Eris Symbol in Astrology: Why There Are Two Glyphs

Quick answer: Eris has two widely used astrological glyphs because astrology has no single governing body that assigns planetary symbols. Eris Form One (⯰) derives from the Discordian Hand of Eris, while Eris Form Two (⯱) was proposed by astrologer Henry Seltzer in 2007. Unicode encodes both; neither is an official astronomical symbol for the dwarf planet.

The dwarf planet behind the name

Eris was identified on 5 January 2005 in images taken at Palomar Observatory on 21 October 2003 by Mike Brown, Chad Trujillo and David Rabinowitz. Nicknamed "Xena" by its discoverers, it is roughly the size of Pluto, and its discovery helped trigger the debate that ended in August 2006, when the International Astronomical Union defined what counts as a planet. Pluto, Eris and Ceres were reclassified as dwarf planets.

In September 2006 the new world was officially named after Eris, the Greek goddess of strife and discord. Given the argument it had caused, the name was well chosen.

Form One: the Hand of Eris (⯰)

The older glyph was not designed for the dwarf planet at all. Known as the Five-Fingered Hand of Eris, it comes from Discordianism, the satirical religion that takes Eris as its goddess, and appears in the Principia Discordia long before 2005.

Once the dwarf planet was named, Discordians proposed their sign as its symbol and it spread into astrological charts. The Unicode proposal that later documented it describes it as the Eris symbol most commonly shown outside the English-speaking astrological community.

Form Two: Henry Seltzer's glyph (⯱)

Form Two was first proposed in May 2007 by the astrologer Henry Seltzer, in an article titled "Hail Eris! Notes on the new planet". Seltzer built the glyph into his company's Time Passages software, and the widely used astrology program Solar Fire adopted it, calling it the new standard. Through that software, Form Two became the version most English-language astrologers now meet on a chart.

Why Unicode encoded both

In 2016 David Faulks submitted a proposal to Unicode documenting both Eris glyphs, together with a symbol for the distant object Sedna. Because each Eris form had demonstrable use in books, software and published charts, both were encoded rather than one being declared correct.

This matters if you have read that one form is "official". Unicode records characters that people actually use, so that they display consistently as text. It does not rule on astrological practice. Both glyphs are official characters; neither is the official symbol of Eris.

Do astronomers use either symbol?

Not in practice. Astronomers refer to the dwarf planet by its name and catalogue number, 136199 Eris, rather than by a glyph. Compact symbols matter far more in astrology, where a chart has to place many bodies inside a single small circle.

Telling the two apart

The two forms look different enough that, seen separately, they may not read as the same object. Form One is the Discordian hand sign; Form Two is a compact planetary-style glyph designed for chart software. On a pendant or in a birth chart, it is worth checking which one is used: one points to Discordian culture, the other to mainstream contemporary astrology.

Eris in jewellery

An Eris charm almost always carries one of these two glyphs. Whichever form it uses, the reference is modern, even though the name reaches back to Greek myth: a twenty-first-century symbol for a world found in 2005.

Take a look at the AURYN Eris charm on its product page, or browse the wider collection of symbol charms.

Frequently asked questions

Which Eris glyph is official?

Neither astrological glyph is an official astronomical symbol for Eris. Unicode encodes both forms because both have documented use; Unicode encoding does not make one of them the official symbol of the dwarf planet.

Why does Eris have two symbols?

The two forms developed through different communities. Form One comes from Discordianism and predates the discovery of the dwarf planet, while Form Two was proposed for astrology by Henry Seltzer in 2007 and spread through astrology software.

Do astronomers normally use the Eris glyphs?

No. Astronomers generally identify the object as Eris or 136199 Eris. The glyphs are mainly relevant to astrology and to symbolic or decorative use.