EVERY ASTROLOGER, and every astrology student, should consider what is truly important to include in any chart for astrological interpretation. Sadly, most give no thought to the matter at all, including and excluding chart components based on one’s initial exposure to astrology, and later, merely on thoughtless habit.

SEDNA, the undersea creation goddess of the North Pole, arrives just as we are figuring out as the ice caps are melting. She emerges from the collective unconscious just as the cetations (such as whales and dolphins) are dying off and being massacred. In this moment, we get a planetary discovery, honored with a name evoking a myth, that tells us where these creatures come from.

SINCE 1999, four outer planets orbiting our Sun have been discovered and named for water-related deities. – – – Then there was ((Huya, discovered in 2000 (the rain god of the Wayúu Indians);)) Varuna, discovered in 2000 (the pre-Vedic supreme deity, who was later demoted to rulership of all bodies of water); Sedna in 2003 (the Inuit goddess of the frozen waters, who created the whales, seals and dolphins); and Orcus in 2004.

THE ENERGY of Varuna is that which is too large to comprehend, but which somehow touches us personally. Varuna contains some response to the question, “If God is so powerful why should s/he care about me”? In this respect, it has some attributes of the 12th house — the house of overwhelming or incomprehensible aspects of life that act out of sight or in the deep background; but the 12th house makes direct contact with the 1st house, which contains the most basic attributes of who we are.

LOGOS, a Cubewano (a type of outer planet beyond Pluto) is a binary Kuiper Belt object with an orbital period about 305 years. It was discovered in Virgo in 1997, where it remains today. Logos was named in 2006. Cubewanos are usually named for deities of resurrection or creation, and Logos is a creation deity in the Gnostic tradition. Today it is better known as a concept, fitting enough for a planet discovered in Virgo.

QUAOAR, discovered in 2002, is a Cubewano and at the time of its discovery was the largest known world beyond Pluto. It holds catalog number 50,000 and is a billion miles further from the Sun than Pluto right now, orbiting the Sun once in 288 years. Named for a Native American creation deity of the Tongva people from what is now southern California, we have a god who sings and dances the other gods and goddesses into existence.

1992 QB1 (properly, 15760 1992 QB1) was the first orbiting object of our Sun discovered beyond Pluto/Charon system. It has an orbit of 290 years. As the name implies, QB1 was discovered in 1992. It would not be until 14 years and thousands of discoveries later that the public or the astrology community would get wind that there were planets out there beyond Pluto, when Eris was named and Pluto’s status was changed to that of dwarf planet in the summer of 2006.

CYLLARUS, one of the more recently named Centaurs, addresses the theme of things happening ‘out of nowhere’ or without an apparent cause: for good or for ill. Another manifestation of Cyllarus is the extension of the results of any such change into our relationships, one’s social circle or or the culture. We have the question, “How could such a thing happen to such a nice (or beautiful) person?” and a second question, “How does everyone else respond?”