The Saturn/Pholus Cycle1- Conjunctions.There are 2 conjunctions per century between these two bodies in the period 1700-2020, separated between them by 33 years (33.49-33.36-33.39 heliocentrically). The conjunction cycle is exactly 88 years minus a few days. The cycle is very steady, and the conjunctions occur roughly at the same place of the zodiac.
The reason for this clearly
established cycle of recurrence is the exact 1-3 resonance between their
periods, which shows how heavily the movement of Pholus is "locked" by
Saturn. It is important to mention that the search engine, working at intervals
of 40 days, didn't find any repetition of the geocentric conjunction as
one or both of the planets turned retrograde and then direct again, as
it usually happens. I found one and only one conjunction each time.
2- Oppositions.While there are only 6 geocentric conjunctions during more than 3 centuries, the number of exact geocentric oppositions is 59! There were only 6 during the 18th Century, in two gropus of 3 separated by 33 years (1736-7/1769-70). During the 19th century there was one group of 5 (1823-1925), one group of 3 (1857-58), and one group of 16 (1892-1900), separated by 33 years.
There seem to be clear patterns but they are irregular, disturbed near the perihelion of Pholus. Thus, there is a group of 16 continuous oppositions beginning December 4, 1892, and ending April 26, 1900, that do not correspond to any heliocentric opposition, but happen just before Pholus reached Perihelion in February, 1901. The pattern of geocentric oppositions is also disrupted when Pholus reaches Perihelion near the end of the 20th Century. There are more oppositions here than in the previous centuries: one group of 5 (1910-12), one group of 3 (1945-46) and another group of five starting Nov 2, 1979 and ending August 16, 1981, also separated by 33 years and repeating the same pattern, except that the last group has only 5 oppositions instead of 16, and is not matched by a corresponding heliocentric opposition. The heliocentric opposition is delayed and generates a jump similar to the one that happened at the end of the 19th Century, but starting exactly the day Pholus reached perihelion, Sep 24, 1991, and ending February 21, 1999, when we have the last in a series of consecutive 16 oppositions happening twice a year since 1991! So Pholus has been in close opposition with Saturn since the time of its discovery until now, when it will begin to be free for the first time. In practical terms, this means that the transits of Pholus since the time it was dicovered have been stronly colored by Saturn, a fact that has to be considered when trying to differentiate meanings or derive characteristics of Pholus. Since the opposition happens in 29,18 of Libra/Aries, there is an inkling as to the meaning of the end of a century. Now Pholus will be free, and will be opening for us the doors to the next century as it reaches again the orbit of Uranus in the year 2005!
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