Asteroid Diary: Achilles

Jan Boeckhorst [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Asteroid Achilles is named after the Greek god Achilles, and it was discovered in 1906 by German astronomer Max Wolf. It takes about 12 years to orbit the Sun. In the story of Achilles, he was pretty indestructible, except for that pesky part of his foot (hey, if the rest of us only had one bad body part, I think we'd all be pretty happy!). In astrology, Achilles shows an area where we can have too much confidence or not enough confidence and it's to our peril. If we can avoid that, we can use the energy to our advantage.

Achilles is number 588 on astro.com, if you want to check where your own is. My Achilles is at 7 degrees Aries, located in my 5th house and retrograde. As a child, I had great artistic talent, and was quite confident in my abilities (5th house), but eventually that went away (overconfidence). Now I probably have none!

My Achilles is opposite my Mercury and asteroids Deucalion and Apollo, and square asteroid Hermes. I've always said my mind was my greatest asset and greatest liability in life (Mercury and Hermes), have found that constantly starting over is a good thing for me (Deucalion), and that I can't take anything for granted (Apollo).

This piece by Alex Miller for The Mountain Astrologer details how transit Achilles can trigger an afflicted Achilles in your natal chart and bring your downfall. Great read! To find where Achilles currently is located you can use astro.com (go to extended chart selection, then click on ephemeris, and type 588 in the additional asteroids and other objects section). It seems that Achilles is currently in Libra until November, and as I write this, is conjunct my Mercury, lighting up my Achilles-ness - don't you love how it comes together sometimes?

The thing that struck me when I found my Achilles was that my younger brother's Sun is almost exactly conjunct (in the same spot). He's definitely been a weak spot for me in my life, as I've always felt that I have to look out for him and take care of him, putting his needs above my own when we were kids, to my own detriment at times (and he'd probably say to his sometimes too LOL!). So, what is your Achilles doing in your chart?