Dwarf Planets as Higher Octaves

by Alan Clay

When Uranus and Neptune, the first outer planets, were discovered, one way of understanding these new energies was the concept of a “higher octave.”1 According to the theory of higher octaves, the energy of an inner planet gets expressed at a more spiritual level. Uranus was considered the higher octave of Mercury and Neptune the higher octave of Venus. After Pluto was discovered, it became known as a higher octave of Mars. However, this idea of higher octaves has lost importance as our understanding of the outer planets has developed and matured through empirical study. Much like the entry of the outers, the new dwarf planets represent new aspects of consciousness that are gradually becoming available to us in the years since their discovery. As such, it requires effort to integrate these new aspects into our existing consciousness, which means the dwarf planets manifest differently in each of our lives according to our current level of consciousness. I suggest that we can use the model of higher octaves as a good shorthand way of understanding the significance of the new dwarf planets. In this article, I’ll walk through four case studies, exploring Makemake, Haumea, Eris, and Sedna, to demonstrate how to apply this in practice.

Makemake – Uranus – Mercury

We can think of Makemake — a quick-witted, quasi-trickster, who can give us a devotional focus bordering on genius — as the higher octave of Uranus, which traditionally is the higher octave of Mercury. We see the focus on mental ability and trickster tendencies in all three of these bodies. Now, if these three planets are higher octaves of one another, we would expect to find them singing in chorus in major events in our lives. Let’s examine these three octaves in the chart of the father of computer science and artificial intelligence, Alan Turing, for the date his seminal paper was received by the London Mathematical Society, May 28, 1936.2 (See Chart 1).

“Ladies will take their computers for walks”

Alan Turing was an English mathematician, cryptologist, and philosopher who worked for Britain’s codebreaking centre during WW2. He is credited with formalising the concepts of algorithm and computation with his Turing Machine, which broke the German code. Almost 100 years ago he predicted, “One day ladies will take their computers for walks in the park and tell each other, ‘My little computer said such a funny thing this morning.’”3

In his natal chart, Turing has Uranus conjunct his MC, with Makemake conjunct his ASC, and Mercury in the 2nd house. Makemake is semi-sextile Mercury and trine Uranus, so the three octaves are actively aligned with each other and with the angles in his chart. On the day his seminal paper was received, transiting Uranus in the 12th was closely sextile his natal Mercury in the 2nd, and transiting Makemake was conjunct his Mercury, within 2°. So, we can see right there, the resonance between these three planets.

Transiting lunar North Node in the 8th house of shared energies and resources was semi-sextile his natal Uranus–MC conjunction, reiterating the reception of his paper as a fateful turning point in his life. While transiting Mercury in the 1st was also sextile his natal Sedna, the planet that I suggest rules AI, in his 12th house of institutions. At the same time, Uranus was transiting through his 12th house, activating both the other octaves, sextile his natal Mercury and semi-sextile his Makemake.

Uranus was also transiting sextile his natal Varuna, the planet of sovereignty, which I think of as the higher octave of Saturn, in the 11th house of collective consciousness. Intriguingly, Makemake transiting his 2nd house of material reality was also trine his natal Varuna that day. Varuna signifies the notability derived from having an impact. Here we see both the higher octaves making flows, predicting the fame his breakthrough would bring.

The importance of Makemake is especially emphasised, with transiting Sun in the 1st house closely conjunct his natal Makemake and transiting Makemake conjunct his natal 2nd-house Sun within 3°. Makemake was also transiting closely sesquiquadrate his Part of Fortune, semi-sextile his ASC, and conjunct his Mercury within 2°, with the conjunction becoming exact over the next few years as he realised his seminal ideas.

So, I suggest we do see the resonance between these three planets, and I commend Makemake to you as a higher octave of Uranus.

Haumea – Neptune – Venus

Haumea, named after the Hawaiian goddess, is alive with spirit and connects us with the magical regenerative power present in each moment, and as such, I suggest Haumea is the higher octave of Neptune, which traditionally is the higher octave of Venus. We see a love of beauty and of values in each of these planets, expressed in the personal realm by Venus, at a more spiritual level by Neptune, and on an even more esoteric level by Haumea.

Haumea is the goddess of rebirth, the guardian goddess of the island of Hawaii. In myth she possesses a magic that ensures a never-ending food supply, and she repeatedly transforms herself from an old woman to a young girl, marrying one of her offspring each time and thereby giving birth to continuous generations of humans. We’ll come back to this at the end of this case study.

“I Have a Dream”

Now, let’s see if we can find Haumea, Neptune, and Venus singing in chorus in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s chart on the day he gave the “I Have a Dream” speech, August 28, 1963. (See Chart 2, **).

Natally, Dr. King has Venus in the 11th house of collective consciousness, in a wide opposition to Neptune in the 5th house of creativity, which is in a close semi-sextile with Haumea in the 4th house of home, so again the three octaves are actively aligned. On the day of the speech, Venus and Haumea were conjunct in the sky, with both conjunct his natal Neptune within 2° — a powerful display of the higher octave resonance.

In the chart of a spiritually evolved person like Dr. King, the quintiles (72°) represent evolutionary flow. On the day of his landmark speech, transiting Neptune was quintile his natal Neptune, showing the evolutionary spiritual opportunity of the moment, and it was also quintile his Sun in the 9th house of belief, showing that he was the man of that moment.

Referencing the crisis that Dr. King was addressing in his speech, transiting Neptune was also in a stressful opposition to his ASC, square his natal Mercury in the 10th house of society, and sesquiquadrate Varuna, the higher octave of Saturn, on the 12th-house cusp.

Transiting Neptune was also sextile Quaoar, the planet of “new perspectives,” which we can think of as the higher octave of Jupiter, in the 5th house of creativity. Quaoar is our first non-gendered planet, a supreme god of the Tongva people indigenous to California, who sings and dances a new reality out of the chaos of existence.

Meanwhile, transiting Mercury in the 6th house of service was sextile Dr. King’s natal Haumea in the 4th, and semi-sextile his natal Neptune in the 5th, drawing on both the higher octaves for his speech. Transiting Sedna, who I think represents our “soul’s path of destiny” in this life, formed a supportive trine to Neptune, so he was fulfilling his spiritual destiny with his visionary words. Sedna was also in a demanding square to Haumea, indicating the long spiritual road ahead to achieve that dream.

Transiting Haumea was strongly activating Dr. King’s birth chart. In addition to conjoining Neptune, she was also semi-sextile her natal position, trine Jupiter in the 12th house of the collective unconscious, and quintile Mars in the 2nd. Haumea was also inconjunct Uranus in the 12th and semi-square Pluto in the 3rd house of ideas and communication. These aspects speak of a rebirth, which is centred in a dream and of a stressful relationship with power that would expand in the collective unconscious through his evolutionary actions in the material world.

Remember, transiting Venus and transiting Haumea were conjunct in the sky, so Venus reinforces this narrative with the same aspects, but also adds an evolutionary bi-quintile to Dr. King’s MC. He was at the right place at the right time. Transiting Eris, the higher octave of Pluto, in the 12th was closely semi-sextile his natal Venus in the 11th. Eris is a truth-teller, and in the 12th house she promotes deep spiritual truths. While Varuna, the higher octave of Saturn, in the 1st, quintiles his Venus. Varuna is about ruling without the need of control or power, and that sort of sovereignty brings a genuine notability, as exemplified by Dr. King.

According to late US Representative John Lewis, who also spoke that day as the president of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, “Dr. King had the power, the ability, and the capacity to transform those steps on the Lincoln Memorial into a monumental area that will forever be recognised. By speaking the way he did, he educated, he inspired, he informed not just the people there, but people throughout America and unborn generations.”4

Here, we see the three octaves expressed, the education with Venus at the personal level, the inspiration of Neptune at the social/spiritual level, and the “reaching out to unborn generations” by the goddess of rebirth, Haumea, at an even more spiritual level.

Eris – Pluto – Mars

Eris, the truth-telling activist, is definitely a higher octave of her brother Mars. Both are warriors, but where Mars fights mundane enemies, Eris works to free us through esoteric confrontations, creating situations at the unconscious level where we have to stop being fooled, or stop fooling ourselves.

Traditionally, dwarf planet Pluto is the higher octave of Mars, making Eris the logical higher octave of Pluto. The Lord of the Underworld has an inclination of 17° to the ecliptic and Eris has an inclination of 44°, so she cuts through reality even more sharply than Pluto. All three planets share an assertiveness and a transformative ability.

“Foster Recognition of Universal Spiritual Principles”

Let’s see if we can find these three planets singing in chorus in Alice Bailey’s chart when she founded her Arcane School. (See Chart 3). Bailey coined the term “New Age,” so the start of her school can be considered the birth of the New Age Movement. Again, I suggest we see the three octaves working together in the transits to her chart that day.

Bailey grew up in a wealthy, middle class, British family and received an Anglican education, becoming a devoted missionary worker and Sunday school teacher. When she was 35, she joined the Theosophical Society and began to study H. P. Blavatsky’s Secret Doctrines. A few years later she met a spirit guide who identified himself as a Tibetan master called Djwhal Khul, and she wrote a series of “ageless wisdom books,” which she described as his teachings.

Natally, Bailey had Mars conjunct her ASC, in a close quintile to her Pluto in the 10th house of occupation, which in turn is in a close quintile to her Eris in the 8th house of the occult. Mars and Eris are, therefore, in a close bi-quintile, so the three octaves are strongly aligned with evolutionary flows in her chart.

An 8th-house Eris at the unconscious level can encourage materialist greed, an interest in kinky sex, and a desire to sow chaos in collective energies. However, Bailey demonstrates how, at the spiritually evolved level, Eris in the 8th house is in touch with deep truths and can bring them into our world. In doing this, Eris enriches and catalyses our collective energies, enlivening them and inspiring new faith.

Bailey established the Lucis Trust, which ran her Arcane School, on April 5, 1922. It was created “as a vehicle to foster recognition of the universal spiritual principles at the heart of all work to build right relations.”5 On that day she had transiting Eris in the 9th house of belief and higher education, sextile her natal Pluto in the 10th, within 1°. At the highest level, Pluto in the 10th is into social transformation, and the “occult guidance” from her natal Eris in the 8th gave form to that in the school.

We don’t tend to think of dwarf planet Pluto as spiritual because we often experience his energy at the unconscious level, but just like the other dwarfs, he manifests differently depending on our conscious level. At the highest level, Pluto in the 10th isn’t into power in our normal sense of the word, but rather a spiritual power so strong it can effect social transformation. It is a bit like a fierce grace. I say “a bit” because this is a term I reserve for Eris at the highest level.

On that April day, Bailey had Pluto transiting through the 11th house of collective consciousness, closely semi-sextile her natal Mars, which is conjunct her ASC. So, her transformative consciousness mission was flowing with her actions and behaviour. Transiting Pluto was also closely quintile Bailey’s natal Saturn in the 10th, giving her teaching a new structure and taking it to a new evolutionary level. Pluto also conjoined her South Node in the 11th house, within a degree, transforming her karmic power in the collective consciousness and setting up her destiny with the opposition to her North Node.

Mars, meanwhile, was transiting through her 5th house, closely trine her MC and closely bi-quintile her Neptune in the 10th, so her actions that day were streamlined with her place in society and in an evolutionary flow with her spiritual vision and her occupation.

Finally, notice that transiting Eris was also opposite her Moon, within 1°, and square her Sun, within 3°. We see here the importance of the event in these aspects to the Lights in her chart. However, the closest aspect Eris makes is a sextile to her natal Haumea on the 11th house cusp. Recalling how Haumea represents a rebirth, this sextile suggests the rebirth of collective consciousness that would occur through the school.

A year after it was established, the Lucis Trust published Bailey’s “Great Invocation” prayer, which became very popular, and it went on to publish 24 books in 50 languages. And today, with her 8th house Eris, her Pluto in the 10th, and her Mars on the ASC, Bailey’s writing continues to have a strong influence with those interested in the occult or in deep spiritual mysteries.

Sedna – Ceres – Moon

Dwarf planet Ceres can be seen as a higher octave of the Moon, insofar as the immediate, responsive, survival focus of the Moon is transmuted to a more spiritual, planetary level with Ceres. Thus, we can look at Sedna as the higher octave of Ceres, where the nurturing spiritual, planetary energy of Ceres is transmuted again to the more vast, all-encompassing evolutionary spirituality of Sedna.

“A Synergistic Self-Regulating, Complex System”

To test if these octaves are working in unison, we’ll look at James Lovelock, creator of the Gaia hypothesis, the theory that ”organisms interact with their inorganic surroundings on Earth to form a synergistic self-regulating, complex system that helps to maintain and perpetuate the conditions for life on the planet.”6 Essentially, inanimate matter and living organisms work together to create the environment in which we live, so the Earth is a living organism, and we are the evolving consciousness of that organism. Lovelock was a NASA scientist, and he first proposed his hypothesis in his book, Gaia, published on the October 4, 1979.7 (See Chart 4, **).

On the day of the book’s publication, we see the resonance of the octaves with transiting Moon semi-sextile Lovelock’s Sedna, and transiting Ceres conjunct his Sedna, while Sedna herself was transiting semi-sextile his natal Ceres. Natally, Lovelock has Sedna on the cusp of his 6th house, and people with this placement tend to be futurists; they experience their daily routine in a more spiritual way and so they can see the bigger picture of where today’s actions will lead. Lovelock’s Ceres is in the 5th house, so he enjoys long walks in the country, where he can watch birds and animals. We can see the genesis of his Gaia hypothesis in these two placements.

Transiting Moon was bi-quintile Lovelock’s Neptune in the 9th house of publishing, while transiting Neptune in the 2nd was bi-quintile his natal Moon, which was also in the 9th, signalling the evolutionary opportunity for consciousness growth through the publication of his book. Transiting North Node in the 10th was meanwhile semi-square his natal Moon in the 9th, showing the publication was part of his destiny, while transiting Mercury in the 12th was square his Moon, signalling the fierce debate the book would provoke in the years after its publication.

In addition to the conjunction with Sedna, transiting Ceres was also trine his MC, again linking the octaves with the event. Ceres is also in a set of stressful aspects, demanding communication and results with a sesquiquadrate to his Mercury–Saturn conjunction in the 10th, and challenging action in publishing with a square to his natal Mars in the 9th. Of course, transiting Mars was also in the 9th house of publishing that day, and it was trine his natal Ceres in the 5th, while transiting Quaoar, the higher octave of Jupiter, was bi-quintile Ceres, indicating the potential for the evolutionary spiritual expansion that followed.

Ceres is a ball of water with a skin of matter, so she has an internal ocean, like a womb. She’s actually a baby planet, a planetary embryo, one of the few remaining from the birth of the solar system, and so she speaks of growth and of nurturing.

In addition to the transiting Moon semi-sextile to his natal Sedna and the Ceres conjunction, his Sedna was also highlighted with a bi-quintile from transiting Uranus in the 1st house and a bi-quintile from the transiting North Node in the 10th house. This, again, points to the destined nature of the publication. His Sedna was also highlighted that day by a conjunction from transiting Eris, the goddess of consciousness growth through discord, and a sextile from transiting Varuna, the higher octave of Saturn, blessing the publication with notability. The resonance of these three octaves when the book was published is remarkable.

To conclude, I highly encourage you to explore more case studies using the higher-octave approach. The more we look, the more we learn. To help guide you, here is my suggested framework of higher octaves as a way to understand the new dwarf planets, which are shown in bold.

Higher Octave List:

Sedna – Ceres – Moon
Makemake – Uranus – Mercury
Haumea – Neptune – Venus
Eris – Pluto – Mars
Quaoar – Jupiter
Varuna – Saturn

Chart Data and Sources:
(In order of appearance. Charts use Placidus Houses and True Nodes.)
Alan Mathison Turing, June 23, 1912; 2:15 a.m. GMT; London, England, (0°W10^, 51N30^); A: From memory.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. January 15, 1929; 12:00 p.m. LMT; Atlanta, Georgia, USA (84°W23^, 33N45^); A: From memory.
Alice Ann Bailey, June 16, 1880; 7:42 a.m. GMT; Manchester, England (2°W15^, 53N30^); C: Rectified from approx. time
James Ephraim Lovelock, July 26, 1919; 2:00 p.m. LMT; Letchworth, England (0°W14^, 51N58^); B: Bio/autobiography.

References:
(All URLs were accessed in August 2021.)
1. Dane Rudhyar. “Planetary Octaves and Rulership,” Horoscope Magazine, November 1958.
2. A.M. Turing. “On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem,” in Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society, 1937, pp. 230–65.
3. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/10159164-one-day-ladies-will-take-their-computers-for-walks-in#:
4. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream, “I Have a Dream.”
5. See https://www.lucistrust.org/about_us/history, “Lucis Trust: History.”
6. James E. Lovelock and Lynn Margulis, “Atmospheric Homeostasis by and for the Biosphere: The Gaia Hypothesis,” Tellus, February 1974, pp. 2–10.
7. Ibid.

First published in: The Mountain Astrologer, Capricorn Sol 2021.

Author:
New Zealander Alan Clay has a background as a humanistic astrologer, inspired by the work of Dane Rudhyar. Over the years this has broadened into a study of the new dwarf planets. His book Sedna Consciousness, the Soul’s Path of Destiny is the ultimate reference on the planet Sedna. He regularly talks at astrology conferences worldwide and is the NCGR International Delegate for New Zealand. He recently founded the Dwarf Planet University, where he teaches online classes helping students understand the meaning of each of the dwarf planets in their personal chart. www.dwarfplanet.university

© 2021 - Alan Clay

Taken from this issue:
This article was published in The Mountain Astrologer, Capricorn Solstice 2021 - 2022 and can be purchased here.

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