Astrology, as practiced in the Western World, utilizes planets and planetoids whose names come from Greek and Roman myth. The meanings of these bodies appear to tie in quite well with the associated myths.

Yet there are many other mythologies in the world beside the Greek and Roman, and each contains important archetypes of its own. It seems an important even in the universalization of humankind's consciousness that we are going beyond the traditional myths to study the asteroid Hidalgo.

Hidalgo is a word in the Spanish language, thus its meaning is for modern people... a meaning that may not have been comprehensible to humankind before the Spanish language existed. Hidalgo also is the name of a man who became the subject of myths after his death. I will treat these two seperately.

I. The word itself was originally a contraction: either hijo d'algo or hijo de algo being the root phrase. Its meaning was 'Son of something, or somewhat'. Through time, Hidalgo came to be a Spanish title, representing the bottom rank of nobility, the lowest you could be and still be allowed to use the prefix 'don'. But at least if you were Hidalgo, your father was still something important, and you were still 'son of something.' The term gradually evolved to mean one of gentle birth, but still seperates one from the ordinary masses.

II. The man, Miguel Hidalgo Y Costilla, was born in Mexico on May 8, 1753. He came to be called, simply, Hidalgo. In 1778 he became a priest, and worked to improve the conditions of the poor Indians, teaching them to cultivate vineyards and to make bricks. Gradually he became upset by the oppression of the Spanish Colonial Government, and in 1809 he joined a secret society dedicated to freeing Mexico from this oppression. On Sept. 16, 1810, carrying a banner, he proclaimed a crusade and was soon joined by thousands. His crusade captured many towns and looked like it might be a successful revolution. He was demanding the abolition of Indian Serfdom and of all caste distinctions.

But the tide turned. On Jan. 11, 1811 his army was routed, he was caught, and shot as a rebel.

The death became a spark to the revolution, which eventually led to Mexico's independence. He began to be regarded almost as a saint. Many miracles were attributed to him. And Sept. 16, the date he began his crusade, is now Mexican Independence Day.

What is the nature of the asteroid Hidalgo? It may have an influence relating to the 'son of something' quality. It may related to the man Hidalgo, the priest concerned deeply for the sufferings of the poor, the priest who turns revolutionary to bring about an end to the oppression when gentle means fail. Thus it may relate to one who desires to get rid of inequality. And it may even relate to the myriad myths attributed to his 'miracles' after his death. Or, its influence may not relate to any one of these. Only research will tell.

As a backround to this research, here ae some interesting facts about this asteroid:

It was discovered in the 16th degree of Aries on Oct. 31, 1920. The Sun this date was in the 8th degree of Scorpio. (When Chiron was discovered, the Sun wias in the 9th degree of Scorpio.) It was discovered by Walter Baade, who also discovered the asteroid Icarus (also being studied.)

Hidalgo has extreme eccentricity, moreso even than Pluto, Juno or Chiron. In fact, when Baade discovered it, he thought at first that it was a comet.

Due to this eccentricity, Hidalgo remains in some signs longer than others. Now this in itself is not unique. Pluto stays in some signs up to 30 years, and in others as few as 12, while Chiron stays in Libra less than 2 years yet takes over 8 years to move through Aries.

But Hidalgo takes this to the extreme. In its 14 year cycle it goes almost to Mars at perihelion, and out past Saturn at aphelion. IT CROSSES BOTH JUPITER'S AND SATURN'S ORBIT! So, near aphelion it spends 26% of its orbit (over 3.67 years) in Sagittarius, and 24% (3.36 years) in Scorpio.

Imagine...50% of its orbit in just two signs! Half the people in the world have Hidalgo in either Scorpio or Sagittarius.

But that's not all. It is in the sign Gemini for less time than in any other sign, only about 42 DAYS out of each 14 years! That is only about .8%, about 1 out of every 125 people, compared to about 33 out of 125 people who have it in Sagittarius.

This raises a number of questions:

What type of majority does Hidalgo describe, represented by its stay in Scorpio and Sagittarius?
What type of minority fits Hidalgo in Gemini?
And what of the other 49.2% of the people with Hidalgo in the other nine signs?

Al H. Morrison observed that when Hidalgo is transiting through the faster signs, "Events, both personal and mundane, tend to take on a hectic, reckless pace and variety, particularly for those who have planets in the midst of the areas traversed by Hidalgo." Thus any planet you have in the sign of Gemini receives this 'hectic pace' for a brief while every fourteen years. This might be one of the reasons Gemini is such a nervous sign, always receiving Hidalgo at its swiftest. Do individuals with Hidalgo in Gemini live a constantly 'hectic, reckless pace'?

A good starting point for research might be famous people with very close Hidalgo aspects. Here is a brief list:

Bette Midler: Hidalgo in Capricorn in the 10th near MC, square Aries Asc.
Elvis Presley: Hidalgo in Aries square Sun in Capricorn
Ringo Starr: Hidalgo in Scorpio opposition Uranus in Taurus
John Lennon: Hidalgo in Scorpio opposition Uranus in Taurus and sextile Neptune in Virgo
Mark David Hapman (John Lennon's killer): Hidalgo in Sagittarius opposition Mercury in Gemini
Larry Flynt (publisher of Hustler): Hidalgo in Sagittarius opposition Saturn in Gemini
Charles Manson: Hidalgo in Aries quincunx Mars in Virgo
Martin Luther King Jr: Hidalgo in Sagittarius opposition Mars in Gemini
Robert F. Kennedy: Hidalgo in Scorpio square Neptune in Leo

Hidalgo should be studied in the charts of events. For example:

When Anwar Sadat set foot on the ground of Israel, Hidalgo was conjunct the IC. When the agreements were signed in Washington, DC, it was conjunct Pluto. And when the actual treaty was signed it was transiting in square to the above agreement's Jupiter.

When Iran took over the US Embassy in 1979, transiting Uranus was in opposition to Iran's natal Hidalgo. Earlier the same year, when Ayatollah Khomeini took power in Iran, Uranus was also in opposition to that country's Hidalgo. The other Iran story is its war with Iraq. Iraq's natal Hidalgo in Sagittarius is closely square to Iran's Sun in Pisces, and Iran's Hidalgo is quincunx Iraq's Saturn.

I have been observing Hidalgo in charts for some time now and I'd like to share a few of these observations:

A man wanted to hold a seance at a full moon, but his friends all advised him not to. It seems that they had a bad feeling that something was going to happen. When his friends expressed their concern, Hidalgo was exactly square to his Ceres and closely square his Asc. However, he refused to listen. He had made his decision and didn't doubt for a minute that he could control the situation. When the seance began, Hidalgo was exactly square to his Asc. He apparently contacted an evil spirit who tried to take control of his mind. A battle ensued, and his friends had to take him from the room and give him a tranquilizer. He had a case of nervous exhaustion for several days afteerwards.

When Hidalgo entered a man's 10th house he began to think of joining the military. When it squared his Jupiter, ruler of his Sagittarius MC, he signed up for the Air Force. And on the day of his induction it exactly sextiled his Asc.

A man proposed to his girlfriend when Hidalgo passed over his Moon, and they eloped when it opposed his Mars.

The day I took the initiative and called together associates to form the A.S.C., Hidalgo trined my Sun.

John and Barbara have six children. Both parents have Pluto at 12 Cancer. The oldest daughter has Hidalgo at 12 Libra. She was a model child until age 3 when her sister was born, and then she began to show disrespect to her parents, and hostility to her new sibling. This disrespect stayed with her and grew even stronger when she grew up and left home. The youngest child, a son, also has Hidalgo at 12 Libra. He is still living with his parents, and is always disrespectful and disobedient, although they never seem to punish him for it. All of the remaining children show at least some respect for the parents, and none of them have Hidalgo square to the parents' Pluto's. They do have Hidalgo aspects to the parents' charts, however. Child #2 (#1's baby sister), has Hidalgo conjunct the mother's Saturn in Scorpio. She expresses fear of her mother, although she loves her too, and when she returns to visit her mother, she constantly worries that her mother will find fault with her. Child #3 loves his father, but does not want to be anything like him. He is constantly trying to get his father to stop drinking (dad is an alcoholic), but without success. The child seems a model, with no apparent vices. This son has Hidalgo in Scorpio square the father's Neptune in Leo. Child #4 seems to have the greatest respect for his parents of any of the children, and they seem to reciprocate. He seems the most mature, and is in the military, like his father was. He always seems to be 'pals' with his dad when he visits. This son's Hidalgo is exactly conjunct his father's Sagittarius Sun. Child #5 is very flippant to her parents, but does respect them. However, she wants very much to leave home, for it hurts her to see her father killing himself and knowing she can't stop it. Her Hidalgo is conjunct both her father's Mercury and Jupiter in Sagittarius.

From these, and other charts, Hidalgo appears to signify self-defense, self-assertion, the need to prove to others that one is right, to stand up for one's principles, to prove that one is just as good as one's parents were, to prove to one's parents that one is worthwhile, to take a risk because the possible rewards promise to increase one's self-respect or respect one gets from others, to take an action without regard to the consequences, and possibly to heroism.

In closing I'd like to leave you with a few thoughts. Since Hidalgo goes almost to Mars and out past Saturn, it is a link of some kind between Mars and Chiron. A friend has suggested that Hidalgo might be one of the solar system's 'anti-bodies', defending what one IS.

It has an orbit of 2x7 years, linking it to Saturn (4x7), Chiron (7x7) and Uranus (12x7.)

• Don Miguel Hidalgo: Father of Our Independence
• Mexican War of Independence: Father Miguel Hidalgo�s Revolt

Click here Hidalgo to find out how to discover where your Hidalgo is.

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