Haumea and Makemake - Two Mysterious Forces
by Stefano Stracuzzi
Original research on the two dwarf planets which both refines symbolism, and in some instances, contradicts current understanding
Orbits of Dwarf Planets
Source: Tomruen, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
These are unique times for astrologers. Throughout the last three centuries, our understanding of the cosmos has been greatly enhanced by the discoveries of outer planets. Also, with several asteroids entering the realm of collective human consciousness, enormous social and intellectual changes have been evoked on a global scale. In fact, since the discovery of Uranus in the late 1700s, humanity has reached much higher levels of awareness than could even be imagined before.
Around the beginning of this century three small orbiting objects were discovered, and consequently named Eris, Haumea and Makemake. Their sightings have challenged the IAU in reconsidering the status of Pluto as a ‘planet’, as it became evident that it is not the only small celestial body whose solar orbit lies beyond Neptune’s path. Therefore Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Haumea and Makemake are now considered to be ‘Dwarf Planets’.
A lot has been written about these three newly discovered planetoids, and it is perfectly understandable why the astrological community believes their impact will surely prove to be highly determinant in our perception of cosmic dynamics. To perform objective research on the matter, we should keep a good perspective and stick to simplicity, trying to catch the most solid evidence of their archetypal influences upon individuals and the collective.
Pluto is already well-known to the astrological community, named after the Roman ‘god of the underworld’, correspondent to the Greek Hades. Its cycle around the Sun takes 248 Earth years to complete and it has a radius of 715 miles, or 1151 kilometres. Haumea is named after the Hawaiian goddess of fertility. Its cycle around the Sun takes 285 Earth years to complete and has a radius of 385 miles, or 620 kilometres. Makemake is named after the Rapanui god of fertility. Its cycle around the Sun takes 305.34 Earth years to complete and has a radius of 444 miles, or 715 kilometres. Eris is named after the well-known Greek goddess of discord and strife. Its cycle around the Sun takes 557 Earth years to complete and it has a radius of 722 miles, or 1163 kilometres.
This article focuses on casting some light upon the more mysterious figures of Haumea and Makemake. I deem it necessary to separately analyse the astrological influences of these celestial bodies to avoid confusion and an unnecessary mixture of undecipherable information. They are the first ones to have been named in a non-traditional manner, after exotic, less-known mythological figures. As we all know, synchronism rules the universe, therefore, in the future we might need to acknowledge the fact that they perhaps appear as outcasts and enigmatic for some specific reasons.
Haumea
Hawaiian Fertility Goddess Haumea
Source: Isa Maria, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
An interesting story is linked with astronomical Haumea’s appearance in human collective consciousness. Back in 2005, two teams claimed credit for its discovery. As astrologers, we like to investigate mythological figures which happen to become associated with new astronomical discoveries. Haumea’s figure is not extremely clear to cultures foreign to the Hawaiian dimension: what is generally known is that it deeply relates to Earth, nature, creation and childbirth. There is a deep connection between this feminine mythological figure and procreation. This is a basic fact from which our research should start off.
Something very interesting is to be found behind the naming proposal made by the Spanish team: ‘Ataecina’. I consider this detail not to be overlooked because it might cast an important parallelism into our research. This name derives from a Celtic source, and it is linked to the meaning of ‘rebirth’. Connections with the Greek goddess Persephone have been found in Spain, and such may help us understand more about this symbolic parallelism.
Persephone is known for having been abducted by Hades and taken to his realm, the Underworld. She is unequivocally linked with the seasonality of nature, as she was said to rise into the realm of the living when springtime came, while she withdrew into the darkness of the Underworld during the unproductive winter months.
In Southern Italy, she was worshipped as protector of marriage and childbirth. Therefore, nature and procreation are closely linked with both Haumea and Persephone. Evidently, in Haumea there seems to be a clear identification of some form of chthonic, emotion-oriented energy which psychological astrologers would probably call dark, creational or feminine. We might find some further information in the myth of Artemis-Hekate, another chthonic goddess whose mythical imagery is at best related to our respectful relationship with nature and existence. In The Dark of the Soul: Psychopathology in the Horoscope, Liz Greene states: “Artemis revenges herself through the very nature we believe we can control. The natural opponents of Artemis in the modern world are those who attempt to manipulate the natural order. […] It is through the madness of one’s own hubris that Artemis destroys”.
Artemis’ rage is directed towards the self-aggrandised mortal by allowing for his self-inflicted downfall in response to misuse and abuse. There is obviously some form of justice within Haumea’s realm as well, and it seems to be oriented towards the correction of those attitudes which undermine our peaceful symbiosis with Nature and its regenerative processes.
So far, this simple but inclusive explanation seems to suggest that the following elements are connected with Haumea’s energy:
- On a positive note, we might encounter images related to nature and its cyclicity, blooming and decay, harvest, procreation, childbirth, marriage, genetical legacy, material wealth, abundance and wellbeing.
- Under a less constructive perspective, the expression of her mythological influence may relate to abduction, rape, manipulation, subtraction, coercive power and genetical manipulation.
Therefore, if such observations are meaningful, it seems that Haumea also deals with growth and decay, like its fellow and next-in-orbit Pluto, though from a more soul-oriented and procreational perspective.
On this cross-cultural exploration we might find interesting connections to Haumea’s shyly investigated terrain, and perhaps uncover more about how we should classify her archetypal dynamics in Western astrology. By looking at a set of well-documented astrological data, some interesting evidence may be found in those people who have been connected with similar themes in life.
The Suffragettes’ movement was established on 10 October 1903 during an extensive Neptune-Haumea conjunction in Cancer. Neptune was at a station, a factor which is definitely indicative of its heightened influence upon global consciousness. Society was undoubtedly searching for perfection within the ongoing obfuscation of family-related and nurturing ideas. This initial consideration is highly supportive of the mythological connection between the feminine world and Haumea. One of the main points advocated by the Feminist movement has always been that of abortion. This suggests an important correlation between the realm of Haumea and our interaction with the natural procreative processes.
Maria Leopoldine, Archduchess of Austria died eight days after a miscarriage. She was born under a t-square formed by a focal Venus-South Node-Haumea conjunction, Chiron and Mars. Natal Saturn was in the 5th house, reminiscent of the difficulties which pregnancy imposed on her life. When the miscarriage occurred, transiting Pluto, Saturn, Jupiter and Mercury formed a Grand Cross over the natal t-square configuration.
George Richard Tiller was the medical director of Women's Health Care Services, one of the 23% of abortion clinics in the US to provide late termination of pregnancy. He was killed by an anti-abortion activist. The natal Sun in Leo forms a close conjunction with Haumea while both form a sextile with Jupiter in Gemini and a trine with Mars in Aries. Understandably, this topic is still the object of fervent debate but from an archetypal perspective we might discern a Hubris-driven dynamic around Tiller’s influence upon a natural process of creation.
David Lee Chadwick, 12 Sep 1926, 01:55 AM PST, San Pedro, California, RR: AA - BC
David Lee Chadwick, founder of the Chadwick Center for Children and Autism Discovery in San Diego, was born with rising Haumea in Leo square Chiron in the 10th. He became an international pioneer in identifying, treating and preventing child abuse. He had six children. Chadwick’s chart shows rising Haumea in Leo forming a square with Chiron in Taurus, and a semi-sextile with Venus in Virgo.
François Jacob, 17 Jun 1920, 09:00 AM BST, Nancy, France, RR: AA - BC
The French biologist François Jacob was awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine. He was born under a partile Mars-Haumea square, intercepted by a Saturn-Uranus opposition; Saturn forms semi-squares with both Mars in the intellectual 3rd house and Haumea, sitting close to their midpoint. Jacob provided scientific evidence on the uncontrolled replication of cancerogenic cells, by studying DNA and RNA genetic information transmission.
François Jacob, 18 Dec 1895, 01:00 AM LST m2e18, Amiens, France, RR: AA - BC
Also, in the field of genetics, we find the case of Maurice Lamy, another French physician who was devoted to the study of twins, demonstrating the genetic transmission of several diseases. In 1959 he published his work on hereditary diseases of metabolism. A visionary Sagittarian, he was born under a superior Sun-Mercury conjunction which formed a tight sextile with Chiron in Libra and an opposition to Haumea in Gemini. The Sun-Mercury-Haumea configuration lies on the 3rd/9th house axis which emphasises his inclination towards study and research. The multiple resonance of Gemini-like energy may have held an important role in Lamy’s scientific interest towards twins.
Looking at a different scenario, an interesting configuration appears in Josef Mengele’s chart, the infamous ‘Angel of Death’ who carried out medical experiments at Auschwitz-Birkenau. His chart shows rising Haumea in Cancer, a few degrees away from the Ascendant. There seems to be a poignant connection between Mengele’s experimentation and Haumea’s affinity with children and genetic heredity. He reportedly used his abductive capacity with the youngest inmates, showing apparent benevolence with those he wanted to experiment upon. He was deeply interested in rare generical conditions and subversively carried out his ‘studies’ through deception and extreme sadism. When he was transferred to Auschwitz in 1943, transiting Haumea activated natal Jupiter – co-ruler of his Piscean Midheaven – via a fixed square. Also, progressed Jupiter had moved to 11° Scorpio 22’, perfecting the natal trine to rising Haumea in his chart. Transiting Makemake was on his Ascendant at that time, as it joined natal Haumea.
Makemake
With regards to Makemake (pronounced ‘markaymarkay’), we find a totally different picture. It has been suggested that both planets hold a connection with nature and environmental activism, but I consider such generic statement to be simply reductive and not sufficiently helpful to our astrological research. Mythological Makemake was the god of fertility in the Rapa Nui culture, and he was associated with creation. Due to the remoteness of Rapa Nui and its painful colonisation history, links with isolation, famines and destruction have also been made within the astrological community. Thinking symbolically, we might also need to consider the fact that Pluto, Haumea and Makemake have sequential orbits around the Sun. Therefore, I would expect Makemake to be closely related to the other two planetoids in the same way that Haumea shows connections with the Plutonian archetype. I have looked at length into the cycle of Makemake, finding astrological evidence through similarly cross-cultural mythological connections.
In the lowest forms of expression, there seems to be a connection between Makemake’s energy and megalomania which may lead to the abuse of power over the masses, extreme ideology and irrationality.
There is evidence about Makemake’s cycle being linked with large-scale events of a destructive nature; we can see that the 9/11 attacks occurred during a separating conjunction between the Sun and Makemake at 17-18° Virgo.
WTC Attack
Inner wheel: North Tower Attack, 11 Sep 2001 08:46 AM EDT. RR: A – Timed Documented Source, NYT, Wikipedia
Outer wheel: WTC Inauguration, 4 Apr 1973, 09:40 AM EST NYC. Celeste Teal’s Eclipses
The two were also connected in the WTC’s 1973 inauguration chart, locked in an applying trine in fire signs Aries-Leo. The degrees 17-18° of Virgo/Pisces were occupied by personal and outer planets in many victims’ natal charts, especially those carrying the 1960s Uranus/Pluto-Saturn/Chiron configuration. During the attacks on 11 September 2001, the Sun-Makemake midpoint was in exact opposition to the WTC inauguration’s Mercury in Pisces. At the same time, transiting Mercury opposed the WTC’s sensitive Sun-Venus-Chiron conjunction. The horary Descendant was 14° Aries, the degree of the WTC inauguration’s Sun.
On a different note, there seems to be a connection between Makemake’s energy, social estrangement and spirituality.
Pope Benedict XVI, 16 Apr 1927, 04:15 AM MET. Marktl, Germany, RR: AA - BC
Pope Benedict XVI was born with Makemake in close conjunction with the IC in Gemini. It also formed a wide conjunction with Mars in the 4th house, a square with rising Jupiter in Pisces, as well as sextiles with the Sun and Neptune. He was brought up in Nazi Germany, a land battered by political madness, in a family which disowned the dictatorship’s views. During his papacy, his views about family and marriage were extremely conservative and originated from intellectual and philosophical principles. He opposed the “dictatorship of relativism” because he said it leaves as the ultimate criterion only the self with its desires.
His papacy was divisive. He was counter-reformative, despite the global trends toward liberalisation. He challenged the status quo when he decided to resign from the papacy and live the rest of his life away from public attention to dedicate himself to study, writing and faithful devotion. (Makemake on the Gemini IC, sextile Neptune in the 6th house, sextile the Sun in the 1st.) Considering that Mars and Pluto feature within his ancestral 4th house, there is reason to suppose that the expression of Makemake’s close conjunction with the IC might have constituted a complicated task, especially during the early life of Ratzinger – his birth surname. The dissolution and complexity of his roots seem to be prominently expressed by the symbolism involved.
There seems to be a connection between social dissociation, individual differentiation and Makemake’s influence within the horoscope.
Rajneesh (known as Osho), 11 Dec 1931, 05:13 PM IST, Kutchwada, India, RR: A - From Memory
Rajneesh’s birth chart shows Makemake in the 1st house, at the influential ‘0’ degree of Cancer and in tight opposition to Mars. The nodal axis squares this configuration. Osho, in his tantric teachings, talked a lot about ecstasy. Also, he promoted a different view of spirituality and with his flamboyant side-behaviour he became the object of profound controversy. He claimed that the ecstatic man is not revolutionary, but a rebel; he justified this with the fact that the rebel needs no rules and believes in the natural order of things.
Along with his Plutonian complexes, which inspired a controversial and obsessive thirst for wealth and control, he counted on a liberal attitude towards sexuality, which he saw as a sacred element of life.
Within the scientific field we find Albert Hoffman, a chemist who became known as the father of LSD. He synthesised the drug on 16 November 1938 during a tight Makemake-Chiron conjunction in Cancer. His natal chart shows an almost exact Makemake-Jupiter conjunction in the 11th house which forms a tight sesquiquadrate with Venus, as well as loose squares with Saturn and the nodal axis.
Franz Mesmer was a German physician known to have been a pioneer in the practice of hypnotism. His ‘séances’, in which he ‘magnetized’ his patients, were fashionable in Paris during the 1780s. However, the medical community always saw him as a fraud. He was born with Makemake conjunct Pluto and Haumea, opposite Venus, trine Neptune, sextile Uranus, semi-square Jupiter. The partile Haumea-Venus opposition and the applying Haumea-Sun sesquiquadrate might suggest a possible reference to his hypnotic practices, in terms of charismatic abduction and control gained over the patient’s mind.
Anton Kollisch, 16 Mar 1888, 02:00 AM, Mannheim, Germany, RR: AA - BC
Anton Kollisch was a German chemist who, whilst working for the pharmaceutical giant Merck, first described the synthesis of the chemical MDMA, which would later become known as the drug Ecstasy. Interestingly, his short life of 28 years – less than a Saturn cycle – poignantly resonates with the difficult placement of Saturn within the natal horoscope. Along with other important configurations, his chart shows a remarkable t-square between Mars on the Midheaven, Makemake on the IC and Saturn in the 7th house. Makemake also forms a sextile with Chiron on the Descendant. On 24 December 1912, a patent was filed for his synthetisations. In that period, Eris was conjunct his natal Sun, a transiting Jupiter-Pluto opposition activated his natal Chiron and aligned closely with the Ascendant/Descendant axis. Natal Makemake was being influenced by transits of Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto while transiting Makemake opposed natal Jupiter, his chart ruler. The Jupiterian force at play seems to have been resonant with his zealous and socially impactful research. The future effects of his discovery would be remarkable; in his case we find another link between Makemake and Neptune-like elements of self-undoing and collective madness.
There seems to be a close connection between Makemake’s influence and scientific research on hypnotism and hallucinogens.
Carlos Castañeda, 25 Dec 1925, 09:00 AM EST, Cajamarca, Peru, RR: AA - BC
By digging deeply into the subject, we can clearly find an intimate connection between this planetoid and nature. Evidence has been collected about Makemake’s resonance with environmental activism. However, it seems to be linked also with spiritual curative practices and shamanism. The following is the natal chart of Peruvian-American anthropologist and mystic Carlos Castañeda. Makemake is in Gemini in the 5th house, at the apex of a Minor Grand Trine with Neptune and Chiron. A Yod with Saturn in Scorpio in the 10h (apex) and Chiron in Aries in the 3rd appears as well. He was born under a lengthy generational Makemake-Uranus square. During the late 1960s, under the ground-breaking Uranus-Pluto/Saturn-Chiron dance in Virgo/Pisces, that generational square was recalled quite powerfully. In fact, this generation highly contributed to the discovery of ‘altered states of consciousness’, helping the scientific community establish a deeper connection with the traditional use of natural curative remedies. In 1968/69, when Castañeda’s most famous book was published, Makemake formed an extensive square to the natal Moon in the 3rd house of communication and research while Pluto made a retrograde station in square to natal Makemake. His works describe alternate realities and awakened wide interest in New Age spirituality. Highly reclusive all his life, Castañeda always avoided the spotlight. He offered a new thesis on a mind-state he called “total freedom” and claims that he used the teachings of his shaman as “springboards into new horizons of cognition”.
From a scientific point of view, the exploration of ancient healing techniques and opioids takes us to the figure of Claudio Naranjo, a Chilean-born psychiatrist who is considered a pioneer in integrating psychotherapy and spiritual traditions. He was born under a Yod made by focal Makemake in Cancer, a visionary Sun in Sagittarius and socially-oriented Saturn in Aquarius. There seems to be a humanitarian, original and adventurous streak to this configuration. Naranjo introduced “fantasy enhancing drugs” into psychotherapy. He set off on a special journey by canoe up the Amazon River to study with the South American Indians. He brought back samples of natural drugs and published the first scientific description of their effects. The accidental death of his only son in 1970 marked a turning-point in his life. Naranjo set off on a six-month pilgrimage in the Chilean desert, which he considered the true beginning of his spiritual experience. His 1969 Solar Return shows three tight configurations: a Makemake-Mars opposition, Chiron square natal Makemake and trine the natal Sun.
The following observations seem to arise from this early analysis of the complex nature of astrological Makemake.
From an emotional point of view, we may identify elements of mass hysteria, madness, trance-like states, spiritual ecstasy, hallucinations, megalomania, metaphysical connections, mediumistic abilities, hypnosis, and most importantly, dissociation from the norm.
From a social perspective we may sense elements of chaos, megalomania, genocide, extreme idealism, irrationality, sacrificial endeavours, healing practices, pilgrimage and ritual.
Any qualities which might tend towards what society scornfully deems as ‘madness’ oftentimes become the object of ‘scapegoating’ phenomena, because they embody a serious threat to the ego and its ability to maintain control over life. That which is feared is perhaps exceptional and divine because it can liberate us from those patterns which prevent one from reaching higher levels of consciousness.
Overall, evidence suggests of a deep connection between Makemake’s cycle and the development of ecstatic, unsettling and often scapegoating dynamics. To the mythologically conversant astrologer, this at least partially resonates with the essence of Dionysus, the Greek God of Wine and Ecstasy.
As Eleutherius (the liberator), his wine, music and ecstatic dance are said to unbind his followers from self-conscious fear and subvert the oppressions of life. Those who partook of his mysteries were believed to become possessed by the god himself, through a rush of unworldly madness which might either lead to bliss or destruction.
He was often portrayed as the god who crossed the boundary between the civilised and uncivilised worlds, the known and unknown dimensions of existence. He was represented as a god of chaos and the protector of misfits. He was generally benevolent towards Mankind, but he could be cruel if necessary.
He traditionally represents the productive, overflowing and intoxicating power of nature, which carries Man away from his sober mode of living.
It is important to note that Pluto and Haumea are going to be engaged in a waxing square for years to come. In this aspect we can perhaps distinguish the ongoing forward push in bio-technology and artificial intelligence. It was during the extraordinary triple conjunction between Pluto, Haumea and Makemake of the early 1730s that people like Franz Mesmer were born. That revolutionary seed is still being developed. In fact, these cycles have been teaching us a lot about the unseen workings of nature and the power of genetic consciousness.
Notes:
Astronomical information quoted from solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/overview/.
Historical information quoted from Wikipedia. Timing of 9/11 confirmed at: nytimes.com.
Greek mythological information quoted from: theoi.com.
Natal chart data from AstroDatabank. Charts supplied by the author.
Rodden Rating, source and birth details are reported under each chart representation.
Chart representations created with astrological software: Solar Fire v9.0.26:
House system: Placidus
Mean Node calculation
No Parallax correction applied to the Moon.
Charts not shown for the following:
George R. Tiller, 8 Aug 1941, Noon Chart CST, Wichita, Kansas, RR: X – Birth date and place from Wikipedia.
Josef Mengele, 16 Mar 1911, 11:45 AM CET, Gunzburg, Germany, RR: AA – BC.
Maria L. Archduchess of Austria, 22 Jan 1797, 07:30 AM, Vienna, Austria, RR: A – news report – by AstroDatabank.
Albert Hoffman, 11 Jan 1906, 03:00 PM CET, Baden, Switzerland, RR: A – From Memory.
Claudio Naranjo, 24 Nov 1932, Noon Chart, AST Valparaiso, Chile, RR: X – Birth Date and Place from Wikipedia.
Published by: The Astrological Journal, Sep/Oct 2023
Author:
Stefano Stracuzzi is Italian and works as a tutor for the Faculty of Astrological Studies. In 2022 he gained the Faculty Diploma with distinction, winning the Melanie Reinhart Award for an exceptionally good live consultation. Since 2020, on his blog Global Evolution Astrology, he has published content about his mundane research, which includes studies on financial, political and social trends, as well as seismic events. Also, he is the author of two books: The Cosmic Journey: Astrology Beyond the Self and Mundane Astrology: Outer Cycles Beyond Pluto. Website: globalevolutionastrology.com.
© Stefano Stracuzzi, Astrological Journal, 2023
