During my daily scan of the Minor Planet Center, a new entry popped up recently: Alicanto.
Formerly known as minor solar system body 474640 and prior to that, 2004 VN112, Alicanto comes from Chilean mythology and it is named from the Chilean observatory where it was discovered. The alicanto is a nocturnal bird that inhabits the desert of Atacama. Its diet consists of precious ore and its wings shimmer silver, gold or copper green depending upon which ore it most recently consumed. Its wings are spectacularly brilliant and beautiful. The alicanto is earthbound as the weight of the consumed ore prevents flight. As well, its speed of mobility is a function of how recently and how much the bird has eaten. The alicanto requires other attributes to get by in this world.
Legend reports that a miner who follows the bird without detection will be led to great riches. However, if the miner is observed, the bird will switch off the shimmering of its wings and disappear into the night. Should the alicanto encounter one who is not of good heart, it will lead that person over a cliff. The cliff would never be seen as the bird possesses an “intensity of darkness,” something in a parallel realm with Pluto’s helmet of invisibility.
It’s not a large object, probably about 130 km in diameter. It’s greatest notability is its eccentric and thus elongated orbit of great length. Alicanto strolls around the Sun once every 6,071.43 years... more than ten times longer that an Eris revolution and slightly more than half of Sedna’s orbit. The bottom line is that if one endures a transit from Alicanto it will feel like it lasts forever... many years at least. Curiously, Alicanto now moves close to as fast as it can because it now transits the sign of its perihelion, Taurus.
Where is it now? As of midnight GMT 4 June, Alicanto stands at 22 Taurus 23. As New Year’s arrives in 2022, GMT, it has retrograded back to 21 Taurus 51.
Orbital data for this body has not yet arrived. When it does, I will generate a monthly ephemeris. In you’re wanting to know what sign it occupies in a natal chart. Suffice it to say, it’s a sure bet that most people now in incarnation have Alicanto in the sign of Taurus.
Alicanto’s astrological meaning can be enhanced by noting its north node (heliocentric) is 5 Gemini 52 and its closest contact with the Sun (perihelion) comes in at 2 Taurus 43. The synthesis of the messaging of the Geminian node and the natural Taurean attraction to precious metals and the dazzle of the alicanto’s features, this could symbolize a “gold rush” or “lottery fever” consciousness. Could this have anything to do with the wild vacillations in cyber currency currently buggering investors? Sure it could. It is also curious to note that as Alicanto comes to our attention, many states in the United States employed the use of lotteries and prizes to prompt vax-resistant folks to receive a coronavirus vaccine. An effect of Alicanto? Possibly. Could this be a contributing factor to attitudes regarding the current state of investment economics? So it would seem.
Should you be chasing leprechauns, rainbows or shimmering birds in pursuits of pots of gold, keep your heart good and watch your step in dark spaces.
Alicanto certainly deserves observation, as do all the named Kuiper bodies. These bodies fill in important (and possibly pesky) details of social concerns and maladies and always offer healing or resolving options.
Also of note in Kuiper land, G!kun||'homdima, previously noted in SkyScrapings reappeared on the list of Kuiper objects, having been missing for many months. She is the shape-shifting goddess from Namibia who brings a Cancer perihelion and Leo North Node to the table. Similar to Alicanto, she also possesses the knack for taking care of those whose heart is not good.
While musing through the depths of the Kuiper Belt for meaning in these far-reaching solar system objects, keep in mind that with a head in the heavens, both feet upon Earth offers a good balance.
More soon.