Orionid Meteor Shower

The constellation Orion over Arches National Park in Utah
(photo credit: Daniel Schwen/2004)

Having begun just as Venus went retrograde, October 12th marks the height of the annual 2010 Orionid meteor shower.

Named for the constellation Orion, the Orionids don't actually come from the constellation itself, rather from an area just outside of the 'body' of Orion - between Orion and Gemini.

And astrologically, knowing just that is the key to understanding this annual event.

Gemini we know. Gemini is the process of thought and all which comes from thinking - or the lack thereof. We either choose or choose not to. We are organized or not. We are neat or not. We talk or we are silent. We are mobile, stationary, hasty or simply stuck. We understand or we're confused, we're seekers or we know and comprehend. We communicate our thoughts through the mail, email, text, writings, speech or otherwise. We communicate ourselves or our ideas via phones, books, computers, mail carriers, cars, bicycles, planes, trains and last but never least, our mouth, hands or feet.

Gemini is the everyday. Gemini is 'temporal time' - the schedule, the people we meet along the way (shopkeepers, neighbors, etc.) and those who are 'part of our world' but not part of our core mom-pop-and-kids family.

Orion, on the other hand, is one of the most famous constellations in our sky which most people know simply as The Hunter.

 Constellation Orion

But astrologically, it takes only a little looking at the diagram of Orion to realize how many 'statements' are made in its form. No less than three well known fixed stars (Betelgeuse, Bellatrix and Rigel) are part of the full 'Orion picture.' 

So what does this tell us?

First in line, Betelgeuse is a red giant star nearing the end of its astronomical life. Known as a star of 'ease or easy process,' Betelgeuse is a wonderful example of how fixed star influences work, starting with the idea that though they are referred to as 'fixed,' this is 'fixed' in the astrological sense (slow to move) not 'fixed' as in concrete - forevermore set in place. Currently moving at roughly one minute of longitude per year, Betelgeuse is currently at 28 Gemini, having moved out of 27 Gemini towards the end of 1945.

Twenty-seven Gemini is a degree typified as either a 'sleeping giant' or a 'genie in a bottle' - you don't know quite what is going to happen until you rouse the giant or free the genie. That Betelgeuse moved out of 27 Gemini into 28 Gemini as WWII came to its end (a world-wide example of genies and sleeping giants if there ever was one!) is apt.

Since 1945, Betelgeuse has been colored by 28 Gemini's legendary preoccupation with values...whether you color that as money and wealth or morality and integrity. A degree known for just enough intuition to be confused and enough suspicion to promote caution, 28 Gemini often functions as a degree at which whatever is positioned there prompts situations through which we learn. That would be in keeping with 28 Gemini being a 3rd decan degree, to be sure - any degree between 20 and 29 of any sign is known as where results are only known through worldly/outside input or reaction.

Of course the down side there is that if Betelgeuse is about 'ease' and we see how it did when at 27 Gemini, then it's no wonder that so many difficulties have arisen in the last sixty (plus) years. We keep trying to take the easy way out and life teaches us to be more cautious and to opt for truly global rather than self serving values inclusive of the idea that though it's easy to assume and assert the meaning of 'morality' and 'integrity' that in the greatest of big picture perspectives, those ideas are always far, far more global than we tend to think.

 Young Stars Emerging from Orion's Head

(source: ASA/JPL/Caltech/Spitzer Team - 2007)

Betelgeuse is the star at Orion's right shoulder, representing that which is, and from which we respond. Opposite that is Bellatrix, a star known to represent a difficult process - apt, seeing as left is 'what is yet left to do' and thus the unknown. Thought by physicists to be too small to ever go supernova, the brilliant light emitted by Bellatrix is created by extremely high temperatures at its core: a metaphysical emblem of 'high power' and 'great friction,' both of which fit well with the challenges and struggles associated with Bellatrix.

Currently at 21 Gemini, Bellatrix operates through situations where the world reactions to whatever we have (or have not) done. That this degree represents an elevated tendency to scatter one's efforts, waste time and energy and in general, dilute one's effectiveness through lack of focus on the actual goal (through getting distracted) isn't very helpful, particularly when we think of Orion as the Hunter. Hunters need to be focused and aware. Bellatrix in this position suggests that individually and as a world, we are in a period where our ability to discipline our thoughts and efforts is being tested.

But all is not lost. Not in the least! Orion is a fascinating structure in that the 'shoulders' of the hunter are indeed burdened by difficulties in moving ahead and desires to live in or respond from values held over from the past. Yet even if this is emblematic of the 'shouldering of so much tension' in today's world, there is a third star - Rigel - which is Orion's left foot.

A left foot represents our metaphorical step into the future. And Rigel is a star all about being 'under the foot of the teacher' - the necessity to learn. Positioned at 16 Gemini (a degree all about emotional thoughts) Rigel asks that we use our emotions as motivations and from that, learn what we actually can accomplish - and become.

 Orion as a guide by Mysid

As a 'hunter' in the sky, Orion is also a mythic guide; as above it helps point to other major stars...other resources in our life. Using Betelgeuse, we find our way to Procyon, a star of opportunities which come and go if not grabbed onto and used. Rather like Betelgeuse, don't you think? We have a chance to prevent things from going wrong...and if we just ignore it, then the genie gets out of the box.

Fortunately, Bellatrix points to nothing in particular, but there is a line drawn from Rigel to Castor and Pollux, the double edged sword of creative brilliance against personal angst. Positioned in the 3rd decanate of Cancer, this duo becomes evident as a test of personal character once we try to make our way in our worldly life, reminding us that our emotions are powerful enough to get us off track even when we (Rigel) know how to get things done.

Maybe the best news with Orion is the ideas this constellation's famous three belt stars guide us to...

  Orion's Belt (source: NASA)

    

...in one direction the belt points to Sirius, the most brilliant star in the whole of the sky apart from our Sun. Called either 'the Scorcher' or the 'Shining One' by the ancient Egyptians, Sirius - sometimes also called the 'Dog Star' reminds us that small things can have great consequences, and that often times our personal desires need to be sacrificed for a greater good.

(Yes, just like sometimes our beloved canine companions sacrifice for us!)

Positioned at 14 Cancer, Sirius is said to grant grace in either writing, math or money-making, but seldom all three. It's a sign of resourcefulness and grace - a resource which relates it's position on the same side of Orion as Betelgeuse, the symbol of that we find easy to cope with or do.

Maybe most importantly is the fact that Aldebaran stands in the opposite direction. One of the Royal Persian Stars, Aldebaran promises great success if, where and when we hold ourselves to levels of true integrity.

And maybe, just maybe that tells us what it is which makes moving ahead so hard. Just as the belt 'marries' the bottom and top of this constellation's figure together in a metaphorical union of emotion and the ability to move ahead, so integrity is just that quality which is held to when we marry our needs and our aims to the positions, goals and necessities of others.

With all this said, it's to remember that the Orionid meteor shower comes not from the heart of Orion, but from that deep spatial gap between Orion and Gemini: the gap between thinking and formulating our ideas, choices and priorities with knowing how to 'hunt' down the means and find guidance so as to achieve our greatest goals. 

Occurring just as and after Venus has gone retrograde in Scorpio, this year's Orionid meteor shower would seem to be bits of light...recognitions, ideas, realizations...

...probably pertaining to what we're mulling over inside, retrogrades always being about internals.

There are things we want (Venus).

And they aren't going to just drop into our laps. We're going to have to deal with others (Scorpio).

And maybe most of all, we're going to have to find the right combination of what we already know and what we're willing to 'go forth and learn' (Orion).

We know there's some risk to what we're undertaking (Scorpio). But without taking some sort of Scorpio risks, we never make Scorpio gains.

And maybe worst of all, we know time passes by. If we do nothing, a year from now the Orionids will come yet again, their little streaks of light in the sky reminding us that our life is flashing by without our even having tried to live it.

No, no one wants that.

Persied Meteor Shower

A little streak of meteor light in the night sky 

The coming nights of August 12th and 13th are the height of the annual Perseid Meteor season. Visible mostly in the northern hemisphere, meteors streak across our sky every night for about a week and are most visible just before dawn.

Not much is made of meteor showers in the astrological world, but maybe we're just missing something. So what do we know about this event?

For one, we know that the meteors which shower down upon us from a comet named Swiff-Tuttle which has an orbital period of 133.45 years. If we just divide that number by 12 (signs of the zodiac), that gives us 11.12 'implied years'...which is a number close to what we would think of as the primary "Jupiter number" seeing that Jupiter takes 11.86 years to orbit once around the Sun.

Close though that may be, Swiff-Tuttle is a whole other thing than giant gas planet Jupiter. Consider this...it takes Jupiter 11.86 (earth) years to orbit around the Sun. Go past Jupiter and Uranus and you arrive at Neptune, which takes 164 years to do a single-orbital thing. Pluto - whether you call it planet or dwarf planet - it's out there beyond Neptune and it takes 248 years to go once around the Sun.

When farthest away from the Sun (a point known astronomically as the 'aphelion') Swiff-Tuttle is out beyond Pluto. It's even out beyond Pluto, Ixion, Chaos and Huya, if you want to get right down to it.

At the other end of the scale we have the perihelion - the point at which objects in solar orbit come closest to the Sun. Measured in what is known as 'astronomical units' (or AU's), Earth's perihelion is 0.983 au. And Swiff-Tuttle's is 0.9585 au.

This means that Swiff-Tuttle makes its innermost curve to head out back into icy solar systemic realms pretty much in our earthly neighborhood, which is why we see all the meteors. If you think of it as Swiff-Tuttle throwing off droplets like a wet cartoon dog making a quick turn, you're just about there - the reason comets have tails (and are thus thought of by us as comets) is exactly all about this 'shedding' thing. (But no, you shouldn't worry about having to tell a comet to get the heck off the couch.)

The point here is that Swiff-Tuttle makes its entire orbital journey in just 133.45 years, which might mean calling it 'swift-Tuttle' would be more apropos - this comet trucks!

Considering all this as a metaphor - which everything in the solar system is from a macro/microcosmic point of view - that means that whatever Swiff-Tuttle brings to us is quick acting, has a quick affect, or comes and goes quickly. That the comet's 'way out there' aphelion point is in the Kuiper Belt also tells us that at the very least Swiff-Tuttle's meteor shower brings is a 'shot' or two (or three or sixty) of things we don't control and which end up being influential at some level on things we are doing, the way we think, or how we or our lives change because of these new influences.

The area of the zodiac which this comet comes from being in the constellation Perseus adds to this a whole mythical bent.

Benvento Cellini's Perseus

Perseus was the first of the great fabled Greek heroes. A son of Zeus (aka Jupiter, speaking of Jupiter) he ends up being challenged by various monsters conjured up by Jupiter (knowledge) and dad's ocean ruling brother, Neptune (water=emotion; Neptune= ideals versus illusion).

So right away we know this is a tale of generations, calling us to consider parent/child relationships, what we have learned, not learned or rebelled against with regards to our parents or family...maybe even whether we are 'turning into' our parents as we go along. Or whether we can accept being parents, with all the responsibilities and ultimately, the losses there implied as children grow up and go off into the world.

Important too here is that the monsters are not the parents. These are monsters conjured up by the parents - which plainly indicates they are psychological issues or choices which may have roots in family, but which you are acting out/on in your own life.   

The two most famous Perseus hero stories being the  slaying of Medusa and his rescuing lovely Andromeda from a monster conjured up by Neptune.

The story of Medusa is one we all think we know. But unless you've really dug into it, you probably don't really understand the full importance of the Medusa which is in each and every one of us - the Medusa in our own lives we are so afraid of. Medusa can be about facing the truth. Or admitting to yourself that you live in a world of delusions, fantasies...or that you're just kidding yourself about what reality is. Or what real values are. Or what you are capable of, have done, are responsible for, or so on. Medusa can simply be our fear of the new - or that if we learn better, we'll have to admit (oh, horrors!) that we were actually wrong about something. 

 --- (New! Link to my full length Medusa article, now posted here at astroPPM) ---

And sometimes that is (yes,) a whole giant and difficult thing. But whatever it is, if it's the truth, its the truth - there's a reason why Medusa's head ends up being mounted on the front of the shield of Pallas Athena, she being the Goddess of Wisdom.

As for Andromeda, she is a beauteous lovely overcome by Neptune (emotion) who Perseus, son of divine knowledge (Jupiter) is sent to rescue. In this assignment we get a good clear shot at trying to grasp the difference between knowledge and wisdom - they are not the same thing! Apparently knowing and understanding all (Jupiter) is not the same as wisdom, which would be why Athena is incarnated separate from Zeus (though sprung from his brow) complete with helmet, spear and various other kinds of weaponry - including, one would suppose, a pretty pithy ability to pronounce that truth which really hurts!

What does this amount to for our purposes, though? Probably that knowing and knowledge is static: it is what it is. Wisdom is knowing how to use knowledge - what to do with it.

In Perseus' case, Zeus (Jupiter) sends Athena (wisdom) to help arm Perseus - another hint about wisdom as the weapon or tool with which we do, not merely contemplate. And since Perseus' tale is all about going to fix things, we thus are informed that anything emanating from this constellation, like the Perseid meteors are about 'showering' us with not just the wisdom, but the need to fix things.

So don't be surprised if there are things going on right now which need fixing. Or which you're being challenged about in the sense of how to fix them. That Medusa is involved here (by Perseus implication) also tells us that there's some element of 'facing the truth' involved.

Edward Burne-Jones - Perseus rescuing Andromeda

from sea monster Cetus (associated with Aquarius/society

and Pisces/feelings, empathy, universally connective

emotional standards)

Astrologically, there are also two important fixed stars associated with constellation Perseus. The first is Mirfak. Also known as Algenib, this is a very large star estimated to be about 42 times the size of our sun.

Fittingly, Mirfak is conceptualized as the honorable battle, the accepting of a challenge - even the desire to compete. If Mirfak (which is positioned currently at 2 Gemini) is strongly aspected in your chart, you will embody or react to these concepts in terms of whatever planet or point connects to Mirfak's placement.

The other star is a bit more touchy. It's name is Algol, and it has a rather rancid reputation as reflected by alternative names like the 'Ghoul' and 'Demon Star.' Associated with the eye of Medusa, Algol is often simply referred to as the 'passion of the feminine.' And because of this, particularly in times gone by it has come to be associated not just with the 'evil woman' but with anyone who when prodded, wronged or prompted was of a mind to speak up, speak out or stand up for themselves.

Constellation Perseus

Positioned at 26 Taurus, Algol is without question a star which has two sides of it: here we either embody the effective or disruptive 'power of the feminine' (reflective response). Once embodied, everyone reacts to this energy - that's the guaranteed part, coming from the fact that Algol sits in a 3rd decan (degree 20-29) position of its' zodiac sign.

Mirfak is 1st decanate: it falls between degrees 0 and 9. So it's about our person or what we do. Algol is 3rd decanate - once we do what we do, then what we put out there affects other factors, other people, other lives...and in time, us: our reputation or our reception or our opportunities or our relationships.

At its peak during the August 12-13 period, the Perseid meteor shower is occurring with Neptune in a challenging square to Algol, prompting issues of disillusionment to surface. They may be past, they may be just happening now, or it may be that at this time facts are exposing you to truths you had denied or never wanted to know in the first place.

Meanwhile, there's a huge influx of energy by trine (meaning it's unavoidable) connecting with the Mirfak dynamic. The lineup here is Mars (proactive energy), Saturn (earning, structural rules, leadership) and Venus (relationships, products and reputations), so expect there to be calls for things to be done, get done and owned up to. This last is particularly underscored by a  rather compounding, compacting, metamorphic pressure-filled touch being thrown atop all by Pluto, still retrograde, inching backwards in early Capricorn, a sign ruled by Saturn.

That Pluto is retrograde now means that this is unlikely to be a moment of action per se...but what's rising to the surface now is not the sweet cream - it's something far fouler. Real change however...that isn't likely to happen until mid-September at least, as that's when Pluto with station and go direct.

But the shower of information? That's now. We're hearing it. We're seeing it. We're becoming aware of it.

Maybe we should pay more attention to these meteor showers. What do you think?