New Moon in Pisces — February 25, 2009, 01:35 UT
Pisces is the realm of Neptune, the Roman king of the ocean. Neptune, as well as the Greek god Poseideon, is often presented in the company of dolphins. There is no sea in the world without dolphins, for Poseidon loves them.
The incident which happened in Queensland in Australia, reported last week worldwide, is a perfect manifestation of the aspects of this New Moon. A dolphin badly injured in a shark attack was escorted by his mate to humans for help.
A pod of wild dolphins comes every night for a feeding ritual at Tangalooma Island Resort. Two male dolphins called Nari and Echo didn’t show up for the nightly feed for three days. Then the pair arrived, Nari with a severe shark bite across the top of his head, and Echo by his side. Dolphin experts say that there is no reason to think other than that Echo stayed with his best friend Nari, waiting till the injured Nari was well enough to swim to the coast. Dolphins are social animals and they can have an extremely strong bond.
Now Nari is taken care of and treated by vets. He is in stable condition and there are high hopes that he will recover and can be released back into the wild, where his friend Echo is waiting for him.
In mythology we meet a dolphin as the messenger of Poseidon. Poseidon wanted to marry Amphitrite, a sea nymph, but she fled to the Atlas Mountains. Poseidon then sent a dolphin to seek her. The dolphin persuaded Amphitrite to agree to the marriage. For his service, Poseidon placed the dolphin amongst the stars as the constellation Delphinus.
The Sun and Moon are now in the compassionate sign of Pisces. In Aquarius, Chiron, the symbol of wounding and healing, is approaching the conjunction with Neptune, the ruler of Pisces. We are now readily able to empathize with the suffering of the fellow companions and pursue the role of a saviour.
Astrologer Marja-Liisa Niemi-Mattila has noted that the archetype of Poseidon has an association with collective power. A pod of small fish is able to defend themselves against much bigger species, for example the sharks, as long as they stay together as a group.
There is still a pile of planets in the humanitarian sign Aquarius, emphasizing the theme of brotherhood and advising us not to leave a friend behind.
In Virgo opposite the Pisces New Moon is the dwarf planet Ceres, the nurturing earth mother, representing the principle of unconditional love and need to care for others, and also our relationship with food. In Roman mythology Ceres is best known as the devoted mother of Proserpina. The daughter was abducted by Pluto and became the queen of the Underworld.
In Greek mythology there is a connection between Demeter, the equivalent of Ceres, and the sea god Poseidon. In an archaic myth, Poseidon once pursued Demeter. She turned herself into a mare so that she could hide in a herd of horses, but he saw through the deception and became a stallion and captured her. Their child was a horse, Arion, which was capable of human speech.
Astrologically, Ceres thrives in Virgo, one of the signs considered as the domain of asteroid Ceres (the other signs are Cancer and the Taurus-Scorpio polarity). Virgo and Pisces are both signs concerned with service and well being of others. The Moon-Ceres aspect is enforcing emotional bonding with the fellow creatures.
Currently there is a rare visitor in Virgo; Comet Lulin, the comet of cooperation, is passing Saturn, and at the time of the New Moon it is already approaching Ceres. Comet Lulin is orbiting backwards compared to most other objects in the solar system.
Minor planet Ceto was prominent in the Solar eclipse chart of January. The eclipse was in an exact square to Ceto in Scorpio. Ceto, named after a marine goddess of whales, sea-monsters and dangers of the deep, is still in the picture, now forming a supportive trine to the Sun and Moon. The name Ceto and the term cetacean come from the same origins. Cetacea is the scientific order of marine mammals, including the whales. Oceanic dolphins are the members of the Delphinidae family of cetaceans.
Plutarch, the Greek essayist and biographer, said: “To the dolphin alone, nature has given that which the best philosophers seek: Friendship for no advantage.” On this Pisces New Moon, let’s try to awaken the dolphin inside us.
References:
Sue Tompkins, The Contemporary Astrologer’s Handbook, 2006, Flare Publications
Marja-Liisa Niemi-Mattila, Jumalainen Mies, 2008, WSOY
Demetra George & Douglas Bloch, Asteroid Goddesses, 2003, Ibis Press