Eros- asteroid 433

Planets and Passion

Each planet in the astrological chart not only represents but has the capacity to

express tremendous passion, desire and love. Yes, even Saturn. Sometimes, especially

Saturn. They simply do it in different ways and have perhaps very different ideas in

mind when they do. The Sun may want to achieve recognition of self-expression. He

loves becoming what he is meant to be. The Moon may want to feel a sense of safety

and comfort. She loves to nurture and feel nurtured, although perhaps not in a classical

sense. Mercury may want to create connections, build bridges, push the boundaries of

consciousness. He loves sending and receiving messages. Venus could be bent on

valued ideals or tangible sensation. She gets passionate about her desires. Eros, her

son, asteroid 433, wants to merge with another in such a way that there is lasting

transformation.1 He loves to create change through intensity, risk and danger. Mars

may simply want to assert his will or take immediate action. He loves to get his way.

Ceres, asteroid 1, supports growth in the ripeness of time. Pallas Athene, asteroid 2, can

encourage strategic action. Juno, asteroid 3, honors commitment and loyalty. Vesta,

asteroid 4, may diligently keep alive our creative flame. Jupiter’s desires could be

around expanding beliefs and a sense of meaning. He loves to get philosophical. He

loves to get big. Saturn’s passion could consist of powerful ambitions for tangible

results. He gets excited, to the point of agitation, about facing fears and overcoming

adversity. Chiron may want to redeem something wounded. He loves to heal. Uranus

could be driven to burst out of social constraints. He loves the freedom of unexpected

change. Neptune’s passion is for the ineffable. There is fathomless longing for the

divine. Pluto’s passion is for the depths of inner confrontation. The god of death loves

a good baptism by fire.

All the planets and asteroids have a potent need to express and they, like

individual people, can become very animated, even obsessed about it. Not every desire

may seem like love in the romantic sense, but it is love to them.

1 See Richard Idemon’s Through The Looking Glass: A Search for the Self in the Mirror of Relationships, Samuel Weiser Inc, York Beach, Maine 1992

1

The Discovery of Eros and its Role in the Astrological Chart

Each planet in the astrological chart not only represents but has the capacity to

express tremendous passion, desire and love. Yes, even Saturn. Sometimes, especially

Saturn. They simply do it in different ways and have perhaps very different ideas in

mind when they do. The Sun may want to achieve recognition of self-expression. He

loves becoming what he is meant to be. The Moon may want to feel a sense of safety

and comfort. She loves to nurture and feel nurtured, although perhaps not in a classical

sense. Mercury may want to create connections, build bridges, push the boundaries of

consciousness. He loves sending and receiving messages. Venus could be bent on

valued ideals or tangible sensation. She gets passionate about her desires. Eros, her

son, asteroid 433, wants to merge with another in such a way that there is lasting

transformation.2 He loves to create change through intensity, risk and danger. Mars

may simply want to assert his will or take immediate action. He loves to get his way.

Ceres, asteroid 1, supports growth in the ripeness of time. Pallas Athene, asteroid 2, can

encourage strategic action. Juno, asteroid 3, honors commitment and loyalty. Vesta,

asteroid 4, may diligently keep alive our creative flame. Jupiter’s desires could be

around expanding beliefs and a sense of meaning. He loves to get philosophical. He

loves to get big. Saturn’s passion could consist of powerful ambitions for tangible

results. He gets excited, to the point of agitation, about facing fears and overcoming

adversity. Chiron may want to redeem something wounded. He loves to heal. Uranus

could be driven to burst out of social constraints. He loves the freedom of unexpected

change. Neptune’s passion is for the ineffable. There is fathomless longing for the

divine. Pluto’s passion is for the depths of inner confrontation. The god of death loves

a good baptism by fire.

All the planets and asteroids have a potent need to express and they, like

individual people, can become very animated, even obsessed about it. Not every desire

may seem like love in the romantic sense, but it is love to them.

2 See Richard Idemon’s Through The Looking Glass: A Search for the Self in the Mirror of Relationships, Samuel Weiser Inc, York Beach, Maine 1992

2

The NEAR Satellite Mission to Asteroid 433 Eros

Why should we look at Eros in the chart, when there are so many asteroids in the

night sky? Two reasons. One, Eros is the god of love and to ignore the mini planet

named for him is to ignore a piece of our own heart. Two, Eros is getting a lot of press

right now, and that can mean the synchronistic mechanisms of life are tell us something.

Just after Valentine's Day, 1996, a Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft

left NASA’s launch pad for an extended journey to asteroid 433 Eros. Its official

mission: to study the geophysical and geochemical nature of the asteroid and enhance

our knowledge of the solar system.

The spacecraft, built by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, went into

orbit around Eros belatedly on Valentines Day 2000. Before doing so, NEAR sent back

an image of Eros clearly depicting a perfectly heart shaped crater about 5 km long. This

image does not look like an anatomically correct mammalian heart. It looks like a love

heart etched in the sand by a romantic couple. Scientist in crisp lab coats yielding fax

black pens are describing the phenomenon with adjectives markedly un-scientific. They

call it ‘mysterious’ and ‘tantalizing’. They await more images to unveil the secret of the

captured heart.

Scientists already have a clear grasp on some of the basics of Asteroid 433. On

August 13, 1898, Astronomers Gustav Witt, from Germany, and Auguste Chalois from

France, discovered 433 Eros independently, making it the first asteroid found to cross

Mars' orbit and approach Earth's. With a new diameter estimated at 35 x 15 x 13

kilometers, Eros is the second largest planet-crosser and larger than the Martian moons

Phobos and Deimos. Recent photographs portray its shape as a lumpy potato, a battered

boat, or a peanut with no detectable moons. Eros rolls end over end every few hours

taking 1.76 years to complete an orbit around the Sun.

The asteroid was named after Eros, the Greek god of love, and, in some myths,

son of the two planets he orbits between, Venus and Mars. In one popular version of

myth, the fairest maiden of her time, Psyche, was forbidden to gaze upon him by the

light of day. Psyche's curiosity eventually got the best of her, and she defied his

instructions. The results were arduous and painful yet the experience provided growth

for both Psyche and her immortal lover Eros.

Why is there so much current attention on Eros? Like Psyche, scientist are driven

also by curiosity and daring to break barriers. They have sent the NEAR spacecraft to

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Eros and will land the satellite upon the asteroid, hoping to discover some of the secrets

of our solar system. That is the official message from the John Hopkins Lab.

However, according to Richard Hoagland, the mission may have a covert agenda

to confirm suspected changes in the speed of light3. Because asteroid 433 moves

between the orbit of Mars and the orbit of earth, it is a perfect measuring tool. In fact,

NASA already has a 100-year database on the orbit of Eros. Hoagland suspects the true

mission of NEAR is to measure and compare radar bounce data and the other

anomalous data that NASA has accumulated. He feels this will supply information in a

real-time mode on the instantaneous changes in the speed of light over a period of

hours, days and years. If this is the real agenda of NEAR, then Eros will be revealing

bigger secrets than most people imagine.

Astronomer Tom Van Flandern from Meta Research also awaits the revealing of

Eros’s mysteries. He believes the close up observations of Eros will answer his ‘NEAR

challenge’,4 supporting or refuting the eph or exploded planet hypothesis. He

anticipates evidence of satellite moons orbiting Eros although given the asteroid’s

irregular shape and resulting fluctuations in gravitational pull, a satellite’s orbit may be

difficult to maintain. Even at that, evidence of former moons impacting and rolling

across the surface of Eros would also support the eph model. As of June 2000, NEAR

photos indeed reveal many small moon like boulders on the surface of Eros, complete

with the rolling tracks and grooves that Dr. Van Flandern predicted.

Still others speculate that the mission to Eros is a trial run, just in case it any of the

other near earth asteroids deviate from their precariously close orbit to earth.

Predictably stable in orbit, the word impact has never been spoken but the success of the

mission would stand in good stead if an emergency rendezvous with any asteroid was

necessary.

Regardless of whether the NEAR Satellite to Eros expands our knowledge of the

small bodies near Earth, saves us from possible future collision courses, meets the

NEAR Challenge or confirms suspected changes in the speed of light, Eros is being

observed. The significance of this investigation does not stop here in the realm of

astronomy and physics. The symbolic implications for society are much broader.

3 Richard Hoagland Transcript of part of Art Bell's interview Light Speed May NOT be Constant After All 23 August 1996 - Transcribed by JJ Mercieca http://www.mufor.org/rch11.html September 1998 4 Tom Van Flandern The NEAR Challenge: Test of EPH at Eros Confronts Mainstream Astronomy Meta Research Bulletin Volume 8, Number 1: p. 16

4

Consider the widely held belief among astrologers that the discovery of a new

planet…is accompanied by changes in world affairs typical of the planet’s astrological

significance. 5

--Dennis Elwell

Now our attention focuses on 433 Eros as well as other personal planets and even

the familiar Moon. Missions to Mars over the last few decades have created

tremendous speculation about the possibility of artificiality there, pushing us, Ares like,

into argument and debate about the origins of life on earth. Mysterious photographs of

the Moon are also raising the question of artifacts, alien or otherwise. Focus on Jupiter,

the famous red spot, and also some of the gas giant’s moons has rekindled Maxwell’s 6

century old theory of hyperdimentional physics. As new discoveries are made out in

space, out inner dimensions are also open to greater comprehension.

Quantum Physicists indicates our universe relates in such a way that everything is

part of a whole. If one single event, like a new discovery or specific study of a planet,

can coincide with the awakening of what that planet represents, then now is the time to

learn more about the psychology, mythology and astrology of Eros, and re-examine the

meaning, purpose and passions of all the known major bodies in our solar system.

What do these celestial gods stand for in the natal chart? What do the transit or

progression suggest in terms of awakening passion, love and desire? What is the role of

Eros in the synasty and composite chart?

To answer these questions, the nature of love, romance and passion must be

established. First, we may seek the wisdom of the ancient Greeks. Then the guidance

of the deathless gods and their myths are consulted, along with insights from the worlds

greatest thinkers, artist and poets. Ultimately, to know what love is, we must allow it to

unfold in the depths of our own hearts.

5 Dennis Elwell, Cosmic Loom: The New Science of Astrology, Unwin Hyman Limited London, England 1987 p 946 Maxwell, James Clerk, 1831-1879 Scottish physicist who developed the theory of electromagnetic energy and hyperdimentional space.

5

The Mythology of Eros

"Of the portents recorded in ancient tales many did happen and will happen

again." 7

--Plato

Where does love and passion reside in myth? Everywhere! The gods and

goddesses where never lukewarm about anything they desired. The first place to look

for clues about passion and love, though, is in the beginning, in the myth of creation

itself.

Love first emerges in Greek mythology as one of four original deities. They

include Chaos, the dark and silent abyss from which all things are born, Gaea or mother

earth, Tartarus, the lowest regions of the underworld and Eros, the god of love.

“In truth at first Chaos came to be, but next wide-bosomed Earth, the ever-sure

foundation of al the deathless ones who hold the peaks of snowy Olympus, and dim

Tartarus in the depth of the wide-pathed Earth, [120] and Eros (Love), fairest among

the deathless gods, who unnerves the limbs and overcomes the mind and wise counsels

of all gods and all men within them.” 8

This suggests that Eros, and all he represents, assumes a major role as a primary

and preeminent god. Although his form changes throughout history, his power to cause

things to mingle remains his initial and fundamental domain.

Eros descends through mythology, transforming headlong into progressively more

accessible figures. First as the son of Chaos, hatched from the egg of night, he creates

the manifest wold. His form here is amorphous and intangible, omnipotent and

ineffable.

Eros does soon take shape though. In some versions of myth he is portrayed as

the powerful igniter of union that eventually brought forth the race of immortal

Olympians. All winged creatures, from geese to falcons, proudly claim him as the

father of their race.

7 Carlos Parada Greek Mythology Link Hosted by HSA, Brown University http://hsa.brown.edu/~maicar/ November 1998 and July 19998 Hesiod Theogony 120 Crane, Gregory R. (ed.) The Perseus Project, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, September 1998

6

Firstly, blackwinged Night laid a germless egg in the bosom of the infinite deeps

of Erebus, and from this, after the revolution of long ages, sprang the graceful Eros

with his glittering golden wings, swift as the whirlwinds of the tempest. He mated in

deep Tartarus with dark Chaos, winged like himself, and thus hatched forth our race,

which was the first to see the light… Thus our origin is very much older than that of the

dwellers in Olympus. We are the offspring of Eros; there are a thousand proofs to show

it. We have wings and we lend assistance to lovers. 9

Shortly after fathering the race of birds, Eros creates harmony throughout the

universe as the child of Uranus, the starry heavens, and Gaea, or mother earth. Now he

has tangible parents and thus comes a little closer to embodiment.

Later myth portrays Eros as the son of Artemis, the moon goddess, and Hermes,

the trickster. He also claims Iris, guardian of the rainbow and Zephyrs, god of the north

wind as parents. In Phoenician Mythology, he is the son of Chronas and Ashtart.

When Eros appears as Aphrodite’s son, he manifests as a youthful winged deity,

the lithe and gorgeous god of love. He carries a bow and quiver of arrows which he

selectively shoots into the hearts of the unsuspecting.

You carry along the unyielding hearts of the immortals, Aphrodite, and the hearts

of men, and with you is he of the many-colored wings, surrounding them with his swift

pinions. Eros flies over the earth and over the loud-roaring salt sea and bewitches the

one on whose frenzied mind he darts, winged and gold-gleaming, he bewitches the

whelps of the mountain and those of the sea, what the earth brings forth and what the

blazing sun looks down upon, and likewise mortal men. 10

In this form, he has seemingly abandoned the title ‘creator of harmony’ for the

mischievous roll of ‘animator of love’. The experience of love that Eros injects into

man and gods, and according to Euripides, all creatures of the land and sea alike, is

anything but harmonious. It is the obsessive, adrenaline driven intensity of falling in

love, often with the completely wrong person. In some accounts, Eros is equipped with

two distinct kinds of darts. The ones dipped in gold cause the victim to fall madly in

love and the ones dipped in lead cause an equally vial repulsion. Either way, it seems, it

is Eros who now creates chaos!

9 Aristophanes Birds 700 Crane, Gregory R. (ed.) The Perseus Project, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, July 1999

10 Euripides, Hippolytu, 1270 Crane, Gregory R. (ed.) The Perseus Project, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, 7/99

7

The mixed parenthood of the god of love, as well as his transforming images,

(some versions of myth have him assisting Aphrodite at her birth and in others he is her

offspring), may illustrates ongoing changes in the collective awareness of the concept of

erotic love and creativity. As the son of chaos, he has no tangible form. He is the

power of attraction that co-ordinates the elements of the universe bringing harmony to

all creation. In this role, Eros is more a cosmic force than an actual god of passionate or

personal love. Portrayed as the son of Aphrodite, goddess of love, he embodies a

humanoid form and eventually experiences the power and passion of love himself in his

relationship to the mortal woman Psyche.

Eros then manifests as the Roman god Cupid, the son of Mars, the god of war and

action and Venus, goddess of love. Here he no longer is the dangerously attractive

youth capable of succumbing to the same fate of his victims. In his child-like state, he

is prepubescent and immune to his own arts.

Cupid, often depicted blindfolded to mark the seemingly indiscriminant nature of

love, now takes the form of a laughing, naughty infant who delightfully shoots arrows

into the hearts of the unaware. His victims respond depending on the temper of their

feelings. The cold, hard heart dies, the gentle but perhaps broken heart heals in ecstasy.

It is the nature of erotic love to transform the participants in accordance with their own

disposition.

The metamorphosis from ineffable creator of harmony to mischievous little baby

god is quite a leap. It suggests an attempt to convert the unfathomable, impersonal and

all mighty deity to an accessible humanized figure representing very personal needs and

feelings. Jung speaks of Eros in this way:

“In Classical times, when such things were properly understood, Eros was

considered a god whose divinity transcended our human limits, and who therefore

could neither be comprehended nor represented in any way. I might, as many before

me have attempted to do, venture an approach to this daimon, whose range of activity

extends from the endless spaces of the heavens to the dark abysses of hell; but I falter

before the task of finding the language which might adequately express the incalculable

paradoxes of love.” 11

11 C. G. Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflection Recorded and Edited by Aniela Jaffe Vintage Books: A Division of Random House New York 1965 p.353

8

Some of these incalculable paradoxes are portrayed in the love story of Psyche

and Eros. In this myth, we can see the actions and desires of three very important

images of love, passion and desire portrayed by Eros, Venus/Aphrodite and the mortal

Psyche.

The myth of Eros & Psyche

“Myths evoke feelings and imagination and touch on themes that are part of the

human collective inheritance. The myths…remain current and personally relevant

because there is a ring of truth in them about shared human experience.”

--Jean Shinoda Bolen, MD

The story of Psyche and Eros offers a great deal of insight into the archetypal

image of love, Eros and his prospective role in the astrological chart. The most recent

detailed mythology regarding Eros comes from The Golden Ass, written by Lucius

Apuleius in 170 AD and tells of the love between Psyche and Eros12. This myth is no

less relevant for its extensive study, analysis and use as models for relationship, the

emergence of consciousness, and the path of erotic love.

12 Lucius Apuleius, The Golden Asse Book 5 Adlington's translation, 1566. This edition by Martin Guy, 1996 http://eserver.org/books/apuleius/ August 1998

9

The story opens with a description of Psyche’s two older sisters. They were

extremely beautiful, but when Psyche grew into womanhood, it was said of her:

“ Yet the singular passing beauty and maidenly majesty of the youngest daughter

did so far surmount and excel them two (sisters), as no earthly creature could by any

means sufficiently express or set out the same.”13

Psyche is a beauty. She enchants her father’s modest kingdom with an

unobtainable and virginal loveliness that sets the inhabitants to worshiping. In only a

short time, word of Psyche’s beauty has spread throughout the countryside and people

swarm to see her. Meanwhile, Aphrodite’s temples are neglected. Not a good look for

the goddess of love.

Predictably, Aphrodite experiences extreme insult at this delinquency. In a

jealous rage, she elicits the help of her son Eros to punish the usurping Psyche and the

mortals that adore her. She instructs Eros to pierce Psyche with one of his golden

tipped arrows causing her to fall in love with a worthless, wretched and vial being.

While Eros and Aphrodite plot her demise, Psyche pines.

In her naivete, Psyche, though beautiful and magnetic, feels miserable. The

known world may worship her, but no real man comes courting. She is like an object of

art, a rare painting or precious vase. Apuleius puts it this way:

“Psyche…lamented her solitary life, and being disquieted both in mind and body,

although she pleased all the world, yet hated she in her self her own beauty.”14

Concerned by his youngest daughter’s despair, Psyche’s father seeks the advice of

the Oracle of Apollo, the consciousness of the sun. He is shocked by what he hears for

it seems the King’s precious daughter must be sacrificed to a demon god, or terrible ruin

would befall the kingdom. Apuleius’ quotes the oracle:

“Let Psyches corps be clad in mourning weed

And set on rock of yonder hill aloft:

Her husband is no wight of humane seed,

But Serpent dire and fierce as might be thought.

Who flies with wings above in starry skies,

And doth subdue each thing with firie flight.

13 Lucius Apuleius14 Apuleius

10

The gods themselves, and powers that seem so wise,

With mighty Jove, be subject to his might,

The rivers black, and deadly floods of pain,

And darkness eke [*] , as thrall to him remain.” 15

Psyche accepted her fate as the entire kingdom despondently joined the funeral

procession to the lonely rock where she is to meet her ‘death’ and marry the ‘serpent

dire’. Psyche then questions her parent’s belated remorse.

“Why torment you your unhappy age with continual dolou? …Now you see the

reward of my excellent beauty: now, now you perceive, but too late, the plague of envy.

When the people did honor me, and call me the new Venus,

then ye should have wept, then you should have sorrowed as though I had been

dead: for now I see and perceive that I am come to this misery by the only name of

Venus, bring me, and as fortune hath appointed, place me on the top of the rock, I

greatly desire to end my marriage, I greatly covet to

see my husband. Why doe I delay? Why should I refuse him that is appointed to

destroy all the world.” 16

No one suspects that Eros, the son of Aphrodite, the golden god of love, has

accidentally pricked himself on one of his own arrows and fallen madly in love with the

mortal Psyche. None of Psyche’s distraught family members could guess that Eros

plans to abduct her for himself. Although at this point, we might examine the oracle of

Apollo more closely and ask if it may actually be indeed Eros the augury is referring to.

Eros then sends Zephyrs, god of the North wind, to retrieve Psyche from the rock

and bring her to his palace. There Psyche’s wishes are tended by invisible servants who

anticipate her every need. She rests, bathes and eats among the gold, ivory and jeweled

mosaics that adorn the enchanted home of the god of love.

With unseen musicians playing a heavenly symphony, Eros comes to Psyche by

night and makes ‘perfect consummation’ of their marriage. Night after night he keeps

her company, stealing away only just before dawn. He has made Psyche promise to

never look upon his face and initially she agrees. She is enchanted by the palace, her

15 Apuleius16 Apuleius

11

new husband and the magical servants who cater to her every need. Only the tiniest bit

of loneliness befalls her in the day.

However, her loneliness and desire for human contact grows until she passes both

the days and nights with tears of distress and longing. Eros, concerned by her

condition, finally agrees to allow Psyche’s sister to visit, but he warns her again not to

gaze upon his face. Her curiosity, he said, would bring about the end of their life

together and cause the child growing inside her to be mortal, not divine.

The visit from Psyche’s sisters turns out to be as destructive as Eros feared.

Feigning joy at their reunion, Psyche’s siblings are actually stricken with fierce

jealousy. They suggest her husband is an evil serpent (that image again) who needs

destroying before he devours Psyche and her unborn child whole. They press her to

hide a razor and a lamp near the bed. When he falls asleep, she is to light the lamp and

cut off his head. Psyche is flooded with anxiety and the ambivalent fear that they may

speak the truth!

Torn between loyalty to her sisters and loyalty to her husband, she eventually gets

up, lights the lamp and approaches the bed with the razor. When Psyche discovers that

her husband is the stunning and resplendent god Eros, she is overwhelmed by the

vision. In rapture she accidentally pricks herself on one of his arrows and adds ‘love

upon love’ to what she already feels for him. She covers him with kisses and in the

process, a splash of hot oil burns the beautiful god. He jumps up, looks at her with

astonishment and deep disappointment and runs. Psyche grabs his leg and holds on as

he leaps into the air until she finally drops to the ground in exhaustion. He lands near

her saying:

“O simple Psyches, consider with thy self how I, little regarding the

commandment of my mother (who willed me that thou shouldst be married

to a man of base and miserable condition) did come my self from heaven to love thee,

and wounded mine own body with my proper weapons, to have thee to my Spouse: And

did I seem a beast unto thee, that thou shouldst go about to cut off my head with a

razor, who loved thee so well? Did not I always give thee a charge? Did not I gently

will thee to beware? But those cursed adlers and Counselors of thine shalt be

sufficiently punished by my absence.” 17

17 Apuleius

12

Shocked, overwhelmed, and suffering greatly, Psyche experienced a crucial point

in her relationship with Eros. At last, she discovers the inheritance of her unborn child.

She also finally understands who it is she has fallen in love with. For Psyche, there is

no turning back. She must reunited with Eros or die.

This point in the myth is not suggesting we never look at the face of Eros, or that

by never questioning him will guarantee his presence forever. It is more an account of

discovering what we really want and the steps necessary to obtain it. Until now, Psyche

did not know who she loved. This knowledge, however, does not make Psyche any less

despairing. As she watches his figure recede into the distance, she throws herself into a

river in hopes of drowning.

As chance would have it, the river, being a friend of Eros, places Psyche back

safely on the bank. As she struggled up from the muddy shore, she saw Pan,

instructing, or perhaps seducing, a young woman. He looked upon the disheveled

Psyche and said:

“O faire maid, I am a rusticke and rude heardsman, howbeit by reason of my old

age expert in many things, for as far as I can learn by conjecture (which according as

wise men do term is called divination) I perceive by your uncertain gate, your pale hew,

your sobbing sighs, and your watery eyes, that you are greatly in love.” 18

Pan goes on to suggest to Psyche that she forgo suicide and focus on devoting

herself to winning Eros back. Initially, she takes his advice to heart.

Psyche’s first action is to confront her jealous sisters. Upon entering her oldest

sister’s city Psyche explains that it was the son of Aphrodite that was her husband but

when he saw she had betrayed him, he sent her away and said he’d have the sister

instead. Wild with this news, the sister raced to the mountain and beseeched Zephyrs to

carry her to Eros, but as she leapt off the rock, no wind lifted her and she crashed to her

death in the fall. The same happened to the second sister and thus Psyche felt revenged.

Meanwhile, Eros fled to his mother’s house to have his sever burn tended.

Empathetic at first, Aphrodite became enraged when she discovered Eros’s disloyalty.

Brutally, she rebukes Eros for betraying her wishes and takes away his bow and arrows,

cuts his hair and clips his wings. She probably slammed the door as she stormed out as

well!

18 Apuleius

13

The incensed Aphrodite then solicits the aid of Hera and Ceres to help find

Psyche, but they, fearing Eros’s darts at some point in the future, try to reconcile the

mother to her son. Aphrodite will not be soothed.

By now Psyche realizes her only course of action is to seek out the forgiveness of

Aphrodite, who seems to be very much in control of her fate. She approaches the

palace of the goddess of love to pray for redemption although that is not what she

receives. Aphrodite humiliates Psyche, has her whipped and beaten and then presents

her with a series of impossible tasks. The goddess of love is convinced a mere mortal

will fail her labors, and Psyche isn’t a lot more confident either.

Psyche’s first task in regaining the love of Eros is to sort an enormous pile of

mixed grains. She must separate them by evening. As Aphrodite smugly shuts the door

behind her, Psyche goes into a catatonic state of despair. She can not even attempt to

sort the grains. The job is that impossible. As she lays crumpled on the ground

sobbing, a tiny ant comforts her. Calling to his friends, more and more ants come and

by evening the grains are sorted neatly into their individual piles by the tiny insects.

It is important to notice that the help offered to psyche is completely unconscious.

She neither actively requests aid or contributes any effort in the sorting of the grains.

This image may suggest the myriad mixed feeling and emotions that course through the

mind and body of one ‘stricken with love’ and highlights the lax of rationality that

accompanies it. It also may imply the innate ability of the body to sort those feelings

out, one by one, although not with the aid of consciousness, but by its acquiescence.

When Aphrodite returns and sees the labor complete, she assigns Psyche with an

even more difficult task. She instructs the girl to go out into a field in the burning sun

and collect golden wool from the fleece of man-eating rams.

Psyches gets up, not to do as Aphrodite commanded, but to throw herself

headlong into the water, again to drown her sorrows. Then a green reed speaks to her

saying:

“O Psyches I pray thee not to trouble or pollute my water by the death of thee,

and yet beware that thou go not towards the terrible sheep of this coast, until such time

as the heat of the sun be past, for when the sun is in his force, then seem they most

dreadful and furious, with their sharp horns, their stony foreheads and their gaping

throats, wherewith they arm themselves to the destruction of mankind. But until they

have refreshed themselves in the river, thou maist hide thy self here by me, under this

great plain tree, and as soon as their great fury is past, thou maist go among the

14

thickets and bushes under the wood side and gather the locks their golden Fleeces,

which thou shalt find hanging up on the briers.” 19

It seems the dangerous and passionate rams were unapproachable in their wild

state. Direct confrontation would mean certain death, just as anger and hatred, although

they can erupt along side of love, can also be love’s death. Having contained the

burning passion of the wild rams, Psyche presents handfuls of golden wool to Aphrodite

by morning.

Without pause, Psyche immediately receives another labor. Now she must gather

water from the deadly rapids of the river Styx. She receives only a crystal bottle to

contain the black liquid, the sight of which brings fear even to the hearts’ of the gods.

As Psyche climbed up the path towards the headwaters of the Styx, she intended

again to end her life. She could glean no hope of ever accomplishing her task. When

she arrived at the crest she stopped stone still and gazed at the two giant and bloody

necked dragons guarding the precipice which marked, hundreds of feet below, the

caustic waters of the river Styx.

Psyche went catatonic, again. She felt nothing in her body or her heart, neither

could she take action of any kind. At this point, Zeus’s eagle swooped down to her. It

is not clear whether Zeus sent him or he came of his own accord—yet there is

implication that Zeus felt indebted to Eros for the affair with Ganimedes, the young boy

made cup bearer to the gods. The great eagle spoke to Psyche and offered to take the

bottle and collect the deadly black water himself. This he does and Psyche, not of her

own accord, completes yet another task.

Unlike the fierce and wild nature of the passionate rams, the waters of the river

Styx may represent the cold cruel hatred of frozen feelings. It seems these too must be

faced and contained if Eros is to be won back. Like the wool and the sorting of the

grain, psyche must step aside, stand still, or even sleep, allowing the unconscious to

complete the task. Readers who find it frustrating that Psyche never seems to gain any

overt courage, resolve or strength from her subsequent tasks probably view this

‘stepping aside’ as weak or degrading. On the contrary, in this case it is the necessary

and only way to accomplish the labor. It is the only way to unravel the complex

repercussions of love.

19 Apuleius

15

The final task of Psyche requires a decent into the underworld. She has to borrow

some of Persephone’s beauty and place it in a box. She must deliver the box to

Aphrodite, unopened and untouched.

Again, psyche’s first and foremost response is suicide. What quicker way to get

to Hades than to die? She climbs to the top of a tower and attempts to throw herself off.

The tower, however, is inspired, (it is unclear by whom), and speaks to Psyche. He

instructs her on how to enter the underworld without dying, how to avoid the

distractions that will play upon her virtue and humanity, how to behave with

Persephone and how to get out alive, with the box of beauty intact. Finally, Psyche gets

to perform a task completely herself.

She follows the tower’s instructions to the letter. She ignores the lame man, the

floating corpses, and the desperate weaving women. She ignores her ego drives to aid

and assist. She allows Charon to extract a coin from her mouth with his dirty fingers

and she tosses honey cakes to the terrifying three headed dog Cerberus, who guards the

gaits of Hell. She is careful to accept no nourishment while in the underworld. She

humbly procures the box of beauty from Persephone and retraces her steps back past

Cerberus, across the river Styx and into the light of day.

It is then, her final task completed with full consciousness, that she causes her

own death.

“When Psyches was returned from hell, to the light of the

world, she was ravished with great desire, saying, Am not I a fool, that knowing

that I carry here the divine beauty, will not take a little thereof to garnish my face, to

please my love with all? And by and by she opened the box where she could perceive

no beauty nor any thing else, save only an infernal and deadly sleep, which immediately

invaded all her members as soon as the box was uncovered, in such sort that she fell

down upon the ground, and lay there as a sleeping corps.” 20

As Psyche slips into a deadly coma, Eros finally awakens from his brood. He

sneaks out of the tower room in his mother’s palace, finds his wings and flies straight to

Psyche.

It appears that the labors of Psyche have simultaneously transformed Eros as well.

“Eros, the fiery flighty spirit who came and went secretly and refused to be seen

in the light, has acquired at least the substance of a healed wound. The Eros she knows

20 Lucius Apuleius, The Golden Asse Book 5 Adlington's translation, 1566. This edition by Martin Guy, 1996 http://eserver.org/books/apuleius/ August 1998

16

now is…produced by the Soul’s contemplation of the Divine Mind; it is the medium

through which she can finally be present to “that other loveliness”. He is the carrier of

divine beauty which must, to become united with psyche and soma, be touched by the

pain of earthly life.21

Eros awakens Psyche with a prick from one of his arrows, returns the beauty to its

box and gently chastises his wife.

“O wretched captive, behold thou were well-nigh perished again, with the

overmuch curiosity: well, go thou, and do thy message to my Mother, and in the mean

season, I will provide for all things accordingly.” 22

Obviously, his vial anger and contempt for Psyche’s behavior has lost its edge.

What Eros provided for was Psyche’s immortality, bestowed by Zeus and blessed,

finally, by Aphrodite. The wedding banquet on Mt. Olympus was attended by all the

gods and goddesses, greater and lesser, demonstrating their universal admiration and

acknowledgement of the union.

Not long after, a divine child was born to Psyche and Eros. The name they gave

her was Pleasure.

The full translated version of the Tale of Psyche and Eros from The Golden Ass

may be found in the appendix. Much pleasure and meaning may be gained from its

reading and contemplation in full. As Harriet Eisman shares in her closing paragraph of

That other Loveliness:

In pursuing it (Eros), we pursue our greatest desire. Yet, after all, we live in

ignorance of how it will approach. We can only listen, and pray, for the sounds of

Eros’ soft, quivering wings.” 23

Eros through the Water Signs of the Zodiac

The twelve signs of the zodiac are divided up into four elements: fire, earth, air

and water. Each element represents a particular orientation which the signs belonging

to it share. These elements may be compared with Jung’s personality types of intuition,

21 Harriet Eisman, The Other Loveliness PARABOLA, The Magazine of Myth and Tradition, Vol. XX, No. 4. (Winter, 1995)22 Lucius Apuleius23 Harriet Eisman, The Other Loveliness PARABOLA, The Magazine of Myth and Tradition, Vol. XX, No. 4. (Winter, 1995)

17

sensation, thinking and feeling respectively. Exploring the mythology of Eros in

association with the signs can further our understanding of this mysterious god of love.

The ties that bind Eros to Aphrodite resemble the umbilical ties of the first of the

water signs, Cancer. This is the life giving and life destroying link that connects the

participants in an eternal cycle of creative inspiration, production and withdrawal

reminiscent of the Moon, of Mother and of the realm of feelings and creative

expression. Joseph Campbell elaborates:

“(Eros) is linked definitely and firmly to Aphrodite as her child…but as our whole

survey of the prehistory of the Aegan has shown, the goddess Aphrodite and her son are

exactly the great cosmic mother and her son, the ever dying, ever-living god.” 24

Campbell points out that the variety of myths of Eros’s parentage confirm this

background. From Chaos to Aphrodite, they represent transformations of the same

mythology, pointing unanimously to the mother goddesses and their lover-sons:

Atargatis and Ichthys, Ishtar and Tammuz, Kybele and Attis. The young male deities

were indestructibly bonded to their mothers as servants-lovers-sons. Inevitably, they

were destroyed by their mother goddesses in a cycle of birth, fruition, death and rebirth.

Thus they were worshipped as eternally dying and resuscitate gods.

Eros, in association with Aphrodite, takes the role of zealous servant and attentive

companion. He travels with her, and assists her in various tasks, from brushing her

lustrous hair to making the arrangements necessary for Helen of Troy to fall in love

with Paris, precipitating the Trojan War. His intended part in the tale of Psyche and

Eros was to assist his mother’s craving for revenge:

“I pray thee my dear child, by motherly bond of love, by the sweet wounds of thy

piercing darts, by the pleasant heat of thy fire, revenge the injury which is done to thy

mother by the false and disobedient beauty of a mortal maiden, and I pray thee, that

without delay she may fall in love with the most miserable creature living, the most

poor, the most crooked, and the most vile, that there may be.”25

Aphrodite, sovereign mistress or not, had no immunity to the darts of Eros herself

though. She complains bitterly to him in The Golden Ass about this and other

transgressions.

24 Joseph Campbell, Occidental Mythology: The Masks of God, Penguin Books Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England reprinted 1985 p. 23525 Lucius Apuleius The Golden Asse Book 5 Adlington's translation, 1566. This edition by Martin Guy, 1996 http://eserver.org/books/apuleius/

18

“Is this an honest thing…is this reason, that thou hats violated and broken the

commandment of thy mother and sovereign mistress: and whereas thou

shouldst have vexed my enemy with loathsome love, thou hats done otherwise?…Thou

hats often offended thy ancients, and especially me that am thy mother, thou hats

pierced me with thy darts…” 26

Aphrodite then points out that she is not too old to have another son, and he would

certainly turn out better than the first one, who’s upbringing has been a complete

disaster!

Eros is also associated with the creative aspect of the sign of Cancer. To

experience the passion of Eros is in part a poetic revelation that may translate into a

masterpiece of dance, art, literature or music. However, to experience the erotic

transformation symbolized by second water sign Scorpio, this tie with mother, this

umbilical link, must be broken.

The separation from the mother, although painful and agonizing, leads to the

awakening of the individual and the capacity to experience the erotic. Richard Idemon27

makes clear the importance of this separation as prerequisite to union.

The desires for transformation, sexual intensity, and the power to create change

through merging, all have erotic and Scorpio-like overtones. The fully awakened Eros

might be difficult to distinguish from an activated Pluto in this context, except that the

effects are much more personal. If, on the other hand, Eros is denied or repressed, he

becomes the uninvited god, like the thirteenth fairy in Briar Rose. Not a happy guest.

The consequences to such a rejection can be harsh. The refusal of a god, or

archetypal image, equates with the refusal of a part of the unconscious life. This paves

the way for fate to come and drag us down into the underworld where we are forced

into experiencing passion, although probably in an unpleasant way. Here again Eros

feels like he wears a Scorpio robe, and may be exhibiting his relationship to the Erinyes

as dispenser of fate.

Eros’s fate with his Mother also links him firmly to the third water sign of Pisces.

One myth of the origin of the constellation of Pisces tells the tale of Eros and Aphrodite

turning themselves into fishes and swimming up the Nile to escape the monster Typhon.

Typhon was said to be born from the elder deities Gaia (Mother Earth) and

Tartarus. Although the youngest of Gaia’s offspring, Typhon was by far the deadliest 26 Lucius Apuleius27 Richard Idemon, Breaking the Silver Cord 2 tapes #RI-203 Pegasus Tapes: Audio Cassettes on Astrological, Psychological and Mythological Themes. P.O. Box 419 , Santa Ysabel, CA

19

and the largest monster ever conceived. He had legs of coiled serpents and arms that

spread across the skies from horizon to horizon. When he walked upright, his head

touched the stars. Typhon spat giant boulders and blotted out the sun with his wings.

He was a big and scary guy.

Sensibly, the Olympians were reticent to fight him. They fled to Egypt and hid

themselves by transforming into animals. Zeus changed himself into a ram, Dionysus a

goat and Aphrodite and Eros disguised themselves as fish and swam up the Nile.

Typhon was eventually defeated by the combined efforts of Athene’s wisdom,

Hermes’ and Pan’s guile and the awesome power of Zeus’s thunderbolts. Later, the

image of two fishes tied together by their tales was placed in the heavens in honor of the

Olympians escape from the mighty Typhon.

Much of the romantic longing, ecstatic love and tragic loss associated with Pisces

and Neptune come to life in certain aspects of Eros and Aphrodite/Venus and certainly

arise when there are aspects between these bodies. The state of being in love, the search

for a soul mate and the madness of the divine other all mingle in the same cup. Perhaps

it is Eros who pours the elixir while secretly shooting the odd dart. Pisces, however, is

not the only duel sign linked to Eros.

Eros and the Sign of the Twins

To complicate matters, one version of myth associates Eros with a Gemini like

twin brother, Anteros. In this case, Aphrodite is called the mother of the twin loves.

Where Eros is love, Anteros is love avenged or returned. This seems odd at first, a

divergence away from the water element and into its opposite principle, air.

Yet Anteros symbolizes a returned or opposite love. It is said that Eros pined with

loneliness until Aphrodite gave him Anteros as a playmate. In this role, Anteros is the

answer to love’s longing. He is also depicted as the one who punishes those who scorn

love or do not return the love of others.

The story of Timagora and Meles reveals this theme. The young Athenian Meles

rejects the love of his friend Timagoras. Meles mockingly tells the spurned lover to

climb to the top of a cliff and throw himself off. Timagoras does so without question,

showing his dedication. He dies instantly in the decent. When Meles realizes what he

has done, he is filled with guilt and regret. He then casts himself down the same cliff

20

and also dies. Thus in some areas, Anteros is worshipped as the avenging spirit of

Timagoras.

This mythic theme reveals characteristics of the Gemini twins. These two

brothers can represent the heights of divine love to the pits of guilt, remorse and

revenge. Perhaps because these qualities are so divergent, it was necessary to split them

apart and view them as separate entities. As anyone aquatinted with experience of

erotic love, the two are not separate at all but different expressions on the face of the

same god.

Anteros

You ask why I have so much rage in the heart

And on a flexible neck an untamed head;

It is that I come from the race of Antée,

I return the darts against the victorious god.

Yes, I am that which inspires the Avenger,

He marked me on the face with his irritated lip;

Under the paleness of Abel, alas! Blood-stained,

Sometimes I have of Cain the relentless redness!

Jehovah! the last, overcome by your engineering,

Who, of the deepest of the hells, shouted: "O tyranny!"

It is my Bélus grandfather or my Dragon father...

They plunged me three times in the water of Cocyte,

And, protecting all alone my Amalecite mother,

I sow again with his feet the teeth of the old dragon. 28

The love and passion of Eros is by no means limited to the element of water.

Each sign, however, has it’s own mythic flavor, a costume of varying size a hue. Aries,

like the god of war, has a passion to assert his will. Taurus, like Venus, may have the

28 Gerard de Nerval, from Les Chimeres, translated by Vervain de Blancetti, http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Coffeehouse/1441/eanteros.html August 1999

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classical passion towards sensual pleasure. Gemini, messenger of the gods, has a

passion for communication and knowledge. Cancer’s passion lies in emotional ties and

feelings. Leo has the passion and loyalty of the lion heart and Virgo has a distinct

passion for selection and discrimination. Libra has passion for beauty, balance and

refinement. Scorpio has passion for intensity and merging. Sagittarius has boundless

passion for adventure and the unknown. Capricorn has passion for perfection and

successful accomplishment and Aquarius has passion for freedom and ideals. Pisces’

passion often mingles with a longing for union with the divine.

All the planets and signs in the astrological chart are important when it comes to

understanding love. Each has something to offer and something secret to reveal.

Focusing on Eros, discovering the sign, house position and aspect of this celestial body,

can shed even greater light on our personal and unique experiences of love in all its

many forms. Ignoring this image is like turning away from a part of our own soul.

Eros in the Signs of the Zodiac

The asteroids or ‘minor planets’ are by no means minor in their power of

expression.29

--Demetra George & Douglas Bloch

The planets by sign describes HOW they will orient themselves in the chart. It is

the costume they wear, the approach they take, the way they express. It also gives an

indication of which other archetypal figures they will like to keep in their company.

This holds true for all the planets, including the asteroid Eros.

For example, Eros in a fire sign might be friends with the exuberant Jupiter in Leo

but have discomfort with the sometimes cautious and testy Mercury in Cancer. In the

element of earth, he might associate easily with the voluptuous Moon in Taurus, yet

clash with the sometimes inaccessibly aloof Sun in Aquarius.

Sometimes planets with natural affinity find themselves estranges as when Venus

is in Pisces, Eros in Sagittarius and Moon in Virgo. Then it seems we are at internal

odds and unable get what we want without some part of ourselves giving up a vital

need.

29 Demetra George &n Douglas Bloch, Asteroid Goddesses, ACS Publications, San Diego, CA May 1986

22

By studying the placements of Eros by sign, we can better integrate the diverse

needs and drives of this body. In an archetypal sense, the signs have a distinct way of

relating to both inner and outer experiences and acknowledging those distinctions is a

step towards becoming more complete.

Richard Idemon30 offered the astrological community great insight in his lectures

on the orientation of the signs. When speaking about the various approach or attitude

the signs exhibit towards a given goal or function, Idemon shared his keen perceptions

into the deeper nature of the zodiac. This orientation through the archetypes of the

signs also helps interpret how planets operate in synastry, progression, composite,

transit and progression.

The following delineations of Eros provide an easy reference for quick overviews

and initial understanding. (This represents the first few paragraph of each deliniation

from my book, Planets and Passion: The Astrology of Eros)

Eros in Aries

Eros' forms are many and sometimes terrible, and in full strength he comes to us

winged and gleaming and muscled like an athlete, with a fury and will that overpower

our own and drive us before him as would a storm. 31

--Peter Marin

Eros in Aries says, “Play with me, right here and right now!” In this sign, Eros

wants action, competition, confrontation and of course, he wants to win! Eros in Aries

can make a game of love complete with points to score and visiting teams to defeat!

The more impossible the relationship, the more ardent he becomes.

As the first of the FIRE signs, he spends and consumes tremendous amounts of

energy in the pursuit and capture of his quarry. All this fiery rabidity makes Eros in

Aries a very active and perpetually busy lover. Eros here, whether in the chart of a

male or female, can exhibit traditional romantic behavior not unlike a knight of old. He

is robust, gallant and ever dashing off to slay dragons or rescue damsels, or helpless

men, in distress.

Eros in Taurus

30 Richard Idemon, Breaking the Silver Cord 2 tapes #RI-203 Pegasus Tapes: Audio Cassettes on Astrological, Psychological and Mythological Themes. P.O. Box 419 , Santa Ysabel, CA 31 Peter Marin, The Fury of Eros, Harper's Magazine02/94 v288:n1725. p 30(2)

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This way, my love, this way, come here and haste to rest the whole night in my

arms. I worship your lovely curly hair; I am consumed with ardent desire. Oh! Eros, in

thy mercy, compel him to my bed. 32

--Aristophanes

Eros in Taurus says “Hold me, touch me, kiss me, take me.” Here Eros

has little interest in the aggressive ardency of Aries. Taurus is not responsive to

getting up at 6 a.m. to do fifty laps at the pool and he would rather not have to compete

with anyone to get what he wants. Eros has a different orientation in this sign, namely,

an orientation towards pleasure. That means pure and natural, undiluted personal and

sensual gratification.

This pleasure-seeking eye of the bull is ever on the niceties of sensuality whether

they be in the dinning room, on the massage table or in a king size bed. He finds joy in

tangible pursuits that revolve around making the body feel good as well as the pleasure

of acquisition. Taurus can also become ferociously possessive of those pleasures in an

extremely dogmatic way.

Eros in Gemini

…and the most beautiful words ever spoken, I have not yet said to you.

--Nazim Hikmet

Eros in Gemini says, “If you want me, talk to me!” Here Eros thrives on the

interaction of ideas, and the intellectual stimulation found in sharing observations, data

and little understood facts. He likes it known how well he comprehends a subject and

how much he could teach about it. Eros in Gemini wants to hear the words, or receive

little cards with messages of love, much more than he wants to get a box of chocolates

or even a massage!

Gemini governs the realm of the mind, the known universe, its facts and fancies.

When Eros dresses in this outfit, he seeks intimacy first through intellectual rapport and

that usually means talking. The mere act of communication can stimulate this position

of Eros into desires for deeper intimacy and union, provided one listens to the discourse.

The beloved’s inattention to detail or loss of concentration on the subject kills a genuine

pursuit faster here than in any other sign.

32 Aristophanes, Ecclesiazusae 955 Crane, Gregory R. (ed.) The Perseus Project, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, September 1998

24

Curiosity about how things work, why people behave in a certain way, or where

some tradition began all contribute to the stimulating mental atmosphere where Eros in

Gemini likes to live. He uses knowledge as a lure, his mind as bait and his wit as

reward. He also uses these intellectual instruments as a bastion against the pain and

suffering of the emotional world.

The first of the AIR signs, Eros in Gemini has a sense of mental objectivity and a

distinct need for space. Although drawn irrefutably to the depths of intimacy by the

nature of Eros itself, in this sign he may at times do more talking or reading about

emotional closeness than going out and experiencing it.

Eros in Cancer

A mean young man meets a witch, who says she will be his lover forever if he

brings her the heart of his mother. He runs home, kills his mother and cuts out her

heart.

As he is running back through the forest, he trips and falls, dropping the heart. In

a concerned tone, the heart says to him, "Son, did you hurt yourself?”

--Old Jewish Parable

Eros in Cancer says, “share your joy and pain with me”. In this sign, Eros

experiences a certain measure of affinity and ease. Here the boundaries can dissolve

into a space of intimate rapport where the feelings, emotions, fears, pains and sorrows

of two people merge and mingle into one. In cancer, Eros does not hesitate at the

threshold of erotic intimacy. Once inside, he simply never wants to leave.

Eros in Cancer longs to be wanted and he craves the significant other’s attention

and deep need for attachment. Nurturing, sustaining and mothering all arise with this

archetype creating a potent link that can enhance life as well as strangle it to death. It is

the image of the umbilical cord that offers succor but may also become toxic if it is not

severed at the necessary time.

Eros in Leo

25

Call me a she-lion, then, if you like and Scylla, dweller on the Tuscan cliff. For I

have touched your heart in the vital spot.33

--Euripides

Eros in Leo says, “watch me, follow me, worship me”. The operant word in this

phrase is me. Eros in Leo is similar to his fiery counterpart Aries in the desire for

action although here Leo’s need diverges in its tremendous longing for attention and

adoration. Where Aries likes a playmate and wants, of course, to be first, Leo needs the

devotional attention and unfailing love of those who touch his life. Unfortunately, this

is often just what he feels is missing.

Eros in this position has a strong desire to feel special, unique and distinctive.

The second of the FIRE signs, Eros in Leo requires energy and returns it in playful

abundance as well. He dazzles in the spot-light of admiration and gives priority to the

creative, artistic side of life.

Eros in Virgo

..how can I find a path towards my soul's real nature that begins right here where

I am shipwrecked, rather than in pious hopes for a perfect life? 34

--Harriet Eisman

Eros in Virgo says, “hold me, touch me, buy me things, and explain to me why

you are doing it.” This second of the EARTH signs has all the tangible desires of

Taurus with the added propensity to analyze intentions and rate them on a scale of one

to ten. These discriminating qualities of Virgo can come to the fore with a check list

approach to romantic love.

Virgo has tremendous perceptions and is not a sign to hesitate using them on the

beloved. Sometimes this can equate with judgements and criticism, real wet blankets

for erotic experiences. This perceptiveness can also turn inward were it manifests as a

self-criticism, an equally damaging trait. An inclination to carry out a running

commentary on the attributes and failings of any given moment may mingle with

passion like oil and water.

33 Euripides, Medea 1360 (Loeb) Crane, Gregory R. (ed.) The Perseus Project, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, August 1999

34 Harriet Eisman, That Other Loveliness, Reprinted from Parabola: The Magazine of Myth and Tradition, Vol. XX No. 4 (Winter 1995).

26

Eros in Virgo does have a very lusty and luscious desire nature that shares an

affinity with epithemia. The material elements of life appraise high on the scale of

importance and that means physical contact, physical nurturing and physical pleasure.

They can abide a great deal of touching, tasting and sensing too. Eros here is not afraid

to get close and stay close, if the special other turns out to be good enough.

Eros in Libra

Eros, god of love, distilling liquid desire down upon the eyes, bringing sweet

pleasure to the souls of those against whom you make war, never to me may you show

yourself to my hurt nor ever come but in due measure and harmony. 35

Eros in Libra says, “share the elegant beauty of life with me!” This Eros wants

above all to participate with a significant other in many splendid activities. Libra is the

sign of personal one-to-one relationships and Eros here has all the longings for the

excellence and refinement that exemplify Libra. In this position, life needs to unfold

pleasantly and in the company of a beloved other.

Being the second of the AIR signs, Eros in Libra has the ability to objectify life,

and enjoys the communication of ideas. Talking , interpreting, counseling and the

giving and receiving of feedback all rate high on the list of Libra’s good times. This is

a refined position for Eros, a sign that inherently honors the social niceties of the times

and enjoys the sophistication of good manners and pleasant exchange. Unless, of

course, they are flipping into their antagonistic side. Then, from Libra erupts the

disputing debater or Devil’s advocate par excellent!

Eros in Scorpio

Come to me, and I shall be the sun round which you are locked in orbit,

and my rays shall lay bare the secrets you keep from each other, and I,

who possess charms and powers of which you have no inkling, shall

control and possess and destroy you!" 36

35 Euripides Hippolytus 525, Crane, Gregory R. (ed.) The Perseus Project, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, September 1998

36 Rice, Anne The Vampire Armand: The Vampire Chronicles, Knopf;New Yorkl, NY ISBN: 0679454470 October 1998

27

-- Anne Rice The Vampire Armand

Eros in Scorpio says, “merge with me in the searing furnace of the souls so that

together we may be transformed.” Eros in Scorpio speaks bluntly. His desires are

potent, ardent and fixed and often involve a great deal of intense intimacy that can make

the light-hearted falter. Eros in this sign is interested in a very personal and erotic form

of relating that has no qualms about ripping off the surface scab of social superficiality

to expose the true nature of ones soul beneath. They generally don not hold back.

Eros here seeks, often through intense and possibly taboo sexual experiences, the

gift of merging, union and transformation. This is the break on through to the other

side that Jim Morrison echoed. He invites you to the threshold and if you enter, there is

no turning back. You will transform or perish, or both.

Eros here may be in the sign of his greatest affinity. The second WATER sign,

Scorpio relates well to the powerful hungers exhibited by Eros and there is little to

modify or temper. Scorpio is not afraid to get too close. He does not shun intimacy,

physical or otherwise. He is not nervous about bodily functions, losing his freedom,

sharing his emotions or surrendering his mind. He just plain is not nervous or afraid of

much, except maybe losing control.

Eros in Sagittarius

Imagine, if you can, silver leaves waving above a pool of gold filled with singing

fishes. Twin moons in an alien sky. If you like, I'll show them to you and they will be, I

promise you, the dullest part of the journey. Come with me and I will show you sights

that you have never dreamed of. Or stay behind, and regret it until your dying day...

--William Hartnell as Doctor Who

Eros in Sagittarius says, “expand my horizons and explore the unknown with me!”

This placement of Eros needs widespread goals for the future and the space, energy and

enthusiasm to live them out. Spontaneous, exuberant, adventurous and fickle, Eros here

prefers a lively and challenging experience with the beloved, one that will take him to

the limitless corners of the universe. If someone is going to be with Eros in Sagittarius,

they best get ready to soar.

28

This third FIRE sign has enormous sexual energy and will become bored if the

relationship does not develop into broader and richer potentials, or offer new horizons.

Travel is his watchword and that does not necessarily mean physically jumping on a

plane and heading for a distant culture. The travel Sagittarius has in mind involves the

exploration of any previously unknown realm. This includes symbolic journeys through

intellectual concepts, philosophical ideas, spiritual beliefs and artistic creations.

Eros in Capricorn

Do you see how unclothed Love smiles and looks so gentle? He has no torches,

nor bows which he could bend. But in one of his hands he bears flowers, in the other a

fish. That's to say he sets the law on land and sea.37

--Alciato

Eros in Capricorn says, “touch me, buy me things, and balance the books if you

think you are qualified”. This position of Eros has powerful concepts about what is

good and what is good enough. There is a need for competence and capability that the

earthy sign of Taurus would never consider important. Eros in Capricorn is looking for

a type of tangible perfection in the other or failing that, a certificate of completion at

least.

Capricorn may sublimate its earthy and very ardent desires for sensual contact and

intimacy through the ever-present demands of work. Productivity, attainment, and a

feeling of self-sufficiency are vital qualities for Capricorn and they like to see them in

the partner as well as themselves.

The third of the EARTH signs, Eros in Capricorn has a powerful need to connect

in a physical sense and may also have equally powerful reservations, fears and

objections to intimacy. Caution is the watchword. This sign is acknowledged as one of

the most difficult to get to know. They do not open up easily and they may not stay

open long.

The paradox is that Capricorn is extremely sensual and sexual in a very earthy,

potent, Pan-like way. Its symbol is half goat after all and the implication of fertility and

37 Andrea Alciato, Book of Emblem,s Ed. William Barker, Mark Fletham, Jean Guthrie Department of English Memorial University of Newfoundland Emblem 107 The Power of Love http://www.mun.ca/alciato/ July 1999

29

sexuality imbibe the image. They have all the desires of Taurus lounging side by side

with their deep well of fear.

Eros in Aquarius

…I have never seen nor heard your name without a shiver half of delight, half of

anxiety….

--Edgar Allan Poe

Eros in Aquarius says, “surprise me, shock me, amazement me!” This position of

Eros carries a high voltage charge with stimulating encounters that need a lot of air

space to conduct electromagnetic charms. Eros in Aquarius desires the weird, the

wonderful and the unusual. He thrives on the unexpected and luxuriates in situations

that make the more traditional signs squirm with embarrassment.

Eros in the sign of the Water Bearer has a disposition bordering on the bizarre.

He crosses boundaries as if they did not exist and skips the lines of gender and protocol

like a child playing hop-scotch. If it is unusual and invigorating, he is probably

interested.

The third of the AIR signs, Eros in Aquarius gets bored with routine and needs

intriguing conversation and somewhat unconventional themes to keep his interest

aroused. He also needs a lot of freedom.

Eros in Pisces

Held fast in a faience of sea changes

While waves queue offshore in glittering strings;

Till love’s continuum rearranges,

The persevering sea harbors all things.38

--E.F. Mosher

Eros in Pisces says, “merge into the depths with me”! Here Eros wants to lose all

sense of where his being ends and another begins. Eros in Pisces desires a return to

paradise, a drink from the Holy Grail and union with the divine. He is willing to give

up his own identity, allowing it to melt and merge with the beloved until they are no

longer distinct but part of a greater whole. This is the state of the mystic and the

38 Eunice Falconer Mosher, from Pantoum on a Pacific shore, with kind permission. April 2000

30

universe of the quantum physicist. It is the persistent longing of Pisces and the dreaded

fear of almost every other sign. Eros here could be in its exaltation, the affinity is that

great.

This position of Eros, the third of the WATER signs, represents the dissolving of

the self into the other and all the pain, longing, suffering and ecstasy that process may

involve. It also embraces the mysterious sense of the ineffable, something seldom

glimpsed for long in any relationship. It suggests the beauty and creativity seen only

through the lives of lovers who have touched each other’s spirits. It is indeed a big call

for the average relationship to achieve.

Eros in the Houses

Eros brings beauty, meaning and divinity into our lives. It comes to us through a

very particular epiphany, a passionate inspiration present in a particular lover,

teacher, melody, or landscape. We long to follow it always. But this is not the whole

story. For Eros also brings us obsessions, cruelty, abandonment, and betrayal. It may

come through anguish…” 39

--Harriet Eisman

The asteroid Eros, like any planet in the astrological chart, represents a basic

human need, drive or impulse. As Mars symbolizes the drive or urge towards

assertiveness, action and direction, Eros symbolizes the urge towards erotic love and the

transformations offered by this experience. The PLANETS represent the nature of an

inherent impelling force in us, as well as a piece of our own soul, and Eros’s impulsion

is towards union of a particular kind.

The SIGNS indicates how the needs and drives of the planets will express. Just as

Mars in Leo may have a dramatic flare and fixedness to its drive to take action, so Eros

in Leo would have a flamboyant spark in its approach to erotic love. The signs describe

the way a need functions.

The HOUSES in turn represent areas of life, inner and outer. They symbolize the

environment where the need or drive is acting out. The ruler on the house cups and the

sign or signs contained in the house suggest the climate found in that environment. Any

39 Harriet Eisman, The Other Loveliness, PARABOLA, The Magazine of Myth and Tradition, Vol. XX, No. 4. (Winter, 1995)

31

planets residing in a given house indicates that the needs and drives implied by them

tend to operate strongly in that area of life. Entering or doing that area of life will

evoke the needs and drives of the planets found there. We meet those planets, and the

archetypal characters they symbolize, in that area of life.

Where Eros is by house indicates the environment, people or experiences that the

god of love affiliates with. Howard Sasportas, in his book The Twelve Houses, states:

Any planet or sign in a house always suggests the most natural way to unfold the

life plan in the area of life the house represents.40

The system of derivative houses41 may also help elucidate experiences linked with

the Eros house positions and is applied to the following cookbook descriptions. The

derivative approach is controversial: some astrologers use it with impunity; other

authors feel it is only useful in Horary charts. As with the house systems, each

individual must experiment and use what they find works best.

The following cookbook style interpretation of Eros through the houses focus

mainly on natal positions although they operate for positions by transit or progression as

well. A much more detailed working of Eros through the houses and by transit and

progression can be studied in the soon to be released text: Asteroid 433 Eros: The

Astrology of Love

Eros in the First House

And as concerning reality…the impression we get of it is not the same as the

perception.42

--Aristotle

When Eros resides in the first house of the natal chart, it gains additional

significance. This is especially true if it is found within ten degrees either side of the

40 Howard Sasportas, The Twelve Houses: An Astrological Guide to Life’s Possibilities The Aquarian Press Wellingborough, Northhamptonshire England 1985 p.39 Now HarperCollins LTD, Hammersmith, London41 The derivative houses method looks at each house as being the first and then relates all the other houses back to it: The 6th house rules our children’s finances because it is 2nd (money/values) from the 5th (offspring).42 Aristotle, Metaphysics : section 1010b , , Gregory R. (ed.) The Perseus Project, Gregory R. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, January 2000

32

Ascendant. Here Eros takes on first house importance adding his flavor to the sign or

signs and any other planets found there.

In this position, Eros contributes towards the general approach to life. It may

indicate how plans are initiated, action taken or dilemmas worked out. It may not mean

that we have an erotic approach to initiation, but that we tend to encounter the erotic

when taking action or presenting ourselves to the world.

Eros in the Second

May I ask…whether you inherited most of your possessions or acquired them

yourself?43

--Plato

The second house traditionally rules money, values, resources and innate

capabilities. It has a lot to do with valuing our self as a unique individual and can give

indications of tangible longings, desires and aspirations.

People with Eros in the second house may value the erotic union as a resource or

reserve. An erotic manner may reside with them comfortably like an inborn perception

of what they are worth, what they deem estimable. This may actualize as a subtle

undertone in some, or a brash and even overbearing urgency in others.

Eros in the Third House

I'm skilled at introducing new ideas every time out, each one different from the

other and all of them good.44

--Aristophanes

The third house traditionally deals with ideas, communication, learning, short

journeys and siblings. It describes the early environment and local community, left

brain activity or the rational mind, and our attitude to leaning and knowledge in general.

If consciousness is, as Richard Idemon used to say, “what we think and what we think

43 Plato, Republic : section 330a , Gregory R. (ed.) The Perseus Project, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, January

2000 44

Aristophanes, Clouds (ed. Jeffrey Henderson): line 518 , Gregory R. (ed.) The Perseus Project, Gregory R.

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, January 2000

33

we think,” the third house is the arena of that consciousness. It is the way in which we

think we perceive the environment.

When Eros resides in the third house, communication itself can become an erotic

experience. The written and expressed word, the transmission of information and the

act of learning or teaching may all create an experience of erotic transformation for

those involved. These can be people who really enjoy writing letters, keeping a diary

or journal or getting up and making a speech.

Eros in the Fourth House

Now after my long day's labour sloping towards an evening of repose, has relaxed

my energies by suggesting the charms of family life. 45

--Cicero

The forth house is the domain of the family, emotional security and sense of

belonging at the very roots of our being. Astrologer Joanne Wickenburg46 says, if the

Ascendant is WHO you are, the IC, and subsequent fourth house, is WHAT you are.

Often it also represents what we like to hide from others.

This house symbolizes the external home, the family emotional inheritance, a

parent,47 domestic affairs and the country of origin. When Eros is found in this house

the erotic links closely together with experiences of home and family. Eros loves to

hide in the fourth house and there may be a secretive approach to erotic love.

Eros in the Fifth House

…and those who devote themselves to music and letters and to the various

contests, some by exhibiting their strength and others their artistic skill, win for

themselves greater honor. 48

45 M. Tullius Cicero, Letters (ed. Evelyn Shuckburgh): text A, book 9, letter 10 [B.C. 49. Coss., C. Claudius, Marcellus, L. Cornelius Lentulus Crus.: CCCLXIV (A IX, 10)]46 Joanne Wickenburg, Director of SEARCH P.O. Box 162 Nortgate Station, Seattle, WA 98125 USA47 Debate continues over which house associates with which parent. I favor the fourth with the father and the tenth with the mother although some charts seem to indicate the opposite. An open mind, accurate birth time, and flexible approach to this question assures the greatest accuracy in determining the house position of each parent in individual charts.48 Isocrates, Speeches and Letters (ed. George Norlin): speech 9, section 4 [Evagoras] Gregory R. (ed.) The

Perseus Project, Gregory R. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, January 2000

34

--Isocrates

The fifth house is the traditional residence of entertainment. It encompasses the

playful heart, the creative spirit and romantic pleasures. It is the house of the inner

child and the outer speculator, the actual children and the latent rock star in everyone.

The fifth house has to do with self-expression and that includes offspring, art

work, novels, and romances because they all activate the heart and engender feelings of

uniqueness that makes us feel special. That is, when everything is going smoothly.

These areas of life also put us in a place of utmost vulnerability not just to the art critic

and the gene pool but to those experiencing the inner child. The fifth house rules

speculation because we risk the child-like and creative qualities in the harsh reality of

potential judgement and condemnation. There is no guarantee how we will measure up.

Eros in the Sixth

In constructing a homestead, we have to provide for the stock which it is to

shelter, and for its health and well being.49

--Aristotle

The sixth house traditionally represents daily routine, work and employment,

health of the body and health services, small domestic pets, service in general, tools and

gadgets. The common thread here includes the need to establish ritual and routine,

through organization, commitment and concern, in the every day life. It also describes

the ways and means we accomplish and perfect those daily routine tasks.

When Eros is found in the house of skill development, service, health and daily

routine, one may have some finely tuned proficiency when it comes to passionate and

romantic love. They may see the body as a vessel that provides for the delights and

erotic passions of the beloved and be inclined to perfect their ability to give and receive

those delights. They may find the merging and transformation an erotic union offers

desirable on a daily basis!

49 Aristotle, Economics , Gregory R. (ed.) The Perseus Project, Gregory R. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu,

January 2000

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Eros in the Seventh House

When marriage is on equal terms, in my opinion it is no cause for dread; so never

may the love of the mightier gods cast on me its irresistible glance.50

--Aeschylus

The seventh house traditionally represents personal one-to-one relationships

including marriage, business partnerships, counselors and clients, long-term unions, or

even open adversaries that engage in on going debate. In this house, commitment

reigns although the stage often hosts more than a dance for two.

Eros in the seventh prefers close partnerships to include erotic, transformational

unions of the most powerful kind. The very nature of erotic love, however, suggests the

stability, commitment and endurance of the seventh house (a divorced relationship

involving children can last a life-time) contradicts the risk taking, changeable nature of

Eros. Enter the triangle.

Eros in the Eighth House

…how does one describe a trip to the underworld?51

--Homer

The eighth house traditionally rules sex, death and taxes, and their

transformational effects. It also pertains to depth analysis, research and occult

knowledge. The eighth house rules things of mystery, intrigue and intensity. The

thread that binds the eighth house scenery together consists of elements in life that

require us to make a leap of faith, to take a risk and discover the unknown within.

There are no guarantees in the eighth and no way to be sure that once we make a

commitment to intimacy, a belief system or a political party, that the implicit trust will

be honored.

Eros in the eighth suggests an affinity with the purpose of the house: to take risks,

to offer up something precious, to feel to the depths of the soul and to hope for

transformation in return. Those with Eros in this house have an increased desire to

50 Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound (ed. Herbert Weir Smyth, Ph. D.): line 901 , Gregory R. (ed.) The

Perseus Project, Gregory R. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, January 2000

51 Perseus Encyclopedia : id homer [H: Homer: Identity of “Homer” and Greek Oral

Poetry] Gregory R. (ed.) The Perseus Project, Gregory R. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, January 2000

36

experience the erotic on a very deep level of their existence. They may also have a

highly increased fear around doing so. The two can go hand in hand.

Eros in the Ninth House

For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God?52

--St. Paul

The ninth house traditionally rules spiritual beliefs, long journeys, higher

education, foreign cultures, ceremonies and rituals, publishing and clergymen. These

categories all have the common effect of exposing us to areas of mind, body or spirit,

that have never been experienced before. Thus, Dennis Elwell described the ninth

house as an exploration into the unknown.53

When Eros falls in the ninth house, discovery of new and previously

incomprehensible concepts, peoples or vistas ignite feelings of passionate wonder and

intrigue. This Eros is aroused by new information, strange landscapes and mysterious

cultures. The act of gaining this information can be an erotic experience in itself.

Eros in the Tenth House

He was, therefore, elated over his fame and had recourse to many other far more

ambitious undertakings which would serve to increase the dominant position of his

native state.54

--Siculus

The midheaven (MC) and the corresponding tenth house traditionally denotes the

career, mission or profession, one of the parents55, and the social image and known

reputation. Howard Sasportas56 said that the qualities of any sign or planet in the tenth

house correspond to what is most visible and accessible to others. It is what stands out.

52 World English Bible (ed. Rainbow Missions, Inc.): book Galatians, chapter 1, verse 10 [Paul's Letter to the

Galatians] Gregory R. (ed.) The Perseus Project, Gregory R. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, January 2000 53 Dennis Elwell, Cosmic Loom: The New Science of Astrology, Unwin Hyman Limited London, England 1987 p 15454 Diodorus Siculus, Library : book 11, chapter 41, section 2 , Gregory R. (ed.) The Perseus Project, Gregory R. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, January 200055 See footnote #2456 Howard Sasportas, The Twelve Houses:An Astrological Guide to Life’s Possibilities, The Aquarian Press Wellingborough, Northhamptonshire England 1985 p. 87-91 Now HarperCollins LTD. Hammersmith, London

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The tenth house indicates how others perceive us and those with Eros here want

the world to know they are passionate, erotic, potent and charismatic. The way they

dress, speak and move may all have a subtle undertone of Eros. Some people with this

placement may even make a career out of studying, teaching or living out the erotic and

transformational side of life. Certainly, it would be of major importance for them to

express, especially if early childhood experiences lead to the denial and repression of

the god of love.

Eros in the Eleventh House

They are each, then, others of each other, in groups; for they cannot be so one at

a time..57

--Plato

The eleventh house is traditionally associated with groups, hopes and wishes,

membership in organizations, relationships to friends and advisors and goals for the

future. It has been tagged as the desire to be more than what we already are, as

happens when joined to a group or association. It is also the desire to be everything we

can possibly be, as reflected in what we wish and hope for. This house represents a

stretching beyond the individual identity that pushes out into the lager world as a whole.

When Eros is found in the eleventh house, friendships, groups and goals take on a

potent and possibly passionate quality. We may experience friends as triggers for erotic

feelings, transformations or creative turning points. Whether a person with an eleventh

house Eros passionately merges with a friend or that friendship inspires them to

experience the erotic through another person matters little. The important point is that

through friendship, the god of love awakens.

Eros in the Twelfth House

It is some solemn secret, surely, that you enshroud in mystery.58

--Aeschylus

57 Plato, Parmenides, Philebus, Symposium, Phaedrus : div1 Parm., section 164c [Parmenides] , Gregory R. (ed.) The Perseus Project, Gregory R. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, January 2000 58 Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound (ed. Herbert Weir Smyth, Ph. D.): line 520 , , Gregory R. (ed.) The Perseus Project, Gregory R. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, January 2000

38

The twelfth house is a place of mystery. Isabel Hickey called it the house of

drawn shades, a region where we must serve or suffer.59 Traditionally it rules secret

enemies, institutions such as prisons, hospitals and asylums and other places of

generalized pain and suffering, hidden activities, exile and seclusion.

Sometimes Eros here awakens through injury, suffering or confinement. The case

of the doctor and patient, alcoholic and counselor, or even bereaved brother and widow

come to mind. There can even be an erotic relationship between criminal and the

officer of the law, as in the archetypal relationship between the brilliant detective

Sherlock Holmes and his equally genius archenemy, Professor Moriarty. These kinds

of unions make short work of the traditionally acceptable and they may embody an

extreme bitterness, yet their potential for transform is infinite. The very taboo and

suffering quality seems to make them all the more potent.

Eros in Aspect to the Natal Planets

The madness of being in love clearly shows many characteristics of soul activity:

interference with plans and projects, long periods of time spent in daydream and

reverie, projection of ideal fantasies onto the loved person…confusion about personal

goals and values, a weakening of willpower—all of these reveal an activation of the

deeper strata of the soul.

--Thomas Moore 60

The aspects link the planets, points and angles in the natal chart creating an

indivisible bond between them. They consist of the angular division of a circle, 360

degrees, into different sized pieces of pie. Some of the divisions form stronger or more

harmonious links than others, although the vital point is that they are linked at all.

One way of viewing the aspects between Eros and the other bodies in the chart is

to consider that Eros is holding a festivity and the other planets the guests. How would

Venus enjoy a feast with Eros? How would Saturn? Would he dive in or nibble the

edges? Would he simply lose his appetite altogether? Each planet has a different

orientation towards the experience of Eros. Each will taste, digest, assimilate or reject

59 Isabel Hickey, Astrology: A Cosmic Science, Altiere Press Bridgeport, Connecticut 1975 p 62

60 Thomas Moore, The Planets Within: The Astrological Psychology of Marsilio Ficino, Lindisfarne Press, Great Barrington, MA 1990 p. 112-113

39

that experience in different ways. Whether it inspires arousal or repulsion, a connection

by aspect to Eros will have its effect.

Aspects between planets bond them for better or worse. Usually it is a unique

combination of both. If we have a grand cross between Venus, Mars, Saturn and

Jupiter,61 we only have to evoke one of the planets to activate them all. If we assert

ourselves against a threatening situation (mars) we will automatically evoke the

containment or authority of Saturn, the expansive enthusiasm of Jupiter and Venus’s

desire to create harmony or extract value. We can not do one without the others when

they link by aspect.

This sheds light on the effects of any unaspected planets in the chart. If Mars is

unaspected, the act of assertion may evoke nothing but the aggression itself. It may

function in isolation because it has no links with the other bodies. Once awakened, it

may be hard to integrate any self or external control (Saturn), any arbitration or

diplomacy (Venus), or any sense of meaning or purpose (Jupiter). The pure and

possibly raw aggression may be one big event all to itself with nothing to modify the

energy in any way.

The nature of the aspect, whether it be a trine, square, inconjunct or opposition,

holds some significance yet it is more important to first established if there is a

connection of any kind, and what that connection may represent. If the Moon aspects

Mars, their will be an ignition of the feeling nature quite different from the Moon in

aspects to Neptune. It matters little if the aspect is so called soft or hard, good or bad.

There are differences certainly, yet the primary signification of the planets being

connected to each other remains unchanged. This holds especially true with the transits

of the outer planets. A sextile from transiting Pluto can coincide with every bit as

profound an emotional experience as a square or opposition. It matters more that one is

being touched by the god and less from what angle that god is doing the touching.

With that in mind for Eros, the conjunction and opposition are the most

consequential in the natal chart, although the ‘lesser’ aspects should be considered and

evaluated as well. As far as orbs go, use what works best and what brings the most

consistent and reliable results. A larger orb may be preferable for the conjunctions and

oppositions, perhaps up to 10 or even 12 degrees when involving the Sun or Moon, with

progressively tighter orbs for the square, trine, and tighter still for the sextile and

61 This grand cross might be cardinal: Venus in Libra opposite Mars in Aries, square Saturn in Capricorn opposite Jupiter in Cancer, a division of the circle by 180 degree and 90 degree aspects.

40

inconjuncts. The minor aspects would want orbs of no less than 1.5 to 2 degrees, the

parallel being 1.5 degrees to exact. The most important consideration to keep in mind is

that if Eros, or any planet, acts like it is in aspect to another planet, even if the orb is

wide, then it probably is. Results speak louder than rules.

For greater depth of information and individual delineations, please see the soon

to be released text: Asteroid 433 Eros: The Astrology of Love.

Eros by Transit or Progression

“Eros remains a power beyond our social order and morality; he stalks, goads,

ruins, and transforms us, and sometimes he lifts us as if on the palm of a huge hand into

regions that astonish and terrify us and that we would never, otherwise, have entered.

For desire appears to us from the corners of the earth or the depths of self with a force

and urgency and sometimes a destructiveness so powerful we cannot help ascribing

them to a god, for nothing else--no psychologizing, no moralizing--makes any sense.”62

--Peter Merin

As Eros moves through the sky by transit, progression or even converse

progression, it makes aspects back to all the planets and points in the natal chart.

Likewise, the rest of the planets by transit will periodically make aspects back to the

natal and progressed positions of Eros. Either way, these contacts often coincide with

the times when erotic love and creative power issues awakens.

Some aspects and particular planet combinations appear to have a greater impact

than others, corresponding to more specific inner and outer events. Watching the

transits to and from Eros over a variety of charts is the best way to familiarize oneself

with the various possible results.

Transits of any kind are often associated with outer events, although the initial

effect is usually inner. Some part of the psyche, some interior figure or archetype,

awakens. Concurrent with the nature of the transit, house and sign position, once

awake it generally starts looking around for recognition. That usually means it looks

for a crown, a throne and appropriate patronage. If the recognition is readily

forthcoming and conscious awareness is placed on the needs, desires and offering of the

figure, often what it represents transforms into what we consciously express without a

62 Marin, Peter The fury of Eros Harper's Magazine 02/94 v288:n1725. p 30(2)

41

hint of an outer event. We simple add the new aspect of being into the multiplicity of

our conscious selves.

If, on the other hand, the needs and wants of the figure are denied by

consciousness, we will met them in the daily life as a person, place or thing. In this

case, the event is often disruptive although it can also be exhilarating. This assures, one

way or another, our experience of the waking archetype.

In the case of Eros, the intensity of emotions, the sensations of physical longings

and the potency of desire wanting to express quite frequently manifests itself as an

attraction to an enticing other. This can range from another real life human being, to a

long distance or otherwise impossible contact, an idealize public figure, a creative

project or set of glorified beliefs or doctrines. Most frequently, it has a human

component which often makes the compulsive feelings of love merge with the desire for

sexual intimacy. In this case, transits involving Eros may coincide with the appearance

of a specific individual that captivates the heart and enraptures the soul.

42