Statues of Saints Cyril and Methodius courtesy of Wikipedia

A Man of Letters

While researching for events coinciding with 862 AD (represented by my Neptune in Libra in the 10th House), I came across this little tidbit:

In 862, the brothers began the work which would give them their historical importance. That year Prince Rastislav of Great Moravia requested that Emperor Michael III and the Patriarch Photius send missionaries to evangelize his Slavic subjects. His motives in doing so were probably more political than religious. Rastislav had become king with the support of the Frankish ruler Louis the German, but subsequently sought to assert his independence from the Franks. It is a common misconception that Cyril and Methodius were the first to bring Christianity to Moravia, but the letter from Rastislav to Michael III states clearly that Rastislav’s people “had already rejected paganism and adhere to the Christian law.” Rastislav is said to have expelled missionaries of the Roman Church and instead turned to Constantinople for ecclesiastical assistance and, presumably, a degree of political support. The Emperor quickly chose to send Cyril, accompanied by his brother Methodius. The request provided a convenient opportunity to expand Byzantine influence. Their first work seems to have been the training of assistants. In 863, they began the task of translating the Bible into the language now known as Old Church Slavonic and travelled to Great Moravia to promote it. They enjoyed considerable success in this endeavour. However, they came into conflict with German ecclesiastics who opposed their efforts to create a specifically Slavic liturgy.

For the purpose of this mission, they devised the Glagolitic alphabet, the first alphabet to be used for Slavonic manuscripts. The Glagolitic alphabet was suited to match the specific features of the Slavic language. Its descendant script, the Cyrillic, is still used by many languages today.

They wrote the first Slavic Civil Code, which was used in Great Moravia. The language derived from Old Church Slavonic, known as Church Slavonic, is still used in liturgy by several Orthodox Churches and also in some Eastern Catholic churches.
(Wikipedia)

Glagolithic Alphabet

Bascanska Ploca courtesy of Wikipedia

This alphabet was the forerunner of the Cyrillic. (I wonder where they got that name?) Its descendant is still widely used in Eastern Europe. Talk about changing the world, through the written Word!

Cyrillic Script courtesy of Pendleton Translations

The fact that Constantine (later Cyril) translated the Gospels into the Slavic language is impressive enough. But to invent a written form which has stood the test of time is immense.

Neptune in Libra

The psychology of Neptune (from Encyclopedia of Astrology by Nicholas Devore):

“The Social Unrest; follow-the-trend illusive and intangible emotions, of which we know so little; entertains false hopes and indulges in tricky schemes, yet is highest in human sympathy; loves mystery; acts dictated by powerful but inexplicable motives, directed toward invisible, intangible ends; reacts to harmony, sympathy, symmetry, rhythm, poetry, and the dance, which is the poetry of motion, with a partiality for stringed instruments; also for the morbid and erotic.

“Neptune pertains to feeling, desire, emotion, imagination, aesthetics, intuition, the psychic faculties or extra-sensory perceptions. When thwarted it becomes psycho-neurotic, theatric, and susceptible to flattery, the power of suggestion, and appearances. On the merest whim it will break a bargain or go back on its word. It exhibits a high regard for uniformity yet often succeeds in enterprises that require more than the average measure of mental effort. Neptune is deemed a higher octave of Venus.”

Conclusion

I hereby claim Saint Cyril as my symbol for the position of Neptune in my birth chart.