Libra New Moon 2024/Eclipse: Minor Planet Report

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Libra New Moon/Annular Solar Eclipse, Wednesday 2nd October 2024 at 18:49 UTC, 10+ Libra

With the equinox now several days behind us, we reach the second eclipse of the current pair, which takes place alongside a configuration involving nearby Mercury, plus Ceres and Uranus. If recent weeks have been characterised by delays and frustrations, this event may provide a much-needed dynamic boost. Even if we have to give the starting push, once the astrological momentum takes over, we could find ourselves covering a significant distance in a markedly short time. Be sure to keep both hands on the wheel.

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Some minor planets involved

Aspecting New Moon (conjunction or opposition)

• (5) Astraea – Large S-type bright main-belt asteroid, named for the virgin goddess of justice, innocence, purity and precision. Not to be confused with Asteria, the goddess of the stars, in myth she became the constellation Virgo, and her scales Libra; she was also the last of the gods to reside among humans, and may return some day, bringing with her a second Golden Age. Astrologically, this body might represent balance, justice, innocence, idealism, vision and what is seen^[1], fair trade^[2], persistence, renaissance^[3], difficulty letting go and blocked closure^[4].
• (57) Mnemosyne – S-type asteroid with orbital period close to a 2:1 commensurability with Jupiter. Greek Titan goddess of memory and mother of the nine Muses by Zeus. May signify recall^[5], remembrance^[6] and, perhaps, their roles in creative work and transcendence.
• (260) Huberta – Cybele group member and outer main belt asteroid rich in carbon; identified with St. Hubert of Liège (c.656-727), who established ethical rules on hunting that are still followed to this day. He is patron of archers, trappers, hunting, dogs and forest workers; mathematicians; metal workers and smelters. Correspondences are likely to signify conservation, ethics, longstanding changes and effects, gradual development and/or careful testing, and new beginnings.

Lunar Eclipse post on Substack

Just a quick heads up: there's a new post on my Substack. Short and sweet. You can find it here.

Happy eclipse season,
Theano

Virgo New Moon 2024: Minor Planet Report

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Virgo New Moon, 3rd September 2024, 01:55 UTC, 11+ Virgo

With Mercury safely back in direct motion, Tuesday's New Moon might feel like a convenient springboard from which to take a huge leap back into action. That said, it's probably worth proceeding with unusual care. Accompanying the lunation is an incredibly tight Mars-Neptune square. This is one of the more delicate configurations (to put it, well, delicately).

Proactive yet impatient and sometimes rash (and, in Gemini, highly strung), Mars likes to push ahead without necessarily understanding the circumstances in which it moves. Neptune, meanwhile, loves to spread a fog over what it influences and sow confusion – making rapid action tricky, and possibly liable to mishaps. To complicate matters still further, Pluto has now retrograded back into Capricorn for a brief farewell visit, before finally settling into Aquarius in mid-November.

All this indicates caution and attention to detail as the most prudent course; in addition, ensuring that any loose ends are firmly secured. As the next lunation will bring us into eclipse season, soon enough we could well find matters developing at speed, without any additional propulsion required; now is the moment for checking the seatbelts.

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Leo New Moon 2024: Minor Planet Report

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Leo New Moon, 4th August 2024, 11:12 UTC, 12+ Leo

After all that Cancer-Capricorn energy, we've finally moved on to Leo for this next lunation. However, there's a twist: Mercury is about to station retrograde, and will do so less than a day following the New Moon. These are definitely conditions in which it's worth measuring the depth of the water before taking a dive. Rushing ahead may result in urgent backtracking, especially as the Sun passes through the Leo midpoint, when we reach the astrological Lammas.

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Some minor planets involved

Conjunct New Moon, 12+ Leo

• (173) Ino – Asteroid from the intermediate main belt, about 150km in diameter and parent body of the Ino family, with nearly 500 known members. Named for a mortal princess who incurred the wrath of Hera for fostering the infant Dionysos. Hera drove her husband mad and he killed their eldest child; Ino took the other and fled from him, leaping off a cliff into the sea. The pair were welcomed among the sea-gods and Ino became Leukothea. In the correspondences are themes of rapid action, self-transformation, growth, fulfilling potential, inspiration and rectitude.
• (358) Apollonia – Large main-belt asteroid named for an Ancient Greek trade colony founded around 600 BCE in southern Illyria (now Fier County, Albania), which developed into an independent polis. It was located at the crossroads of a prehistoric trade route, on the bank of the Aoös/Vjosë river. May represent multiple interests and developments, combining, travel, long-distance connections^[1], focused energies, strategy, working with available resources.

Capricorn Full Moon July 2024: Minor Planet Report

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Full Moon in Capricorn (Moon opposite Sun), 21st July 2024 at 10:17 UTC, 29+ Capricorn/Cancer

Here we are with the second of two Capricorn Full Moons, in the final (anaretic) degree of the respective signs, with the Moon also sextile Neptune at the end of Pisces. The energy in this area can feel unsettling and somewhat volatile, as we are in the process of shifting from one sign to the next. That said, it can be useful for tying up loose ends, and bringing matters to a satisfactory conclusion. If Neptune makes you feel rather off-balance or confused, take as much time as you need to find and/or ground yourself. The important things in life are rarely instantaneous.

One other configuration stands out in this chart: a Finger of the World (see this page for an in-depth discussion of this and other aspect patterns) between Mercury, Uranus and Ceres. This aspect pattern contrasts with the Finger of God, or Yod, in that the latter indicates a sense of fatedness or unavoidable events, whereas the former relates to what we can do for ourselves. Potentially, the combination of these planets is suggestive of how we can use our minds, intellect and/or inventive means to nourish and nurture our wellbeing.

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Quick update

Hi all

Just wanted to share a couple of articles on the Cancer New Moon. Firstly Amanda Moreno's incredibly beautiful writing for The Astrophile; secondly, my own rather more prosaic piece, Eleusis Moon, also over on Substack.

Wishing you all a pleasant July.

With love,
Theano

Capricorn Full Moon June 2024: Minor Planet Report

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Capricorn Full Moon (Moon opposite Sun), 22nd June 2024, 01:07:40 UTC, 1+ Capricorn-1+ Cancer. (Note: this is the first of two Full Moons in Capricorn this year; the second will be on 21st July, in the final degrees of the respective signs.)
Lunation takes place close to cardinal points; Sun conjunct the centaur (8405) Asbolus within 3', and other minors

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Some minor planets involved

Conjunct Sun

• (127) Johanna – Large main-belt asteroid named for Jeanne d'Arc, the young Frenchwoman who became a national hero defending her country against the English. The asteroid shares its discovery degree with Chiron, and its correspondences involve numerous similarly honourable and pivotal figures, apparently serving to associate it more closely to its namesake.
• (968) Petunia – Main-belt asteroid named after the flower genus, which is related to tobacco, tomatoes and chilli peppers, among others. These and other connections are suggestive of a Martial or combative aspect; there is also a fertility element expressed through the discovery degree.
• (8405) Asbolus – Centaur crossing the orbits of Saturn and Uranus; the mythical creature was a seer who predicted the critical battle with the Lapiths but, once intoxicated by the smell of Herakles' wine, also led the other centaurs towards it and thus helped cause the fight. The name Asbolos means 'sooty' or 'carbon dust'. Various sources^[1] offer indications including: intuition, psychic ability, seriousness, intensity, mysteries, difficulty receiving compliments or advice, pessimism, heaviness, solidity and consistency.
• (19521) Chaos – Kuiper belt object, possibly a dwarf planet, named for the Greek concept of the primordial void. Themes may include unlimited potential^[2], anarchy, disarray^[3], "spiritual laws that support personal freedom and free will"^[4], Robin Hood style figures^[5], orderliness amid confusion, and mellowness^[6].