The Golden Apple

The Golden Apple

Today, from the same folks that call Pluto a dwarf, comes news that they have renamed the planet discovered by Michael Brown in 2003 - which he tentatively named Xena - to Eris, the Greek goddess of discord.

Although the jury is still out on the status of Pluto among astronomers, I will have to say that the International Astronomy Union (IAU), picked an appropriate name for this new body considering the discord in astronomy circles over the reclassification of planets in the solar system.

Not only that, but in a chart drawn-up for the announcement of the renaming of the new body, we see Mercury moving into a conjunction with Mars (see Friday's forecast) - which aptly describes the Greek goddess Eris - the planet of strife, quarrels, bitchiness, discord, contention and rivalry.

For those of you who forgot this chapter in Greek mythology: Eris was the goddess who wasn't invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis.

Enraged, she crashed the reception long enough to toss a golden apple into the midst of the other goddesses that was inscribed, "To the fairest." This immediately turned into a nasty cat fight over who was the fairest of them all. Getting nowhere, they took the matter to Zeus

(Jupiter) to decide, who knew better than to get involved in THAT dispute. Zeus told them that a mortal would need to decide who the fairest goddess was; so he ordered Hermes (Mercury) to find a mortal male and force him to decide. Who did Hermes pick? Paris, who naturally chose Aphrodite (Venus) which in turn enraged the other goddesses to the point that they tricked Paris into coveting Helen - ultimately leading to the ten-year Trojan War. All because of Eris and her Golden Apple.

As is usually the case with new celestial discoveries and their names, it might take astrologers awhile to observe Eris' symbolism to see if and where to place this new planetoid (I prefer "oids' to "dwarfs") in the context of things. In the meantime, it would appear as though Eris' arrival during the run-up to the 2006 midterm elections is entirely appropriate.

Gary Paul Glynn is a professional astrologer with over 25 years experience in personal birthchart interpretation and is available for consultations by appointment. His bimonthly astrology forecast can be found in the September-October edition of Branches Magazine or at http://www.branches.com.

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