asteroid 99942 Apophis

[svenskasfinx]

Hej everyone,

I found this rather interesting reading, seeing that I did a tarot reading and one card I am not all entirely comfortable with came up "The Devil" so I did some in depth study into why I didn't feel comfortable with it... digging into what is eventually Egyptian mythology again, as most of us on the forum do.

This Egyptian deity Apep or otherwise more familarly called Apophis was supposed to be at odds with the solar deity Ra:

below taken from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apophis

In Egyptian mythology, Apep (also spelled Apepi, and Aapep, or Apophis in Greek) was an evil demon, the deification of darkness and chaos, and thus opponent of light and Ma'at (order/truth), whose existence was believed about from the Middle Kingdom onwards. His name is reconstructed by Egyptologists as *ʕAʔpâpî because of written ʕ3pp(y), surviving into later Coptic as Aphôph.



____________________________

www.touregypt.net/featurestories/apep.htm

"With the possible exception of Aten only during the Amarna Period, no single Egyptian god was considered to be really all powerful. Many lived with the threat of destruction, and even one of the greatest of Egyptian gods faced such threats every single night. Apophis (Egyptian Apep) was the great adversary of the sun god, Re. and was the very embodiment of the powers of dissolution, darkness and non-being. Hence, he was a sort of void or "black hole" forcing those he swallowed into that non-existence which the Egyptians feared so greatly...." (from the link above)

________________________

These ideas of an overthrown "creator god" of a primordial world intriques me. As a person who doesn't believe in a "devil" but rather a human asignment to that which is supposed to embody "all that is bad" in human kind, I see the Egyptians were also just as human, fearing the power of all that is unknown in the darkness of Apophis (Apep) and what he supposedly represents.

Once more I find it interesting where this asteriod is in my own chart: In the first house at roughly 3 degrees Cancer conjunct "Sphinx" and of all things "Hekate".. (The Sphinx is another face of Horus and Horus is just another aspect of Ra).

I assume one day, if I am well and up to it, a trip to Egypt is in order, especially with that Khufu (3362)connection. erosastrology.proboards26.com/index.cgi?board=asteroid&action=display&thread=1147127421 (see thread for referance point.)

This is a surprise for me because I didn't know that the Egyptians had a snake deity they didn't like!

Ra still wears the cobra, and this too is a representitive of power over Earthly and Non-Earthly things, but what is noted about the deity Apophis, was this ability to keep coming back, over and over again! He was killed over and over again, as he kept swallowing Ra, so he is fought with, cut up into peices and then regenerates to fight another day! That must either be obsession or the admirable quality of persistance at hand!

My son has this Asteroid conjunct his Sun (by one degree) in Taurus (10th house)... and he too is a persistant little person! (And I thought it was Sun conjunct Juno and Mercury which was this signature energy in Taurus with the classic case of not straying from the goal in mind, and commiting himself to it!)

All in all, I suspect there are qualities to this "evil" character we all either identify with or deny.. as with anything, we have energies we can explore and energies we "repress" and let others "do" for us.

Feel free to explore this one! Take over the thread even if you think I'm "way off" here ..

I find it just one more deity and myth that seems to have this "snakey" energy.. very difficult and not easy to really come to terms with... It makes me think immediately of Medusa, but then once again back to Pluto, as Apophis is ALWAYS regenerating. (regeneration IS a Pluto keyword after all)

I hope you all find this as interesting as I do!!

Thanks for your time!

take care,

Svenskasfinx

[Kim Falconer]

Hello Svenskasfinx,

I think you are spot on with these ideas--Apophis sounds very Scorpio like--and yes, regeneration is the realm of Sc and Pluto. This asteroid has a feminine snake-serpent-dragon feel!

My Apophis is at 10 Cancer in the 11th house at the exact midpoint between Venus at 0 and Uranus at 20. There has certainly been a lot of sudden, unexpected (Uranus) fate-like regeneration life-death-rebirth experiences (Apophis) in not only what I value but my personal relationships and friendships too (Venus in 11th).

There has been a lot of fear around Apophis--and not just from the Egyptians. This asteroid was on a level 1 alert for impact with the earth in 2029. It's complex but Apophis has now been taken off the risk list, and with an impact probability of 1 in 45, 000 if the asteroid passes through a tiny gravitational field ...as a Near Earth Asteroid, it’s only one of many 'planet crossers' who 'could' impact with the earth at some point.

So Apophis stirs up our fears it seems. But why?

Apophis is in some renditions of myth seen as a dragon, not a snake. And I immediately think of the correlation between the Babylonian Taimat (the serpent who was the dark feminine creator of the world who was slain by marduk as patriarchal rule overcame the culture. I wrote this in an article last year on the origins of fate: (must post it to the site!)

In Mesopotamia, the goddess Mammetum (Mamitu, Mammitu, Arurur) is the maker or mother of fate. Like the Greek Moira, and the Roman Parcae, she sets a mortals’ fate at the time of birth. But before her, the earliest image of the goddess of Fate from this region is Tiamat, the sea or Dragon/snake. (Cuneiform Texts, part xiii, pl. 33 f., Rm. 282). She is a primordial goddess, a feminine creator deity in the form of chaos that gives birth to the world. She has control of the tablets of Destiny (Enuma Elish, Tab 1. 137) but prior to the great battle that destroys her, she gives them over to her son/lover Kingu. (Enuma Elish, Tab 1. 137) Marduk, son of Ea, meanwhile agrees to slay Tiamat but asks that he be given the power of fate in return. (Enuma Elish, Tab 2. 136) Marduk destroys Kingu, wresting the tablets of destiny from him and cleaves Tiamat in two, using half her body to create the mansions of the heavens, stars and signs. (Enuma Elish, Tab 5. 1-7) This ordering of the zodiac from Tiamat’s body is an interesting twist considering the association with astrology and fate! The relinquishment and redistribution of fate from the feminine creator deity to the masculine foreshadows the later biblical mythology where destiny is in the hands of a single, ineffable, patriarchal god.

Guirand, op. cit., p 63.
Campbell, op. cit., pp 75-85.
Liz Greene, (1984) The Astrology of Fate, “Fate and the Feminine.” Samuel Weiser Inc. York Beach, Maine.

I wonder if the struggle between Ra and Apophis echoes this shift from matriarchy to patriarchy.
Comments?

Great thread Svenskasfinx! ;D

Kim

[AquarianEssence]

Hi Svenskasfinx,

I'm on intimate terms with the Devil through the total of my name and birth number. 15 is my power number and the concept of the devil played a major role in my heritage. During my Uranus opposition from 26 Capricorn I went on a quest with the aid of Chiron 3 degrees earlier as guide, to discover the true nature of the concept of the devil and my study of the original language helped immensely.

Do you have the Rider-Waite tarot deck? If so, ponder the card turned upside down. I think you'll get a chuckle when you see what is hidden in that "evil" face. It helped me realize the image was fabricated in order to use fear as a tool for power and control of the masses. But it's a hoax, a silly joke. If you l-i-v-e backwards you have e-v-i-l.

The asteroid Apophis, in my chart is at 10 Libra conjunct Pallas in the 3rd and quindicile Sedna from the 9th who is also qd Lilith in the 4th. This creates a pattern with Medusa opposing Sedna that portrays the demonizing and abuse of the sacred feminine which is another ploy for power and control. I understand, though that people that fear the unknown or disimpowerment will use that same fear to create a false sense of power. Perhaps they are afraid of disappearing into nothingness as Apophis represents. I've been exposed to my share of extreme right wing fundamentalism that is obsessive, which is clearly shown by the double quindicile pattern I refer to as a Lamed configuration.

Apophis has progressed to the sidereal galactic center so perhaps he'll get sucked into nothingness instead of being used as a tool to threaten the earth. And, I think, Sedna's fingers became seals, not only to feed, but to protect her people, like fingerprints or the king's seal.

[svenskasfinx]

admin said:

I wonder if the struggle between Ra and Apophis echoes this shift from matriarchy to patriarchy.
Comments?

When you put Apophis in the context of Tiamat one can see a completely different dynamic between the two in that kind of context: Another segment to the puzzle is this idea of the actual existince of these deities as either entities of a "spiritual matter" or a physically solid form at any given time in the past before "humanity" or culture.. a collective memory of a struggle which happened at a time someone could retell..

the only problem with that is we tend to get our own human perspective in there and the struggle between "good" and "evil", "matriarchy" to "patriarchy" is just once again showing a need for humanity to see things in only shades of "black" and "white". I mean, yes there are absolutes, but for the most part, what we know even today as history is the over simplification and fictionalization of actual events.

These struggles though, especially with the whole primordial experience and representation of Tiamat, make me think back to the Greek mythology of both the mother of the Sphinx and the Chimera was also a "beast" and how humanity collectively treated the "beast" in Mythology, even one of the kindest of "beasts", Chiron, was still cast as an outsider due to a lack of human form..

Yes the dragon in one area of the world was personified as an omen of good fortune, where as the dragon on the other side of the world a simple greedy beast with no emotions and a lust for human blood... thus needing to be slain. Just as the maiden needs to be rescued from the dragon..(usually these days as a representive of the mother in law )

Is it a fear of our "reptile brains"? is a fear of our own primal urges which go agains the flow of societies needs for us to "control" ourselves?

I mean if I think about it hard enough I suspect that this struggle between Ra and Apophis (or Tiamat and Marduk) is a struggle within ourselves against the fear of not only of the unknown that the primordial represents (which is in the psychic world, the darkness of the sky at night when you see the stars, when you close your eyes and can see things, and when you feel urges you want to act on but there are social constraints on such actions)
but its is also a struggle with the actual FORM of humanity, the concept of the "animal instincts" we have within our selves, a huge and overwhelming power!!

As a general rule, when the so called "civilized" people see the people of the impoversed areas, ruined with famine and plague and starvation, I see from those people, instead of empathy or even sorrow, a deep rooted anger towards the woman with children, (perhaps too many in their eyes) (I've had this conversation many many times!!) they say "how could anyone bring a child into this world knowing that they would live like this, much less so many children?" and when talk about the hope that they will survive, and the need all humans have to produce something that will outlast themselves and how even only 100 years ago in Europe and in the US how we ourselves were just as "reproductive" they still manage to condemn the need for life, to go on.. even in the hardship of world destruction.

We ourselves can go on and condemn people for being "human" the animal that has in spite of so many odds against it has managed to go on living.. but we don't see where we ourselves who live as "kings" can help the conditions of the planet, just blame those who's hardship and desire disturbs out sensibilites. We in fact, although by proxy, don't feel any discomfort by allowing their governments to systematically "wipe out" their poor, or their sick, by not letting them have access to medicine and even a simple mesquito net.. to save their lives and to give them "quality of life" but rather judge them harshly for acting on the primal urges of reproduction and survivel.

Think once again of Tiamat, the primordial, reproductive, so called "evil" of the unknown: she is not easy to understand, but then again, life's mysteries are not supposed to be.. that's why so many call Eros a daemon also.

It is not only the struggle with any and all opposing sides, not just a male/female dynamic, but the inner struggle we have with ourselves about what we want and what we are willing to do in order to bring our urges satisfaction.

I really liked the fact you enjoyed this one, there is much to be learned by this, and the many faces of the creator within the "beast". I think about it also as that struggle which people have concerning the ideas and theories based upon "evolution" and "creation", people say its a struggle between science and religion, but I honestly believe that Darwin's theory is an exact translation of the Polynisian creation myths of the Hawian Islands.. I say definately divinely inspired but also an inspiring observation all at once.

Tiamat is like that begining. Apophis also, but because Egypt was Egypt, gender did not play any role in making Ra "good" and Apophis "evil", (there were many liberating points of view concerning gender in ancent Egypt we could learn from today!) But there is a point, Apophis represents those attributes to the matriarchical power, all that is primordial, unknown, consuming, dark and in constant struggle against all that is direct, and "light", those in control, possibly what we today identify with as partirarchal. But even still one thing about Apophis which brought the most fear was that the laws of Nature didn't apply, or that which the Egyptians thought were the laws of nature.

Issues such as time and death mean nothing to Apophis; perhaps this near-Earth asteroid is quite symbolic for other fears we may have, fears concerning our own existance and levels to it?

Kim thanks for the wonderful work with this asteroid! I just brought up a few paragraphs but you collected some really interesting connections, things I forgot about! Things I didn't naturally associate together with Apophis!

Take care all!

Svenskasfinx

[svenskasfinx]

aquarianessence said:

Do you have the Rider-Waite tarot deck? If so, ponder the card turned upside down. I think you'll get a chuckle when you see what is hidden in that "evil" face. It helped me realize the image was fabricated in order to use fear as a tool for power and control of the masses. But it's a hoax, a silly joke. If you l-i-v-e backwards you have e-v-i-l.

Hej Aquarianessence!

I don't have a Rider-Waite deck, I've got something kind of old, but still I know the origans of the symbol are the basterization of Pan and/or Dionysus.. master of the world of the senses and the sensual, but I would often think to myself why "demonify" something which is so "natural"? Its viewed though the eyes of people who have a culture which has been demonified by Biblical mythology.. same as the dragon, or the snake..

"be wise as serpents and be mild as doves" (the only kind quote I ever read concerning snakes/serpents in the Bible.. the rest of the time they exist in a world as "evil" personified).. strangely enough not one snake exists on my Tarot deck! I think I need to fix that by creating my own.

I totally understand though, this female energy personified as "evil" also, when its just like the power of regeneration, and reproduction, it is suspect because it is not "tame". Those who can not deal with it just become the people who keep the structure of the estabished culture. There is something to the joy and delight of the Earthly world, but then there are too many who want to keep delight in the dark, and tie it up with all things "evil" rather than using it all as a motive for a REASON to love and care for each other..

Thus we created the "Devil"..

Take care,

Svenskasfinx

[AquarianEssence]

You might like the Shapeshifter deck, Sven. The Tower is is called the Serpent. This deck also has 3 other cards added making 81. They are the Double, Journey and Dreamer. When they come up I am frustrated because they aren't original but now that I see them named together here I realize they are an addition to show that we are truely spirit beings leading a double life during our journey on earth, like in a dream.

The symbol of the devil in the tarot is a Capricorn lesson standing between Temperance and the Tower of Babel teaching the importance of moderation in all things. Saturnalia is a festival celebrating the bounty of the year's harvest. We in the US are celebrating Thanksgiving today, and Christmas when Sun enters Capricorn. Both traditionally involve abundant food and drink. The lesson is not to indulge in excess just because it's there, but to remember that the harvest must carry us through until the next harvest. Then we can laugh in (and at) the face of "evil".

I took the liberty of scanning the image for you, right side up and reversed.

Stare at his face for a moment or too and see if you see a different image.


Today I am very aware and thankful that I have been given eyes to see and ears to hear that the universe, my God-self is taking care of me and the needs of me and mine.

[svenskasfinx]

ha ha! I see a little meek smiley face with huge eyes and an upturned mouth!

Thanks for reminding me its Thanksgiving, I totally forgot, I think its time to call my mother, either today or tommorow!

Take care!

svenskasfinx