1: Eros: Light and Dark
2: The Conjunction Chart
3: The Love Vibration
4: The Discovery of Eros and Psyche
5: Psyche and Eros in Libra
6: Fixed Star Arcturus
1: Eros: Light and Dark
This might seem counter-intuitive at a time when- the world is being disrupted by geopolitical shifts, when economies are collapsing, and the dirty underbelly of governance is showing like never before, but the story of Eros and Psyche still has magic. This eternal couple’s story is about to be reprised once again, offering an undertone of harmony behind all the discord and noise. 2022, especially October-November, is a time when the delusional manner in which facts are denied is adding to the rising alarm and perplexity. Yet, I am happy draw attention once again to this celestial event is blessing the sky with its radiance and could act as a balm to many anxious souls. It was mentioned briefly in my page on Eros but it’s coming to a peak on November 3rd. 
Eros went by the name of Cupid in Rome but is essentially the same cheeky character pierced by his own arrow of love. He became besotted by Psyche whose beauty rivalled that of goddess Venus. Venus did all she could to stop them coming together but it was not enough. In the experience of love, there is also pain. And we are as bound to someone as much by hate as by love. Often they oscillate back and forth. So it is not all honey and rainbows when Cupid pops into your life. There is a ‘dark side to Cupid’ as in the title of Eve Lorgen’s 2013 book. She links it to possession, alien abduction, the supernatural and energy vampires. This should be borne in mind when we extol the power of love as it can indeed go to our heads and make us lose our way and drain away resources. There is shadow work involved and where relationships become manipulative it is pulling apart that matters as much as coming together.
So what does this conjunction have in store? Love- pure and simple and the healing power of the kind of love which is worth searching for. Psyche moves through the signs – orbiting approximately five years (4.99). She does not always meet up with her lover Eros who moves faster – its orbit is 1.76 years (643 days). So they come together only every 3 years. In the story, for Psyche to find Eros again proved to be more than difficult as Venus/Aphrodite threw obstacles and impossible tasks in her way. It became her persona hero’s journey and a warning to other mortals that you get burned when dealing with the gods: patience, persistence and ingenuity are needed to dialogue with them.
But their final union in Olympus was a magnificent event – a true heavenly marriage. This is what this conjunction is about- this union of opposites which alchemists said allows opposing views, materials and elements to compromise and find a point of similarity and where a new substance is formed. Love allows new flow in life. Also a sense of wonder. It marks the point at which which the human, Psyche, can become fused with the divine, Eros, and the divine agrees to be human so it is two ways. When they come together, it is to remind people to connect to their authentic selves – what they truly want- as that truthful part is formed from the nature of love.
2: The Conjunction Chart
In the asteroid world, Eros meets Psyche in this 3-year marriage, but on Earth love needs a push to be reminded to settle any personal disputes, at least to remember what love feels like just for its own sake or to feel compassion for someone. This particular conjunction November 3rd, 2022 happens when Venus is in so-called ‘detriment’, but the two lover asteroids are in Libra, which is ruled by Venus. Plus, as if to crank up the drama, their conjunction resides in the eclipse corridor between the partial Solar eclipse of October 25th and the total lunar eclipse of November 8th . This becomes doubly important when we consider the discovery charts- below and all the talk about gold and silver saving us from economic death of the fiat system.
The conjunction chart is highly aligned with its concentrated stellium in Scorpio: Venus, the Sun, Mercury and the North Node all within a few degrees, all facing opposite Uranus and the North Node. This forms the core of a kite aspect, and at one edge of the kite where the Moon is applying to Neptune and Jupiter. The asteroids Eros and Psyche rotate their ‘union’ through Fire, Earth Air and Water signs. This time it is in the Air element which underscores how important communication is for love to flow. So this moment may have a pivotal effect, shifting the balance of the Libra scales towards union and dealing with the darker complications of love – all Venus territory- that may have been unprocessed for years. Yet now they can finally come to light to be healed.
This echoes issues that could have come up when Venus was conjunct the Sun on October 22nd. A spotlight is thrown on love issues. Psyche and Eros together hints that it’s a time to attract new friendships and lovers where the standard of relating is much higher than before, operating through a more developed, matured and coherent heart. The two lovers come together for around two days in the sign of relationships. Think of this as the culmination of the effort of the mind to evolve through its search for true love. Their hardships, conflicts, separations that they overcame in order to be together is a touchpoint of the cathartic, healing and transcendent power of love. This is what it symbolises – that love expands the vision of humans beyond the normal to a god-like point of view, and its impetus brings us closer to nature just as when nature came to the aid of Psyche in her troubles: the ants, the reeds, the eagle, even an apparently inanimate tower, all rushed to help Psyche with her onerous tasks set by a tetchy Aphrodite/Venus.
Another remarkable element of this story is that Psyche was the only mortal able to go into the underworld and allowed to reemerge unscathed. Mercury could do this in his psychopomp aspect – but he is a a god and could get away with it. Most others must die in the underworld. Psyche dips deep into the unconscious mind, but is tempted by Persephone’s box and falls into a coma-like sleep- that simulated death. For Eros this is the last straw and compelled him to save his lover once and for all.
Venus as the mother of Eros- in this story- was extremely hostile towards Psyche and subjected her to a severe testing period of separations from Eros. It took Jupiter’s actions to intervene on her behalf and grant the wish of Eros to raise up his mortal lover by giving her ambrosia so she could rouse from sleep and become immortal. Then there was a wedding in Olympus where she was together at last with Eros. All the gods were present, even Ceres, who had refused to help Psyche for fear of upsetting Venus. Venus had finally agreed to this arrangement and mellowed her hostilities. This kind of love is therefore redemptive and can lift people out of the day-to-day grind and into a whole other realm and while that lasts it has transformative potency.
The conjunction starts when asteroid Eros creeps up to 3° close to asteroid Psyche on October 29th. The Libra energy is perfect for resolving relationship disputes, getting married, or conceiving a love child. It augurs for achieving ‘peak’ closeness and intimacy even if it only lasts a day, it can restore hope of that happening. The sun was at this same 25th degree on the 18th and 19th October; so look back to those days to see any riffing of love themes that came up, or about Psyche’s plight which was the ‘curse of beauty’. Psyche, as a physical object in space, is one of the top ten largest asteroids so it magnifies the theme of love and the mind, or the soul. The Eros and Psyche conjunction is exact at 8.10 pm GMT at 25° 29’ in London November 3rd through 4th. It fades out in intensity by the 8th Nov on the Eclipse when Eros shifts ahead towards Scorpio arriving there by Nov 10th. Psyche and Eros are in ruled by Venus. Taurus is also ruled by Venus and it is in Taurus where Uranus shines a flash light in opposition to Venus illuminating her passion in in the darker realms. That adds strength to her challenged position in Scorpio. The opposition to Uranus could not just intensify the need for love in a world damaged by stories of war and reckless policies but to sudden shifts in money and investments, of legal documents, or signing contracts.
Psyche and Eros here are trine to Mars in Gemini but square to Pluto in Capricorn. So they have real power to transform. These are the Earth signs where Mars – sexual expression- may have to struggle to be fully realised but once it does is very sensual. But Venus is present too close to the sun. Venus in Scorpio is more troubled than in Libra so there may be some concealed vulnerability masquerading as domineering behaviour, or some overcompensation in order to secure commitment from lovers- it may be about who has the power which can cancel out the love. The conjunction chart is remarkable too because of this beautiful kite formation (an opposition, two trines and two sextiles) . The peak point of a kite offers a way out through inspiration- Uranus in this case- but that can take flight just like a kite. Uranus charges up the nodes like a battery. The Moon is in Pisces, where it is most romantic and sensitive, close to Neptune, and the Ascendant is in Cancer which adds the emotional flavour. The Sun conjunct the South Node and Venus perhaps means love behaviours tend to default towards comfort zone style whereas the Uranus begin opposite suggests fresh ideas need to be implemented fast, decisions about how to be with lovers in a new way or a new location or by experimenting with new ways of relating. We may default back to what we have always done. But are we are challenged to do it differently.
3: The Love Vibration
Interesting that there is no fire in the modalities but high emotions: Air, Earth and Water signs only so deep feelings of ‘union’ togetherness love even across distances. If you have met someone recently, it is likely to reach a crescendo of interest during these days. Your love will be more intensely felt in direct contrast- or perhaps because of the external chaos, and for that reason it will feel like a more valuable experience, and even more intensely soulful. I tend to agree with astrologer Pam Gregory on this – that the love vibration carries a current of energy. Every single thought or feeling of love adds “the bricks and mortar of love” that helps construct new reality we wish to bring about. She also highlights that these symbols are there in the charts, but they tend to be clouded over by all the other stuff, the Uranus square Saturn, the eclipse energy, and the Pluto return for the USA- all the drama going on that can totally distract us from what’s important. If we stop to look at these more subtle symbols we can understand a broader range of phenomena. They are pointers to something new growing in the background while our minds tend to focus too much on the world crisis.
But these celestial figures, the dwarf planets Manwe, Varda, Haumea or any of these new Kuiper Belt Objects – I think this conjunction of Eros and Psyche fits into this pattern and we have to deal with how to love before these more innovative energies can really manifest. Feeling love and vibrating that feeling will get you through – not in the new agey fluffy sense but genuine love, deep and meaningful. It does not have to be just romantic love, it can be love of any kind, and to keep that feeling close to your heart can be the remedy for the flood of information that we’ll receive when Mars retrogrades in Gemini from the end of October to January, which may lock us only into the left brain head space. There is a simplicity in pure love that is hard for contrary forces to reckon with and gives us infinitely more internal coherence at the energetic level.
4: The Discovery of Eros and Psyche
It is worth considering what the discovery charts show when each asteroid was first spotted in the sky. This was in the 19th century and completes the picture of their meaning with interesting details. 
Asteroid Psyche was discovered on March 17, 1852 at in Naples when it was at 27° of Leo. And the physical asteroid is the size of Cyprus and is said to be worth $10, quintillion as it is made of gold and other precious metals. So asteroid Psyche is ruled by the Sun. This is such perfect symbolism with Leo as the kings and queens of gold who have big hearts. Asteroid Eros was discovered on August 13th 1898 at 22° of Aquarius. Asteroid Eros is thus ruled by Uranus. What adds an extra layer of harmonious symmetry between these two is that Psyche was opposite her lover Eros, but also opposite the Moon; and Eros was opposite his lover Psyche, and the Sun. They were both found in fixed signs; so the determination is there to carry them through to the end of their mission.
This hints at some genuine alchemical symbolism – these two lovers represent the ultimate mystical union, the twin flames, where Eros and Psyche are stand-ins for the Sun and Moon, gold and silver, day and night. Disparate elements are fused together to form some new kind of material independent of both. Is it not to gold and silver that we turn to reestablish value? Edward Edinger wrote about this when he said that “passionate antipathies must be subjected to scrutiny” – as hate binds us to the love object as much as love, but without reflection and awareness it can be just compulsion. This is the work of individuation in Jungian terms how to evolve the lower energies to the higher. There is even a six-pointed star in the Psyche chart and 27° of Leo is the home of the fixed star Regulus. Neptune was in Pisces in 1852 just as it is now in 2022 for this conjunction. But Venus is in a stellium with Saturn, Pluto and Uranus which would not necessarily crush her spirit, but perhaps she takes heed of the other powers of the three heavyweights and this forces her to restrain her frivolous nature and be serious.
5: Psyche and Eros in Libra
Asteroids play a significant role in our charts when they connect with personal planets or angles, and especially where one chart overlays another in synastry so for relationships they add another mythic layer of meaning after we’re doing dealing with Venus and Mars. When the two discovery charts are put together, the position of Psyche opposes Venus- just as in the story. Sometimes, when these two heavenly lovers conjunct they also conjunct other planets. A great example of this is when they joined the Sun at 21° of Sagittarius on the 14th December, 1943. But also when they were conjunct Jupiter in 1949 when they conjuncted twice- once in April and once in November. That’s when a larger number of babies entered the world, and that lasted a few years but created the ‘Boomer’ generation- boom being a word bestowed liberally when you have Jupiter’s blessing as ruler of Sag, but also of the Sun, the life force of the universe, in a fire sign that is spiritual fire. It is worth just checking what an Eros placement in the sign of Libra means in the natal chart.
Please read here for more signs.
Psyche in Libra would operate in a similar manner to Eros but with a more questing mind, greater curiosity and problem solving drive. She would find solutions to personal conflicts. She would appease and compromise, seek common ground and harmony. It would reinforce the desire for balance, equality, being fair and just in intimate and personal matters. But also it would seek at the highest level to bring an artistic sensibility and hopefully to develop the soul through relationships. She may indeed find ultimate equilibrium of the mind heart and soul combined together with her partner or with an idea or a project where beauty and passion are required. This Psyche is reminiscent of the Tarot card Temperance which shows how alchemy plays a part in individuation through relationship.
The love child of Eros and Psyche was called Voluptas, Pleasure. So that bodes well for moments of happiness and relaxation can still occur despite all the mayhem.
6: Fixed Star Arcturus
But the other fact that jumps out from the conjunction chart is that Eros and Psyche at 25° of Libra are next to the fixed star Arcturus- which resides at 24° so it is within 1° orb. Arcturus was known as the “greater Sun.” Psychic Edgar Cayce had a lot to say about this particular star during his trances where he received a lot of information.
He noted that Arcturus is “giving of the strength in mental and spiritual elements toward developing of soul and of the attributes toward the better forces in earth’s spheres…. One that is exceptional in many ways, manners and faculties, especially in those of mental forces having great vision in every direction, especially those of the unseen elements, bringing then much psychic and occult forces to the body…..The highest conception of all domestic relations, the highest conceptions of honor. The highest conceptions of respect. The highest conceptions in every relation in friendship and in every element relating to others.”
So this links directly to the message that Psyche and Eros deliver about development of the soul. Even though the message of love might seem to be easily lost in the chaos of the world collapsing in 2022, it deserves our attention just in case this slips by unnoticed. It is not just ‘don’t worry, be happy’ either as that is way too simplistic. Love allows us to see the world differently through the eyes of poets and mystics. At least until the honeymoon period is over. It gives heightened vision of what is possible. Think too that people born on the days of these Eros-Psyche conjunctions would have this mystical union imprinted in their DNA and perhaps have the ability to formulate this union of opposites within themselves to a greater degree than if born with Psyche opposite or square to Eros where it might be that much harder to attain. They could be natural born alchemists. Check also which house the conjunction falls in in your natal chart to glean more information about which area of life it will manifest for you.
© Kieron Devlin, October 24th, 2022, All Rights Reserved
Your personal written Eros and Psyche report
I appreciate that all the above can be complicated especially to understand the archetypal and mythological layers, and many will be able to do this for themselves and by reading through all the information here and on the other pages.
But these patterns can be very personal and appear very real in your life.
For those who need some guidance, I can do Eros and Psyche Report. This report will do all the work for you, and will be a few pages long. It will consider all the aspects to Eros and Psyche and any other significant aspects with added commentary.
Cost just £15.
Please email eusastro@protonmail.com to request this adding all your birth details.
It will not be the same as a natal chart reading but it may be an additional layer to understanding that. It may relate the positions of Eros and Psyche to other key planets or significant asteroids in your chart if those are relevant. For Synastry – two charts in parallel- that would be a separate report, please enquire.
There is a lot to learn about Eros and at the end of April Eros is conjunct the Sun so exploring our personal Eros is so important these days especially when life is under threat. It may be reconnecting with your authentic Eros that gives you the edge in terms of survival. It is as if Eros is pitted against Death so it is our lust for life that carries us through.
Thank you for reading.
Image credits: Paintings montage by various artists including: Cornelius van Polenburch, Veloso Salgado, Pascal Simon Gerard, Bartholomeus Spranger, William Adolphe Bougereau, Annie Swynnert, Edward Burne-Jones, Hugh Douglas Hamilton, John Rodham Spencer Stanhope, Yonah L. Marks and Calum Colvin, all sourced from Wikipedia and Wikimedia commons.
Further Reading
Edinger, E. F. (1992) ‘Anatomy of the Psyche: Alchemical Symbolism in Psychotherapy’ Open Court Publishing.
Lorgen, E. (2013) ‘The Dark Side of Cupid: Love Affairs, the Supernatural and Energy Vampirism.’ Keyhole Publishing.
Kieron is a London-based and trained astrologer at Proteus Astrology on Facebook and my home page: Find me on Instagram and Twitter Gab, Telegram, Patreon, MeWe. and Gettr Bitchute, Rumble and Odysee
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