New Moon in Capricorn — January 1, 2014, 11:14 UT
The year started with a New Moon in Capricorn. Pluto and Mercury were in close conjunction with the Sun and the Moon, and formed a grand cross with Mars in Libra, Uranus in Aries, and Jupiter in Cancer. Also in Cancer, tightly opposed by the luminaries and the other Capricorn planets, is Cyllarus, a faint centaur planet discovered in 1998. Its diameter is assumed to be around 70 km and the orbital period is about 134 years. The presence of Cyllarus emphasizes some of the themes coming up in other aspects of the chart.
Eric Francis connects the theme of things happening “out of nowhere” to Cyllarus. He writes: “Cyllarus reminds us to be conscious of the choices we are making in our lives — particularly the choice to fight, or walk away from one. Cyllarus says that the decisions we make directly affect our relationships, and we need to be conscious of our choices in this context.”
In its discovery chart, Cyllarus is in conjunction with the Main-belt asteroid (4059) Balder, named after the Norse god Baldr, whose mythology bears a notable resemblance to that of Cyllarus. Balder was a young light god, the most beautiful and beloved of the gods. In Greek mythology, Cyllarus is described as a young, handsome Centaur with a golden mane, and loved by many. They both got killed suddenly; Balder was pierced by a flinging twig, Cyllarus hit by a javelin. Their female partners were heartbroken and chose to take their own lives.
At this point I am asking everyone please to keep in mind, that when we seek clues for the meaning of a planet from mythology, the death is always a symbolic one. The old stories can be brutal. In the case of the Centaurs, there is very little told about them in the myths. As a group they attended in a couple of fights, and as a consequence they all died or fled. A death of a Centaur can stand for a crisis in one’s life, which through awareness leads to change and growth, when the person is leaving something old behind and enters into new.
The aspect between the luminaries and Cyllarus is an opposition. The opposition aspect is dealing with polarity. The planets at the opposite ends of the aspect represent struggle between opposite tendencies, but the aspect also brings awareness, as we are able to look straight at what we are dealing with. The opposition often works in our personal relationships, because the aspect has to do with polarity and projection. In projection we unconsciously place our own unacceptable feelings and qualities to someone else, outside us. The opposition gives a chance to grow. Oppositions put us in the place to choose and make decisions.
Mars in Libra focuses the action also in the relationships area. The serious and disciplined nature of the Moon sign, Capricorn, helps to calm down the impulsiveness of some of the aspects. Sometimes it is not easy for us to distinguish what is ours and what is someone else’s. Not every battle is ours. Cyllarus at this New Moon was a little reminder of it. We can choose to walk away.