I was an Orc once

Not an Elf, as you might imagine by my height and features, but a weapon-wielding bloodthirsty Orc. The audition for one of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy films was just days after a brutal betrayal in my personal life. Sure, my physical theatre training came in super handy in actioning the directives to ‘swivel the head as though on broken glass’ and ‘clench the butt cheeks to keep all the shit inside bubbling away’.

Although much of it was super challenging to embody in a full latex hood that didn’t move when my own head did, boots that were too big, a couple ball sacks to bring me up to size with the boys (being the only girl Orc aside from a stunt woman), and with a weapon in each hand, all while attempting to stay upright and look like death incarnate on the slippery rocks of Pelorus Sound.

I wish I could say this is me, but sadly I don’t have any photos of myself so this is just a reference from a post on the origins of Orcs as fallen Elves.

I reckon I got the role because the audition gave me an effective outlet for the relational rage that comes of inherent Elf-ness shapeshifted into Orc-ness. So effective was the channeling of my own trauma, I even startled the DOP (Director of Photography) who happened to be standing next to me as we waited out what was meant to be Jackson’s motivational speech for the scene. He rabbited on so long I was losing my monster mojo and muttered, “Oh for fuck’s sake!” which caused the DOP to jump and reflexively respond, “You’re a woman?!?”

I’d kept my grandmother’s pearls on under the costume to remind me of as much, but, make no mistake, woman is certainly not rage-less. Only his-story-ically often deprived of the opportunity to express it adequately.

Orcs, ogres, orcas, and Orcus all have in common that they kill. Orcus doesn’t kill those who come into his lair, for they are already dead. What he kills is their denial, delusion, and deceit. He takes prisoner those who can’t be trusted with their own words. With his insight into the shadow realm, he sees through the surface subterfuge. There is no hiding, not from him, or, ultimately, from one’s own conscience. You know when you made promises you never intended to keep, or spoke empty words that did not match the truth of your soul.

from eaglezebrafish.blogspot.com that emphasizes the right-brain, or yin quality, of Orcus

Considered the Anti-Pluto for his identical, yet mirrored, orbit of Pluto, Orcus is the Etruscan god of the underworld whose name has been given to one of our new dwarf planets. The Plutinos — Ixion, Orcus, and Pluto — guard the gateway to greater spirituality beyond their roughly 250-year orbit of our Sun that now spans out to Sedna at 11,406 years. Providing plenty of room for our own much-needed quantum leaps of consciousness!

As you see above, Orcus’s astrological symbol is an inverse of his Roman-based counterpart. Even the Akkadian language of Etruria (what you might call the indigenous Tuscans) is mirrored, in that it is read right to left with letters like E and N flipped to face the other way. All this mirroring indicates a level of empowerment (a key Pluto word) garnered from inner reflection, which is right-hemisphere-of-the-brain terrain.

from Italy Travel Expert site

The Mouth of Orcus in Tuscany’s 16th century Park of Monsters has a human-high opening for its mouth. It was constructed so that whispers inside are projected and amplified outside. Engraved on the top lip is the phrase ‘ogni pensiero vola’ - all thoughts fly - which speaks to this acoustic trick and also to the truth that there is no hiding. Not ultimately.

As all our thoughts have wings, it is up to us to become aware of transforming the thoughts that don’t serve into ones that do.

This capacity to transmute the dense and deleterious into the light and beneficial is what gives Orcus the potential, in our charts, for cultivating the shamanic powers of seeing the truth even in the dark and knowing when the audio is not synced with the video in our human interactions. Orcus indicates our capacity to both have integrity and to discern it in others.

By looking at the house placement and the relational aspects Orcus makes to other bodies within our natal charts, as well as transits over time, we learn where and how we have (at the unconscious level) deceived ourselves and others. And have, thus, added to this life’s karmic load. As we become more aware, he also indicates where and how we perceive and navigate the deception of others, so we can sidestep further karmic debt.

It is no accident that the discerning karmic consciousness of Orcus has become available to us in these times, for we are surely in a collective crisis of maturity that demands we outgrow our childish game of covering our eyes and saying, “You can’t see me!”

Imagine our world with a mainstream made of truth-tellers of impeccable integrity.

Let’s start with the one thing in our lives we have any direct control over — ourSelves.

Join me in studying Orcus in Your Birth Chart at the Dwarf Planet University!

The big news at the Dwarf Planet University this year is that we’re offering two Zoom class-time options, and I am stepping into the teaching role to facilitate the second Zoom at 7am GMT!

The Orcus course starts in three weeks, on Sunday 20th April. If you are inspired to embrace the shamanic power of Orcus, we have a special offer that gives you this course for the best price we have ever offered at the Uni of NZ$50 (US$29), when the full price is usually NZ$270!

Orcus 101, taught by Melissa Billington, Sundays - April 20 to June 1, 2025 (6 weeks), at 7am GMT which is 7am in London, 8am in Europe, 10am in Ankara, 3pm in Perth, Singapore, Hong Kong & Tokyo, 6pm in Sydney and 8pm in Auckland.

Click here to enrol!

Unfortunately, the 7am session won't work for most of you in the US, unless you are a night-owl and live on the Pacific coast. But if you’re keen you can still get a Last-Minute Scholarship on the 9pm GMT Orcus Zoom sessions starting on April 19, and led by DPU founder Alan Clay. And I’m still on the calls as his assistant so I’ll still get to see you! This option gives you the course for a third of the full price of NZ$270, making it NZ$100 (US$58) instead.

Orcus 101, Saturdays - April 19 to May 31, 2025 (6 weeks), at 9pm GMT - 9pm in London, 10pm in Europe, 1pm in LA, 4pm in Toronto, 8am on Sunday in Sydney and 10am on Sunday in Auckland. For that option click here!

You already know me, but just in case you wanted another opinion about my capacity in this role:

"Melissa is a fabulous teacher, leader, and guide of the Dwarf Planets. It has been an honor and a pleasure to see her grow and travel on her path with the Dwarf Planets. Going from a student, a teacher’s assistant, and on to a teacher at the Dwarf Planet University. She represents the university in a professional, compassionate, and joyful manner. You will enjoy studying with her.” — Liz Muschett, US, Astrologer, Intuitive, Numerologist, & Tarot Consultant.

And, if you’re new to this astro stuff but still drawn to explore its evolutionary ways, the other exciting addition to the DPU structure this year is that we now have Tutors on board for anyone trying to get their head around Astrologese — the language of the stars that helps us make sense of these aspects of consciousness in our own lives. Astrology is the mythological and astronomical medium for human consciousness-raising, which is our main motivation and aim.