New Planetary Bodies, Millennium Planets and other Power Points in Space

Goddess Asteroids/Dwarf Planets

Pluto/Charon, Orcus/Vanth

Pluto, discovered in 1930, was an early messenger and arguably leader of the Kuiper belt planetoids. The whole tribe began to be revealed over seventy years later with the sighting of the slightly larger Eris in 2003. Her discovery caused a giant shake up in the astronomical community who, after much argument, created a new system of classification and demoted Pluto to a dwarf planet.

It has been found that large objects orbiting in the Kuiper belt are not randomly scattered but clustered in groups created by the gravity resonance action of the gas giants described above. Astronomers reflect this 'family' effect by naming the planets appropriately. Anything orbiting close to Pluto, is thus named after an underworld deity.

Pluto itself is not alone but has a moon, Charon, so large it could qualify as a dwarf planet. Pluto and Charon are tied so closely together in orbit, the centre of gravity for each planet is not within itself but in the space between the two. Like the two ends of a dumbbell they always show each other the same faces. Pluto/Charon is now recognized as binary planetary system. Pluto has several other smaller moons, Nyx, Hydra and another discovered in 2011 not yet named.

Orcus was discovered in 2004. It has an orbital period very close to Pluto's 248 years. They are locked in a 2:3 resonance with Neptune, which keeps them in opposite phases of their otherwise very similar motions. Orcus is another binary planet system with a large 'moon' gravitationally tied to it in the same face on fashion as Pluto/Charon. Many stars in the Universe have companion stars traveling in sync with them. It is quite probable that our Sun is a double star, its twin yet to be physically discovered. Why are we at this time becoming aware of these common binary systems? It seems that they point to how we humans act unconsciously on planet Earth, always projecting outwards and seeing opposites, friends/enemies, black/white, female/male, good/evil, war/peace add infinitum, reflected back to us. Duality shows us difference and gives us freewill to make choices. We can't know what anything is until we can see difference. What seems to create so many problems and suffering in the world is not seeing the unity behind the differences, the whole in which duality is embedded. Labelling the differences we see as right and wrong we create and destroy according to our preferences.

With Pluto now revealed to have an extended family it can be seen that it may not be so exclusively responsible for all the heavy meaning that has been loaded onto it's shoulders. Pluto is still a heavy, physically dense planet and its main driving force is towards the transformation and evolution of human consciousness through the process of death and rebirth. Pluto is very much involved with the human collective and how we co-destruct, co-operate and co-create in global manifestation. Pluto is linked to the sign of Scorpio and the Water element. The transformation process it describes deals with our deepest most primal emotions, the instincts for survival and the fear of death.

In contrast, or compliment to Pluto, Orcus fits with the Earth element. It deals with the natural desire for power and control we experience in response to our primal fears and also reveals the buried treasures found deep in the Underworld of the subconscious. In close resonance with Saturn, Orcus deals with Neptune's often confusing and chaotic influence creating structure and stability as much as possible. These can be seen as part of the treasure trove helping us navigate through the dark tunnels of the Underworld. At last though everything has to be left at the gate, or on the shore, before we can cross over into Pluto's realm of death and transformation.

This leads us to looking at the meanings of Pluto and Orcus' companion planets Charon and Vanth. Both of these are helper guides on our journey through death on our way to the underworld. Mythologically Greek Charon was the ferryman who transported the souls of the recently deceased over the River Styx to the Underworld. (to be continued)

continued: Ixion, Snow White, Quaoar, Haumea