Saturday, May 4, 2013The Dark Side of Pallas |
Most astrologers who acknowledge the asteroid Pallas automatically assume the name refers to Pallas Athena, classical goddess of wisdom, defensive battle, intelligent self-restraint, etc.. Athena is the most important archetype to associate with Pallas, but there is another Pallas worthy of consideration by astrologers who wish to understand the asteroid: Pallas the Titan. Pallas the Titan (Titans were the predecessors of the classical Gods) was an embodiment of war. His son was Kratos, an embodiment of power, whose name is the root word for words describing political entities: "demoCRATic", "autoCRATic", "bureauCRATic". This is interesting because libertarians hold that "war is the health of the state" and that government and war are kin. In some myths, Athena fought and slew Pallas the Titan: a symbolic victory of reason over force, of peace over war. In astrological practice, it is aspects to Pallas which indicate to what degree each of the two mythical Pallases is active. The Sun, Mercury, and the North Node bring out the protective, logical, and peaceful Pallas Athena. Her energy is strong in the charts of peacemakers and libertarians such as MLK, John Lennon, and Ron Paul. Pluto, the South Node, and hard aspects from Jupiter bring out the powerful brute Pallas the Titan. His energy is strong in the charts of warmongers, authoritarians, and criminals such as Adolf Hitler, Mao Tse-Tung, and Barack Obama. In this way, each of us represents a different view of the struggle between reason and force. What view each of us represents is readily visible on the astrological birth chart to the astrologer who knows how to look for it. Write to me at "alan" + "@" + "zot.net". Weblog Index Home |