| The New Planets in Astrology - Re-arranging our Cosmology |
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| Muqita | |||
| Monday, 04 September 2006 | |||
With the International Astronomical Union redefining Pluto as a dwarf planet and including other newly-discovered cosmic bodies in this category, publishers face the exciting task of updating models and text books. When it comes to astrology, those of both the Vedic and Western tradition will remain unperturbed by the decisions of astronomers. Some astrologers find it unnecessary to venture beyond the old model of using only the first seven planets. They feel that the planets beyond Saturn, such as Neptune, Uranus and Pluto only confirm what can be seen far more clearly with the old model. Astrologers belonging to the more modern school of thought continue to delve into the meanings behind the mythology of new and old planets - with delight. New books will appear on astrological shelves dedicated to one or all of the new dwarf planets and modern astrologers will vie with each other over the repercussions of having UB313 conjunct your Moon. New dimensions of meaning What is of the utmost importance to modern astrologers will be the names that are finally designated each planet. That may not change your fate, but it will certainly add new dimensions of meaning to the average birth chart reading. To illustrate the importance of name, we might explore the mythology of Pluto. It matters not one jot to astrologers that this planet has been re-classified. Named after the Roman god of the underworld, Pluto is usually associated with things dark, chaotic and ultimately transforming. Discovered in 1930, its meaning is encapsulated by the dark forces that gave rise to fascism in Europe and Hitler's attempted genocide of the Jews. A collision with the principles embodied by a Pluto contact with a personal planet in the birth chart is often described as akin in feeling to ruthless loss or a rape. Looking at the mythology, it is not difficult to see why. We have a concerned mother in Demeter (Roman equivalent is Ceres) who warns her daughter Persephone not to pick a certain flower when she is out walking in the forest. Naturally, she cannot resist the flower. The instant she picks it, the earth shudders and Hades (Pluto) surfaces from the earth's depths to abduct her. He drags her into the underworld where he rapes her. Face to face with fate Additionally, there is an older Sumerian mythology that is used to illustrate the protracted grief that a Pluto contact can produce, but the Hades story will suffice. Pluto rules atomic energy, regeneration and all cathartic agents. On looking back on a Pluto experience in the birth chart, some say it feels like an intrusion designed to bring them face to face with fate. It has the reputation of sweeping away all false crutches, whether these were relationships, a job or false opinions and beliefs. The resulting transformation is meant to bring you to a more authentic expression of who you really are. Another trans-Saturnian planet is Uranus. Discovered in 1781, Uranus became the symbol for breakthroughs, inventions such as electricity, the unexpected and sudden, and freedom - usually freedom won at any cost. The drive for independence finds its clearest expression in the American War of Independence that occurred around that time. Neptune's discovery came later and has connections with hidden compulsions, confusion, deception and addictions. This is a large gassy planet, greenish-blue in colour and as nebulous looking as the meanings attributed to it. The new planets What will the new planets bring to a natal chart reading? Well, so far, 2003 VB12 has the name Sedna, so called after the Inuit goddess of the ocean. The planet is similar in size to Pluto and appears to have a moon. Discoverers may change the name to something more in keeping with the mythology of the other planets, though. Xena might stick when it comes to naming 2003 UB313. Astrologers think this planet will have the qualities of a warlike Venus, since Xena is a fictional warrior princess. The other "planets" are Ceres, Charon and Quaoar. As Pluto's moon, it seems fitting that Charon is the boatman who ferries the souls of the dead across the river Styx into Hades. If you do not want your soul to forever wander the far bank, you had better have a coin at the ready to pay him. Obviously, astrologers explore the meanings metaphorically. Charon is not to be confused with the wounded healer and king of the centaurs, Cheiron or Chyron. Although the latter name belongs to an asteroid in the belt between Mars and Jupiter, this is one of many asteroids now incorporated in most modern astrology textbooks. Ceres belongs here too. She is the goddess of agriculture and the harvest. Zodiacal signs Astrologers look forward to an ephemeris of Sedna and the other planets. An ephemeris looks like a bus timetable and gives the positions of the planets against the background of the zodiacal signs (not to be confused with the starry constellations). The zodiac is only mythologically connected to the constellations. The actual zodiac begins with the astronomical First Point of Aries, the moment that officially marks the start of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere. The remaining 12 signs follow on from this point at 30 degree intervals. Checking the ephemeris for Cheiron, for instance, an astrologer will tell you that this asteroid was 27 degrees and 34 minutes in Gemini on the 24th of August 1987. Sedna is said to have a long and unorthodox orbit. Pluto, for instance, moves in a giant ellipse and takes approximately 250 years to make one complete revolution of the Sun. Uranus is said to be eccentric in motion, which fits with its general representation of the unusual in the life experience. Now we need only wait for confirmation of the names and descriptions of the orbits, properties and colours of the new planets to discover whether our birth chart experience will involve a contact with any of the mythologies surrounding Sedna and co.
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