By Len Wallick
Now that Valentine’s Day is over, we can embrace the real reason to celebrate the season — Girl Scout Cookies! Or not. If you are in the process of swearing off the sugar, we have an alternative to sink your teeth into. Continuing the discussion of Haumea (a dwarf planet orbiting our Sun), Saturn and Libra, which among other things is about the process of laying off the sweets of getting real with what will really nourish you and your relationships.
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From its very discovery in 2004, Haumea has been distinguished in two ways. It has been difficult to define, especially in relationship to other objects in the solar system. It has also exhibited auspicious timing in the course of assuming an identity. The two are related and relationship is the continued theme from yesterday.
It all started off with a quandary over when Haumea was discovered and by whom. In the realm of science, resolution of such a dispute would confer both prestige and naming rights. For astrologers, there is a little more at stake because the time and place of a new planet’s discovery are vital to the development of what amounts to its natal chart. This is important because a new discovery is a whole different ball game.
With the Sun and Moon for sure, probably with all of the classical planets visible to the unaided eye, every human being has a relationship that is a part of our DNA as well as our experience. We get them because they are a part of us. They are family in fact. Nobody needs to know the discovery date of Venus. It would be like asking your mother for her birth certificate. Not that we would put that past a few members of Congress.
Although we all orbit the same Sun, and that is not to be underrated, our relationship with the planets discovered by science is not nearly so intimate; it is known. It is of conscious intellectual experience. Admittedly, after discovery we can trace back and observe the synchronicity of a planet’s character with a particular time. Chiron last in Pisces during the 1960s is a prime example. Still, the awareness does not fall into place until we get to know the associated presence. Most importantly for astrologers, we can’t work with something we don’t know and the better we know it the better we can work with it.
So it was that discovery credit issue was settled in favor of the inestimable Mike Brown and his Cal Tech team. This gave us a place (Hawaii) which from current guidelines a name was derived: Haumea, the Hawaiian goddess of fertility and childbirth. Add to the location the date (December 28, 2004), and we have the makings of a discovery chart where the object in question is located in the 13th degree of Libra. With the somber knowledge that this date followed the Asian tsunami event by a scant two days, we look at the chart to find an asteroid Tsunemi in close conjunction and we know we are on to something.
This, by the way, in spite of the fact that the name Tsunemi has no association with tidal waves. It is a proper name, that of a scientist. In astrology, however, that’s typical of how asteroids work. Combine some poetic license and serendipity with your synchronicity, apply Occam’s razor (a maxim stating that the simplest answer is probably best) and it works.
One might have considered that to be a pretty solid start, but no such luck. Every successive return of Venus to Libra brings a conjunction with Haumea and it seems that we are generously gifted with additional information about this distant object just about as often. As a matter of fact, it’s amazing how much we know considering how far away it is. The problem is the more we learn, the more difficult it is to relate to — or it to anything else. Having been reclassified a couple times already, Haumea is anything but comfortable in the current role of dwarf planet.
You see, other than going around the Sun, a dwarf planet is supposed to have sufficient mass to attain hydrostatic equilibrium. That’s a fancy way of saying a spherical shape due to is own gravity. Instead, Haumea is an oblate spheroid, tumbling end over end like a lost football in search of a cosmic goal post. This rapid rotation will prevent its ever coalescing into a sphere. Add to that two discernible moons, unlike any other Kuiper Belt object with the possible exception of Pluto, and we have the celestial equivalent of an orphan with no known relatives.
That’s where Saturn and some amazing timing come into play. When one considers that Haumea takes almost as long to go around the Sun as Pluto does, it is astonishing that Saturn, with its orbit of nearly 30 years, would be anywhere near conjunction so soon after the little one’s discovery. Compound that improbability with the location of the conjunction being the sign where Saturn is exalted. Then go exponential with the fact that it’s a cardinal sign up to its nose in a series of aspects with long-term historical impact. Finally put a cherry on top with the fact that the opposing cardinal sign is host to a larger, more distant and slower moving object, Eris, which is in the process of resolving some identity issues of its own.
Put that all together and it would seem that something has got to give, that Saturn would act to define and Eris would act to challenge and the whole cardinal sign shtick would oversee a revolution leading to a new era with a higher and more evolved octave, which in turn would lead to a different level of relationship and identity for Haumea symbolizing the same for us all. And maybe so. But that all supposes Haumea is an object being acted upon. What if, as is more realistic, it’s just part of the combo?
What if the goddess of fertility is interpreted as creativity? What if crisis is toned down to necessity? What if identity is collective and what if revolution is set to music as an expression that has nowhere else to go? One other planet that Haumea has a relationship with is Neptune. It is a relation of orbital resonance with a ration of seven to twelve. This implies a musical fifth, which in turn brings to mind a daring cycle of chords that characterize something that really happened. This something is just as improbable as the concurrence of Haumea, Saturn, Eris and the cardinal signs. This something is in fact is very evocative of our sky now.
In the nineteenth century, where the great river Mississippi joins with the sea, in the city of New Orleans, a diverse and unlikely group of people found themselves in relationship. In close quarters and common poverty, their circumstances required them to get along in order to survive. The great goddesses of necessity and creativity flowed together like the muddy waters of half a continent, joining together the nationalities of half a planet. It was expressed in music, resonating in a cycle of fifths, unique and revolutionary, nourishing and defining, the first new art form from a new world. It was jazz. In the midst of that ferment was an unlikely orphan who did not fit in; who nonetheless proved to be not only among the most creative but who also attained a higher octave of existence even as he played above our heads.
Now, that hallowed city is very much like the rest of us, reeling from one unthinkable challenge after another; living proof that the patrilinear paradigm has become irrelevant if not downright pernicious. It is wondering whether its own hard won passionate expression of creativity will follow the way of a polluted river and a decimated sea. Abandoned by the privileged few, it is yet embraced and nourished by new level of relationship that does not come from above, but rather from the people themselves. The outcome is not certain. The obstacles are substantial. The perils have almost certainly not ended. But necessity remains and with it the potential for creativity. It is a new century and a new song awaits. Somewhere in those streets, Haumea wanders, as it does in the unseen distant sky and in every human mind on the planet. Its day is coming.
Offered In Service
late again
http://www.lunarplanner.com/asteroids-dwarfplanets/Haumea.html
chapeau Len
xxx
Hawaii Same-Sex Civil Unions Bill Approved By State Legislature
http://www.huffingtonpost.com
Perhaps something else to ascribe to Lady Hamuea?
Yesterday in this Saturn/Haumea saga part one, we get “Reality Nibbles”. Then today, part two, we get “Just a Bite” (whaaaa that’s hard ‘cos I’m still hungry). So now this girl is ready for her three course meal on Thursday, I tell ya, to be followed with that delicious dessert — a Full Luscious Luna on Friday. What a week. I. am. jazzed.
I’m also thinking it was Haumea who made her presence felt big time at the Grammys on Sunday night, when Esperanza Spalding — a very confident and sexy musician who tossed the Bieber aside (!) steps up as the year’s best newcomer. Then, at the very end, the fantastic Arcade Fire (CANADIAN!!!) took the best album grammy, which was a *total* shock both for them and for me. (I still think their first album is their best, btw). Seems to me it may have been Haumea who upended all prior predications for those two awards on their ear and pushed onto centre stage a beautiful, black woman who oozes a lot of musical talent it seems, along with an eccentric indie band who shuns mainstream — and who also oozes major musical talent….IMHO!
😉
So, can anyone tell me if I picked an auspicious day to pay off ALL my credit card debt with money that actually belongs to me? I denuded an IRA to do it and am able to hold enough back and plan withholding so as to cover any tax liability and penalties. Does this in some way relate to Lady Hamuea? My goal was to release the burden of this debt with the commitment to avoid re-incurring it. I have made this commitment before and lost it slowly as someone can lose their sight so slowly as not to notice it until they have fallen over enough furniture. I am looking for a better way to live. One day at a time I am finding it.
The world is an astoundingly different place today than it was yesterday, People, places, situations, RELATIONSHIPS are out of sync, but not out of rhyme.
Your wisdom and wit are important path markers, Len. Thank you with all my Girl Scout Cookies – um, Heart.
Len, Thank you for your help. It does feel like a bind. I appreciate your tremendous gifts.
Shanna and be: Thank you! Your comments seem to fit very well and the additional perspective of Haumea’s placement in a natal chart (Shanna) and the long range perspective (be) are immensely prvocative and useful.
jan: the apex (or “finger”, as you put it) of a yod is where the focus and tension are. If that’s a lunar node then we are back to the theme of relationship with an emphasis on polarity. Could indicate a bind of some sort. If that’s the case, participation yields negotiation and vice versa.
marths: thank you for your kind words.
Hi Len, Martha, Be, Shanna:
I have Haumea conjunct natal Pluto. Transiting Haumea is conjunct natal Neptune. Natal Pluto and Neptune form the base of a yod fingering (if I can put it that way) the North Node in Pisces. Haumea, according to astro chart, is trine Chiron. Can anyone shed some light on that for me? Thanks for any ideas.
I researched Haumea about this time last year, as Eric was prepping for the NCGR conference in Boston. Without spending a lot of time searching/reviewing my notes, I do remember my primary thought about Haumea –it/she has much to do with gifts. You’ve mentioned “creativity” several times, and Eric has written about the sexual aspect of creativity, but I believe the broadest delineation of Haumea is “giftedness” –not genius, per se, but any ability to bring about something new with your particular, you-nique imprint. That something new could simply be your presence on this earth. Haumea is fundamentally pro-creative.
The rub, in my opinion, is Libra. Sure, this relates to Beauty, but we shouldn’t forget the Justice bit. Haumea’s first name was “Santa Claus”. After looking at a few charts of people intimately know to me, I got the feeling that Haumea’s placement tells us about how comfortably we own and express our particular gifts. There’s a subtext of Santa Claus’ Judgment in there. Were you a good girl/boy or a bad girl/boy? Do you deserve the gifts you’ve been given? Haumea’s placement can show us something of the judgments we make (or were made for us) about our uniqueness and creative expression.
Of course, we can substitute “sexual expression” and have that talk with Haumea, too.
Just a couple of thoughts.
Make that the Grim Reaper, or maybe the ripe Grim Reaper. Have no idea why I did that but there might be a reason.
be
Astrologers just love a puzzle, especially about a birth time. Just look at the frenzy over Julian Assange’s unknown data! So until we have more answers, perhaps we can learn more about Haumea from her myth. Even the confusion as to who discovered her first and at what time or day, makes me think she’s got a lot in common with Neptune. Isn’t her orbit determined by Neptune anyway?
I am drawn to the idea that she was discovered at this time because we Earth People are finally ready to move to a wider view and understanding in our attitudes toward those different from “us”. For U.S. citizens that would start with the first elected President from Hawaii. The naming of a creation deity from outside the traditional ancient cultures of Greek and Roman myths suggests this too. The fact that Haumea has a funny shape also speaks to our prejudice toward any “one” outside of the perscribed (by advertisers) standard of appearance. This seems a very Neptunian, we-are-all-one spurt of spiritual growth.
Then there is her ability to re-create herself, also very Neptunian, to be old and transform into youth for a new generation. I will add a link to an interesting site about her myth, but I wanted to first mention that there is reason to associate her location to the present Egyptian metamorphis.
In the birthchart of Egypt (6/18/53, provided by Eric) Saturn is at 20+ Libra (and conjunct natal Neptune). In the Mubarak Regime chart (10/14/81) The Sun, Jupiter conjunction is at 20+ Libra (and conjunct Pluto) Haumea got as close as 18+ Libra before turning retrograde in January. Have you read the Sabian symbol for her present degree? “A Gang of Robbers in Hiding”; Protest against disharmonioc social privilege, Dane Rudhyer says, and “group protest” and “protest against an unbalanced society. .”
Why not also associate her with Ceres, another Earth Mother figure? Ceres was conjunct the February 2 New Moon and will conjunct Neptune (and Chiron) in the Vernal Equinox on March 20. Both goddesses are associated with earth, both are associated with death and rebirth, and both have displayed extraordinary rage according to their myths. They are both noted for their nurturing aspect, including the providing of food.
I do think that her conjunction to Saturn in Libra has a vital message and Saturn’s final opposition to Jupiter should not be lost in the excitement of the outer planet emphasis that prevails. Their cycle has much to say about the societies on our planet and when the ‘full-moon-equivalent’ position for Saturn and Jupiter exacts next month it will note a turning point for many societies, if not all.
The long transit of Libra might be enabling Haumea, along with Saturn, to define a society that will be much more fair and balanced, but Saturn is called the Grim Riper and that means that something will die. With Haumea, it will come to life again, reborn with the emphasis on preserving and repairing the earth, including the feminine aspects that have been suppressed.
When, on December 21, 2020, Saturn and Jupiter conjoin again at 0 Aquarius 29, the Sun will have just entered Capricorn, the winter solstice, just 8 hours before. The Moon will be at 27 Pisces 52, squaring the GC 27 Sagittarius 8, and oppose Pandora at 27 Virgo 5. Haumea will be at 28 Libra 39 with just 2 years left in this sign, but I have to tell you, I’m most intrigued by a triple conjunction that accompanies the new cycle for Saturn-Jupiter. Isis at 4 Aquarius 5, Osiris at 4 Aquarius 19 and Pallas Athene at 4 Aquarius 30 will be part of this new cycle and have a story to tell. I look forward to unraveling that mystery with you! Here is that link on Haumea’s myth . . .
be
http://www.midlandsschoolofastrology.co.uk/haumea_dwarf_planet_and_sacred_nature.html
Len – this is just so beautiful and thought provoking, I am speechless. Thank you as ever for your exquisite expositions.