Eris is a small planet which was discovered in 2003. Her Roman name was Discordia – she is the goddess who, when not invited to a wedding, began the Trojan War by throwing a golden apple marked “for the fairest” into a circle of goddesses, beginning a dispute that threw Greece into turmoil for ten years. (Read more about the mythology of Eris here.) Eris moves very slowly – its orbital cycle is 560 years which is more than twice as long as Pluto’s orbit – so its influence appears to coincide with small, seemingly minor, events which create great chaos and disrupt the status quo.
The symbolism of Eris as the goddess who became angry when she didn’t receive a wedding invitation and retaliated by starting the Trojan War was eerily reflected in the fact that the discovery of Eris correlated to the time when a hanging chad changed the fate of US history and ushered in 20 years of war. You can see that she’s a wild character under which seemingly random incidents change the course of history.
Uranus in Aries conjoined Eris between 2015 and 2017, and I wrote about that here before Trump was elected. Uranus and Eris are both disruptors, but where Uranus seeks to disrupt our lives where we have become stuck, Eris seems to disrupt just for the sake of shaking things up to see where everything will land afterwards. At the time I wrote:
Under this influence (until early 2017), the very fabric of our lives is being shaken and stirred and it will be ever more necessary to find ways to adapt. The world is changing – we are at the cusp of a new age in Aquarius, and the past is falling away at an ever-increasing pace.
The election of Donald J. Trump to the presidency is about the most Uranus conjunct Eris thing that I can imagine. No matter how you feel about him it can’t be denied that the disruption and discord that his presidency has brought has changed the political landscape around the world.
Beginning in January, Pluto began a challenging square (90 degree) cycle to Eris. Pluto, the planet of destruction and transformation, has been pretty powerful ever since it moved into Capricorn in 2008. The challenging square from Uranus to Pluto lasted for seven years, between 2010 and 2017, and in itself created some powerful socioeconomic shift. The conjunction in Capricorn (societal structures) of Saturn to Pluto in January coincided with the eruption of the Covid-19 virus and was followed shortly afterwards by the square first from Saturn to Eris, and then from Pluto to Eris at the end of January. With both Saturn (tests and challenges) and Pluto (destruction that paves the way for transformation) in conflict with Eris (discord and chaos), we would not have expected those days to be smooth sailing. And in fact, there were not.
The Covid-19 virus itself seems to embody the discordant nature of Eris. It doesn’t follow any rules. It can’t be predicted in any way. It affects every patient differently. There are a myriad of symptoms that seem disconnected. It erupted, seemingly out of nowhere, quite suddenly and has spread like wildfire. Just as the golden apple of Eris began the Trojan War and transformed the political landscape of Europe and Asia, Covid-19 will likely create long-lasting transformation to global society. Since we are in the doorway to the Age of Aquarius, it seems likely that the destruction and transformation caused by the spread of this virus will pave the way for the shift in ages. The sudden advent of electronic contact tracing and robots in shops and hospitals are one sign of this doorway to Aquarius, with its focus on science and technology as well as the tendency to control the masses in order to achieve an ideal civilization. Aquarius, the opposite of Leo which is all about the individual, tends to be willing to sacrifice the individual for the sake of the collectively.
Meanwhile, there’s so much going on astrologically right now it can be difficult to say what’s what. Is this the conjunction of Jupiter to Pluto? Or the fact that Saturn is involved? And what part does Eris play?
The synchronicity between the mythology of the planets and the astrological significance is always fascinating to me. The envy of Eris with being left out of the wedding party seems to resonate with the oppression of minorities in today’s world who have been left out of the ongoing economic boom that has made many people wealthy beyond imagining. With Covid-19 spreading around the world, many have already died (Pluto) and many more will die. Still more will experience economic devastation. But history tells us that pandemics are nearly always associated with significant societal transformation. The Black Death of the 14th century resulted in higher wages for workers and greater equality among the classes as the nobility could no longer afford the massive numbers of serfs to work their properties. The current uprising against racism that is taking place around the world could transform the global landscape in ways we cannot imagine.
One important thing to remember about Pluto: the transformation it brings is rarely easy, but we nearly always look back and can see that the creative destruction wrought by Pluto paved the way for positive change.
By the book, I am not supposed to feel “old” at age 64, but the reality is that I do and all I can pray and hope for is to see some great changes to come hopefully in this decade. I think about the adolescents and children who hopefully, will be the beneficiaries of these changes but only if those aged 50 , maybe aged 40 and older who have studied the past whether it’s their own families or history in general, have knowledge and are willing to share and for the young to be willing to listen
I’m even older than you but I see things differently. There are plenty of older people who are very short-sighted and unwilling to adapt to these changing times. I have high hopes for the young people who will adapt more easily to the world as it transforms around us.
Thank you for responding. Maybe it’s my Cancer moon or Capricorn ASC in the Natal chart; I can’t say. But at age 20 I started feeling “old” like ” ready for glue factory ” old. Believe me, my Sagittarian Mother really got ANGRY about it, taking it as a personal affront to her, especially when she asked me about ” when were the happiest days of my life ” and I said age 4!
I have to say despite a trine to my Pisces Sun and upcoming conjunction to my Cancer moon, all of this water energy sure feels overwhelming to my Mercury in Aquarius . I appreciate what you’re saying and I try hard to learn from seniors, see their experiences but not get engulfed in them. Take good care.
Love these reflections. I hadn’t thought of Covid being Eris-like and the comparison is thought-provoking.
As an aside, my glance caught the list of candidates you profiled earlier this year. I read each one eagerly as you posted them. Now, that times seems a decade ago at least!
You’re right Valerie! You might be happy to know I’m working on an article about Biden’s VP potential pick. I hope I finish it before he actually decides!
Can you please speak to the astrology of Juneninthtee?
Hi Patricia, I don’t really know how I would approach a discussion of the astrology of Juneteenth. The holiday comes from the date when the Union military freed the last of the slaves and was originally celebrated just in Texas, but the date wasn’t celebrated as a holiday more nationally until the 1980s. The astrology of Juneteenth this year will be the astrology of the day rather than the holiday. Please clarify your question, thanks!
Hi Lynn.
Will you be writing about the age Aquarius, whether it means the expansion of human consciousness moving us or transcending beyond our current reality or if it means the deep state or Illuminati vision will prevail. Or something in between? Things will be different but are we being liberated or enslaved. Where I work and the condo where I live are managed by a patriarchal and autocratic rule mirroring our country. It’s oppressive for many people in addition to race. Do you or will you write about what astrology says about that??
Also in paragraph. 7 you end mid sentence. Was particularly interested in your idea here. Thanks for your wisdom.
Hi Hollie, I did update the post where I had trailed off, thanks for the heads up! And I have written a lot about the age of Aquarius. Here are the archives, beginning with the most recent article: https://www.astrodynamics.net/category/planetary-cycles/age-of-aquarius/
Whether it brings elevated consciousness or political repression depends so much on the choices that humans make and I suspect that over the approximately 2150 years of the age of Aquarius we will shift back and forth between the higher road and the lower, just as humans have for the thousands of years of known history. ❤️
I’m seeing something different as a result of Eris and discord. The Silent Majority is being awakened and that awakening is bringing awareness that racism is not the real issue, where change is not coming; it has come. Violence and destruction are not going to result in any benefit to those who embrace Eris’ discord. The average American citizen has accepted and grown for generations and seen Blacks make great strides in income and equality. Television advertisements with positive and disproportionate minorities, media awards, millionaire entertainers, minorities included on every panel, in every television series and the admiration of Black athletes are examples of the equality achieved. There’s a very small minority who are still in a victim mentality and situation brought about by people who still gain notoriety and importance in perpetuating misinformation. America woke up in the sixties and has continually progressed with biracial relationships the norm, not the exception. A disgruntled ineffective football quarterback brought attention to a long gone issue, because he wasn’t as talented as needed to be first string any longer. Interesting and fascinating impact of Eris.
This is more a political comment than an astrological comment, and I prefer to keep politics out of the discussion if possible. There is no way to keep a political discussion from devolving into negativity these days.
Good point Lynn. I will bite my tongue and reflect on my own history and biases