In the growing pantheon of new astrological planets, albeit small ones, there is one of particular interest to more esoterically inclined astrologers, which has its meaning grounded on the Vedas and Theosophical writings. This little planet was discovered in the year 2000 and is now known to us as Varuna (with the accent on the 1st syllable). Its symbolism is most interesting and revealing. It is also said to be connected with Neptune and Uranus. So, without further ado, meet Varuna.
We start with the astronomy of this little world. Varuna is a classical Kuiper belt, trans-Neptunian object, meaning it has no gravitational connection with Neptune. It is known also as a cubewano. Its orbital period is similar to that of Quaoar at 283 years (Varuna’s orbital period is 281 years). Its orbital path is near-circular, though inclined at 17.2° – very similar to that of Pluto. Its shape is unusual, having been measured to be scalene ellipsoid. This is very similar to Haumea, which is larger. Basically, it is shaped somewhat like an eye, which is significant, and which will be considered shortly. Its glyph is the outline of an eye.
Varuna is named after the Hindu deity, Varuna, who is their god of the water and of the celestial ocean. It is the present-day Hindu equivalent of Poseidon/Neptune. Varuna possibly has a satellite. Its mean diameter is about 680 km, making it a probable dwarf planet, especially if its composition turns out to be icier rather than rocky. In comparison, it is slightly smaller than Ceres. In its orbit it passes through only a few non-zodiacal constellations. It passes through all the zodiacal constellations except for Aries and Pisces. The non-zodiacal constellations through which Varuna passes are as follows:
- Leo Minor, the Little Lion
- Boötes, the Plowman
- Pisces Austrinus, the Big Fish
- Cetus, the Sea Monster
- Orion, the Hunter
- Coma Berenices, Berenice’s Hair
Of these, only Leo Minor is of modern derivation. Varuna is at the apex of its orbit in the constellation of Cancer, finally reaching its nadir in the constellation of Capricornus. And it is interesting that, being connected with Neptune in Western thought, it does not pass through Pisces, but instead through Pisces Austrinus – the Great Fish, said to be swallowing the water poured forth by Aquarius – and through Cetus, the Sea Monster. Cetus was a sea monster in Greek mythology. The latter has only taken the meaning of a whale in recent astronomical lore. Varuna is currently at the 4th degree of Leo, retrograde, as of the end of 2020. [ephemeris] The north node is currently at 8° Cancer and the south node is at 7° Capricorn. That brings us into Varuna’s mythology and meaning.
Varuna is said to be the god of the underwater world. ‘Underwater world’ has different meanings depending upon one’s point of reference. It is of interest to note that he is typically depicted riding on a sea creature, makara. Makara is intimately associated with the sign Capricorn, with makara having evolved over the centuries to become our sea-goat, or mountain goat, depending. A makara is a mythical creature – half-land, half-sea – and it is usually depicted as being composed of the parts of many animals, much like the imperial dragon of China and having similar significances between the two cultures. Makara are known as gate-keepers and are often found guarding the entryways into throne rooms and temples. Then, there is this regarding makara from The Secret Doctrine:
“ I am the fish of the great Horus (as Makara is the “ crocodile,” (the vehicle of Varuna). I am merged in Sekten.”
This last sentence gives the corroboration of, and repeats the doctrine of, esoteric Buddhism, for it alludes directly to the fifth principle (Manas), or the most spiritual part of its essence rather, which merges into, is absorbed by, and made one with Atma-Buddhi after the death of man. (SD I, p. 220)
So, if makara is manas, of atma-buddhi-manas (the spiritual Triad or higher Self on its own plane), who then, is Varuna? Varuna’s name means, “He who covers or binds”. In esoteric Buddhism, Varuna, with manas (makara) as its vehicle, is none other than our higher Self, projected into material existence from life to life, covering itself with a personality at each incarnation. Our personality in each life is but a cover, or blind if you like, for our true inner essence, our spiritual Self. But the true and ancient meaning of Varuna is rather more complicated than even that.
Varuna was initially one of the Asuras – a being of Supreme Wisdom. In fact, Varuna was the ruler of the ‘ocean of Space’ itself – ‘the Maker of heaven and earth’ – in the earliest Vedas. The ‘deep ocean’ over which Varuna presided was infinite, primordial space, out of which everything is manifested. This was later corrupted to make Varuna equivalent with Neptune, which is not the case. Originally, Neptune was an emanation of Varuna, as was Uranus.
There is yet another interpretation of Varuna, in that at a systemic level, meaning our solar system, Varuna is seen as an emanation of Neptune and as the head of the astral devas, the devas of the waters. This is from Alice Bailey (A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, p. 897/8), wherein Varuna is seen as the Raja (regent) of the astral plane, thus having dominion over the astral bodies of every incarnated being. It is he who ‘covers’ the soul in emotional matter. Varuna is also said to, “govern over the angels who guard the sanctuaries of all the churches, cathedrals, temples and mosques of the world.” (Bailey, The Externalisation of the Hierarchy, p. 505)
As with every ancient universal presentation of the Ancient Wisdom, Varuna’s meaning has been stepped down and anthropomorphized through the ages. Now, instead of being a primordial principle, Varuna has been given a male gender and presides over the deep oceans of our little speck of dust in space as well as the astral nature of all that is manifest. But, the laws of analogy and correspondence give us the clues we need to extract the meaning of this planet for us in a human horoscope. For this, we go back to the connection between makara, mind/manas and Varuna.
Given the preceding information, the role of Varuna would appear to be reversed, in that it is mind that moves upon emotional matter, not the reverse. Confused? Well don’t be, because Neptune is also connected with and expresses buddhi, or pure reason, a.k.a. intuition, for which the mind is the vehicle and the astral body is the reflector. To get to the consideration of what Varuna means in a chart, then, we have the discovery chart for this fascinating little world, below (bigger):
Varuna was discovered from viewing three discovery plates, the last one confirming the discovery on 28 Nov 2000 at 11:00:55 UT at the Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona. At its discovery, Varuna was at the 11th degree of Cancer, which has a rather revealing Sabian symbol attached to it: “A clown caricaturing well-known personalities.” Noting that symbol, a clown is itself a caricature. Clowns have an ancient history, too, having originally played an important role in socio-religious services, with the priest in such roles and the clown often being one and the same. And this brings us to the human expression of Varuna in a horoscope.
One’s higher Self can be seen as the priest in our human lives. The soul/higher Self holds sacred our highest principles, after all. We, as souls, change ‘costumes’ from life to life, taking on diverse bodies in culture after culture, alternating genders, races and so forth, in our Divine Comedy called our spiritual evolution. In this sense, we as souls project ourselves out into space from life to life and manifest ourselves as personalities in the great sea of humanity. We imagine ourselves to be a certain way, taking on our human roles in each life and gaining in experience and wisdom thereby, thereafter returning to the source, our spiritual essence/higher Self, riding upon makara to take up our temporary residence in the heaven worlds (devachan). Then, we get back, Jack, and do it again after we have finished our sojourn there, and under the impress of our karma.
It has been said that imagination is the mode whereby the higher Self seeks to express itself in our lives. Considering all of the preceding, what we have with the placement of Varuna by sign, house and aspect in a horoscope is not so much a representation of the higher Self, but a point at which our imagination finds its unique mode of expression. The path to the higher Self, or our pathway to our more spiritual expression, is the ascendant in esoteric astrology. All of the angles in the chart, including the Vertex, function in one way or another along that line. But Varuna represents something different, although connected with the angles.
Perhaps the best way to get an idea of how a planet works is to view it through the window of one’s Ascendant. The Ascendant governs our self-expression and appearance. Any planet found on the Ascendant, within a couple of degrees, ‘speaks’ through a person. With that in mind, we have a few in the following examples:
- Louise Dumont/Sagittarius: Famous German actress and theater director (bio, translate)
- Woody Herman/Virgo-Pisces: Clarinetist and showman (Varuna on Descendant) (the band, with Sal Nistico, and Woody on clarinet and vocals)
- Terry Jones/Aries: Welsh actor, writer, comedian, screenwriter, film director, historian, and a member of the Monty Python comedy team (video)
- Wilhelm Leibl/Sagittarius: German realist painter of portraits and scenes of peasant life (paintings)
- Emile Zola/Sagittarius: French novelist, playwright, journalist, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism. (descriptions here and here)
And of topical interest, we can also look at aspects to the Ascendant. For instance, Donald Trump has Varuna trine Mars and his Ascendant from Aries in the 9th house (chart). He imagines via Aries – ‘Me first!’ in its lower expression, projected as “America first!”, and pioneering in its highest expression, as in going against the grain of Washington – and trine to Mars gives him the attitude that he has to be seen as a winner and as a champion of the people. Note this is how he imagines himself, from what we have seen of him. And we note the 9th house emphasis during his time in the White House, with the emphasis on his evangelical supporters (religion), foreign trade wars, his hopes via the SCOTUS (the judiciary), higher intellect (“I’m a very stable genius.”) and Trump University (higher education) – all 9th house matters. And, he has used this to great advantage over the years, projecting himself as a great success. And we note, too, prior to being President, he was best noted for his reality TV show, “The Apprentice”.
Meryl Streep has Varuna in Taurus in the 10th house, square Jupiter and her horizon axis (Ascendant, chart). She is the very public face (10th house) of someone able to put on a mask at will and play different characters, her ability magnified by the square of Varuna to Jupiter, especially considering Varuna forms the midpoint, Varuna=Jupiter/Ascendant, even more so with her Leo rising. Taurus rules the throat and gives a very pleasant voice. Streep is well known for her ability to mimic various accents and languages. She also had opera lessons early on.
Agatha Christie, famous crime novelist, had Varuna conjunct the Vertex and Jupiter in the 6th house in Aquarius, the three of them quincunx the Ascendant and trine the Moon, all forming a grand trine with the MC in Gemini (chart). She is the best-selling fiction writer of all time. She wrote from her experiences, including working in hospital dispensaries during both world wars (which gave her a thorough knowledge of poisons, used in her novels), archaeology in the Middle East, which she also used in her novels, and her general experiences in wide travels. She was an eclectic mix (Aquarius), but one which contributed greatly to her writing style, added to by the conjunction with Jupiter, and with her attention to detail showing through her Virgo rising. And the detective novels? They are reflected through the 6th house – the police forces, servants, pharmacology, jury deliberations, long journeys in connection with professions, etc.
Perhaps a good presentation of the action of Varuna and the essence of what it best represents was stated by one of Germany’s most renowned romantic painters, Caspar David Friedrich, who had Varuna conjunct his Sun in Virgo. When describing his ritual before starting a new work, he stated the following:
“Close your bodily eye, that you may see your picture first with the spiritual eye. Then bring to the light of day that which you have seen in the darkness, so that it may react upon others from the outside inwards…do not separate the small from the large, but rather the trivial from the important.”
Varuna can show itself in one’s ability to put on a mask, to role-play as in acting, or to deceive, as in the conman. It also shows itself in one’s creative output, especially true when conjunct or aspecting angles. Regardless of where it is placed, it shows a unique point in a chart where imagination comes to the fore. It can be a saving force in a horoscope, giving us the imagination we need to see ourselves through challenging times, to reinvent ourselves, or it can be a destructive influence, imagining phantoms and darkness where there is none and keeping us in a repetitive cycle of negative thinking. It is up to us how we address and handle its promises and challenges.
Varuna, naturally, works very well in people who must put on a public face, as in actors, entertainers and politicians. It also is an excellent placement for artists and will speak much about their technique and how they approach their work. Varuna works best in the silent moments for the latter group, when we can have to space to let our imaginations roam. This is particularly the case with writers and painters.
Varuna is a little world that beckons us to further investigations into it and its actions. Einstein once said imagination is more important than knowledge. Perhaps he knew something we didn’t. After all, his best work came when he allowed himself to imagine how a particular theory or system my work. He had Varuna in Capricorn in his 7th house, in sextile to his Piscean Sun. Capricorn showed the great achievements of his imagination and his ability to anchor theory into material reality., while the 7th house placement showed he applied it to challenges in thinking, conundrums in physics and drawing on partnerships with like minds in the advancement of science.
The placement of Varuna is where we can throw off the shackles of our conditioned life and try on other realities. It is a bit like the Vertex in that regard. It may be a little world, but size matters not when it comes to changing one’s life. Even the smallest thought outside of a stream of narratives can plant a seed that can move a mountain of opinion later and lead to our own and humanity’s advancement. We are painted with a certain role in our lives by others, but that is only a mask of our true self. We must see beyond ordinary appearances if we are to realize the gifts Varuna represents. In the words of William Blake, “What is now proved was once only imagined.” Wishing gets us nowhere. In imagination lies the key to our advancement.
Featured pic from Deccanviews