Without a soul, my spirit’s sleeping somewhere cold… (Save me) save me from the nothing I’ve become
Evanescence, Bring Me To Life
I don’t know about you, but these last few weeks have felt like I am riding around in a self-driving car, with no idea where it is going and no way to get out.
Things which we believed impossible have been unfolding in front of our eyes. Any sense that we could control our little corner of existence has been rocked. If minding one’s own business or flying under the radar were ever viable strategies for personal peace, they no longer exist.
As we have incorporated social media and online conveniences into our lives, everyone’s business is everyone else’s in order to keep those machines humming. Our attention is the fuel.
Yeah, no, I don’t have any solutions for our many predicaments, but I have been fascinated with dwarf planet Sedna and believe its energy, like that of Pluto, is intertwined with the story of humankind.
Sedna and Pluto in conversation from the air signs of Gemini and Aquarius signal that we are meant to see that our power lies in how we direct our conscious attention.
Will we continue to give our power away by habitually scrolling on our phones, getting angry with trolls or endlessly distracted by what has been designed to hold our attention (all while giving away data on our likes, searches, and purchases)?
Will we continue to break down our self-trust by constantly seeking external information simply because it is convenient, rather than putting in the work on daily practices, such as meditation, which foster internal wisdom?
Sedna is a dwarf planet, located far beyond any planet in our solar system, with an extraordinarily elongated egg-shaped orbit - a whopping 11,406 Earth years in a single orbit around our Sun. Scientists say that the extremely elongated orbit is a mark of an encounter with an object which is no longer there; a phantom obstacle, if you will.
The last closest pass of Sedna to Earth along her orbit correlates with the end of the last Ice Age here, and the beginning of agriculture, known as the Neolithic Revolution. During this time, there was a wide scale change in how humans operated: from meandering hunter gatherers to people who could put down roots. This was the start of the radical modification of the natural environment with things like crop rotation, irrigation, and deforestation.
This era saw the development of settlements, the ability to have surplus food, create immovable art, trade, and administrations. De-personalized systems of knowledge were created during this time. Seeds were planted for densely populated areas, specialization, and economic, political, and hierarchic foundations which would support this new way of human existence.
Sedna will make another closest pass to Earth in about 50 years, so we are currently in the shadow, if not already in the thick of, another major shift in our existence.
Our whole known human history has been in the last Sedna year since the Neolithic revolution. In fact all of recorded history has been just in the last six Sedna months, yet we can see that Sedna greatly impacts humans in a manner consistent with the sign she is in, starting with Sedna in Libra, when Sumerian cities and later the Bronze Age began. Then Sedna entered Scorpio around 3000 BCE, when ancient Egypt rose (cults around the dead track with Scorpio/Pluto energy). With Sedna in Sagittarius we saw themes of law and higher education and philosophy, with the rise of ancient Greece during this time period.
Sedna entered in Aries in 1865, and we saw larger scale wars and the rise of greater destructive capabilities via technology. Sedna in Taurus began in 1966, from which time forward the focus was on establishing security (a Taurus theme) via relating (the peace movement) and material resources (the 1980s and beyond).
Sedna began ingressing into Gemini in June of 2023, then moved back and forth over the 00°, and as of April 2024 moved into Gemini and will remain there until 2065. Notably, the next closest pass of Sedna to Earth (similar to the pass when the Ice Age ended) will be in 2078 when Sedna is in Cancer.
With Sedna and Pluto (another dwarf planet, which also repeatedly moved back and forth over 00° of an air sign recently) in conversation via a trine aspect from Gemini and Aquarius, and considering that both planets will be in these signs for decades, there is a pointed focus on themes related to technology, innovation, communication, perception, and how small networks of people and larger groups organize themselves outside of the dominant consensus or status quo societal framework. As well, this points to how we perceive consciousness of AI and relate with it.
So, keep these concepts in mind as we explore Sedna.
Mythology of Sedna
Tia Tidwell, professor of Alaska Native Studies at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and belongs to the Nunamiut people of Anaktuvuk Pass, describes the myth on an episode of the podcast After Dark (Episode 36). Sedna was named after the Inuit goddess of the sea. To the Inuits, gods were not divine, but part of this world. Sedna was extremely beautiful, and was in relationship with a shapeshifter, which was taboo. She refused to marry any of the men in the village.
When Sedna refused to marry her father’s choice of husband, Sedna’s father (or ‘the people’, in some versions) take her out to sea and throw her overboard (in some versions, she falls). She tries to climb back and her fingers (in some versions, her forearms, too) are cut off one by one.
As she sinks, she gives rise to all the sea mammals, which become the basis for a bountiful life for the people of the arctic. She becomes a sea goddess, worshiped by hunters who depend on her goodwill to supply food, warmth, and raw materials via the sea mammals.
Some interpretations focus on the victimization of Sedna by her father, and her clinging (literally to the boat) to the only reality she knew. However, the complete view includes her remarkable transcendence through the lot she was dealt, to becoming a kind and benevolent goddess, nurturing the people, including those who betrayed her.
We present day humans may consider this analogous to being put into a major life crisis (being pushed), experiencing the futility of refusing to let go of that which we know (fingers being cut off as she grasped the boat), and entering into spiritual consciousness (the water), and possibly a state of transcendence (becoming the benevolent goddess).
Astrological Interpretations of Sedna
In his book Sedna Consciousness: The Soul's Path of Destiny, Alan Clay describes his research, from which I summarize Sedna’s energy as:
A surrender and trust in what awaits us beyond the familiar tangible world.
A letting go of trauma and the state of victimhood in order to feel peace.
Purpose through using our gifts, leading to a state of transcendence.
He points to Edgar Cayce, the father of holistic medicine, as a case study for how Sedna combines into one way of being or one perspective, our ancestry, evolutionary change, and spiritual development in a unified worldview.
Clay employs astrologer Dane Rudhyar’s framework of three levels a planet can operate from, depending on the individual’s level of consciousness/spiritual development, to describe Sedna’s energetic impact.
Below are keywords associated with each of those levels from an article Clay wrote for Astro.com follow.
At the unconscious level:
Victimisation
Persistent illness
Alienation
Unrelenting trauma and suffering
Nurturing resentment
Unbearable pressure
Caught in quicksand
Personal blindspot
On the spiritual path:
Radical acceptance
Acknowledging just how bad things really are and starting from there
Keeping our heart open in hell
Nurturing our sense of humour
Beating our drum and singing to life
Fated transcendence
At the spiritually evolved level:
Spiritual destiny
Transcendent peace
Nurturing abundance
Allowing love and harmony
Transpersonal consciousness
Higher octave of Ceres
The Sabian symbol for Sedna’s current position at the start of Gemini gave me chills because it so closely mirrors the mythology and Clay’s research into the astrological correlations. Note that there have and will be many rare conjunctions and aspects occurring at/from this degree, making it even more pertinent:
A glass-bottomed boat reveals under-sea wonders.
Depth of realization in a consciousness constantly in touch with the sources of life. Sensitiveness to collective images.
I’ll be keeping an eye on late August/early September, when disrupter Uranus makes a conjunction with Sedna and both trine Pluto.
In the meantime, I’d love to hear your thoughts on whether you/we are in the midst an unavoidable personal or collective crisis → letting go → spiritual awakening → transcendence.
Related:
References:
Astronomy from space.com https://www.space.com/25695-sedna-dwarf-planet.html
After Dark Podcast, Episode 36 on the Inuit goddess Sedna mythology https://pod.link/1705694900
Sabian Symbols https://sabian.org/sabiansymbols.php
Sedna book by Alan Clay https://www.amazon.com/Sedna-Consciousness-Souls-Path-Destiny/dp/0987135767
Summary on astro.com https://www.astro.com/astrology/aa_article190401_e.htm
This has stayed with me ever since I read it yesterday. So much to think about. Thank you for your clarity.
Omg! Thank you! I really needed to learn about this. Since my Yod includes Sedna and with Pluto in my 12th house - I am swimming in this sea (I was sinking, now I’m swimming ☺️). Thank you for the extra references too.