Once every 500 years or so, the planet Uranus and dwarf planet Eris come together in the sign of Aries. Aries is the birth point, inception, Spirit into Matter. The helix of time returns to a starting point. A new Cosmic Cycle begins.
Due to her highly elliptical and irregular orbit, her passage through Aries is the longest, around 120 years. We are now experiencing the culminating phase of this current transit.
Homer continues, “Strife whose wrath is relentless, she is the sister and companion of murderous Ares, she who is only a little thing at the first, but thereafter grows until she strides on the earth with her head striking heaven. She then hurled down bitterness equally between both sides as she walked through the onslaught making men’s pain heavier.”
The mythology of Eris tells several stories of Eris. In “Works”, Hesiod writes,
“And Nyx (Night) bare hard-hearted Eris (Strife)… abhorred Eris (Strife) bare painful Ponos (Toil), and Lethe (Forgetfulness), and Limos (Starvation), and the Algea (Pains), the Hysminai (Fightings) and the Makhai ( Battles), the Phonoi (Murders) and the Androktasiai ( Man-slaughters), the Neikea ( Quarrels), the Pseudo-Logoi (Lies), the Amphilogiai (Disputes), and Dysnomia (Lawlessness) and Ate (Ruin), … and Horkos ( Oath) who does more damage than any other to earthly men, when anyone, of his knowledge, swears to a false oath.” 1
In “The Iliad”, Homer connects Eris to the goddess of war,
“Enyo, sacker of cities…Strife whose wrath is relentless, she is the sister and companion of murderous Ares, she who is only a little thing at the first, but thereafter grows until she strides on the earth with her head striking heaven. She then hurled down bitterness equally between both sides as she walked through the onslaught making men’s pain heavier…
Homer continues,
“Ares drove these [the Trojans] on and Phobos (Terror) drove them, and Deimos (Fear), and Eris (Hate) whose wrath is relentless, she is the sister and companion of murderous Ares, she who is only a little thing at the first, but thereafter grows until she strides on the earth with her head striking heaven. She then hurled down bitterness equally between both sides as she walked through the onslaught making men’s pain heavier…
“And with him followed the Trojan battalions in their strength; and Ares led them with the goddess Enyo, she carrying with her the turmoil of shameless hatred.”
There are other references to Eris rallying the Greek warriors in the Iliad. Here is another perspective from Hesiod in “Works and Days”
“It was never true that there was only one Eris (Strife). There have always been two on earth. There is one you could like when you understand her. The other is hateful. The two Erites have separate natures. There is one Eris who builds up evil war, and slaughter. She is harsh; no man loves her, but under compulsion and by will of the immortals, men promote this rough Eris (Strife). But the other one was born the elder daughter of black Nyx (Night). The son [Zeus] of Kronos (Cronus), who sits on high and dwells in the bright air set her in the roots of the earth and among men; she is far kinder. She pushes the shiftless man to work, for all his laziness. A man looks at his neighbour, who is rich: then he too wants work; for the rich man presses on with his ploughing and planting and ordering of his estate. So the neighbour envies the neighbour who presses on toward wealth. Such Eris (Strife) is a good friend to mortals.”
Here is her birth by Zeus and Leda. Eris was the brother of Ares, God of War. She was known as Discordia, the Goddess of Strife, Discord and Chaos. The most familiar story about Eris is about her culpability for instigating the Trojan War. The story goes that Zeus held a banquet in celebration of the marriage of the future parents of Achilles, However, Chiron, who sent the invitations, did not care for Eris and snubbed her. Eris showed up anyway and tossed into the wedding party a golden apple inscribed, “To the Fairest One” – which ignited a quarrel between Hera, Pallas Athena, and Aphrodite. Paris, son of Priam, King of Troy, who was chosen to be the judge. He chose Aphrodite, who rewarded him with Helen, wife of Menelaus, King of Sparta. Paris abducted Helen and took her to Troy… the event that “launch’d a thousand ships, and burnt the topless towers of Ilium.”
Only discovered in 2005, the astrology of Eris is much less complete than that of Uranus. There is an unexplainable synchronicity between the naming of celestial bodies and their archetypal meaning. When first sighted, Eris was assigned the name Xena, correlating to the Warrior Princess, which was a popular television show around the time it was found. A year later she was renamed to conform to the Greco-Roman nomenclature for observed celestial bodies.
Eris is the grain of sand in the oyster that transforms into an exquisite pearl. Chaos has the function of destructuring what has become crystallized, allowing the creation of new form. Discomfort dislodges emotional inertia compelling action. When expressed peacefully as contrast, conflict can become unity where there was only duality. The divergent and separate become similar and connected.
“To the Fairest One” – which ignited a quarrel between Hera, Pallas Athena, and Aphrodite, that eventually “launch’d a thousand ships, and burnt the topless towers of Ilium.” , pitting sister against sister, and city-state against city-state. The astrology of Eris is much less complete than that of Uranus, given the brief time since her discovery. We have to remember that astrology is not about assigning meaning. Rather it is about observing and correlating “what is above” and “what is below”, in order to realize the meaning. I hear this is the message that in Hesiod’s tale. Eris is the grain of sand in the oyster that transforms into an exquisite pearl. Chaos has the function of destructuring what has become crystallized, allowing the creation of new form. Discomfort dislodges emotional inertia compelling action. When expressed peacefully as contrast, conflict can become unity where there was only duality. The divergent and separate become similar and connected.
The last Uranus-Eris conjunctions in Aries occurred at the end of the Middle Ages between 1426 and 1516. During these years, across Europe “civil wars were one of the legacies of the Hundred Years’ War and the economic dislocation of the times.” The War of the Roses fractured Britain, as Yorks and Lancasters battled for the English crown. During these years, the boundaries of sovereign dynastic domains were displaced or dissolved, fracturing the coagulated, patriarchal ascendancy of the Middle Ages, and opening the space for the new thought that was already birthing The Renaissance.
These were the years when Joan of Arc valiantly took up arms (as a woman!) to defend France from English occupation, in the end, losing her own her life, yet canonized for her courage.
In this time period the Medici’s facilitated the emergence of the Renaissance as Florence became the center of the arts and learning, Guttenberg invented the printing press, Leonardo da Vinci created his masterworks, Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel, Martin Luther lists his 95 theses, Columbus discovered America, the Spanish Conquistadors explored Mexico and the American Southwest, and Theresa of Avila was born.
In the years that followed, the Spanish Inquisition sought to cleanse and purify religious expression and practice throughout Europe. The Conquistadors explored Mexico and the American Southwest contributing to the genocide of the Native American population as a result of “Eurasian diseases such as influenza, bubonic plague and pneumonic plagues devastating the Native Americans who did not have immunity”.
In 1927, the current cycle of Uranus-Eris conjunctions in Aries began. There were 3 conjunctions between 1927 and 1928. We are currently in the culminating phase of this cycle as the 2 “free radicals” come together in June and September of 2016, and again in March 2017.
During the ingress of Eris in Aries in the 1920’s the Chinese Civil War began, Gandhi’s The Story of My Experiments with Truth is published, Charles Lindbergh completes the first solo flight across the Atlantic, Amelia Earhart becomes first woman to fly across the Atlantic, and Alexander Fleming discovers Penicillin
In the ensuing years, 1929 Wall Street Stock Market Crash lead to The Great Depression, and the rise of Adolf Hitler.
There were a number of notable births under this conjunction in the late 1920’s.
Cesar Chavez was an American farm worker, labor leader and civil rights activist, who co-founded the United Farm Workers. His deep-seated passion and vision, and the dynamic role he played in the Hispanic community, correlates to his 11th House Pluto in Cancer, ruled by his 7th House Pisces Moon which is conjunct Uranus-Eris at 0° Aries. Uranus and Eris also form a Stellium with his Aries Sun. Cesar Chavez’s motto was “Si, se puede” (Spanish for, “Yes, it is possible”) conveying his courageous, non-violent stance. His 10th House Mars in Gemini forms a waning Last Quarter square to his Pisces Moon and forms a partile Gibbous Opposition to his 4th House Ceres in Sagittarius. His initiative and his love of the land drove him to air his grassroots message for worker equality, until it surfaced in the national media. Eventually Cesar Chavez became an icon and role model for labor organizers across the country.
Fidel Castro is a Marxist-Leninist Cuban political leader. He helped lead the Cuban Revolution and was the President of Cuba from 1978 to 2008. He allied with the Soviet Union during the Cold War, precipitating the Cuban Missile Crisis. Under his authority, Cuba became the first Communist state in the Western Hemisphere. Through his active support of leftist regimes he earned a place of leadership and respect in the Third World community. He is regarded as a champion of socialism, anti-imperialism, and humanitarianism.
This revolutionary attitude is reflected by Castro’s 1st House Pluto in Cancer in a Full Phase Quincunx to its 8th House Moon in Aquarius ruler. The Moon opposes his 2nd House Leo Sun conjunct 3rd House Neptune in Leo. 10th House Uranus and Eris in Aries closely straddle Jupiter. Pluto also forms a partile Sesquiquadrate to 6th House Saturn in Sagittarius. “Quality of life lies in knowledge, in culture,” he said. “Values are what constitute true quality of life, the supreme quality of life, even above food, shelter and clothing.” There was an instinctive alienation from culture into which he was born which led him to challenge what he perceived to be a limiting political structure and to establish a new future for Cuba. He said, “A revolution is a fight to the death between the future and the past.” There was a compelling need to actualize the patriotic vision that he held onto so fiercely. He moved comfortably into his leadership role, after the revolution achieving recognition and support on the world stage. “Condemn me,” Fidel Castro said, “It does not matter, history will absolve me.”
Both of these individuals, in their own way, has shown a radical expression of their personality, or the need to overcome extreme misfortune.
Also born during this transit were Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, Jacqueline Onassis Kennedy, and Andy Warhol.
In the chart for the first alignment of Uranus Eris on June 9th, 2016, Mars in Scorpio, the ruler of the Uranus Eris in Aries, forms a waxing Gibbous Quincunx to the conjunction, as well as a partile Full Phase Opposition to Mercury in Taurus, a waxing Crescent Quintile to Jupiter in Virgo, a waxing Gibbous Quincunx to Uranus in Aries, a waxing 1st Quarter Trine to Chiron in Pisces, and A waxing Biquintile to Ceres in Aries.
Uranus and Eris forms a waning New Phase Semisextile to Mercury in Taurus, a waxing Gibbous Biquintile to Jupiter in Virgo, a waxing Sesquiquadrate to Saturn in Sagittarius, a waning 1st Quarter Square to Pluto in Capricorn, and a Balsamic Conjunction to Chiron in Aries.
The Balsamic Sun Venus Conjunction in Gemini in a waxing Gibbous Opposition to Saturn in Sagittarius forms a Mutable Grand Cross with Neptune in Pisces in a waning Full Phase Opposition to Jupiter, Neptune balsamic to the Lunar South Node and Jupiter balsamic to the Lunar North Node. Saturn is in a waning partile Last Quarter Square to Neptune in Pisces and applying to a square to the Lunar Nodes. The Moon in Leo sets up a Fire Grand Trine with Saturn in Sagittarius and Chiron in Aries.
The themes from the past offer us a glimpse of the future. The world has shrunk and the world has exploded. Somehow, the world did not become a safe for democracy, or even seems to be safe at all. Recent history is as compelling as it is uncertain. Ethnic and racial diversity is under attack the world over. Wars, famine, disease, terrorism, religious persecution, political corruption, all are responsible for the
mass migrations of people in hope of a better life. In spite of (or as a result of?) continuous US military presence in the Middle East, the region is in near meltdown. The Western world as well, is traumatized by terrorist acts that seem to have no moral compass.
The food that we eat, the water that we drink, and the air that we breathe, all are under attack by acts of commission and
omission. Our food has been chemically contaminated and genetically modified. On the whole, the population is only now beginning to become aware of the enormity of the ways our food has been altered in order to make it more profitable. The result is the deterioration of the quality of the American diet and the overwhelming incidence of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes, mostly among Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and Native Americans.[3] At the same time, the cost of healthcare has risen, on the average, 5-7% annually, placing it out of the reach of those who need it the most.
Government regulatory agencies, mandated to safeguard natural resources have become “privatized”. The oligarchs now make up their own rules and regulations, using whatever means available to cheaply and efficiently extract natural resources, wherever they can find them. Federal officials and corporate officers exchange roles, as if there was a revolving door between Wall Street and Washington. The financial markets are supported by make-believe money and financial instruments constructed from worthless equities.
In the United States the incidence of gun violence has escalated to a level unprecedented in US history. Law enforcement is losing its legitimacy. Beyond our borders, US Military forces are being challenged by BRIC nations in both hemispheres. Foreign state agents compromise high-level US corporate and government networks, helping themselves to classified military and sensitive financial and medical records with alarming ease.
One of the greatest threats to our political security and well-being is that the American political system, has never in its history, actually operated on the model of “one man, one vote”.[4] Our Founding Fathers instituted an “electoral
college” of non-elected officials, whom then determine who shall become a candidate. It is from this short list of eligible candidates, backed by private interests, that the general populace must then choose. This method by which candidates are selected requisites a financial support system, denying the potential for fair and open elections. Large numbers of voters have become disenfranchised either because they feel politically and economically disempowered, or simply through disinterest.
Financial markets are again experiencing record highs, punctuated by erratic, and potentially critical downside events, paralleling the runup to the 1929 Crash.[5] The totality of the amount of assets in play is able to keep the ball in the air, but to many observers it is clearly a fiduciary juggling act.
It is not my intention to add to the litany of fear mongering that has proliferated the media. There is a law of saturation that predicates the idea that change does not occur until the desire that is generating the same wrong choice, over and over again, finally reaches its saturation point, and must precipitate out, and make a different more conscious choice. It is human nature to maintain self-consistency. What is familiar is safe. We hold onto what we know, because what is unknown is scary. When the pain becomes greater than the fear, we change.
Astrology and Hindu philosophy describe extremely long cycles of evolution. Swami Sri Yukteswar, astrologer, and teacher of Paramahansa Yogananda, elaborately described the cycle of the the Yugas,[6] a 24,000-year cycle that correlates to, and historically illuminates the precession of the equinoxes. There is evidence on our planet of civilizations that flourished in a Golden Age, long before recorded history.
The Great Pyramid, Stonehenge, Göbekli Tepe,[7] Chichen Itza,[8] Tikal,[9] Chaco Canyon,[10] are all evidence of unexplained advanced technologies. If we stretch out the timeframe of the Earth on the scale of a single 24-hour day, we are only aware of the last few minutes of its history. In recent years the work of Erich von Däniken,[11] Marshall Klarfeld,[12] and other researchers have produced hard evidence
that what we call the “stone age” was not primitive at all. 5,000 years from now, what evidence will remain of our contemporary culture? Certainly not anything made of paper, cloth, wood, glass, plastic, or perhaps even steel.
The Uranus Eris conjunction, under a Mutable Cross reflects an open channel for new imaginings and new ideas to spontaneously emerge, and the practical ways of integrating and self-actualizing these new paradigms. The intention is to build a new framework and allow new visions to re-image and re-imagine our selves and the world. Saturn will show us the current limits of our beliefs and visions.
All truths will come under close scrutiny. What we believed to be gospel will be exposed as heresy. What was considered heresy will be illuminated as truth. What we are searching for is not just truth, but Ultimate Truth. Jupiter will open up our understanding and create the space for new perspectives, and Neptune will whisper knowledge from the Ancestors.
Have we reached the saturation point where the scales begin to shift? From a certain perspective, the events of our lives, individually and collectively unfold with exquisite perfection, and meaning. Each episode, each consequence, is flawless and seamless, arriving at exactly the right time, with exactly the right intensity. The Law of Correspondences states, “as above, so below, as below, so above. Our outer world is simply the mirror of our inner world. Let us all rest assured that we have not been too overly optimistic in our pre-life planning.
Notes:
1 http://www.amazon.com/s?search-alias=stripbooks&field-isbn=0882142216
2 Since Babylonian times, prior to 1781 and the discovery of Uranus, Saturn was considered to be the outermost planet in the solar system. The discovery of Uranus was astronomically revolutionary. Not only did it also have rings like Saturn, but it also spins on its side, at a 90° angle to the ecliptic. New celestial bodies are discovered, come into our awareness, as the development of human consciousness unfolds.
3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individuation
4 http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.03.0011%3Aact=5%3Ascene=1
5 http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/homer/ili/index.htm
6 http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hesiod/works.htm
8 http://www.vlib.us/medieval/lectures/national_monarchies.html
9 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_history_of_indigenous_peoples_of_the_Americas
10 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidel_Castro
11 https://books.google.com/books/about/My_Life.html?id=45yJZHaan-8C
12 http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/discursos/1961/esp/f020161e.html
13 https://www.marxists.org/history/cuba/archive/castro/1953/10/16.htm
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