The Taurus Full Moon, exact at 8:52 am EDT, is a moment of reckoning of the urgencies and the awareness of life and death matters. The Sun is in Scorpio, and the Moon will be in Taurus. These two signs, so deeply connected to issues of attachment, are also about surrender.

Happening at 22+ degrees of the fixed signs, this Full Moon is in a direct dialog with the Uranus-Eris-Ceres conjunction, which is both describing and provoking an ongoing shock to awareness.

Vera, from Book of Blue. Photo by Eric Francis.

We may be in a crisis of self-identity and having our extended trip to the astral plane with the help of digital technology.

Yet Taurus/Scorpio confirm that we have two primary modes of existence: in-body or dead. Yes, there is life beyond the body; though even that awareness, here and now, depends upon physical consciousness. We can speculate and fuss and dream and theorize all we want; if you’re in-body and your heart is beating, you have a mission.

Part of that mission is addressing these elemental matters of life and death. A mature, or even maturing, person has a conscious relationship with their body; with death and decay; and by extension with change. Once that relationship is grounded, then it’s possible to establish your values and get a handle on your power of decision.

It’s rare that people are in actual, conscious, articulate contact with their values. The Taurus Moon is a reminder that this is possible and it’s essential.

Most people do not have their power of decision taken from them; they give it away.

Most of us do not have a conscious relationship with death. It lurks in the background of consciousness like some creepy mystery that actually might be real. Death is typically papered over by religion. Most people struggle to have a conscious relationship with sex. This is handed over to religion and also to the actual religion of our culture, marketing.

The meeting of the Taurus Moon and Scorpio Sun is a reminder, cosmic, biological and symbolic, to remember to take charge of these matters for yourself. If you want to be more confident, raise your level of consciousness. The Sun in Scorpio, in our darkening time of year, is still holding open the resonance with the other world. The Moon in Taurus is a reminder to be in your body while you have one, to feel, to love and to celebrate life as a conscious gesture.

— Eric Francis Coppolino

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As Eric puts it, “The same astrology that is behind the madness and fragmentation is also offering ideas for how to restore our sanity and peace of mind. The same astrology that is scattering the sense of what a person is, is also taking us to a deeper level, one where we can recall our wholeness of character and integrity of spirit.”

We often hear from readers how Eric’s interpretations of the current astrology and environment have been the only thing that makes sense in a volatile and uncertain world. The support of useful guidance is becoming more necessary than ever before, and Eric’s annual readings provide that thoroughly, accurately and in a way that’s easy to follow.

If you’ve been inspired and bolstered by our Daily Almanac, you’re going to love these richly informative written readings for all 12 signs. Pre-order your copy today.

Arnica montana in its natural habitat. Photo by Stephanie Kroos.

Dear Friend and Reader:

People are in shock. I’ve been communicating with friends and readers in my community, and online, and that’s the prevailing emotion. You might want to take a dose of arnica and let that guide you back into your body as you regain your composure.

Depending on one’s level of political sophistication, and intuition, and sensitivity to history, you may understand the nature of the predicament we are in.

Continue reading →

Anyone having problems getting in their vote can call 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683)

with Kirsti Melto

Editor’s Note: This was published several years ago and was our best take on Haumea at the time. We’ve learned a bit since then and will be back with an updated article.

On Sept. 17, 2008, a trans-Neptunian minor planet previously known as 2003 EL61 was classified as the fifth dwarf planet in our solar system and named Haumea, after the goddess of childbirth and fertility in Hawaiian mythology.

The discussion about the planet definition and about Pluto’s status continues. The official definitions can be obscure, so let’s briefly recall the astronomical facts.

In August 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU), which approves names and categories of celestial bodies, gathered in Prague and approved the first-ever definition of a planet. As a result, Pluto’s designation was changed from planet to a new category, dwarf planet. The first members of this category were Ceres, Pluto and Eris. At the time, Eris had not yet received a proper name and was known as 2003 UB313. That left eight “official” planets in our solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn (the classical planets of antiquity), plus Uranus and Neptune (two of the modern planets).

The Prague meeting recognized the dwarf planet Pluto as an important prototype of a new class of trans-Neptunian objects. The IAU would set up a process to name them.

In June 2008 the IAU chose the name “plutoid” as name for Solar System objects like Pluto, i.e. dwarf planets that orbit beyond Neptune. Only the brightest of the dwarf planets fit in this category though. The two known and named plutoids at the time were Pluto and Eris. The two other objects discovered by this point that qualified as a plutoid were 2003 EL61 (which became Haumea) and 2005 FY9 (which became Makemake). The dwarf planet Ceres, located in the main asteroid belt, is the only object of its kind, so a separate category of Ceres-like dwarf planets was not proposed. Ceres is unusual because it accounts for one-third of the mass of the entire inner asteroid belt.

In July 2008 the IAU gave the name Makemake to the object formerly known as 2005 FY9 and officially made it the newest member of the plutoid family and also classified it as the fourth dwarf planet in our Solar System.

On September 17, 2008, the IAU announced that the object previously known as 2003 EL61 was classified as the fifth dwarf planet and named Haumea. The two moons of Haumea were named Hi’iaka and Namaka.

Haumea is one of the three bright objects whose existence was announced in July 2005. The two other bodies were Eris and Makemake. Mike Brown’s team — the discoverers of Haumea — nicknamed it “Santa,” because they were observing it around Christmas in 2004.

Haumea was discovered on December 28, 2004 — two days after the Asian tsunami. In the discovery chart of Haumea it is located in a tight conjunction with asteroid 8543 Tsunemi. Of course, the name Tsunemi originally has nothing to do with tsunamis. The JPL Small-Body Database tells me that asteroid Tsunemi was named after Hiroshi Tsunemi from Osaka University, a scientist who has worked in X-ray astronomy.

Astrologer Jacob Schwartz has noticed that sometimes the names of asteroids work very well, although they are chosen seemingly whimsically to honor colleagues, family members, familiar places, etc. “The sounds of names ascribed by these astronomers carry a cycle of meaning relating to events and experiences far beyond the meaning intended by the scientists who named them,” he writes.

In the New Moon chart of Sept. 29, 2008, Haumea was together with asteroid 916 America at 14+ Libra. The focus of the whole world was on the economic crisis and the presidential election in the USA. Note that 14+ Libra was the ascendant of the chart of the Sept. 11 false flag attacks. The planet Mercury was rising at the time, also located precisely in that degree.

Haumea is named after the goddess of childbirth and fertility in Hawaiian mythology. The Sabian Symbol for the discovery degree for 12+ Libra is beautiful and aptly speaks about children: Libra 13. Children blowing soap bubbles.

“This is a symbol of man’s reassurance through the presence of the beautiful and the good in every least promising form of human relationship,” Marc Edmund Jones writes in his book of Sabian symbols. “People are disposed kindly toward their fellows, but there is no growth in the mere rhythm of everyday routine, and human individuality knows it must be up and at the business of selfhood whether constructively or otherwise. Implicit in the symbolism is the challenge to rise above childish things while yet clinging to childlike ways. The keyword is enchantment. When positive, the degree is a consistent simplicity of character which enables anyone to maintain his touch with a transcendental magic of being, and when negative, a constant and idle daydreaming.”

An artist’s impression of Haumea with its moons. Image by NASA.

Haumea is one of the strangest objects in the Solar System. It is the third largest Kuiper Belt object after Eris and Pluto. In the very distant past another object probably slammed into Haumea at high speed, and this giant impact led to all of its odd properties.

Haumea is the fastest rotating body and also the most bizarrely shaped body of its size class. The rotation period is only about four hours. The shape of Haumea is therefore stretched out and resembles an American football. The rotation time is near the point where body of this size starts to break down.

Haumea has two tiny moons. In mythology Hi’iaka and Namaka are two of Haumea’s children. Hi’iaka was born from the mouth of Haumea and carried by her sister Pele in egg form from their distant home to Hawaii. She danced the first Hula on the shores of Puna and is the patron goddess of the island of Hawaii and of hula dancers. Namaka is a water spirit, who was born from the body of Haumea. When Pele sends her burning lava into the sea, Namaka cools the lava to become new land.

Haumea’s many children sprang from different parts of her body. She takes many different forms and has experienced many different rebirths. the Kuiper Belt object Haumea is followed in its orbit around the Sun by a swarm of icy bodies that were originally ejected from the surface of Haumea during the giant impact. According to Mike Brown the goal is to name also these members of the family specifically after other mythical children of Haumea.

The goddess Haumea represents the element stone. Observations of the dwarf planet Haumea hint that, unusually, it is almost entirely composed of rock. Most things out in the Kuiper Belt (the band of space that Pluto occupies) are about equal portions of rock and of ice, but, apparently, Haumea has only a thin icy outer shell and the interior is rock.

Haumea is on an unstable orbit and possibly becomes a comet one day in the future, in perhaps a billion years. According to its discoverer, Mike Brown, it will probably be 10,000 times brighter than the spectacular comet Hale-Bopp, making it something like the brightness of the Full Moon and easily visible in the daytime sky.

Astrologers never demoted Pluto. Many of them are now working to establish also the astrological meaning of Haumea. This is a long process. Eric Francis has summed up the process of understanding a new planet excellently in his answer to a curious reader a couple of years ago: How Can Astrologers Already Interpret Xena’s Meaning?

Those of us in the United States must endure two more weeks of an absurd, two-year election process. It’s been toxic and maddening and a vast waste of time.

Simplified chart, courtesy of Solar Fire, showing the Sun and Mercury (at right) approaching a trine with various points in Pisces.

While the candidates themselves don’t stand for much that is helpful, their presence is reminding us of some important social issues.

You now get to see who is a true believer and who actually thinks. You get to see who stands for what. If you’re doing this right, you’re questioning your own beliefs.

A Course in Miracles tells us that a choice between two unacceptable options is no choice at all; it’s an exercise in futility. As part of your review, though, I would suggest asking yourself what you’ve done to prevent us getting where we are today — especially if you don’t like it.

Have you spoken out against the prevailing treatment of women? Have you expressed any concern that the most wealthy among us pay lower taxes — not smaller percentages, but often sending in fewer actual dollars — than you do?

Have you spoken out against war? Have you ever talked to one of your congressional representatives about an issue that concerns you? Can you name your congressional rep? Can you name your senators?

The Sun and Mercury are moving through early Scorpio this week, which will open many doors and clarify many issues. Make sure you know who is who. Make sure you know where you stand and why. Note the differences between belief and understanding.