Ophiuchus ~ the Astrological Attributes (Part 1: Foundation)

Snake Nebula (M. Russell)

January 1, 2012.  We have been reluctant to reduce Ophiuchus to a list of Astrological Attributes but it is inevitable that Astrology and Astronomology students must have some sort of template or trellis to use. So we will begin pumping some thoughts into the stream of consciousness even though it is still too early to make conclusions.

I cannot in good conscience continue to withhold my thoughts just because I hate having to argue the early assertions that have been made in good faith I’m sure.

As such the Astrological attributes of Ophiuchus that we are seeing on the Internet today have been developed without benefit of balanced, scholarly research. They should be viewed with a critical eye. Even the thoughts we tender here should be meditated on carefully since Ophiuchus as a sign is quite subjective.

The comments we offer are intended to correct the oversights and the record which is being built up on incomplete facts.

• In Part 1: Foundation we point out the foundations of the Ophiuchus sign and discuss why many of the current values being asserted are not the right ones.

• In Part 2: What Ophiuchus is NOT we discuss the pro’s and con’s of some of the current values currently circulating.

• In Part 3: The Ophiuchus Ideal we suggest an array of attributes and characteristics as far as may be known at this early time in the New Age. (soon to be released)

For the record, the release of this information and newly transmitted material yet to be published is coinciding with the 2012 Mercury transit of Alpha Ophiuchus, Rasalhague.

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Ophiuchus Cusp dates for 2012: November 30 – December 18

Asclepius with Telesforos and Hygeia, Roman Diptych, c. 400/430 AD | What is their active-passive body language telling us? Which one is the Serpent Handler? Is this a daughter of Asclepius or a Serpent-Mother Goddess?

Definitions

“Ophiuchus” is a noun, it’s not a name. It means “serpent holder.”

This is a key concept to have firmly in mind when considering what characteristics to attribute to the Astrological Ophiuchus personality profile.

Caduceus, "Angel of Healing" | by Sculptor James N. Muir, Dec. 1 Ophiuchus

Those born under the stars of the serpent holder are natives of a complex “sign” we classify as a Collective Archetype.

We say “sign” (in quotes) because Ophiuchus has not yet been acknowledged by Astrology as a legitimate member of the Zodiac Circle.

A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together on a specific project to achieve a common objective.

The Ophiuchus Collective incorporates a number of innovators, cultural icons, role models and an archetype or two who shared a common goal of advancing Humanity along certain lines and using specific methods.

The constellation was recently cut out of the belly of the scorpion (1930) in a sort of cosmic cesarean section. Therefore, the predominant personality of the Scorpio-Ophiuchus Astrological “sign” is Fixed Water which is gender feminine.

Until such time as the Western Astrologers’ international legislative body makes a determination on including Ophiuchus or not, it stands alone on the Zodiac Belt in constellation form between Scorpius (water-feminine) and Sagittarius (fire-masculine) as the 5th Element, Ether.

Accordingly, Ophiuchus standing alone is omni-gendered and non-gendered because that’s what Ether is (Spirit).

Ophiuchus characteristics & their sources

Asclepius & "Staff of Asclepius" | a symbol of his power

Ophiuchus may take its marquee storyline from the Greek myth of Asclepius (an example of the dying & resurrection god archetype) but Ophiuchus has been in the sky for longer than Greece has been Greece. And so has Astrology.

Research into the myths of the world soon reveals the myth of Asclepius to constitute a fertile layer of topsoil beneath which lie prior claims to the serpent holder title and skeletons in the closet that need to be let out.

Asclepius

Asclepius’s occupational profile and area of speciality (never losing a patient to death, being able to revive the dead and retrieve souls from the underworld) was derived from the recorded history of the Egyptians’ father of medicine Imhotep, the Egyptian God of Medicine & Science, a deified mortal.

Ancient Egyptian imagery does not depict Imhotep as a serpent bearer. In profiling Asclepius the Greeks apparently enhanced Imhotep’s mythos by accentuating the role of the serpent. They did this by adding to Asclepius’s resume the mystery traditions of the cult of the serpent which were being taught in the days when the new Greek philosophers were flocking to the temples and mystery schools of Asia and Ancient Egypt.

This amalgamation of wisdom traditions formulated approximately 1650 years or so after the fall of Minoan Crete and written in the Christian vernacular in the first few hundred years of the 1st century A.D. essentially resulted in such works as the Gnostic Gospels and the Corpus Hermeticum.

Imhotep

Imhotep was an Egyptian physician, architect, builder, Vizier to 3rd Dynasty King Djoser and a part time Priest of Ra who lived in the 27th Century BCE. He was also a scientist, astronomy-astrologer and scribe.

Imhotep led an exemplary human life and was deified thousands of years after his death to become the third member of the great triad of gods at Memphis, an Egyptian city that attracted philosophers and spiritual pilgrims from all over the then-modern world seeking to learn occult and mystic wisdom traditions from the Egyptian masters, priests and hierophants.

Imhotep’s areas of expertise go far beyond the realm of medicine but this is the quality for which he is most remembered and the part of his cosmic DNA given to Asclepius.

Like Asclepius, Imhotep never lost a patient to death. And because the Egyptians kept excellent records and were experts at preservation, writings found by archaeologists and decoded by Egyptologists spoke of Imhotep’s ability to bring the dead back to life. Hence it was this particular skill that was primarily responsible for his adoption and deification as Asclepius in the form that was sent to the stars by the Greeks.

Imhotep’s famous Step Pyramid at Saqqara which was the oldest known successful pyramid ever built that is still in ready evidence today, preserved his name and validates 4500 years later that he was, in fact, an Egyptian man incarnate and living an extraordinary human life.

Reviving the serpent holder

Minoan Crete Mother Goddess

Asclepius knew the secrets of life and death, as did Imhotep. They knew the power resided in the blood of the serpent or snake. But is this a metaphor for something besides the obvious–a member of Earth’s herpetological species?

What is a serpent and who is the serpent holder? Are they the physicians who use the medicinal powers taught to them in the temples and mystery schools? Or is there more to the Serpent Holder culture than medicine and treatments?

Ancestry

Stitching the Olympian Greek pantheon together from among the many gods and goddesses of Asia, Africa and Old Europe that found their way to the Mediterranean along Phoenician trade routes and across Asian and Near Eastern land routes must have been quite a job.

What we do know is that the caves of Minoan Crete are universally acknowledged to be the birthplace of Asclepius’s grandfather Zeus, King of the Olympian Gods.

What most people don’t know is that the artifacts found in those caves on Minoan Crete, which the evidence suggests was a matriarchal culture, portray Zeus as the “shining boy,” son and consort of the Great Goddess. Nothing more.

That’s how much things changed between Old Kingdom Egypt and Olympian Greece.

Here is a short list of some of the lost members of the Light Tribe of Gaia who are Asclepius’s blood ancestors and who are finding their way to the surface of the planet and at the forefront of the Mind of Humanity to be restored to their places in life:

• Great Goddess who after the fall of Minoan Crete became Zeus’s first wife Hera the Olympian Greeks’ first Queen Goddess. Her story is that she was tricked into marriage with Zeus whom she had originally rejected;
• the Serpent Mother Goddess and her Serpent Goddesses (Priestesses) of Minoan Crete and Old Europe whose temples and traditions on Mainland Greece were conquered and purged by the priests of Apollo; and
• the pre-existing Old European Goddess of All Health who later became Asclepius’s daughter, assistant and serpent handler Hygiea.

Serpent holder’s commitment & soul path

Hygeia and Serpent

What qualifies members of the Ophiuchus Collective to work Astrologically through the serpent holder constellation – what they all have in common – is the serpent of wisdom.

From Earth to the Stars and back again – appearing to the senses in ordinary human form yet transcendent, transformed and transforming our Zodiac in the process – the Serpent Holder returns as an Ophiuchus-Earth Starseed soul family or group Collective.

As far as we can tell from the history of the Zodiac constellations Ophiuchus is the only such body of Light that has a documented Earth incarnation and soul family history whose Light was sent after death into a Morphogenetic Field Form (stars) capable of shining back down on the planet from its transcendent form.

Think on the implications of this.

The Serpent Holder Collective supports the plan for humanity’s quantum growth and evolutionary leap experience, working together in planetary stewardship as Galactic citizens of the Milky Way harmonizing with beings and species of life from other planetary and star systems, all of us coming into realization of our places in the Universe together.

To realize this place, the new Ophiuchus Starseed needs to achieve “self-realization” and resonate with Humanity at a frequency that tells our Ancient Ancestors that we have been healed and that Wisdom lights our way.

This will bring the Ophiuchus Mission to completion, reviving Humanity and bringing it into the Galactic Light Frequencies.

Ophiuchus Notes: Virgo ~ a soul contract relationship

Astrology gave us keywords for Virgo that express and keep us mindful of our responsibilities here. The keywords Health, Work & Service to Humanity are also the operative Ophiuchus agenda items.

The House of Virgo is Sacred Ground. It is here that the Serpent Holder attends the Earth Mother and serves Humanity. This is a responsibility we share with Ophiuchus as indeed we are all stewards of the planet.

The relationship between Virgo and Ophiuchus is brought even closer through co-sharing Mercury as their primary Planetary Intelligence (the term “planetary ruler” is outdated Astrology vernacular that sends the wrong message). Planet Mercury is and represents the consciousness of:

• Roman Mercury
• Greek Hermes who carried the infant Asclepius to the Wise Master Teacher Chiron the Centaur who became his foster father and mentor and taught him the secrets of life and death
• Hermes Trimegistus the Thrice Greatest, Great Teacher to Asclepius according to letters in the Corpus Hermeticum and who was also a form of …
• … Thoth the Ancient Egyptian Hierophant, Great Teacher in the Mystery Schools, Ancient Egyptian God of Science, Astrology and Astronomy, Writing, Medicine & Magic

These figures give us a clear picture of an Ideal form and Mindset for the New Age Man. A perfect balance of energies that transcend the need to declare it masculine or feminine. It “simply is.”

In consortium with this New Man imagery is the essence of Virgo as Maiden-Mother-Goddess and innate Angel of Healing closely approximating the Divine Feminine qualities of Venus and Asteroid Hygiea.

Mark Amaru Pinkham in his 1997 book The Return of the Serpents of Wisdom informs us Venus is the home of the Kumara who are also known as the Serpents of Wisdom.

Ophiuchus role models

Minoan Serpent Goddess of Crete

To know the characteristics of those born under the Stars of Constellation Ophiuchus, one must first discover who is (and who is not) a member of the Serpent Holder constellation’s soul family lineage.

The Serpent Holder’s soul family is described and chronicled in some detail and at length by Mark Amaru Pinkham in his 1997 book The Return of the Serpents of Wisdom.

The quintessence of the Ophiuchus Collective is best represented by these marquee individuals:

1. the sentient body of stars into which Asclepius was remanded and supra-interred at his death – without his name attached (please note — this is an important detail)
2. the myth of Asclepius, Divine Physician, as attended by his daughter/serpent handler Hygiea, Goddess of Health
3. the incarnation of Imhotep, Master Builder & Master Physician, etc.
4. the lost and exiled Serpent Mother Goddess/Serpent Goddesses of Minoan Crete and Old Europe whose traditions were overwritten in the ascendance to power of the patriarchy in the times between the Egyptian Middle Kingdom and Ancient Greece when the myth of Asclepius was given birth to.
5. Sophia-Wisdom synonymous with Mary Magdalene as transmitted through Gnostic gospels and wisdom traditions preserved by the various cults of the serpent, specifically Pistis Sophia which outlines and demonstrates the process of divine feminine suppression and what was done to the modern zodiac under the Christian influence.

Imhotep was black

We remind you one more time that the name of the constellation and sign (Serpent Holder) is generic and any inference as to gender must be considered in the context of the Serpent which is occultly known to be essentially feminine in concept.

Many famous figures in recorded Earth history who do not bear the mark of the serpent and whose business here was not designed to shepherd humanity through sharing and preserving the sacred wisdom traditions, knowledge of sacred science and the healing arts have been mis-associated with Ophiuchus.

For crystal clarity, historically famous individuals who ascended to positions of personal and professional power during pivotal times who are unlikely Serpent Holders in the classic “Ophiuchus” sense or possibly in any sense at all include but are not limited to Akhenaten and Joseph.

For one thing, Imhotep was a seriously black Egyptian; Joseph was Hebrew.

Akhenaten was a failed monotheism experiment.

Natives of Astrological Ophiuchus

Don’t expect all Ophiuchus natives to be able to fulfill our expectations of them.

Just like the natives of the other Zodiac signs, some Ophiuchus-born natives are humans having an Ophiuchus experience for the first time and in various stages of training to take on the mantle of responsibility for the planet and to represent the planet at the Galactic and Universal level.

The Accomplished Serpent Holder is not limited to incarnating between November 30 and December 18. These individuals are Star Born and Starseed who are returning Ascended Master Serpents of Wisdom. These would include the Master Architects, Scientists, Builders, Healers, Sages, Mystery School Teachers and Mentors.

[To be continued ...]

• See Ophiuchus tips for Astrologers ~ unearthing Ophiuchus

• See Ophiuchus Tips for Astrologers ~ Ophiuchus CliffsNotes

• And see Ophiuchus ~ the Astrological Attributes (Part 2. Not)