Why is Ophiuchus showing up in the news recently?
14 Jan 2011 Leave a Comment
Why has Ophiuchus, or as he is known by his other name, Asclepius (the healer) showing up in the news recently? Because of the transits of planetary bodies through that part of the sky! The first thing that I should make clear is that Ophiuchus overlaps other constellations on the ecliptic, Scorpio and Sagittarius are bound together pretty tightly in that part of the sky, and Ophiuchus dips his toe in the little bit of space in between. Before they redrew the constellations in 1930 Ophiuchus didn’t even get his toe near the ecliptic. The stars that make up the constellation sit mostly far north of the path that the planets travel along.
But there are some travelers that wander farther afield and most notable among them are the four most prominent asteroids. Coincidentally, Pallas Athena is currently riding high above the ecliptic among the stars of Ophiuchus. Considering recent events in Tucson Arizona, the fact that Pallas represents advocates, like Congress women, is very telling.
The traditional connection of Ascelepius to healing says a lot about society’s collective attention on the medical treatment and progress that the survivors of the Tucson attack are making. When I heard that the little girl who was killed was born 9-11-2001, in the Sun sign of Virgo, I immediately thought, ‘Where is the asteroid Vesta, related to Virgo, the Virgin, and feminine archetypes?’ When I opened the charts there was Vesta directly south of Ophiuchus and Pallas on the ecliptic, near both Mercury and Pluto.
When you look at the sometimes negative references to this constellation remember that healers in the ancient world were not viewed positively. Generations of medical TV show dramas have engendered a much more heroic connotation, but then, as now the need or arrival of a Physician was seen as a negative experience; it meant there was an accident or disease to be addressed. Not a good thing! Even today healing is not an exact science and physician-caused death is still among the largest killers.
The fact that these three constellations, Scorpius, Ophiuchus and Sagittarius come together at a deeply spiritual point called the Galactic Center says a great deal about the nature, and difficulties associated with healing. Have the recent events spurred society to heal the rifts, the polarities that have blocked cooperation and solutions to pressing problems? When Ophiuchus, the healer appears it makes us focus on the way we live our lives and the way in which we create our own well being, as individuals and as a society.
Ralph DeAmicis
www.SpaceAndTime.com
