Today I am concentrating on our Mother, Earth.
In Old Norse, she is Erda (also known as Jörd, Fjörgyn, Hlódyn).
The ancient greeks knew her as Rhea or Gaea (Gaia).
Asteroid Gaea 1184
Asteroid Erda 894
Instructions to see your chart here. Choose extended, pop # in additional at the very bottom for asteroids.
I have written loads of Gaia posts click here for more.
I am a dirt-loving Earthgirl through and through – anxious for warmth so I can dig it.
Erda is the norse goddess of the Earth.
She is often associated with the Three Norns, the spinners of fate who guard the Well of Urd aka Weird’s well (well of destiny) at the base of Yggdrasil, the great ash World Tree of Life. The well is a holy place where the Aesir (Asgardian Gods) often gathered.
Growing from the well, Yggdrasil stands at the center of the cosmos and holds the Nine Worlds – humans, gods, and all other beings live in its branches and roots. The goddess Erda waters it from the well of her wisdom. We live on Midgard (fourth world), aka Middle Earth. We are linked with Asgard (first world, home of the Aesir) by The Rainbow Bridge aka Bifrost.
Yggdrasil dwells within the heart of everything – micro and macroworlds.
Erda is the Great Mother, the single living organism supporting all beings on our planet. She breathes life, has heart, soul, grows and changes like humans – only at a much slower vibration.
The name Earth originates from the 8th century anglo-Saxon word: erda which means ground or soil. Earth is the only planet whose name in English is not derived from greco-roman mythology. Cool, yeah ?
Erda, a seer knowing origins and outcomes, often helped Wodon (Odin) who would seek her advice regarding the future. She is the bender of fate to those she favors, she is a primordial teacher, a living being. Erda’s ties to fate and divination* led many to use the Earth herself for omens and signs, portents of the future – animals, birds, clouds, the oceans and more.
See Divination in drop-down menu above for loads of augury.*
Not surprisingly, my Gaea is at 29 Leo conjunct Venus/Jupes in 8; my Erda in Scorp exact quincunx Sag Mars at the backdoor – I have definitely experienced my share of weird earth energies. For starters here. Travelling around on the Earth has taught me so much – at each location my experience has been transformative in accordance with the earth energies present in the rock below me.
Asteroids Erda and Gaea obviously represent your connection with the Earth.
They indicate in which ways you are practical, skilled, also slowed.
They show how and where you ground yourself.
In synastry, they show how and where others ground you.
Strudwick: A Golden Thread
Three Norns; or spinners of fate derives from to whisper, or whisperer. Old Norse for a practitioner of magic is norn (lower case n). They can be found spinning and weaving webs of fate and carving runes into the trunk of Yggdrasil – in these ways they preside over life, death, destiny, the fate of all beings, Divine and Mortal.
The Norns were often depicted in three stages of womanhood. Verdani as a young maiden, Skuld as mother, and Urda as a crone.
Past: Urd – what was
Presence: Verdandi – that which comes into being
Future: Skuld – what shall be
This Norse study led me to contemplate what is the difference between fate & destiny ?
Fate is divinely preordained, fixed.
Destiny, we have the power to shape.
(Love the one word answer to the ? given on the web: faith.)
Asteroid Destinn 6583
I mentioned study, one of the pages I found had some really great info re: fate, destiny & time from someone far more learned in Norse mythology.
I share it here, with a link.
In contrast to the Greek concept of fate, in ancient Germanic beliefs, all beings who are subject to destiny have some degree of agency in shaping their own destiny and the destinies of others – this is the dew that falls back into the well from the branches of the tree, accordingly reshaping the past and its influence upon the present. All beings do this passively; those who practice magick do it actively. There is no absolutely free will, just as there is no absolutely unalterable fate; instead, life is lived somewhere between these two extremes. source
Loving that viewpoint !
Norn time is as follows, which I also find fascinating…
Here, time is cyclical rather than linear.
The present returns to the past, where it retroactively changes the past.
The new past, in turn, is reabsorbed into a new present, whose originality is an outgrowth of the give-and-take between the waters of the well and the waters of the tree. (source link above)
Asteroid Destinn is just what it sounds like – Destiny.
Destinn attracts grand meetings on par with what it contacts in your natal.
eg. Destinn conjunct Mars: fated men, actions, aggression, power, competition
In synastry it indicates someone is your catalyst via that contact planet
eg. Mars conj Destinn synastry – someone changes your actions/plans/direction
Composite Destinn indicates coupled power to change the world at large
Yet another Home Run for astrology !
Destinn is at 8 Cancer in exact trine to my natal Erda.
Currently Erda is at 24 Taurus opposite Saturn at 23 Scorpio.
Gaea is at 25 Aries applying to South Node (my natal NNode).
Brilliantly accentuates the incoming Cardinal Cross energies !
It is (far past) time we take care of our Mother Earth.
Peace
GMA
Gneiss Moon Astrology 