Asteroid Icarus

The astrology of asteroid Icarus is a wonderful example of how everything is linked. The naming of the asteroid itself, the mythology, the psychological and astrological interpretations, they all tie together beautifully in the discovery chart.

I will attempt to piece the story together chronologically, starting with the ancient mythology and ending up with the discovery chart, which I believe has never been written about before now.

The Mythology of Icarus

Although Icarus is a character from Greek mythology, probably the best version of the story comes from the Roman poet Ovid. Icarus was the son of the master craftsman Daedalus of Athens. King Minos of Crete commissioned Daedalus to built a Labyrinth near his palace at Knossos to imprison the Minotaur.

Things went pear-shaped and both Daedalus and young Icarus were imprisoned in the Labyrinth. Crafty Daedalus invented some wings from beeswax and feathers for himself and Icarus, he then said to the boy:

“Let me warn you, Icarus, to take the middle way, in case the moisture weighs down your wings, if you fly too low, or if you go too high, the sun scorches them. Travel between the extremes. And I order you not to aim towards Bootes, the Herdsman, or Helice, the Great Bear, or towards the drawn sword of Orion: take the course I show you!” [Metamorphoses (viii.183–235), Publius Ovidius Naso, 8 AD]

Unfortunately, a mixture of adrenalin and curiosity drove Icarus toward the Sun, melting the beeswax. The wings fell off, he fell into the Icarian Sea and drowned.

The Psychology of Icarus

Early 20th century writers studied the mythology of Icarus from a psychological and psychiatric perspective. They coined the term Icarus complex, which involves the “structure and consequence of personal over-ambition“, likening it to the extreme ups and downs of bi-polar disorder.

The Icarus complex is symptomatic of a “mania where a person is fond of heights, fascinated by both fire and water, narcissistic and observed with fantastical or far-fetched-imaginary cognition“. [Icarus Interpretation, Wikipedia]

The Discovery of Asteroid Icarus

Asteroid Icarus was discovered in 1949, by Walter Baade. It is conventional for asteroids to be named after mythological characters, but this naming was not random. Asteroid 1566 Icarus is a near-Earth asteroid, coming closer to the Sun than Mercury.

Up until the year 2000, it held the record for the asteroid which came closest to the Sun. In 1967, it was feared that asteroid Icarus may hit the earth. This led to Project Icarus at a cost of $1.6 billion. The project inspired the 1979 film Meteor, starring Sean Connery and Natalie Wood, which lost $8 million.

Asteroid Icarus Astrology

“Low tolerance to restrictions, the line of least resistance, ignoring both his own better judgment and the advice of others, learning self-control once free of the restriction, keeping your ears open to advice.” [Icarus, Chiron and Friends, Zane B. Stein]

“Freedom, expansion, liberation, an attempt to escape intolerable situations, vivid inspiration.” [Icarus and Tolerations, The 11th House, Kim Falconer]

“Icarus by sign can show which qualities we should develop in our risk-taking ventures and those traits that might lead to our downfall…Icarus by house can show where should you take a risk, where are you likely to fail by flying too high. Where do you need to balance the urge for freedom with a healthy respect for advice and self-discipline?” [Icarus in the Birth Chart, AstroFix]

Asteroid Icarus Horoscope

Asteroid Icarus was discovered on June 26, 1949, by Walter Baade at the Palomar Observatory [Objects: Finding Them Before They Find Us, Donald K. Yeomans, p.148.]. Wikipedia and the NASA website list the discovery date as June 27, based on Universal Time. So with California time being 8 hours behind UT, Icarus must have been discovered between 4 pm and midnight at the observatory. I have opted for 11 pm but won’t look at time-sensitive points like the Ascendant.

Straight away we find a link between mythology, psychology, project Icarus, and astrology. Mercury conjunct Mars is rash decisions, impulsive actions, risk-taking, intolerance, danger in travel. This abrasive conjunction is directly opposite (bi-polar) asteroid Icarus.

We can see the vivid inspiration Kim mentioned, with asteroid Icarus sextile Neptune. This also reveals the first link to the flight theme too. Neptune is in constellation Corvus, the Crow. The fixed star Algorab is associated with the wrong handling of matters, accidents and injuries.

Saturn sextile Uranus is the “learning self-control once free of the restriction” that Zane talked about. This lesson becomes critical and the major theme in this chart because both planets are quincunx Jupiter. The resulting Yod aspect pattern is focused on exuberant and excessive Jupiter. This is the “Travel between the extremes” that Daedalus advised. It is the Icarus complex of “personal over-ambition” in the psychology. It is the over-estimating and over-budget Project Icarus. And it is everything that astrologers have been saying about asteroid Icarus.

Jupiter is on the brightest star in constellation Aquila, the Eagle. “The Eagle, soars to the heights… He is a law unto himself, and rushes violently wherever his fancy takes him“. [Astronomica, Manilius, 1st century AD, book 5, p.341.]

Asteroid Icarus Celebrities

Icarus conjunct Ascendant: Burt Bacherach (11′), Vincent Price (11′), Eleanor Roosevelt (46′), Shelley Ackerman (66′)

Icarus conjunct Midheaven: Stephen Arroyo (02′), Michael Caine (11′), Matthew Newton (21′), Mia Farrow (46′), Deborah Houlding (59′)

Icarus conjunct Sun: Danny Divito (08′), Helmut Kohl (09′), Neil Diamond (11′), Nancy Spungen (33′), Gertrude Stein (43′), Andy Gibb (64′), Axel Harvey (65′), Augusta Foss Heindel (78′), Michael Hutchens (83′)

Icarus conjunct Moon: Prince Albert (08′), Jeffrey Dahmer (60′), Jessica Adams (63′), Donna Summer (78′)

Icarus conjunct Mercury: Christine Keeler (69′), Kenny Everet (73′), Vanessa Redgrave (78′)

Icarus conjunct Venus: Christopher Reeve (19′), Kylie Minogue (75′)

Icarus conjunct Mars: Montogmery Clift (04′), Heidi Fleiss (15′), Steven Forrest (54′), Lucciano Pavarotti (54′), Queen Elizabeth II (56′)

Icarus Conjunct Jupiter: Johnny Weissmuller (09′), Kim Farnell (26′), Stonewall Jackson (29′), Al Pacino (31′), Peter Gabriel (37′), Queen Elizabeth II (43′), Cybil Shepherd (55′)

Icarus conjunct Saturn: Julian Lennon (15′), Nina Simone (23′), Otto von Bismark (25′), Barbara Walters (56′)