Asteroid 3552, Don Quixote, was discovered on September 26, 1983 by Swiss astronomer Paul Wild at Zimmerwald, Switzerland. It is an Amor asteroid with a period (year) of 8 years, 256 days and is about 13 miles in diameter. (Regarding inner-system asteroids: Amor asteroids, such as Don Quixote and Amor, approach and touch Earth’s orbit from the outside; Aten asteroids approach and touch Earth’s orbit from the inside; and Apollo asteroids cross Earth’s orbit.)
Don Quixote was named for the title character of Miguel de Cervantes' novel Don Quixote, owing to what Lutz Schmadel, asteroid orbit computer and author of Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, describes as the "long-term erratic nature of [Don Quixote's] extended orbit, comparable to that of (944) Hidalgo". In the novel, Don Quixote de la Mancha, driven insane by excessive reading of romances, sallied forth to be a knight-errant on his broken-down "steed" Rocinante, with his "squire" Sancho Panza beside him on a donkey, and proceeded to make a fool of himself, attacking windmills in the belief that they were giants, attempting to rescue women who did not want to be rescued, etc. In the end, Don Quixote retired quietly to his home.
Don Quixote, in astrology, has to do with romantic idealism, being a knight-errant, tilting at windmills, swimming against the tide, trying to act in defiance of the facts of life.
Don Quixote's heliocentric north node is at 20 Pisces 46 and its south node at 20 Virgo 46 (Epoch August 1, 1993; Equinox 2000.0). This suggests that the essence of the positive side of Don Quixote is altruism, taking life as it comes (Pisces) and doing one's duty well (Virgo).
Veteran consumer advocate Ralph Nader has Don Quixote at 16 Cancer 42 in the sixth house of service to others, trine Mercury (speaking, writing), Mars (aggression), and Pallas (politics, defense of civilization) in 2nd-house Pisces.
Right-wing commentator Rush Limbaugh has Don Quixote at 14 Cancer 37, again, in his sixth house, sextile Pandora (stirring things up, having an impact) in Taurus in the third house of media. (Pandora is within five degrees of the IC.) He’s taken on liberalism, which he sees as the enemy.
Sydney Omarr had Don Quixote at 8 Leo 10 in his tenth house of career and reputation, conjunct his Sun. He was interested in astrology when it wasn’t cool.
Claude Vorilhon, the French founder of the Raelian religious sect, has Don Quixote in Virgo in the twelfth house, conjunct his East Point in the same sign and house, and many see him as a bit unbalanced. At this writing (January 2003), a company founded under the Raelians’ auspices and in accordance with its beliefs, claims to have created several cloned babies. These claims have not been substantiated.
Ronald Reagan has Don Quixote in Virgo, in the 9th house conjunct the (Koch) cusp, opposite Venus (values) and Chiron (a maverick, a teacher) in Pisces in the 3rd and trine Mars (aggression), Saturn (conservatism) and Vesta (commitment) in Capricorn in the 1st. He has managed to give a voice to the backlash against the civil-rights, environmental and pacifist social reforms of the 1960s.
The Dalai Lama has Don Quixote in Leo in the tenth house, square Uranus in Taurus in the seventh house of open enemies and sesquiquadrate Vesta in Pisces in the fifth house of speculative and creative ventures. He has managed to turn the global spotlight on China’s brutal occupation of his native Tibet.
Xanana Gusmao, the president of East Timor, a former guerrilla leader who was instrumental in liberating his nation from Indonesian rule, has Don Quixote in Leo in the sixth house of the military and service to others, sesquiquadrate Pallas (politics) and trine his Sagittarius MC.
Philosopher Ayn Rand, who preached rational self-interest and laissez-faire capitalism, had Don Quixote in Aries (self-interest, rugged individualism) square her Capricorn Mercury (speech, writing, ideas) and sextile her Gemini Pluto (impelling to mass activity).
The late, great Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, who was disabled as a result of a traffic accident and led a bohemian life along with her husband, Diego Rivera, had Don Quixote in Cancer in the twelfth house, conjunct her Jupiter (expansiveness) and North Node (connections, overcoming past conditioning).
For these prime examples of Don Quixote dynamics, the following gives the data and sources.
Ayn Rand (nee Alissa Rosenberg): February 2, 1905, St. Petersburg, Leningradskaya, Russia, time unknown; 12:00 P.M. Baghdad Standard Time (GMT-3 hrs) used to set up her chart. It is given in her Britannica Online entry,http://www.britannica.com/women/articles/Rand_Ayn.html, and on a tribute web site:http://www.aynrand.org/aynrand/timeline.shtml.
Claude Vorilhon's birth data is from a recent issue of Lois Rodden's Data News (#99): September 30, 1946, 5:00 A.M. Central European Time, Ambert, Puy-de-Dome, France, 3E45, 45N33 (rated AA: birth certificate quoted).
14th and current Dalai Lama: July 6, 1935, 4:45 A.M. GMT, Takster, Tibet, China. From main chart database, SolarFire 4; source, "The Taeger Archives as quoted in The Mountain Astrologer, June 1996." (GMT is what it says.)
From www.astrodatabank.com, Lois Rodden's web site:
Xanana Gusmao: June 21, 1946, 12:10 A.M. Japan Standard Time (9 hrs. later than GMT), Dili, East Timor (rated B: autobiography quoted).
Frida Kahlo: July 6, 1907, 8:30 A.M. CST, Coyoacan, Federal District, Mexico (rated AA: birth certificate picture in biography quoted).
Rush Limbaugh: January 12, 1951, 7:50 A.M. CST, Cape Girardeau, MO (rated AA: birth certificate quoted).
Ralph Nader: February 27, 1934, 4:52 A.M. EST, Winsted, CT (rated A: from memory).
Sydney Omarr (nee Sidney Kimmelman): August 5, 1926, 11:27 A.M. EDT, Philadelphia, PA (rated A: from memory).
Ronald Reagan: February 6, 1911, 4:16 A.M. CST, Tampico, IL (rated AA: birth certificate quoted).