Basics
Class: C-type asteroid
Location: Main belt
Orbit length (approx): 5.56 years
Discovered: 12th April 1849 (time unknown) from Naples, Italy, by Annibale de Gasparis
Events at time of discovery:
- 1849 – Global healthcare and pharmaceutical company Pfizer was founded in New York.
- January 23 – Elizabeth Blackwell is awarded her M.D. by the Medical Institute of Geneva, New York, thus becoming the United States’ first woman doctor.
- July 23 – The French scientist Hippolyte Fizeau measures the speed of light, with an instrument placed on the Earth.
- September 17 – Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery.
Naming information
Name origin: Greek goddess of health and healing, daughter and assistant of Asklepios.
Mythology: Hygeia’s symbol, the snake around the chalice, is specifically used by pharmacies, and her name (“Health”) was used as a greeting between Pythagoreans.
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| Statue of Hygeia, Roman copy of Greek original from the third century BCE. Photo by Sailko, CC BY-SA 3.0. |
Astrological data
Discovery degree: 6+ Libra
Discovery Sabian: A Woman Feeding Chickens and Protecting Them From the Hawks
Discovery nodal signature: Aquarius–Cancer
Estimated orbital resonances: Venus 1:9, Mars 5:13, Ceres 5:6, Jupiter 15:7, Saturn 16:3, Uranus 15:1
Discovery chart details: Hygiea was in a T-square with Chariklo in Aries and Pallas in Capricorn. The Sun was conjunct Uranus; Mars was conjunct Eris. Ceres was trine the North Node.
Summary and references
May represent clean living, efforts to preserve health, personal hygiene[1]; cleanliness and sanitation[2]; medical concerns, fitness[3]; good health, “right living with nature”, alternative healing[4]. Hygiea could signify psychological or emotional hygiene besides physical; working to keep disease of all kinds at bay and to embody a state of wellbeing.
References:
1) Alex Miller: Hygiea 10
2) Amable: (10) Hygiea
3) Martha Lang-Wescott: Basic Resources
4) TAKE Astrology: Asteroids in Astrology
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| Noon discovery chart for (10) Hygiea: 12th April 1849, Naples, Italy. |