Ixion's major contribution to mythology was as the father of the whole Centaur tribe....except for Chiron. We'll continue with Ixion in a moment. MYTH Chiron's origin sets him apart from all the other Centaurs. His father was Saturn (Kronus). Saturn was lusting after a sea-nymph named Phylira. There are two versions: in one, the two changed themselves into horses so they could consumate there relationship without being found out by Rhea (Saturn's wife); in the other, she tried to escape her would-be lover by changing herself into a horse to gallup away, but he changed into one also, overtook and raped her. In any event, Chiron was the child of this union. When Chiron was born, his mother was so horrified to see this aberration...half man, half horse, that she totally rejected Chiron; his father, likewise, rejected him. Quite a difficult way to begin life! But all the rest of the Centaurs trace their lineage back to Ixion, not Saturn. In Greek mythology, was a descendent of Ares (Mars, to the Romans) and was king of the Lapiths (a race) in Thessaly. But not a very honorable king. For example, he married a woman named Dia, daughter of Eioneus....but decided not to pay the previosly agreed upon price for his new bride. Eioneus held, for security on the debt, some horses that belonged to Ixion. Ixion told Eioneus that if he would bring the horses to Thessaly, Eioneus would be paid what he was due...but once there, Eioneus was murdered. Like Cain in the Bible's Old Testament, Ixion has the distinction of being the first human to shed kindred blood (by killing his father-in-law to avoid making payment for his bride). To the Greeks, murder of a kinsman was a particularly horrible act....and for awhile, no human or god would purify him. Finally, Zeus (Jupiter) decided to purify Ixion (some say, because Zeus had taken an interest in Dia!) Ixion went to Olympus for the ritual. But while there, Ixion committed an even worse sin...he tried to seduce Zeus' wife, Hera (Juno)! She told her husband, who then decided to verify Ixion's guilt with a test: he took a cloud, shaped it like Hera, and set it where Ixion would find it. Well, Ixion took the bait, and slept with the fake Hera. When Ixion came down to earth, he bragged to other mortals about sleeping with the queen of the gods. As you can imagine, Zeus was not happy with Ixion, not only for having the audacity to sleep with Hera....but for boasting about it! In punishment, Zeus bound Ixion to a winged or flaming spinning wheel upon which Ixion was forced to continuously repent: "show gratitude to your benefactor." In some stories, the wheel was placed in the sky, but the more common version has this wheel forever turning in the Underworld. The theme here is of sinner on display, not only for guilt of spilling kindered blood, but for the disrespect and betrayal in the guest/host relationship. From the cloud was born Centaurus, as a result of Ixion's sexual intercourse with the fake Hera. In some stories, Centaurus later descended upon a herd of horses owned by the Magnetes tribe of E. Thessaly, mated with the mares, and begat the Centaurs; in others, all the other Centaurs were also born from this same cloud along with Centaurus. ASTRONOMY Before this Trans Neptunian Object (TNO) was ever named, it stirred the imaginations of the astronomical community because was at that time the largest minor planet known....larger even than the previous record holder, Ceres! How large? Over 660 miles in diameter (the Pluto, by comparison, is 1429 miles in diameter.) Some say it is huge enough to be considered, not a minor planet, but a full-fledged planet. It's definitely too big to be ignored, anyway. Ixion is a Plutino, meaning it has a 3:2 orbital resonance with Neptune. Other Plutinos, discussed elsewhere on this site, include Rhadamanthus and Huya. When it was discovered, it ws located at 5 Sagittarius 34. It's orbit of 247 years is almost identical in length to the orbit of Pluto (247.8 years), so they may have a lot in common. With orbits so similar, they only very slowly change the zodiacal distance between them. ASTROLOGY When Ixion was discovered, it was in close opposition to Saturn (around 4 degrees Gemini at that time), and also opposite the Sun (around 2 degrees Gemini.) It is too soon to even guess what Ixion means, but I'm sure these oppositions will show up as we begin to discover how to interpret his position in zodiac charts. The Sabian Symbol for the discovery position is "A cricket game is being watched by a colorful crowd." Dane Rudhyar wrote, "Instinctive solidarity building race consciousness." Lynda and Richard Hill write of this degree, "Playing by the rules. Stiff upperlip responses. If negative, difficulty in showing one's true feelings and emotions." Its interesting that, while none of the Centaurean bodies was discovered in Sagittarius, Ixion (father of Centaurus and the whole Centuar tribe) was found in that centaurean sign. SYMBOLS No official astrological symbol has been selected yet for Ixion. I have created a possible symbol for this body, which you can see at the top of this page, representing the cloud from which the many centaurs were born. The second symbol was designed by Sandy Turnbull, who says it is "A combination of the letters "I" and "X" within semi-circles to indicate the wheel of fate." Please feel free to use whichever symbol you are more comfortable with. You can find an ephemeris of Ixion from 2008-2012, along with several other bodies, here: IXION EPHEMERIS
But all the rest of the Centaurs trace their lineage back to Ixion, not Saturn. In Greek mythology, was a descendent of Ares (Mars, to the Romans) and was king of the Lapiths (a race) in Thessaly. But not a very honorable king. For example, he married a woman named Dia, daughter of Eioneus....but decided not to pay the previosly agreed upon price for his new bride. Eioneus held, for security on the debt, some horses that belonged to Ixion. Ixion told Eioneus that if he would bring the horses to Thessaly, Eioneus would be paid what he was due...but once there, Eioneus was murdered.
Like Cain in the Bible's Old Testament, Ixion has the distinction of being the first human to shed kindred blood (by killing his father-in-law to avoid making payment for his bride). To the Greeks, murder of a kinsman was a particularly horrible act....and for awhile, no human or god would purify him.
Finally, Zeus (Jupiter) decided to purify Ixion (some say, because Zeus had taken an interest in Dia!) Ixion went to Olympus for the ritual. But while there, Ixion committed an even worse sin...he tried to seduce Zeus' wife, Hera (Juno)! She told her husband, who then decided to verify Ixion's guilt with a test: he took a cloud, shaped it like Hera, and set it where Ixion would find it. Well, Ixion took the bait, and slept with the fake Hera.
When Ixion came down to earth, he bragged to other mortals about sleeping with the queen of the gods. As you can imagine, Zeus was not happy with Ixion, not only for having the audacity to sleep with Hera....but for boasting about it! In punishment, Zeus bound Ixion to a winged or flaming spinning wheel upon which Ixion was forced to continuously repent: "show gratitude to your benefactor." In some stories, the wheel was placed in the sky, but the more common version has this wheel forever turning in the Underworld. The theme here is of sinner on display, not only for guilt of spilling kindered blood, but for the disrespect and betrayal in the guest/host relationship.
From the cloud was born Centaurus, as a result of Ixion's sexual intercourse with the fake Hera. In some stories, Centaurus later descended upon a herd of horses owned by the Magnetes tribe of E. Thessaly, mated with the mares, and begat the Centaurs; in others, all the other Centaurs were also born from this same cloud along with Centaurus.
Ixion is a Plutino, meaning it has a 3:2 orbital resonance with Neptune. Other Plutinos, discussed elsewhere on this site, include Rhadamanthus and Huya.
When it was discovered, it ws located at 5 Sagittarius 34. It's orbit of 247 years is almost identical in length to the orbit of Pluto (247.8 years), so they may have a lot in common. With orbits so similar, they only very slowly change the zodiacal distance between them.
The Sabian Symbol for the discovery position is "A cricket game is being watched by a colorful crowd." Dane Rudhyar wrote, "Instinctive solidarity building race consciousness." Lynda and Richard Hill write of this degree, "Playing by the rules. Stiff upperlip responses. If negative, difficulty in showing one's true feelings and emotions."
Its interesting that, while none of the Centaurean bodies was discovered in Sagittarius, Ixion (father of Centaurus and the whole Centuar tribe) was found in that centaurean sign.
You can find an ephemeris of Ixion from 2008-2012, along with several other bodies, here:
Zane Stein's Ixion symbol.
Sandy Turnbull's Ixion symbol
. 