Asteroid Stew
Zip Dobyns
We are past the 300 count on our new asteroids as this is written, and more being calculated almost daily so I will not bother to count until we finish the current burst of activity. The mixture of names justifies the title of this article. Ruth Dewey chose most of them, and they range from mythological to historical to geographic to fiction to modern slang. But the article name could also refer to my mental stewing about the whole baffling phenomenon. I know we live in a mental world, that mind is the creative power behind the physical manifestations. But I still feel a sense of awe when we run the asteroid “Sagan” and find it conjunct natal Saturn in the tenth house in the chart of the man for whom it was named. He was born and became a famous astronomer long before the asteroid was discovered. He is not only ignorant of astrology; he puts it down whenever he has a chance. How did his fellow-astronomer manage to select that particular asteroid to be given his name; the asteroid in the house of and conjunct the natural ruler of his career? Of course, it was his career which made him worthy of having an asteroid named after him.
Another recent chart in my files is of a woman born in Latvia. The country was absorbed by Russia, but my subject escaped in time. In her chart, her natal Sun is conjunct the asteroid “Latvia” while “Russia” and “Urania” (which is much like Uranus) are conjunct on her natal Descendant: open enemies and sudden upsets, in this case. Psyche, which I find often associated with a feeling of personal helplessness, is conjunct the south node of the Moon in Aries in a female patient who has lupus, a debilitating, eventually fatal illness. Huberty, the mass murderer of San Ysidro, California, had Siva on his Mars, Nemesis, Fama, and Apollo (the latter two suggesting fame or prominence) clustered on his Neptune-IC. All aspects listed are within one degree orb, though a group such as the preceding one may include a series of overlapping aspects in which the first and last of the series are separated by more than one degree.
In the drug-related death of a young man, his father’s chart included progressed Atlantis (so often found associated with power-struggles) conjunct the progressed Part of Death (Placidus cusps), square Jupiter in the eighth house (one of the keys to death) and quincunx Saturn in his local fifth house (connected to children, among many other meanings). A chart for the first famous woman bull fighter has Apollo (fame among other Sun meanings) conjunct her Sun-Neptune conjunction in Leo. She also has Urania (urge to be different) conjunct her first house Jupiter-Pallas in Libra.
A woman who was kidnapped and then ransomed, only to be murdered some years later by unknown assailants for unknown reasons, had her first house Mercury conjunct Isolda, Anubis, Epimetheus, and Bourgeois. Isolda, a figure in the legends of King Arthur, died for love, but was precipitated into the love by a potion she drank. Anubis and Osiris are associated with the world of the Dead in Egyptian mythology. Epimetheus looked back rather than forward like his famous brother, Prometheus, so is associated with lack of foresight. Bourgeois refers to the middle-class. The woman’s family had money, but was definitely middle-class. Other aspects in the chart included the first house Moon conjunct Medusa which I am watching to see whether it represents fear; America conjunct the Descendant; and Osiris conjunct Neptune in the eighth house.
The recent hijacking of an Egyptian plane over the island of Milos, Greece which resulted in major loss of life had a chart with Psyche conjunct the Antivertex, Fanatica and Gyptis conjunct Ceres, trioctile Anubis, Pandora conjunct Mercury, Libya (suspected of facilitating the hijack) octile the mean south node of the Moon, Lilith (which seems very Plutonian) conjunct Neptune and quincunx the Ascendant, Nemesis conjunct the Descendant, plus the Sun applying to Osiris and the Moon applying to Anubis. The latter two aspects became exact by the time the plane reached Malta where most of the deaths occurred.
According to our newspapers, the initial conference between Reagan and Gorbachev at the Geneva Summit was scheduled for 12:20 P.M., Swiss time. The Sun at that moment was conjunct the MC and the asteroid, Russia, in addition to Roma and Virginia (the state in which the Pentagon is located.) This collection was also conjunct Reagan’s natal Ascendant if my birth time for him is accurate. The asteroid “Washingtonia” was just below the horizon in the sixth house conjunct Gorbachev’s natal Mars. Sphinx was on the Descendant, a sign of the secrecy maintained during the conversations? Osiris was conjunct Saturn; the association with the power of those two men and the potential of death is pretty obvious. Yalta was conjunct Jupiter, and many thought of the parallels and differences between this meeting and the famous session at Yalta involving Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin. Kassandra, the psychic who could only predict negative events and was doomed to never be believed, was conjunct the first house Moon, opposite America. Juno, partnership or power-struggles, was conjunct Apollo; fame again. Helio (another Sun equivalent) was on the south node of the Moon. Eros (love or the lack of it) was on Pluto (again, cooperation or power-struggles). Fanatica was on Ceres, and Stalingrad was on the IC or fourth house cusp. If we can judge the importance of the event by the number of one-degree-orb conjunctions, this meeting would qualify as very significant.
Sometimes an asteroid will be prominent in a related series of charts. Hephaistos was the Greek name for Vulcan, the blacksmith of Olympus, who forged the thunderbolts of Zeus. Hephaistos was associated with craftsmanship, mostly making weapons, and with fire and metal, including the volcanic fires and metal under the earth’s surface. His skill and his lameness sound like Virgo, but the rest of the associations are more Scorpio, including one of its negative potentials of power-struggles with associates where there should be cooperation. The mother of Hephaistos, Hera (Juno), rejected him, and his wife, Venus (Aphrodite) was never faithful to him.
In the Libra Ingress chart calculated for Bogota, Colombia, Hephaistos was conjunct the Ascendant, and the asteroid, Columbia, was square Mars. Horoscopes drawn for the Sun’s entrance into the four cardinal signs are interpreted as keys to the following three months for the area where the chart is located. When the communist guerrillas attacked the Supreme Court, resulting in the deaths of half of the Judges, Hephaistos was conjunct the IC, considered a death point like the eighth house cusp. Columbia was conjunct the Ascendant-MC midpoint, which some astrologers consider the most important of the midpoints in a chart. At the time reported initially by the newspapers for the volcanic disaster in Armero, Colombia, said to have killed 23,000 people, Hephaistos was conjunct the MC.
The attention of the world focused on the tragedy was symbolized in the horoscope by Aten (an Egyptian Sun god) conjunct Saturn; Helio (a Greek Sun god) conjunct Pluto; and Apollo (another Greek Sun god) conjunct the IC. Yes, Atlantis was there too, square Uranus. There were many more aspects involving the new asteroids, one of the impressive ones being Karl Marx on the MC when the guerrillas attacked the Supreme Court. Isolda was also on the IC with Hephaistos; Fanatica was conjunct Ceres; Panacea, Vaticana, East Point, and Jupiter were all conjunct each other and square the nodes of the Moon; Attila was conjunct Neptune; Tristan (who died for love, along with Isolda) was on the south node of the Moon; Tezcatlipoca (an Aztec god who required a human sacrifice every day) was on Juno which I am increasingly finding more Scorpio than Libra; while Lilith (similar to Pluto), Skuld (one of the Fates), Quetzalcoatl (another Aztec god) and Pittsburghia (another Pluto) were with Columbia on the Ascendant-MC midpoint.
Then there is Jesse Helms, conservative Congressman from North Carolina. How did he manage to be born when his Antivertex was conjunct Carolina? Or how did an astronomer manage to name that asteroid Carolina? He has many other interesting asteroid aspects, especially involving current patterns in 1986. Progressed Urania conjuncts his natal MC and progressed Saturn, (for changes in his power or other authority figures?); progressed Aesculapia (healing or health) and progressed Nemesis (one of the Fates) are on his Antivertex; progressed Hidalgo (power or authority figures) and Attila (named for a conquering tyrant) are on his progressed north node of the Moon; progressed Medusa is on Jupiter; progressed Hygiea (daughter of Aesculapia, and also a healer) is on Mercury; progressed Carolina squares Vesta for years, and progressed Atlantis is on his Moon, also for years. The patterns will be present through 1986, and they certainly fit a possible health challenge involving an authority figure. I have been finding both Hygiea and Aesculapia involved in cases of health and death due to illness. The patterns could point to Jesse’s personal problems, or to his “Boss,” the President.
One more interesting political figure before we close, (for the readers who are still with us), is our Defense Secretary, Casper Weinberger. Though he has some interesting aspects in his natal chart, I was particularly curious about his progressed chart for the spring and early summer of 1986, the time I am expecting a major development for the U.S. Weinberger will have progressed Merlin and Siva conjunct his MC; Apollo just past it; progressed Moon square progressed Atlantis, Osiris, and Klotho (one of the Fates); progressed Hygiea conjunct progressed Juno square progressed Sun; progressed Kassandra and Atropos (another of the Fates) conjunct Mercury; and many more.
Weinberger’s traditional aspects are also appropriate for a major event at that time. His progressed Antivertex opposes natal Mercury while his progressed local Antivertex opposes progressed Mercury, ruler of his seventh house, hence a possible separation from a partner. His progressed MC is trioctile the eighth house Neptune while progressed local MC opposes progressed Neptune and natal Saturn. We could read these aspects as a possible separation from an authority figure, among many possible details. His progressed Ascendant is quincunx natal MC (similar to the aspect just described) and progressed local Ascendant is quincunx progressed Mercury, coming to the local IC, hence opposite local MC, repeating the same message. The progressed eighth house cusp conjuncts progressed Mercury while the local progressed eighth house cusp conjuncts natal Ascendant. Progressed Part of Death is trioctile progressed Jupiter, ruler of the Ascendant, while progressed local Part of Death is on the third house cusp (media?) quincunx natal Saturn and progressed Neptune in the eighth house.
Details in the lives of individuals or of countries are always an educated guess, as I have said repeatedly, but the coming year promises to be an interesting one. The new asteroids continue to amaze and fascinate me! When does anecdotal material become significant? How many coincidences can we tolerate before we change our view of the nature of the world? One would think that when there are over 300 variables in a chart, there would be something everywhere, but it does not work like that. There will still be large gaps while several asteroids bunch up in massive groupings. At this point, everything is up for grabs. Anecdotes are not scientific, but the cumulative weight keeps on growing.
We appreciate the questionnaires which many of our readers filled out and returned. Asteroids were not high on the list of preferred articles, so I may try to restrain myself in the future and only include an article once or twice a year. To make up for this restraint, I am considering an “asteroid network” composed of a few of us who are fascinated by the potentials. We have potential members in Missouri, Colorado, Oregon, and New York, in addition to me of course. Our idea is to send photocopies of current observations to the other members of the network. If some are doing more work, we might ask for a small contribution to cover photocopying and postage for their increased expense. Otherwise, it would be a purely voluntary association. If any readers are interested, please let me know. By putting this note at the end of an article about asteroids, I figure the people who have no interest in asteroids will have skipped this article, and will therefore not know about the project.
If a large number of people are interested, we will have to do something more formal involving money. One possibility would be a small fee like $10 which would go, along with the written (typed please) contributions of network members, to one of the members willing to periodically photocopy the contributions and to send the material to everyone on the list. When the money ran out, another $10 could be requested from everyone who wanted to continue receiving the material. I can get inexpensive photocopies here (3 cents a page), so unless someone else can do better, I would be willing to handle duplicating and sending out the material. The frequency with which this would happen would depend on how many members of the network sent in material on their asteroid results. Another benefit for members could be feedback from others reporting similar or different results. We know that we attract people and events that fit our own nature, so observations by others can help bring at least a little more objectivity into a very anecdotal and subjective field.