Archive for March, 2018

Full Moon in Libra — March 31, 2018, 12:37 UT

Saturday, March 31st, 2018

The Full Moon occurred at 10+ degrees of Libra. The Sun in the opposing sign Aries is conjunct Mercury and 37117 Narcissus, a centaur-like minor planet. Mercury turned retrograde a week ago, and is now approaching the Sun.

37117 Narcissus was discovered in 2000 by Canadian amateur astronomer William Kwong Yu Yeung at the Desert Beaver Observatory, a private observatory near Eloy, Arizona. 37117 Narcissus crosses the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. Using a broader definition of a centaur planet, it can be classified as a centaur, but its perihelion, the closest point in its orbit about the Sun, is inside Jupiter’s orbit. The Minor Planet Center defines centaurs as having a perihelion beyond the orbit of Jupiter and a semi-major axis less than that of Neptune. 37117 Narcissus will reach its perihelion in January 2019.

The myth of Echo and Narcissus was told by Ovid in the Metamorphoses. Echo was a talkative nymph cursed by goddess Juno. Echo was unable to say anything on her own, only repeat the last words of someone else. She fell in love with Narcissus, a beautiful youth who rejected her love. Narcissus bent down to drink from a spring and as a punishment fell deeply in love with his own reflection in the water. He was gazing into the pool hour after hour, until he changed into the narcissus plant.

Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a personality disorder with a long-term pattern of abnormal behavior characterized by exaggerated feelings of self-importance, an excessive need for admiration, and a lack of empathy for other people. The condition was named after Narcissus from the Greek myth.

We need to be cautious in the usage of the term NPD, because in spite of the common use of the word narcissism, only a small fraction of people actually have the disorder. We all have 37117 Narcissus somewhere in our charts, and we all can sometimes be vain or self-centered. Many social phenomena of our time encourage narcissistic behavior. We publish selfies and pour our lives to Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and blogs.

Aries represents self-directed energies, and the Sun is the symbol of ego. Libra is the sign of relationships and projection, and in Libra we seek balance. The Full Moon in Libra should help us to reflect healthy self-esteem.

New Moon in Pisces — March 17, 2018, 13:11 UT

Sunday, March 18th, 2018

The New Moon at 26+ degrees of Pisces was in conjunction with the first centaur planet 2060 Chiron, discovered in 1977 orbiting the Sun between Saturn and Uranus, and a trans-Neptunian binary object 385446 Manwë, discovered in 2003.

In Pisces there is creativity and mysticism. Chiron is the great healing power, and Manwë adds its special quality to the blend.

2060 Chiron — also known as 95P/Chiron – has many interesting astronomical features. It is one of the few objects classified as both a minor planet and a comet. In 1988 Chiron suddenly brightened, which is behavior typical of comets, and a tail was detected in 1993. With its diameter of 206 km, Chiron possibly reaches the dwarf planet status. It is also likely that Chiron has two rings.

In Greek mythology Chiron was the wisest and justest of all the centaurs. He was not a troublemaker like the rest of them. He was a teacher and tutor of many heroes.

385446 Manwë was named in 2014 after a fictional deity, the wise king of the Valar in J. R. R. Tolkien’s writings. The satellite was named Thorondor after the “mightiest of all birds that have ever been”.

Manwë is a Jupiter-like deity, who loved poetry and music with words. He was the lord of air, wind and clouds. Eagles flew back and forth and brought to his knowledge everything that was going on in the world. He lived with Varda, the queen of the stars, on Mount Taniquetil. 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,” wrote Tolkien.

This New Moon conjunct 385446 Manwë may be an extraordinary creative moment to work for your goals and take a leap forward. You may have an access to knowledge which has been hidden or out of your reach before. The resources are available. The square aspects from Mars, Vesta and 174567 Varda in Sagittarius are providing some extra energy and light to you.

The following controversial Manwë personalities have left their mark on the world:

Aleister Crowley (1875 – 1947) was an influential English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He had a Sun-Manwë conjunction in Libra.

Frank Zappa (1940 – 1993) was an American musical wizard, who is considered one of the most innovative and stylistically diverse rock musicians of his era. Zappa’s exact Sun-Manwë conjunction is in Sagittarius.

Jeff Bezos (born 1964) is the founder and chief executive officer of Amazon. He is the wealthiest person in the world. His Sun-Manwë conjunction is in Capricorn. There are three other trans-Neptunians together with the Sun and Manwë: 120347 Salacia, 47171 Lempo and 341520 Mors-Somnus.

Olof Palme (1927 – 1986) was an Aquarian. Manwë is right at his Sagittarius ascendant. He was one of the greatest statesmen of the world. He has been described as an insightful politician, who had a skill to see things before others did.

Full Moon in Virgo — March 2, 2018, 00:51 UT

Friday, March 2nd, 2018

Last night’s Full Moon in Virgo was in conjunction with plutino 90482 Orcus.

90482 Orcus is a probable dwarf planet discovered in February 2004 by Brown, Trujillo and Rabinowitz. It has a large moon, Vanth. Orcus and Vanth form a binary system, and like the Pluto-Charon system, Orcus and Vanth are tidally locked.

The orbit of Orcus 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 plane, 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.

Because of the similarities with Pluto, Orcus got named after one of the Roman equivalents of Pluto, the Etruscan god of the underworld. Orcus was also known as the punisher of broken oaths. It is likely that the name was transliterated from the Greek daemon Horkos, the personification of oaths. Oath-taking and the penalties for perjuring oneself played an important part in the Ancient Greek concept of justice. A curse was inflicted on a person who swore a false oath in the name of the gods.

The Sun in Pisces is now in conjunction with Neptune, which is associated with deception, lies and confusion, among other things. Keep your word, be clear in your expression, and don’t swear a false oath either.