Here is an interesting idea.
Eris, Goddess of Discord, so named after being more or less directly responsible for the declassification of Pluto as a genuine planet and his reclassification as a ‘dwarf planet’ – if anyone is going to take Pluto down a notch or two it had to be Eris (the sister of Ares no less) – does not roll in a conventional orbit; she is differently inclined.
Which means that for long periods of her very slow perambulation around the Sun, she is far from the traditional ecliptic of the Zodiac; certainly, she makes an appearance in the Zodiac: in the sign of Pisces and Aries, (where she resides now from the astrological perspective) but in truth, she spends most of her time in realms far off the ecliptic and, heliocentrically speaking, has as her backdrop the constellation of Cetus. She’ll make a foray into Aries (and thus into the plane of the zodiacal ecliptic in 2065.)
What does this mean? The phenomenon of precession means that there is no absolute correlation between the physical zodiacal ecliptic and that which we use for casting nativities, but the planets do fall nonetheless in the same plane of the ecliptic. Eris is not at this time (nor at any point since her discovery has she been) in the zodiac at all.
Does this mean that Eris has no power until she falls into the scope of the ecliptical vibration? I certainly do not feel her influence (and I am not denouncing her for that is hubris), but I cannot make a case for the Erisian archetypes in a mundane nativity. Alternately, is she operating from an archetypal perspective that falls somewhat off kilter; Cetus is between and beyond the general region between Aquarius and Pisces; and might that explain how her influence is felt?
We do not wake up to the complex and far-distant archetypes easily. I see how completely Pluto has made his presence felt in human life of course, but it was not always so. The Wall Street crash of 1929 (financial wipeout) heralded his arrival, and the creation of an atomic bomb followed quickly, but it has taken a great deal of development to realise the transformative potential of Hades. What is truly wonderful is the understanding that with Pluto’s discovery our very beings were invested with a transformative potential! Previously, our astrology was fixed, now we are all waking up to the power to transform! Such a great gift was not even available to our great-grandparents, they were more or less cursed by the stars (or blessed of course), but now, if we are prepared to take the journey into the underworld (which is the monomyth as described by Joseph Campbell), then we can emerge, like Theseus from the labyrinth, one step nearer to our soul’s objective: Solar self-fulfilment. What a profound gift, and that too is Pluto of course: a gift beyond wealth!
So, I doubt I will make it to 2065 and I’m really not sure I’d want to, except for the interest of being able to see if there is a newly emergent Erisian reality at that time. There is so much to look forward to. Long before that the New Horizons probe will reach Pluto (on 14 July 2015, but surely it is taken as read that you shouldn’t peek into Hades’ realm?) And Regulus moves into Virgo in 2011!
So much to do, so much to get worked out, so many problems to fix (and that’s just my own!)
I’m very interested in Eris as natally it is exact on my MC (and thus directly opposite my natal pluto, plus some other close aspects). Looking forward to reading your further thoughts on this as they arise!
How is it that Eris is in astrological charts in Aries currently, when as you mention above that she’s actually- astronomically speaking – somewhere out near Aqua-pisces? I may have misunderstood your words.
Your astro style seems much more cosmic than pop-culture so this may not appeal… but… A while ago I did a chart for the release date of the film (for example) Carrie to see what Eris was doing, while the chart was fascinating without ‘considering’ Eris, its placement was definitely supportive of the themes of outright chaos and acting from a kind of limbic, outsider place in response to acts of meanness and cruelty, with (imho) a feminist note, in terms of reclaiming ownership of the cultural right to combat, fight for justice and to destroy, for women. Somewhere between the tarot’s Tower and Judgement cards. Another film, The Long Kiss Goodnight is about an assassin suffering amnesia who after a mortal threat rediscovers her combat skills overnight and embarks on a quest to defeat her nemesis i.e. father of her child who left her for dead, fight for her life, take down a corporation plotting destruction for profit, and, save her daughter. Its release (with assumptions about time and place) has Eris in Aries rising exactly opposite sun/chiron in Libra, and exact trine Orcus conjunct Mars in Leo.
anyway… for what it’s worth 🙂