Here is one of the new sections for the forthcoming edition of

‘Saturn, Chiron and the Centaurs’ (due 2011, published by Starwalker Press) I hope you enjoy it!

THE NAMING OF NESSUS – ‘Unbelievable, but true’ The material on the Centaur Nessus (1993HA2 ) was originally written in 1996, quite a while before it was named ‘Nessus’. But so convinced was I by the symbolism I’d seen manifesting that I decided to go ahead and use this name in print. (CPA Press edition, 1996). Needless to say, I wondered what would happen if it should be given the name of ‘Donald Duck’ or some such thing – I imagined myself with professional reputation in shreds, my risk having failed, withdrawing this material, and being the laughing-stock of my astrological colleagues! Here follows a story quite typical of the kind of thing that can happen when one or more of the Centaurs are active by transit. Writing this now (2010), I still find is astonishing. In December 1995, while in Zurich for a seminar, Ludi Schmed-Kik introduced me to Dieter Koch. I will always be grateful to her for making this connection. Being fellow Geminis, Dieter and I struck an instant rapport which flowed easily into conversations so stimulating that I barely slept on that visit. It ‘so happened’ that transiting Uranus was conjunct my natal Pholus in the 3rd house during that very week. I’d not actually noticed this as up to that point, I had been trying to ignore the new Centaurs, figuring that my long labour on ‘Chiron’ was enough for now. Dieter Koch is the author, with Robert von Heeren, of the seminal work “Pholus – Wandler zwischen Saturn und Neptun”, so it seemed a fitting ‘metalogue’ of my transit, to meet the author (3rd house) of a major work on Pholus (in my 3rd house) – and that we would converse (3rd house) for hour upon hour! This synchronicity was astounding enough, but when Dieter spoke to me about ‘Nessus’ (1993HA2 ) I knew I definitely had more work to do on the ‘celestial critters’.

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Dieter showed me where Nessus was in my own chart, which got me thinking, of course. He also told me that the name of ‘Nessus’ had been proposed to the IAU by a working group of astrologers in the ‘Centaur Research Project’, run by Robert von Heeren, and by others, notably Zane Stein. That was already astonishing enough – that our astrological friends and colleagues had been collectively in dialogue with the IAU who were taking, and sometimes using, naming suggestions from them. Then, in the wakeful hours, my mind buzzing with all this new information, I remembered some details of the Nessus story in Greek mythology. My mind immediately went to the memory of an accident I’d had at the age of 9, resulting in a broken bone (which wouldn’t heal!) and eventually needing a full body cast for several months. I remembered the sensation of the cotton wool, itching and burning in the tropical heat, between me and the coldness of the plaster cast. “Oh, my God! That’s it!” I thought. “The burning shirt! This thing absolutely has to be called Nessus!” I made a sort of ‘bargain’, thinking that if Nessus was indeed where I thought it ought to be by transit at the time of this accident, I would work with it. Dieter confirmed its transit position the next day, and the rest, as they say, is history. Over the next few months, the meaning and stories of Pholus and Nessus were demonstrated over and over again to me as I explored the time-line of their transits in my own life, and in my discussions with clients. As I studied, I felt as if the universe had arranged for a fast-track crash course on understanding them. I was only the scribe, witnessing this display, and scrambling to note down what I observed and heard, sometimes dreaming about the material, working with my own process and healing the residue of this accident, which had irrevocably changed the course of my life. It was quite mind-blowing. In late January 1996, barely six weeks after my meeting with Dieter, I was scheduled to do a seminar on Chiron for the Centre for Psychological Astrology, in London. I wanted to include this new material, although I couldn’t imagine how to pull it into some coherence in time. In the event, the day was a thrilling, if chaotic, ‘brainstorming’ process. Later that same year, CPA Press published the edited transcript of this day, enlarged to include material from a subsequent seminar, taught with Dieter Koch in Zurich in May 1996. I am eternally grateful to Liz Greene of CPA Press for having risked publishing this material, then so new that the name of 1993HA2 had yet to be confirmed! However, by late 1996, when it was actually in print, all I could think of, with a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, was the fact that the IAU had yet to confirm the name of Nessus. In 1997, I was fortunate enough to co-facilitate a pilgrimage experience in Greece with two colleagues – Demetra George and Brian Clark, with whom I’d been in discussion about the new Centaur material. We travelled with a group of

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astrologers to various ancient sites associated with divination and healing. The climax of the journey was a visit to Mount Pelion, said to be the home of the centaurs. Indeed, many restaurants, cafes and hotels bore the name ‘Kentavros’ or ‘Centaur’, and many locations were said to be the ‘true home’ of Chiron, in his cave. It was April, and very cold, with scatterings of snow still visible on the ground in sheltered places. I went into the woods, taking a copy of this book, plus a copy of ‘Chiron and the Healing Journey’, and did a ‘give-away’ ceremony, placing them in a hollow which looked as if it had been made by a large animal curled up asleep there. I imagined this was the resting-place of a huge centaur, as I released the years of effort that had gone into this work, and gave thanks. I had long wanted to do this ceremony, and felt the deep significance of making ‘closure’ in this way. Before leaving for the trip to Greece, I’d had an Email from Dieter Koch, letting me know that the IAU were to be meeting soon, to decide on the name for 1993HA2 and other recently discovered bodies in the Kuiper Belt. Now, on Mount Pelion, I wondered again what name would be given. By the time we arrived at our little hotel, many of us were ill. A feverish chest-cold overtook more than half the participants, and the night of the Full Moon was spent in misery for many of us, with symptoms of intense burning. From inside the blur of feeling very unwell, I wondered if this was a metalogue, a sign, showing us that ‘Nessus’ was indeed the name. But that seemed far too wild and fanciful, so I concentrated sweating out my symptoms. Fortunately, the cycle of this ‘disease’ was short, and within 24 hours, everyone was well again, and full of good-humoured jokes about ‘burning shirt disease’! On my return to the UK, an Email from Dieter was waiting. In it was the date and time of the naming of Nessus. Incredibly, and yet logically, somehow, it had occurred on the very evening when we were all on Mount Pelion, stricken with ‘burning shirt disease’! Here is the chart for the announcement of that naming – 22 April 1997, 22.10 UT, Cambridge, Massachussets.

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We can see Nessus exactly conjunct the cusp of the 3rd house, suitable for a ‘naming’. Mars is Retrograde in Virgo, to turn direct a few days later, before the square with Nessus became exact. This is an interesting detail. Venus is ruler of the Libra Ascendant, and the overall dispositor of the chart. The interplay between these two themes – Mars and Venus – is highlighted in the mythological story of Nessus, as we have seen. The ‘turning around’, or transformation, of aggressive Martian energy is symbolized here, and also in the widely separating conjunction of Nessus and Pluto. Jupiter, ruler of Sagittarius, disposits Nessus, and perhaps brings in the theme of ‘high hopes’ and how we react when we are disappointed. The aggression that can arise when our dreams and hopes are broken is an important Jupiterian theme, and Venus in Taurus as the overall dispositor of the chart here refers to the healing wisdom released when we are able to accept things as they are (Taurus).

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The ‘turning around’ of the painful residue left after disappointment in relationships is also symbolised by the fact that Moon was conjunct Chiron earlier that day, and the Sun, Mercury and Venus – all the inner planets – are all separating from oppositions to Chiron in Libra, the other sign of Venus. Chiron, in turn, is heading towards a square with Neptune in Capricorn, whose waters offer a healing salve, dissolving suffering with compassion. This ‘signature’ perhaps refers to how we may unknowingly oppose our own healing and blame others (7th house emphasis). The process of this ‘opposition’ to our own best interests, while it may have an ancestral and collective undertow, is ultimately healed by how we participate in the opportunities for healing that occur in our own life. This is indeed an very personal and intimate journey, and one whose full impact is only known to ourselves, in the depths of the soul.