IXION

Ixion is a Plutino, meaning it has a 3:2 orbital resonance with Neptune. (Other Plutinos, discussed elsewhere on this site, include Rhadamanthus and Huya.) The orbits of Ixion and Pluto have some interesting similarities, almost mirror images of each other. For example, Ixion's perihelion is below the ecliptic whereas Pluto's is above it. Let's compare the two bodies:

With orbits so similar, they only very slowly change the zodiacal distance between them. More on this in a bit.

When it was discovered, it ws located at 5 Sagittarius 34.

The Sabian Symbol for the discovery position is "A cricket game is being watched by a colorful crowd." Dane Rudhyar wrote, "Instinctive solidarity building race consciousness." Lynda and Richard Hill write of this degree, "Playing by the rules. Stiff upperlip responses. If negative, difficulty in showing one's true feelings and emotions."

Its interesting that, while none of the Centaurean bodies was discovered in Sagittarius, Ixion (father of Centaurus and the whole Centuar tribe) was found in that centaurean sign.

Look at the positions of Ixion and Pluto from 1900-2100 (January 1, 0 hr UT each year), and note how slowly the distance between them changes:

• 1815-16:
  • Serbian Uprising against Ottoman rule leading to Serbia being acknowledged as a semi-independent state.
  • Napoleon defeated at Waterloo, ending the Napoleonic wars. Following this, at the Congress of Vienna, England, Spain, Portugal, France, and the Netherlands meet to discuss the world without Napoleon, and they agree to eventually abolish the slave trade.
  • Austria, Prussia and Russia create the "Holy Alliance" to uphold the European status quo, which is eventually signed by all European states except the United Kingdom, the Papal States, and the Ottoman Empire.
  • 1816 is known as the "Year Without a Summer" in the northern hemisphere due to global cooling caused by the Mount Tambora volcanic eruption that had occurred in 1815.
  • Ren' Laennec invents the stethoscope.
  • Robert Stirling invented the Stirling Engine.
  • Humphry Davy patents the miner's safety lamp for use in coal mining.
  • Niepce brothers initiate experiments to create images using light-sensitive materials, which will eventually produce the world's first photograph

• 1994-95:
  • Nelson Mandela was elected the first black leader of South Africa, after the country had its first free multiracial election.
  • The Australian government agrees to pay reparations to indigenous Australians who were displaced during the nuclear tests at Maralinga in the 1950s and 1960s.
  • Russian president Boris Yeltsin orders troops into Chechnya.
  • Bosnian Serbs march into Srebrenica; large numbers of Bosniak men and boys are killed in ensuing massacre; NATO bombing campaign against Serb artillary.
  • Iraq disarmament crisis
  • Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin Assasinated
  • A planned exchange rate correction of the Mexican Peso to the US Dollar, becomes a massive financial meltdown in Mexico, unleashing the 'Tequila' effect on global financial markets. This prompts a US$ 50 billion 'bailout' by the Clinton Administration
  • The Whitewater scandal investigation begins in Washington, DC.
  • Timothy MacVeigh and Terry Nichols bomb the Federal Building in Oklahoma City; 168 people were killed.
  • Fred West is charged with murdering 12 people including two of his own daughters, and his wife is charged with 10 murders. Police suspect they may have killed as many as 30 people
  • O.J. Simpson murder trial
  • The Washington Post and The New York Times publish the Unabomber's manifesto
  • NY City reinstates Death Penalty
  • The U.S. Congress passes the Child Protection and Obscenity Enforcement Act, requiring that producers of pornography keep records of all models who are filmed or photographed, and that all models be at least 18 years of age.
  • U.S. Senator Packwood of Oregon resigns under pressure for sexual and official misconduct
  • France explodes nuclear device in Pacific; wide protests ensue
  • An unprecedented heat wave strikes the Midwestern United States. Temperatures peak at 106°F (41°C), and remain above 94°F (34°C) in the afternoon for 5 straight days. At least 739 people die in Chicago alone.
  • Space Shuttle Atlantis docks with the Russian Mir space station for the first time
  • The first version of web browser Netscape Navigator is released.
  • Microsoft Windows 95 debuts
  • eBay founded
  • The DVD, an optical disc computer storage media format, is announced
  • Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opens

Some noted people born with Ixion and Pluto conjunct within a degree or less orb:

• Johann Elert Bode, a German astronomer, best known for what has come to be known as Bode's Law. Bode determined the orbit of Uranus and suggested the planet's name.
• Giuseppe Piazzi, priest, mathematician and astronomer, best remembered for discovering Ceres.
• George Boole, English mathematician and philosopher, inventor of Boolean logic (which is the basis of modern digital computer logic)
• Andre Michaux, noted botanist, diplomat and explorer, introducing many plant species from one part of the world to another.
• John Paul Jones, American Revolutionary War hero, probably most remembered for replying to a British demand for surrender with "I have not yet begun to fight!"
• Otto von Bismark, who oversaw the unification of Germany.
• Elizabeth Cady Stanton, American social activist, abolitionist, and leading figure of the early woman's movement, often credited with initiating the first organized woman's rights and woman's suffrage movements in the United States
• Charlotte Bronte, British novelist probably best remembered for "Jane Eyre".

Check out these other pages for more insight into Ixion:

SYMBOLS