Wednesday 30 May 2012

Eris Loves Rivals

Eris,  is someone to take notice of when we are facing a lot of strife in our life, Lady Gaga And Eris The Party Pooper and Eris Playing Out Another Note Of Discord. Eris, of the ‘O.M.G here comes trouble’ fame. More information on her background may help to understand her nature and needs a little more and offer us some more clues as to how best deal with her energies.

Apple of Discord
As a result of a poll in the New Scientist Eris could have been called Xenia, a nickname derived from the Greek word polixeni, meaning very hospitable to strangers, somewhat ironically. She was also nearly going to be called Persephone, a popular choice by all accounts. However, once she was classified as a dwarf-planet this choice clashed with an asteroid already given that name. Even at her inception Eris appears to already be creating some rivalry, disorder and disagreement so in keeping with her final namesake. 

Eris the trickster can play out on the world map
Eris appears to feature quite spectacularly at the moment due to her unremitting need to gate crash any gathering. Add this to this the fact that she is gaining momentum by oddly slowing down and increasing her power as she prepares to go retrograde in July 2012. Anyone with planets at or around 22 degrees of Aries, Libra, Cancer or Capricorn, Eris may be breathing down your neck. She sits in my birth chart in my 10th house, the zone of Profession and Status. Oh....
Should I forget about having any sort of profession or exterior life at all and just stay close to home in order to get away from Eris’s troublemaking and her rivalries? Looking back through the disruptions I have always experienced in the work arena could suggest that the answer is probably ‘yes’ but where will that get me? 

Before I rush back into the shelter of home to avoid Eris and occupy myself with the washing and baking some bread perhaps I should consider another reading of these signs and symbols in my chart. Strife is obviously a part of life, like it or not. We all have Eris positioned somewhere in our charts and also in our psyches. There is no point in consigning our 'unpleasantness' or  ‘nastiness’ to a dark cupboard, tucked away out of reach, banished to the nether regions of Narnia. Closing our eyes tight shut and pretending all is fine won't work either because Eris is a trickster and she will gatecrash the party anyway. In the Eris myth she stole her apple in the first place and changed it from one of the apples of immortality into a sour bitter fruit, the apple of discord. Lady Eris will always chuck in her poisoned apple anyway and with it will be throw in a lot of upset and general mayhem. That’s her offering and that’s what she brings to the party, sometimes for good reason.

Eris Is Your Opposite Number
In researching Eris’s behavior I have noticed that the zone or house opposite to the one Eris occupies in your birth chart is where her troubles can be the most obvious. It is where the apple of discord after being thrown actually lands. This area is often the 'fallout zone'. It is here where you may experience some stiff rivalry, somewhat underhand tactics and sometimes surprise intrusions. This place can also be the dumping ground for all the detritus of battle. Trouble and strife appears here when you ignore your own Eris and when you disown your inner troublemaker or pot-stirrer. If you down play this area of your birth chart, where Eris sits and waits and make out it is not as important as other areas of your life, then Lady Eris will watch as discord runs rife. Be aware not only of the house of Eris but in the exact opposite part of the chart where the apple has landed and where many things may be projected and left.
If you have Eris placed in the 7th house of partnerships and you dismiss or deny that you can at times be a trouble maker within your relationship or in business with partners, then the effects could be experienced in the 1st house of vitality, presentation and self. Lets say you get involved in an unfair partnership, or deny the other persons contributions or always get embroiled in love triangles and yet pretend nothing untoward is happening. It could be possible that your health could suffer due to the stress of keeping it all together or the image that you present to the world could be affected or your sense of independence could take a knock.
Spot the trouble, address the source and you could give yourself a helping hand. For instance,
-        - Trouble and mess at home? Is Eris in your 10th house? Then address and attend to your career, strive harder in this area and admit that you want admission into this sphere of life. Then see if that admission alone alleviates your home disruption.
-        - Trouble and mess with friends? Is Eris in your 5th  house? Then address and attend to your creativity or pleasures, strive harder here and admit that you want admission into a more creative area of life or just have more time for fun and leisure.  Does just being more fun alleviate the disruptions you experienced with friends or even alter your long term goals.
-        - Trouble and mess with your partner? Find out if  Eris in your 1st house? Then address and attend to your independence and personal space. Admit you want this expression of life to be in place and then see if that alleviates the disruptions within your partnerships.


One positive way to deal with Eris issues is to look at her position in your chart as a place where you have to try harder and make quite some effort. Strive to attain something you really want and drive towards that goal. Most importantly admit that you indeed have these very big goals and press on in this area because simple acknowledgement appeases most gods.
It is obviously not aspiration alone without perspiration in the realm of Eris and we will have to focus really hard on achieving positive results. Set our sights on something and try to get there irrespective of what anyone else is doing or has done or even despite the difficult hand we may have been dealt. This will serve to give us momentum to move forward and with this comes a lot more personal power. We can look at this type of challenge as an opportunity to get things right out into the open. Sometimes this can get a wee bit scary. We could be shown intolerance, or suspicion and envy under a variety of guises but if we choose not to react and engage we will probably feel better for it in the end. Because it is better to face it. Try to do what is necessary and you may just notice a gift horse has been staring right back at you. Facing your Eris full on and dealing with her bravely and honestly is exactly what she needs. Ultimately, Eris just wants to be included and attended to and moved out of the shadows. 
Amy Winehouse had Eris in her 11th house. It was therefore, the opposite house, the 5th, where she looked for the damage, the fall-out from the apple of discord was no doubt her romantic and recreational life. This 5th house 'mess we made' obviously fed her creativity but was only one side of the see-saw. By owning her 11th house needs to participate more profoundly and openly in friendships, sharing and caring and realising that she was not so alone in the big wide world, may have provided her with some alternative. While she struggled to be loved by the special 'one' her creativity translated to the whole world where she was loved by many. 
posted by pippa ponton & jphibbs

10 comments:

  1. Great article. Thanks

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    1. Thank you, hope Lady Eris is not causing you too much trouble!

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  2. Hello Pippa,

    greetings from Berlin. Thanks for a fun and illuminating article. I have Eris 11,22r in Aries in my 7th house, so the upcoming Pluto/Uranus square is having a field day with her. As I have a natal 12th house Pluto/Uranus conjunction, opposing Saturn/Chiron in my 6th, I am extremely sensitive to these squares. Any comments or thoughts would be highly appreciated.

    xx Mads

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    1. Hello Mads - thank you very much for your comment - no matter how we come at it a square is, in my opinion, a site of pressure which demands action, and for you this probably means taking care of others in some form - my 'recommendation' re Eris is that for you the action should be focussed on yourself, your needs, addressing full-on and directly how you find expression for yourself IN YOUR PERSONAL SPACE (1st house) which could be your physical body, your home space, your car when you are in it etc. With such an emphasis on 12th/6th, Virgo/Pisces (I'm guessing) and a 7th Eris - well I would imagine being of service to others is where the universe keeps drawing your attention - Time Mads to bring it back to yourself!

      xx Pippa

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  3. Thanks Pippa, I think you're very right.

    I actually had a dream a month ago. I was standing with my father outside a house, when I suddenly noticed a fire and smoke.

    All people around did nothing but I said to my father, we must act, we went into the house, met a turkish guy in another appartment of the house who said I'm not allowed in since I'm different.

    I talked to him a bit, then we had to go up to the appartment with the fire. A politician from my homeland Denmark, opened the door starkly naked (not a pretty sight), it seemed he was having a sex party, all his guests were covering their faces as we entered.

    I was focused on the fire, of course, so I took the politician away and had a talk about it all to him.

    When we came back, the guys from the party started uncovering their faces, and my father reappeared, now in a fancy dressing gown, saying, listen, I think I want to stay here.

    I said, you just do whatever you like, but I can't stay, I neither want to nor would it be appropriate with you around. But I do need the key to the other appartment to get my coat. He gave me a very old fashioned key which fitted into a different keyhole, and I found my jacket.

    Going out, I met someone from the party saying, Imagine, so much tonic and no gin!

    That was the end of the dream. I think it fits your recommendation very directly. Trust a guy with Uranus/Pluto in 12th (yes, Virgo) to have it served in a weird wrapping :)

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  4. Wow what a dream Mads - talk about Eris at the party!!! Looks like you have got to grips with all the complicated symbolism involved x

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  5. Yeah, no parties without gin for me! I was actually surprised by all the morality, but of course, if you aren't really interested in the sex party, it's no big sacrifice to give it up.

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  6. well I am glad you have found your jacket Mads!

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  7. Thanks for pointing it out. It was no question of finding it, it actually lay ready, beautifully folded, as soon as I opened the door. Sometimes you miss the obvious..

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  8. Shellyse Szakacs17 August 2014 at 01:28

    Hi Pippa,
    I am so glad that I came across your article, you offer a very clear explanation and a practical take on this energy that I am only beginning wrap my brain around. I have Eris conjunct my Jupiter in the 8th square my Sun, Mercury Mars and South Node in Capricorn (5th) also quincunx Uranus/Pluto Virgo (1st) and sextile Venus/Saturn (6th) ie one leg of a Yod. I seem to walk two steps forward one step back or the opposite even, through relationships resources and friendships. Reading your article I am thinking maybe Eris is a factor. I am wondering if you might shed some light how to deal with Eris in this position

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