posted January 06, 2005 10:37 AM              

gloria posted this link some time ago, like a week before the shower, and i can't find her post so i'm starting a new thread and reposting the link.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/06dec_geminids.htm

so as some of you already knew, on the night of december 13 there was a meteor shower involving the asteroid 3200 phaethon. i don't know if anyone else got to see it, but on that particular night i was driving toward big bend national park in texas, in the middle of NOWHERE, TEXAS (really, i was in probably somewhere past junction, texas) and i got to see several "shooting stars"! they were so beautiful. they were bigger and brighter than any shooting star i've ever seen, and moments after i saw the streaking light across the sky, i could still see a ghost trail. it was lovely. i only saw a few - it was sometime around 11 pm.

i don't know anything about the mythology of 3200 phaethon, but i'm looking into it. in the past couple months i've been interested in asteroid mythology and have been reading a bunch.

did anyone else get to see this event?

posted January 07, 2005 11:43 AM              

"The so-called Trojan asteroids lie in two clouds, one moving 60° ahead of Jupiter in its orbit and the other 60° behind. In 1977 the asteroid 2060 Chiron was discovered in an orbit between that of Saturn and Uranus. Asteroids that intersect the orbit of Mars are called Amors; asteroids that intersect the orbit of Earth are known as Apollos; and asteroids that have orbits smaller than Earth's orbit are called Atens. One of the largest inner asteroids is 443 Eros, an elongated body measuring 13 by 33 km (8 by 21 mi). The peculiar Apollo asteroid 3200 Phaethon, about 5 km (about 3 mi) wide, approaches the Sun more closely, at 20.9 million km (13.9 million mi), than any other known asteroid. It is also associated with the yearly return of the Geminid stream of meteors."

"3200 Phaethon (sometimes incorrectly spelled Phaeton) is an Apollo and Mercury-, Venus- and Mars-crosser asteroid with unusual properties, and may be an extinct comet.

Phaethon's most remarkable distinction is that it approaches the Sun closer than any other numbered asteroid. It was named after the Greek myth of Phaëton, son of the sun god Helios.

It is classified as an Apollo asteroid but is believed to be an inactive or extinct comet nucleus.

Phaethon will approach relatively close to the Earth on December 14, 2093, passing within 0.0194 AU (2.9 Gm)."

some mythology-related info:

"In Greek mythology, Phaëton or Phaethon ('shining'), was the son of Helios (Phoebus, the 'shining one', an epithet later assumed by Apollo), or of Clymenus by Merope or Clymene.

Alternatively, Eos bore Cephalus a son, named Phaëthon but Aphrodite stole him away while he was no more than a child, to be the night-watchman at her most sacred shrines. The Cretans called him Adymus, by which they meant the morning and evening star (Hesiod, Theogony, 986; Solinus, xi:9; Nonnus, Dionysiaca, xi:131 and xii:217).

Phaeton bragged to his friends that his father was the sun-god. His friends refused to believe him and so Phaeton went to his father Helios, who promised him anything he should ask for. Phaeton wanted to drive his chariot (the sun) for a day. Though Helios tried to talk him out of it, Phaeton was adamant. When the day came, Phaeton panicked and lost control of the white horses that drew the chariot. First it veered too high, so that the earth grew chill. Then it dipped too close, and the vegetation dried and burned. He accidentally turned most of Africa into desert; burning the skin of the Ethiopians black. Eventually, Zeus was forced to intervene by striking the runaway chariot with a lightning bolt to stop it, and Phaëthon plunged into the river Eridanus (the Po). His friend, Cycnus, grieved so, that the gods turned him into a swan. His sisters, the Heliades, also grieved and were turned into alder trees, or poplars according to Virgil; their tears became amber.

The moral of the tale is a later addition. In earlier, Homeric references, (Iliad xi:735; Odyssey v:479) Phaëthon is simply another name for Helios himself. The substitution of Apollo for Helios as sun god occurred later than this legend.

The motif of the fallen star must have been familiar in Israel, for Isaiah referred to it in admonishing the king of Babylon for his pride (Isaiah 14:12ff). The Jewish Encyclopedia reports that 'it is obvious that the prophet in attributing to the Babylonian king boastful pride, followed by a fall, borrowed the idea from a popular legend connected with the morning star'. The falling star image reappears in John's Apocalypse without a name. In the 4th century Jerome's translation of the 'morning star' as 'Lucifer' carried the fallen star myth-element into Christian mythology. For fuller details, see Lucifer."

i checked phaethon in my chart and it's at aries 27° in my 7th house. i don't really know how to interpret that yet, but it's pretty interesting i suppose because i have a couple of other important asteroids in my 7th house: eros and amor. eros is conjunct my DC.

anyone else have any thoughts on phaethon? what sign/house is it in? is it conjuncting anything? kinda neat stuff.

i have an asteroid encyclopedia that i meant to check last night but didnt, but i will this weekend and ill let you guys know if it says anything else interesting.

sincerely,
chrissy

posted January 07, 2005 01:11 PM              

My Phaethon is in Gemini in the 2nd House. I have no Planets in my 2nd House > Ruled by Mercury > my Natal Mercury in Scorpio is in my 6th House. The 6th House is Ruled by Mercury, same as Gemini.

Phaethon is Trine my Mars in Scorpio, Sextile my Singleton (only Fire) Uranus in Leo in my 4th.

The only other thing I have in Gemini is my Vesta (energy investment), and perhaps combined with Phaethon being Trine my Mars in Scorpio - it really points to the essence of my being a writer, especially since also Sextile my Uranus in Leo.

posted January 10, 2005 03:45 PM              

i've done a little bit of reading, and it strikes me how phaethon's story sounds similar to the story of icarus. the activation of the ego was partially to blame for the consequences they both suffered, but with icarus it was because there was a NEED to be free, whereas with phaethon there was a need to prove something.

another part of the mythology surrounding phaethon is that aphrodite found phaethon so beautiful that she ravaged him before seating him at her temple.

From Treehouse Mountain:

PHAETHON - Instances that involve cars, transport, driving; other forms of recklessness—feeling out of control—as though you’ve taken on more than you can handle; having trouble keeping to the middle of the road!

incidentally, they call phaethon the “crash and burn” asteroid.

this is interesting as phaethon is in my 7th house. i really havent had but a couple of serious relationships, but i guess i've had a quite a lot of mediocre involvements that have started very quickly and ended the same way. it's a bit of a pattern for me.

the only significant contact phaethon makes in my chart that i can see off the top of my head (besides being in an angular house) is that it trines my sag moon by less than a degree. im still thinking about that one.