The Emergent Identity

By Len Wallick

“You wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.”
–Eleanor Roosevelt

Today the Libra Sun opposes Eris in Aries. It’s not nearly as rare as some of the outer planet aspects. It happens once a year. Among oppositions, it does not have the ancient intuitive power of the Full Moon. Nor does it have the titanic tug of Jupiter opposing Saturn. On the night President Obama was elected, we got our first taste of Saturn facing off Uranus. Saturn opposite Pluto? Just call 911.

Nevertheless, this goes beyond one to watch. It’s one to experience. With each and every successive year, the awareness will grow and with it the influence. This year it’s special. Let’s break it down.

Oppositions are potent. Whether it’s face-to-face with your lover or in a fight, it’s get serious, go for broke, here and now time. In astrology there is a third party, us. Earth is hung out between the opposing planets, negotiating with both and each. That’s key to working with an opposition — negotiation and its fringe benefit — participation.

The Sun is big. Literally and in the figurative, astrological sense. Few creatures on the planet are not exposed to it on a daily basis. Even those who are not would not exist without Sol. The form of astrology that considers only the Sun is proof positive that less really is more and that the concept is viable.

As an astrological symbol the Sun is our expressed self, our intention shining out into the world. The Sun is our will, acting on beings and things. It is our own personal life force. Any opposition with the Sun is meaningful. Many of the minor planets were discovered when they were in opposition to Sol, or nearly so, because that is when they are most visible for what they are.

Eris the planet is a whole different ballgame. Although Sedna may, in the long run, prove to be the more meaningful scientifically and metaphorically, its discovery has not had nearly the same impact as Eris has on our time.

In myth, Eris was dissed and exacted a sweeping revenge that devastated humanity with war and ruin, splitting asunder the pantheon of gods. In astronomy, debate over Eris would provoke similar havoc, giving rise to its prevalent astrological interpretation. You see, not only is Eris much further away than Pluto, it is bigger, and not just a little bit.

Further away and bigger? Reasonable then that, if Pluto is a planet, so Eris must be. In August 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU), comprised mostly of men, met to define the term “planet” for the first time. For days, it seemed that the reasonable conclusion would prevail. Eris would be named the tenth planet, becoming the outer edge of our solar system, and hence our consciousness. Perhaps other bodies, not incidentally named after women, would be included.

But in the last few days of the conference something happened. The men of the IAU emerged from a methane-filled room to announce a shocking reversal. In order that Sedna may never be considered to be a fully-fledged planet, Pluto must sacrifice its title as same. Neptune was again the edge of the solar system. It was back to the 19th century.

Not so fast, boys.

A few days later, “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin perished from a cause never before recorded in human history. Both Eris and Pluto had been dissed and were having none of it. The apple was on the floor. Things would never be the same again. Even in the pantheon of science, there was dissent and confusion. And the modern interpretation of Eris was born as the symbol of our post-modern identity challenges.

Who are we anyway? Is our solar system eight planets, or nine, or ten, or a dozen, or a quarter million? How often does our family of birth end up being our family of choice, and at what cost? How much longer can we follow the words “I am” with a description of our job or occupation? How meaningful is nation or citizenry when both can be taken away without due process? What is an identity that can be erased, stolen, duplicated and reduced to binary code? When who you are evaporates, who the heck are you?

Now imagine that on the edge of the solar system, facing off against the star around which it all orbits, with us in the middle. It’s high noon and there ain’t room in this ego for the both of them. It happens once a year, like a birthday for every human being. A time to celebrate and evaluate our very existence. It’s another chance, or a reminder that there is one for as long as any of us shall live. Another chance to be of your own volition.

And this time it’s special. First it was the Moon, perhaps most telling for its frequency. Today it’s the Sun, tomorrow Mercury: our intuitive feelings, our expressed intent and how we think. One after another, confronting Eris, from the middle and on out to the edge. How far can you go? That’s a pretty thorough series in a few days.

There is a lot more going on in astrology today, but we will stop with this one. Breathe it in, hold it, it’s good. Take the time to think of others so as to bring them no cause for worry. Someone just might return the favor.

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