theory of evolution in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species. — Mbabamwanawaresa conjunct Jupiter in Pisces, semisextile (30º) the Sun in Aquarius, and sextile the Moon in Capricorn.

Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. He was deeply interested in the idea of survival in the face of hostile elements, historical change, and natural decay. He neither rejected civilization nor fully embraced wilderness. Instead he sought the middle ground integrating nature and culture. — Mbabamwanawaresa in Aries square the Moon in Cancer, sextile Venus in Gemini, semisextile (30º) Mars in Taurus, semisextile (30º) Saturn in Pisces, trine Jupiter in Sagittarius, and trine the Midheaven in Sagittarius.

Carl Gustav Jung (July 26, 1875 – June 6, 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung’s work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philosophy and religious studies. He was concerned for man’s loss of connection with nature. From The Earth Has a Soul, C.G. Jung on Nature, Technology & Modern Life: “At times I feel as if I am spread out over the landscape and inside things, and am myself living in every tree, in the splashing of the waves, in the clouds and the animals that come and go, in the procession of the seasons.” — The Sun in Leo sextile Mbabamwanawaresa in Gemini.

Richard Dawkins (born March 26, 1941) is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist, atheist thinker, and author. Dawkins first came to prominence with his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, which popularized the gene-centered view of evolution. (He first introduced the term meme.) Dawkins is a guest star on the Nightwish album Endless Forms Most Beautiful (2015). He provides narration on two tracks: “Shudder Before the Beautiful”, in which he opens the album with one of his own quotes, and “The Greatest Show on Earth”, in which he quotes On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. — Mbabamwanawaresa conjunct Pluto in Leo, trine the Sun and Eris in Aries, and quincunx Ceres in Capricorn.

Tuomas Holopainen (born Dec. 25, 1976) is a Finnish songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer, and best known as the founder, leader, keyboardist and songwriter of symphonic metal band Nightwish. In 2017 a new insect species discovered by a Finnish biologist, was named as Sciophilia holopaineni after Tuomas Holopainen, because of Holopainen’s love of nature. Endless Forms Most Beautiful, a studio album by Nightwish (2015), was primarily inspired by the work of naturalist Charles Darwin. Richard Dawkins is a guest star on the album, providing narration on two tracks. The song “My Walden” is inspired by the book Walden by Henry David Thoreau. — Mbabamwanawaresa in Virgo square Neptune in Sagittarius, semisquare (45º) the North node in Scorpio, semisextile (30º) Pluto in Libra, and quincunx Eris in Aries.

The Moon is in Libra. The Sun in Aries is in exact conjunction with Venus and Chiron. The Sun is also in conjunction with an extreme trans-Neptunian object 541132 Leleākūhonua.

Libra is the sign of balance and equality. In Aries we can meet impatience and enthusiasm. Venus shows what we appreciate and what gives us pleasure. In The Contemporary Astrologer’s Handbook (Flare Publications and The London School of Astrology, 2006) Sue Tompkins and Melanie Reinhart have written about Chiron: “Commitment to the healing of ourselves, others and our environment is the price this minor planet seems to be asking us to pay.”

We appreciate balanced relationships. Chiron in this combination is highlighting our current challenge of maintaining such, or finding equality in the midst of disease, social distancing and other restrictions. The return back to normal still requires patience and commitment from us.

541132 Leleākūhonua is an extreme trans-Neptunian object (ETNO) and a sednoid with an orbit of roughly 32,000 years. The name compares its orbit to the flight of migratory birds. I find its symbolism reassuring. Spring is just around the corner and the migratory birds will return as always.

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.

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.