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Centaurs
Deianira, seeking safe passage. Hercules went on his own way while assigning Nessus
to carry Deianira across the river. Overcome with lust, Nessus violated Deianira. Hercules
turned about to witness the deed and struck Nessus with one of his arrows, poisoned
with a concoction created by Chiron. Nessus, mortally wounded, gave his blood
and semen to Deianira, assuring her it would guarantee Hercules’s faithfulness to her.
One day, as Hercules departed for a tournament, Deianira gave him a cloak anointed
with Nessus’s fluids. When Hercules donned the article, he experienced excruciating
pain and suffering, agonizing to his death. He raged through the land destroying
everything in his path. He begged to die in dignity on a pyre of oak and olive branches.
Elevated to Olympus, he was cared for by Hera, who had at his birth sought to kill
him with serpents.
Melanie Reinhart, in her book To the Edge and Beyond, notes a Saturn-Pluto
relationship with Nessus. Hercules died at the hand of Chiron and his own action of
retaliation in defense of the honor of his wife—a Saturn-to-Pluto image. In the Nessus
myth clearly emerges sexually transmitted disease (STD), AIDS, and those diseases
transmitted by blood, like hepatitis in all its grades. Importantly, the dignity of an
AIDS death must be preserved under the influence of Nessus’s demise.
Asbolus became the next named Centaur. A seer, he foretold of the massacre
of the Centaurs in the battle against the Lapiths during the wedding of Pirithous.
Asbolus attempted in vain to dissuade his colleagues not to engage in the battle.
Like Pholus, a peaceful effort extends into the implications of Asbolus. His
attempts to prevent conflict and save lives reflect a somewhat noble concern for fellow
Centaurs (humans). Possibly a Centaur of negotiation, arbitration, and conflict
resolution, Asbolus deserves initial recognition as a peacemaker.
The North Node and Perihelion points of Asbolus render the following possibilities:
the need for self-realization because of deeds done; desire for reputation and
acclaim. Negative: Reckless regard for reputation, lack of integrity, impulse driven
without sense of consequence; inability to take compliments. Positive: impeccability
in action; known as solid and consistent; accepting of praise with humility.
Chariklo, the next named Centaur, was not a Centaur at all but the mermaid
wife of Chiron. Together they had a son, Karystos, of whom little is written. Also they
had two daughters, Melanippe (black mare, also called Euippe, or good mare) and
Endeis or Thetis, depending upon which mythological family tree is consulted. Melanippe
had an illegal love affair with Poseidon and elected to no longer live among
mortals as a consequence. Like her father, she appealed to the gods and was set into
the night sky as a star.
Chariklo shows up in very few references of note. Once she attended Athene
(Pallas Athena) with her bath when Teiresias, who hunted with his dogs, happened
upon them. Teiresias saw the breasts and legs of Athene. The goddess placed her
hands over the young man’s eyes and blinded him. Chariklo, full of remorse, appealed
to Athene to show mercy. Athene declared Teiresias a prophet and cleansed his ears
so he could hear and understand the voices of the birds. She also gave him a staff of
cornel wood so he could walk as if he had sight.
[134] THE ASTROLOGY BOOK