“If ‘manners maketh man’ as someone said
He’s the hero of the day
It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
Be yourself no matter what they say.”
– Sting, Englishman in New York

The New Moon in Virgo squares Mars in Gemini and opposes the trans-Neptunian Gonggong in Pisces. This aspect pattern is the t-square (two planets are opposite each other and form a square to a third). Mars is the apex of this pattern. Mars enables focused action. The opposition and square aspects create tension and friction. However, squares are dynamic aspects that create will. In mutable signs approaching the goal may not be as straightforward as in the other sign modes.

In Horoscope Symbols in the beginning of the Mars chapter Robert Hand writes: ”One does not merely exist; one must exist as something or someone in particular. And one must also be able to maintain one’s individuality in the face of pressures from the world and other members of society – pressures that threaten to violate one’s true nature or even survival itself.”

Sting (born Oct. 2, 1951) wrote his famous song Englishman in New York about Quentin Crisp. In some occasions he has said that the song is partly about himself and partly about Crisp. Both Sting and Crisp have a prominent Gonggong in their chart. Sting’s Gonggong in Aquarius is trine his Sun-Saturn conjunction in Libra, sextile his Jupiter-Eris conjunction in Aries, and semisextile his North node in Pisces.

Quentin Crisp (Dec. 25, 1908 – Nov. 21, 1999) was an English eccentric and gay icon who moved to New York in 1981. He was known for his fashion sense and wit. Crisp has said: ”Style is being yourself, but on purpose.” Crisp’s Gonggong is conjunct the Sun and Mercury in Capricorn, square Saturn in Aries, and semisextile Venus in Sagittarius.

Sting wrote in his memoir Broken Music: ”I want to do this on my own terms, I want to be singular, and if that means being marginalized, then so be it. I will become stronger, and even if no one else knows who I am, I shall know myself.”

225088 Gonggong is the fifth-largest known trans-Neptunian object in the solar system and a dwarf planet. It is a scattered disc object with an orbital period of 554 years. The orbit resembles that of Eris, but Gonggong is currently moving farther from the Sun (whereas Eris is approaching the Sun). Gonggong was discovered in 2007 and finally officially named in 2020 after a Chinese water god, known for creating chaos and destruction. Gonggong ends up being killed or sent into exile.

In 2019, the discoverers of the object hosted an online poll for the general public to choose between three possible names: Gonggong from Chinese mythology, Vili from Norse mythology, and Holle from German mythology. Gonggong was the winning name. It has been suspected that the majority of the votes for “Gonggong” came from a vote spamming bot. I woted for Vili, and in the light of these examples I am even more convinced that the astrological meaning of this object can be found rather from Norse mythology. The name Vili means “will”.

In Norse mythology Vili and Vé are the chief god Odin’s brothers, but according to the rune experts, the three actually represent the same entity. Freya Aswynn writes: ”Odin appears in a three-fold form, as Odin, Vili, and Ve. This threefold division represents the three aspects of Odin as warrior, shaman, and wanderer.”

Also Edred Thorsson describes the threefold structure of Odin in Runelore. According to him, Odin (master of inspiration) is the transformative force at the root of consciousness and enthusiasm. Vili (the will) is ”the conscious application of a desired plan consciously arrived at.” Ve (the sacred) is the spirit of separation in an independent sacred space. ”This separation between consciousness and ‘nature’ (that outside consciousness) must be effected before any transformations or ‘work’ can take place. All three are necessary; all three should work together as a whole,” writes Thorsson.

The New Moon is a time for fresh starts. Let’s strive for being ourselves, on purpose.

The Moon in Aquarius and the Sun in Leo are forming a t-square with Uranus at the North node of the Moon in Taurus. The trans-Neptunian Lempo is in conjunction with Uranus. The Sun is in its own sign Leo, and Uranus is the ruler of Aquarius. Venus in the first degree of Leo forms a sesquisquare aspect (135º) to centaur Nessus in Pisces.

The plutino Lempo is a triple system consisting of two components of similar size (Lempo and Hiisi) and a third (Paha), a small satellite circling the binary. Lempo is one of the most interesting objects in the Kuiper belt. It resembles the Pluto system, where four small moons are orbiting the central binary of Pluto and Charon. The orbital period of Lempo is over 247 years. Lempo’s perihelion (the point in its orbit that is nearest to the Sun) is just outside the orbit of Neptune. It reached perihelion in 2015.

The largest component Lempo was discovered by American astronomers Eric Rubenstein and Louis-Gregory Strolger in 1999. The components of the triple system were named from Finnish mythology in 2017. On his website Dr. Strolger expresses his thanks to Dr. Bryan Holler for the name.

According to the guidelines of the International Astronomical Union, all plutinos are given mythological names associated with the underworld (for example Arawn, Orcus, Rhadamanthus and Ixion). Lempo is the Finnish devil who, with the help of his two demon cohorts, Hiisi and Paha, brought down the hero Väinämöinen. However, until Christianity came to Finland, Lempo was worshiped as the goddess of love and fertility.

An event called the Human Be-In, held in San Francisco on Jan. 14, 1967, is considered a prelude to the Summer of Love, a social phenomenon during the summer of 1967 in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district. Hippies, Flower Power, anti-war demonstrations, hallucinogenic drugs, psychedelic music, and free love belong to that phenomenon. In the chart of the Human Be-In event the Sun, Mercury, Salacia and Lempo are in a quadruple conjunction in Capricorn. The conjunction forms numerous aspects to planets, namely a sextile to Chiron and Saturn in Pisces, a sextile to Neptune in Scorpio, and a trine to Uranus and Pluto in Virgo. Jupiter in Leo is opposite Lempo in Capricorn.

The main organizer of the Human Be-In event was artist and activist Michael Bowen (Dec. 8, 1937 — March 7, 2009), who in his chart has a Sun-Lempo conjunction too. The conjunction is in Sagittarius in a novile aspect (40º) to Jupiter in Capricorn. The novile has a similar quality to the trine, though more subtle. According to Frances Sakoian and Louis Acker, the novile could act as a link between subtle spiritual dimensions and the ordinary realms of human awareness and activity (Frances Sakoian and Louis Acker, Minor Aspects, 1978). Bowen’s Jupiter is opposite Pluto in Cancer. At the time of the event, the transiting Jupiter-Lempo opposition aligned with Bowen’s natal Jupiter-Pluto opposition.

After Christianity came to Finland, the reputation of the god Lempo worsened. Her name became used as a swear word. One of the Finnish words which mean “love” is “lempi”. Sometimes “lempi” turns to “lempo”. The stars don’t compel, but sometimes people make bad decisions, which can lead to bad situations. Recently we have been able to learn about the sinister side of Lempo on the news concerning the marriage of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.

Both Johnny Depp (born June 9, 1963, 08:44 CST +6:00, Owensboro, Kentucky) and Amber Heard (born Apr. 22, 1986, Austin, Texas) have asteroid Juno opposite Chiron in their birth chart. Asteroid Juno symbolizes relationship dynamics in committed relationships. Johnny Depp’s Lempo is in Capricorn at his South node of the Moon. His Mars-Uranus conjunction in early Virgo is square to his Nessus in Gemini.

In Greek mythology centaur Nessus was a ferryman on the river Euenos. Heracles and his wife Deinaneira wanted to cross the river. Nessus carried off Deianeira first and tried to rape her. Heracles saw this from across the river and shot a poisoned arrow into Nessus’s heart. The dying centaur gave to Deianeira some of his blood mixed with semen. He lied that it was a love potion which would keep Heracles faithful to her forever. Later Deianeira spread Nessus’s poisoned blood on Heracles’s robe, and he died in agony.

Astrologically Nessus addresses issues such as abuse, revenge, being oppressed, and patterns of helplessness. The themes of Nessus can stretch over more than one generation and we can pass the patterns to someone else even unconsciously.

Amber Heard’s natal Sun in early Taurus is conjunct her North node of the Moon and sextile to her Lempo in late Aquarius. In the chart comparison her Sun is at Depp’s Midheaven, the cusp of the 10th house of career. Her Lempo opposes Depp’s Mars-Uranus conjunction. Her Jupiter is in conjunction with Depp’s Chiron in the middle degrees of Pisces.

When Johnny Depp and Amber Heard were married in February 2015 (the same year when Lempo reached its perihelion), Depp was having his Chiron return. Heard filed for divorce in May 2016. During the brief time period that they shared, the transiting Lempo went over Heard’s Sun and over Depp’s Midheaven in early Taurus. While the transiting Nessus ingressed from Aquarius to Pisces, it was in conjunction with Heard’s Lempo and opposing Depp’s Mars-Uranus conjunction. Depp’s solar arc directed Nessus in Cancer was conjunct his natal North node and opposite his Lempo. His solar arc directed Jupiter was conjunct his natal Nessus, and his solar arc directed Chiron was conjunct his Midheaven. Heard’s solar arc directed Sun in early Gemini was conjunct Depp’s natal Nessus.

The keywords for the healing process of Nessus are “The buck stops here.” Revenge is never the answer. One has to find ways to stop passing wounding patterns on to someone else.