Quaoar is the most recently discovered and named Trans-Neptunian body in the solar system's Kuiper Belt, a region of possibly 70,000 similar "ice dwarves," including Pluto, located in an inclined belt of space debris beyond the orbit of Neptune, some 4 billion miles from the Sun. [For more on this region and its inhabitants, see the author's article "Meet the Trans-Neptunians" in the March 2003 issue of Daykeeper.] At 745 miles (1250 kilometers) in diameter, Quaoar is roughly the size of Pluto's moon, Charon, and has a mass greater than all 50,000 known asteroids combined.

Quaoar takes its name from the creation myth of the Tongva, a Native American tribe in southern California. Quaoar is the force of creation which sang and danced the universe into existence; it has no form or gender, but is usually given a masculine pronoun in reference. Astrologer Jerome Armstrong, in defining the differences between Pluto and its Trans-Neptunian fellows Quaoar, Ixion and Varuna, states that Quaoar begins with nothing and brings forth life.

The mythic context certainly supports this view, and a bit of astrological sleuthing appears to bear it out. In attempting to determine whether or not Quaoar does indeed have an influence upon engendering life, or reproduction, I have focused upon two primary areas in my research— humanity's attempt to control reproduction via both in vitro fertilization techniques and cloning, and anti-reproduction measures such as abortion. If Quaoar has an interest in such things, I reasoned, his fingerprints should be all over the charts of events significant to these areas.

And so they are.

Two points quickly became apparent; first, as has been well documented by astrologers during previous planetary discoveries, major historical events which occur or cultural themes which emerge at the time new celestials are sighted, tend to be indicative of their meaning to us as a collective. Quaoar was discovered 4 June 2002, and the prominence of cloning issues throughout the year is undeniable, with much Congressional debate over anti-cloning legislation, the unsubstantiated allegation of the birth of the first cloned human baby by Clonaid in December 2002, and the demise of the first cloned sheep, Dolly, in February of 2003.

Second, Quaoar was positioned at 11 Sagittarius when discovered, conjunct Black Hole Anubis, and the keyword Dane Rudhyar uses for the Sabian Symbol associated with that degree is "Annunciation," most notable mythically as the act whereby the Angel Gabriel first notified the Virgin Mary of her impending blessed event.

So far so good.

For further confirmation, I turned to the charts for the birth of Louise Brown, the world's first in vitro or "test tube" baby, the birth of Dolly, the first cloned sheep, the birth of "CC," the first cloned cat, and the birth of "Eve," Clonaid's supposed human clone, on the Quaoar Plus side; and the passing of the first pro-abortion legislation by a US state, as well as the landmark Supreme Court abortion decision of Roe v. Wade and President Clinton's Executive Order permitting the importation of the controversial "abortion pill," RU486, on the Quaoar Minus side.

All of these, with the exception of the birth of "Eve," show significant Quaoar activity. (For the birth of "Eve" on December 26, 2002, besides the years-long conjunction of Quaoar with fellow traveler Pluto, there is only a sextile from Quaoar at 11 Sagittarius to Neptune at 9 Aquarius, and a semisquare to Mercury at 24 Capricorn, poor pickings indeed, as will shortly be shown. The god Hermes/Mercury was well known for his trickster qualities, and Neptune is noted for deception and obfuscation, leading me to conclude that Clonaid's baby boom is indeed a publicity stunt or hoax.)

One of the filters used to determine celestial contacts was a little-known aspect series called the "Novems," which the author pioneered in the early '90's. These aspects divide the horoscope into forty nine-degree increments, and amongst their members are the high-profile square (90 degrees) and opposition (180 degrees), as well as more shadowy "phase" aspects like the semisquare (45 degrees) and trioctile or sesquiquadrate (135 degrees), and such lesser-known but commonly used aspects as the vigintile (18 degrees), decile (36 degrees), quintile (72 degrees), tredecile (108 degrees) and biquintile (144 degrees). Essentially, any number between 0 and 360 which is divisible by nine has an aspect relationship in this series.

I have found these aspects to be particularly useful in examining the influences of slow-moving bodies such as Black Holes and other Deep Space anomalies, which, since they remain for extended periods at each successive degree they transit, have the time to develop minor aspect relationships which a swiftly-moving body like the Moon could not. I reasoned that the Trans-Neptunians, with their orbital periods of approximately 300 years, might respond to them as well. In general, for these minor aspects, an orb of no more than 1-2 degrees is standard for figuring contacts.

The positive, pro-creational case for Quaoar and reproduction is as follows:

Artificial human reproduction became a reality with the birth of Louise Brown on July 25, 1978, in Manchester, England. Quaoar appears at 9 Scorpio in the nativity, within the event horizon (astrologically speaking, its orb) of Black Hole Dionysos at 7 Scorpio. It is closely conjunct Uranus at 12 Scorpio, indicating the use of cutting-edge technology and advanced scientific methods in the conception, and squares the Sun at 2 Leo, which is itself conjunct parallel-reality-inducing Black Hole Merlin in the Sign most associated with children and creativity. Additional contacts include aspects to both Venus and Mars, that life-engendering duo, by a semitredecile (54 degrees) to Venus at 15 Virgo and a semisquare (45 degrees) to Mars at 24 Virgo, both exact, as well as an exact decile (36 degrees) to Neptune at 15 Sagittarius retrograde.

It was less than 20 years more before the first cloned mammal, Dolly the sheep, was born on July 5, 1996. Where in vitro fertilization is an artificial, humanity-assisted mixing of the genetic material of two separate individuals, one male and one female, cloning involves the reproduction of one organism solely with its own genetic material, thus creating an exact likeness.

Dolly, a sheep who was an exact copy of her mother, with no additional DNA from a father, was created by scientists at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland. Dolly was careful monitored throughout her lifetime, until in early 2003 it was announced that she was suffering prematurely from a degenerative arthritic condition, and the pioneering sheep was finally put down on February 14, 2003, after being diagnosed with lung disease. At five and a half years old, she had lived little less than half her normal life span.

Dolly's nativity shows Quaoar at 1 Sagittarius retrograde, closely conjunct transformative and regenerative Pluto at 0 Sagittarius and approaching conjunction with Black Hole Osiris at 3 Sagittarius, well within its event horizon. From there it is sextile high-tech Uranus at 3 Aquarius and sesquiquadrate the life-giving Sun at 14 Cancer. Additional minor aspects include a novile (40 degrees, part of a different aspect series based on division of the horoscope into nine forty-degree segments) to Jupiter at 12 Capricorn retrograde, a semitredecile (54 degrees) to Neptune at 26 Capricorn retrograde (itself conjunct an information-evoking Pulsar) and a biquintile (144 degrees) to Mercury at 6 Cancer, all with a 1 degree orb, as well as an exact transinovem (126 degrees) to Saturn at 7 Aries.

"CC," short for "Carbon Copy," is the world's first cloned house pet, a calico cat who is not exactly a carbon, despite her name. Created by scientists at Texas A & M, and funded by Genetic Savings and Clone, a company hoping to garner huge profits from the cloning of Americans' favorite companions, CC is a startling contrast to her sole parent, Rainbow, a white female calico with splashes of brown, tan and gold. Despite an identical genetic inheritance, CC has a striped gray coat over white, and a curious, playful disposition quite at variance with Rainbow's natural reservation, an indication that cloning is not without its surprises.

Born December 22, 2001, CC's nativity shows Quaoar at 10 Sagittarius, conjunct Black Hole Anubis, with Pluto pulling away from the conjunction but still well within orb at 15 Sagittarius. Quaoar is inconjunct Jupiter retrograde at 11 Cancer, opposed Saturn retrograde at 9 Gemini, square Mars at 9 Pisces, and semisextile Mercury at 10 Capricorn. There is also an exact quintile (72 degrees) to Uranus at 22 Aquarius.

As stated above, the nativity of Clonaid's supposed first human clone, "Eve," does not fit the already well-established pattern of at least a half-dozen Quaoar aspects per reproductive event, a possible indication that it is a non-event in the history of cloning, and perhaps more to be recorded in the history of hoaxes and mischief-making.

The negative, anti-creational case for Quaoar and reproduction follows:

The first legalization of abortion in the US occurred in Colorado, where on April 25, 1967, the state legislature passed a bill allowing doctors to perform abortions in the cases of rape, incest, or a physical or mental threat to the life of either the mother or the child. Similar laws were enacted shortly after in more than a dozen states, leading up to the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade in 1973.

The Colorado law sees Quaoar at 26 Libra retrograde, within the event horizon of Black Hole Pele at 28 Libra and exactly sextile the Galactic Center at 26 Sagittarius. It is closely conjunct Mars at 21 Libra retrograde, exactly square Jupiter at 26 Cancer retrograde, and sesquiquadrate (135 degrees) Venus at 13 Gemini, with a three degree orb. Minor aspects include an exact decile (36 degrees) to Uranus at 20 Virgo retrograde, an exact trinovem (27 degrees) to Neptune retrograde at 23 Scorpio, and an exact quadnovile (160 degrees) to Saturn at 6 Aries.

Legislative challenges to these new liberal abortion laws in several states led to the inevitable confrontation with the US Supreme Court, which ruled abortion legal upon demand, nationwide, in its landmark Roe v. Wade decision of January 22, 1973. Thirty years later, it is still controversial, with annual marches both pro and con in Washington DC on the anniversary date, and year-round demonstrations across the nation.

Quaoar's position for the Roe V. Wade decision is at 5 Scorpio, exactly conjunct a manifestation-producing Quasar, from where it neatly bisects the Neptune/Pluto sextile, being semisextile to both Neptune at 6 Sagittarius and Pluto at 4 Libra. Quaoar is also square the Sun at 2 Aquarius and exactly novile (40 degrees) Mars at 15 Sagittarius.

On the twentieth anniversary of Roe v. Wade on January 22, 1993, President Bill Clinton, on his second day in office, signed a number of Executive Orders repealing anti-abortion rollbacks dating from the Reagan and Bush Sr. administrations, including one allowing importation of the drug RU486, the infamous "abortion pill," which induces non-surgical abortion when taken shortly after conception.

At 29 Scorpio, Quaoar is once again conjunct a Quasar, at 28 Scorpio, and closely conjunct Pluto at 25 Scorpio. The Sun is again at 2 Aquarius, conjunct Mercury, and Quaoar is now exactly septinovem (63 degrees) to this pair, as well as lying in exact semisquare (45 degrees) to Jupiter at 14 Libra, in sesquiquadrate (135 degrees) to Mars at 12 Cancer retrograde (with a two degree orb), and binovile (80 degrees) to Saturn at 18 Aquarius (with a one degree orb).

During the research and writing of this article (March 2003) there was a synchronous news event which further supports Quaoar's interest in reproduction. On March 13 the US Senate passed a bill banning partial birth abortions, and although this date cannot be considered the 'birthday' of this legislation, which will occur at its signing after the House has passed it, it is interesting to note Quaoar's presence even in these preliminary dates of importance in the gestation period of the bill.

Quaoar's placement of 12 Sagittarius is closely conjunct Black Hole Anubis at 10 Sagittarius, and more broadly conjunct Pluto at 19 Sagittarius, itself exactly conjoined the singularity of Black Hole Ereshkigal. From there it forms an exact sextile to the Venus/Neptune/Black Hole Kybele conjunction at 12 Aquarius, and is tightly square Mercury at 14 Pisces. In addition it is broadly trine Jupiter at 8 Leo retrograde, and tredecile (108 degrees) to the Sun at 22 Pisces, with a two degree orb.

Clearly, Quaoar's position in each of these charts of important reproduction-related events is strongly aspected and the implication is that its involvement in these events is powerful and far-reaching. Once again, the apparently random assigning of a mythic name to a celestial body appears to show both an archetypal and a cultural correlation of the mythic context with the celestial's astrologic and symbolic functioning. This pertains even in events occurring prior to the celestial's discovery, implying that the name and the planetary body are somehow linked outside of time. How this occurs is unknown; that it occurs seems undeniable.