posted May 19, 2012 09:35 AM            

Interestingly the mythology of the Vertex does relate strongly to the theme of love and passion.

The word �Vertex� comes from the Latin root word vertere, meaning to change, to turn, turn frequently or spin. The Roman god Vertumnus has also roots in the Latin word vertere� He is said to rule over gardens, fruit trees and seasons (changes), and to have the appearance of an attractive young man. Hence, the Vertex has a mythological connection with the story of Vertumnus and Pomona� A classic Roman love story.

Astrologer Kim Falconer, talks about this mythological connection to the Vertex on her website. I highly recommend her page on the Vertex. Here�s a link� http://www.falconastrology.com/vertex.htm

Anyway, I�ve read several versions of this myth and have decided to take a shot and writing my own summery of it for the sake of simplicity. So with out much ado, here�s a short rendition of the tale� to get the main points of it across.

VERTUMNUS AND POMONA

Apparently, Pomona was a beautiful fruit nymph, who had many admirers. Only she had little interest in men, and lived for tending her garden alone. Then one day Vertumnus, chanced to glimpse her through the gate in the high walls surrounding the garden that Pomona lived in�. Upon seeing how fine she was, he was captivated and fell madly in love with her, more so then any of her other admirers.

From that day forth, Vertumnus would disguise himself to enter Pomona�s garden as various different personalities just so he could be near her. Pomona had built the high wall around her garden to keep out pesky would-be admirers, so Vertumnus never revealed his true identity during his visits. Continuously, Vertumnus pursued Pomona in this way. He appeared before her every day in a different guise, until a time came when he could no longer bear to only love Pomona from afar�

So one day Vertumnus approached Pomona disguised as an old women selling fruit. When Pomona saw the harmless old women she let her into the garden, and was surprised when the old woman began kissing her. Vertumnus, seeing Pomona�s stunned reaction, then stopped kissing her and an interesting conversation took place. The �old women� started to try and convince Pomona, through logic, that she aught to consider the value of love and intimacy in her life. This was done using various different arguments. Yet Pomona remained unconvinced. The �old women� then directly referenced Vertumnus, telling of how she knew that he loved Pomona ardently, and would love no other then Pomona, and that he would make a fine match for her�

Even after this, Pomona still remained unconvinced of opening her heart to love. Finally, in a last desperate attempt to gain Pomona�s favor, Vertumnus dropped his disguise as an old women, revealing his true appearance as a beautiful male youth and stood naked before her. In that moment the beauty of Vertumnus�s true form took Pomona�s breath away, like the glory of the Sun when the clouds have parted. She found herself falling in love with him, returning the ardent passion that he felt. Pomona then at last surrendered her heart and ran into Vertumnus�s arms. Later they got married. Both of them taking up residence in Pomona�s garden and where they have stayed together, still in love, tending the fruit side by side�

Wasn�t that a sweet story!

If you�re interested in reading a couple of other versions of the myth here�s a few I found on the net�
http://www.sacred-texts.com/etc/omw/omw43.htm
This version of the myth is quite detailed, and even discusses the other men, apart form Vertumnus that admired Pomona.
http://ffjh.davis.k12.ut.us/thompson/myths/ehmyth20/POMONA.HTM
This version is short and to the point.

On her Vertex page Kim Falconer makes this point��The theme of this myth centers on a seemingly chance moment where an outstanding event occurs. To Pomona, it was like an epiphany, a sudden turn of fate, a radical awakening of perception. To Vertumnus, it was at first a well planned strategy, then finally an act of spontaneous desperation. Imagine his surprise when Pomona finally received him!�

My take on this is that usually, in synastry, the person with their Vertex aspected plays the symbolic role of Vertumnus. While the planet/point person usually plays Pomona�s role� Meaning that, most commonly, the Vertex person experiences some type of instant recognition of, or attraction to, the planet/point person. And consequently develops a fascination with them� The planet/point person may remain oblivious to the Vertex person�s attention for quite some time. Until eventually a moment of �reckoning� comes and the planet/point person is astonished to discover the full extent of the Vertex person�s regard for them. This is primarily in romantic situations, and has to do with secret crushes being revealed and that sort of thing. But it can also apply to other relationships� Like if you have a teacher aspecting your Vertex in syanstry, perhaps they didn�t realize the full extent of the influence that they had on you, until years later when you wrote them a letter thanking them for their guidance.

Also, sometimes in synastry the roles do get reversed, and the Vertex person �plays� Pomona and the planet/point person �plays� Vertumnus. Don�t ask me why, but every now and then astrological synastry aspects will �flip the script�, form the usual expected turn of events� This happens with non-Vertex aspects too. Like, sometimes in a Venus/Uranus aspect, Uranus will shock and surprise Venus in the area of love and affection� And then, at other times Venus will shock and surprise Uranus. After all, Venus is aspecting that part of the other person's chart which rules �the unexpected�� If you catch my drift.

Also, if two people mutually aspect each other�s Vertex, they may both instantly recognize each other as �special� in some way. How fast the relationship develops after this depends on how bold each person is on an individual level.

Interestingly, I know of a real life celebrity example of this type of Vertex synastry. The celebrity couple Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes�

Katie Holmes� birth time is known, and she has her Vertex at 12 degrees of Capricorn, opposite Tom Cruise�s Sun at 11 degrees of Cancer�

Okay, from what I�ve read in articles and such when Katie Holmes was a girl she saw the movie �Top Gun� starring Tom. She became so infatuated with him after seeing this movie, that she used to fantasize that she�d marry he someday� (you can see where this is going). Years later she admitted during an interview with Seventeen magazine that Tom Cruise had been a celebrity crush of hers, and that she used to think she was going to marry him� Well, as fate would have it, supposedly Mr. Cruise found out about this interview, and it set his wheels turning. He arranged to me Katie under the vague notion that it was for a �project�, and they really hit it off.

The rest is history. They fell in love and got married. There was the incident when Tom declared his love for Katie, jumping up and down on a couch during OPRAH, and she seemed to be just fine with his Scientology weirdness (not sure I would be, but hey, it�s her life).

Getting back to the astrology of it. Tom Cruise�s Sun opposed Katie Holmes Vertex� In this case she is Vertumnus. She had a fantasy of him for a long time before he even realized she was alive. Until he found about that fateful interview with Seventeen magazine, he never thought about pursuing her. Once faced with the revelation, however, he had a �Pomona� type reaction to Katie�s charms (A romantic Eureka! moment so to speak), and took action � And there you have it, couplehood!

What is Vertex synastry? Any planet (especially personal planets) or point within orb of aspecting the Vertex can indicate an attraction. Conjunctions and oppositions are the most potent but other aspects have an effect as well (even trines, sextiles, and semi-squares). It may also be worth taking into account both of the rulers of the Vertex and the Antivertex signs, the same way you�d look at the rulers of the Mc/Ic or the Dsc/Asc. The Vertex and the Antivertex do both seem to play an inseparable role in relationships or encounters that feel �fated� or meant to be.

posted May 19, 2012 11:13 AM            

Then one night he.showed up at my door confessing his feelings for me. Saying he will forever love me.. I gave in... He staying with me for 15 years... He still has the plan to get back together..

posted May 19, 2012 03:46 PM            

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Originally posted by Lioness:
That was a great story, I loved it... I found it ring true in cases for me..
My ex husband his asc is on my anti vertex.. This was a case were it was flipped.. I knew he liked me but I wasn't really interested... He tried and tried, but still
I wasn't interested... little by little he was around and he started helping me with things. I was starting to like him, but still not really interested...

Then one night he.showed up at my door confessing his feelings for me. Saying he will forever love me.. I gave in... He staying with me for 15 years... He still has the plan to get back together..

With fishy his saturn is on my vertex, we work together..
I watched him from afar for 8 years, knowing something about him.. I would never speak to him, cuz I knew I would fall..
After I seperated from the husband, I walked up to him and we started talking. We stood there for 3 hours talking..
I was fascinated immediately... Years later we are becoming romantic with each other..

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Thanks Lioness,

Yeah, both of your examples really seem to fit with the Vertex mythology.

posted May 19, 2012 04:07 PM            

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Originally posted by ariesdragon:
Thank you for all the effort you put into this, it was really good...the vertex story is one of my faves
I just really wonder though how she could kiss an old woman. That is really ewww lol a peck would have been ok but a French kiss? Mmm no way lol anyway good stuff!

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posted May 19, 2012 04:12 PM            

But I think it fits the Vertex. It might feel weird and uncomfortable, but compelling all the same.

posted May 19, 2012 08:00 PM            

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Originally posted by Lotis White:
Thanks Lioness,

Yeah, both of your examples really seem to fit with the Vertex mythology.

It seems it took extra long for something to materialize with the Pisces.... and this makes sense with Saturn involved, meeting at work also fits for Saturn.

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posted May 21, 2012 12:09 AM            

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Originally posted by Ceridwen:
Oh I keep forgetting about these semisquare and sesisquares,w hich is weird as actually I have it natally:
Vertex square Chiron and both sesisuqare Mars, and as a matter of fact there often is a semisquare/ sesisquare to the other`s planets.

What orb do you allow with these minor aspects?

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For hard aspects I use 4 degrees orb, and for soft aspects I use about 2 degrees orb. Also give about 2 degrees for the ‘minor’ hard aspects like semi-square and sesquiquadrate… hard aspects pack a punch.

My orbs might seem generous considering most seem to think the Vertex is not very strong, and they only use hard aspects within an orb of one or two degrees. I tend to think that the Vertex is much more powerful then people realize and make allowances for wider orbs and include soft aspects. To me the Vertex Axis is on par with the Asc/Dsc axis, the Mc/Ic axis, and the nodes. That being said, I do have the planet Uranus tightly conjunct my Antivertex and perhaps this increases the sensitivity of the Vertex Axis in my chart.

And of course, the tighter the aspect the more significant the connection. Even though I do make allowances for those wider orbs, in synastry I prefer aspects with in 1 or 2 degrees if possible.

posted May 21, 2012 12:17 AM            

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Originally posted by scrappydog:
Great work! I have also become obsessed with the vertex as of late. Ive been into astrology for 10+ years adn never read/payed much attention to it. But my most fated and Loving relationship of my life had Majot vertex action going on so I have been studying....
We have vertex conj venus 1* and vertex square venus 0* dw in synastry and vertex conj desc 0* in composite.

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posted October 22, 2012 05:08 PM            

There's this guy's (let's call him A, he's already been a famous and successful musician for years, whereas I've always been a struggling artist my whole life) Natal Aquarius Pomona conjunct his name in my Natal chart (<1). His name falls at 29 Aquarius in my chart. They also conjunct my early Pisces Vertex (<3). His Vertex trines my Vertex (<1). My Pomona quincunx my Vertex (<1) and semi-sextiles his Vertex (<1).

posted October 23, 2012 04:08 AM            

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Originally posted by DeathIsanIllusion:
Oh, the Katie Holmes story...

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Yeah, Vertex connections can be life changing but they don't always have a happy ending.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have double whammy Vertex synastry... Her Venus conjunct his Vertex, and his Asc conjunct her Vertex. They are probably a better example, but I don't really like them as a couple because I feel their relationship began in a dishonorable way. They're both famous so there was probably attraction from afar for awhile before they finally got together. They make a good theoretical example.

posted October 23, 2012 04:15 AM            

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Originally posted by DeathIsanIllusion:

There's this guy's (let's call him A, he's already been a famous and successful musician for years, whereas I've always been a struggling artist my whole life) Natal Aquarius Pomona conjunct his name in my Natal chart (<1). His name falls at 29 Aquarius in my chart. They also conjunct my early Pisces Vertex (<3). His Vertex trines my Vertex (<1). My Pomona quincunx my Vertex (<1) and semi-sextiles his Vertex (<1).

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posted October 23, 2012 04:23 AM            

I think it was 32

My Persona makes much sense.

On 8 Pisces, conjunct Jupiter, Ceres and Pholus and square ASC-mars-Neptune-NN (and Atlantis).

Interestingly it is the very degree Mr Sag�s Eros is on and my nameasteroid in his chart. Funny.