Makemake in Astrology

Keyword: Earth Issues

This is the second new planet, or dwarf planet, or "plutoid," to be officially named, after being referred to as "Easter bunny" for three years by its discoverer, Mike Brown. The official name refers to the creation god of Easter Island, or Rapa Nui. In size somewhat smaller than either Pluto or Eris, this planet follows a new 21st century tradition of naming some of these new planets from the traditions of indigenous peoples, rather than more classically from the Greco-Roman pantheon of gods and goddesses. The period of Makemake is 310 years. Like Eris, Makemake was discovered near the farthest point of its highly elliptical orbit, and incidentally in an exact inconjunct or 150-degree aspect from Eris within 2 minutes of a degree of longitude.

As the creation god of Rapa Nui, Makemake symbolizes a connection with environmental sagacity that is entirely appropriate for the troubled earth times surrounding its discovery. This is because Rapa Nui is known as a society that denuded their isolated island environment entirely of trees before Europeans discovered what became known as Easter Island. Of course the island culture is also famous for the multitude of incredibly large stone heads that were carved and erected there. The myth involving their creation god includes a form of worship in which a Birdman was selected from tribal elders each year. Claimants would select a representative from the best of the young warriors, who would compete by climbing a large cliff and by swimming to a neighboring islet, a dangerous journey, wearing a headdress designed for the purpose of fetching the first bird egg of the season back with him to finish the race. Once his representative returned victorious, the selected Birdman would meditate in a hut for a year and bring the visions he encountered back to his culture. Makemake is a male God, yet with a strong female component. Taking this segment of ritual practice as an indication of this new planetary energy, we could speculate that the archetype associated with Makemake involves delving down into the dark interior of the psyche in order to obtain a more passive and feminist form of received wisdom to be merged with the warrior male outer-oriented energy of the ego. This wisdom can only be found in the inner world, a world that is also represented by other astronomically similar bodies at the far edge of the Solar System. Where he is found in charts there can be found also the wisdom of the earth and the capacity for spiritual renewal.

The astrology of Makemake is related to love of the natural world and to the activism associated with defending the environment. This archetype thus signals a profound connection to nature that is quite similar to the archetype of Haumea, his fellow traveler in the Kuiper Belt, with the same astronomical designation and also named from the pantheon of indigenous gods and goddesses. Indeed, these two are possessed of quite similar orbital periods, being only a little longer than their far better understood cousin, Pluto. They travel around the Zodiac in recent centuries with Haumea leading, and a separation of 20 to 40 degrees. As the male God of the pair, and seemingly the more militant of the two, Makemake is associated with the wisdom of the natural world, and also the activist stand for advancing important earth issues, highlighted in this 21st century.

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Makemake in Astrology

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