The goddess asteroids: Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta, were discovered in 1802, 21 years after Uranus and 44 years before Neptune. Their discovery coincided with the women’s movement. This was a time women were seeking egalitarian treatment and greater participation in society.
In Mythic Astrology: Archetypal Powers in the Horoscope, Ariel Guttman and Kenneth Johnson point out that some astronomers believe that the goddess asteroids and other bodies that orbit between Mars and Jupiter, were once one single planet that was pulled into Jupiter’s gravitational force and exploded. This planet, destroyed by the masculine sky god, represented the archetype of the feminine. With the discovery of the Ceres, Pallas Athena, Juno and Vesta, feminine empowerment began to come back online again.
In myth, the goddesses—with the exception of Pallas Athena—ranked equally with Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto as children of the immortal Titans Saturn and Rhea. Pallas Athena was birthed from the head of Jupiter and greatly beloved by him.
When a goddess asteroid conjuncts a personal planet or one of the angles, the person strongly identifies with the archetype of that goddess. I use them when working with clients as they help to delineate topics around mothers and mothering, separation, compatibility, commitment, creativity and visualization.
If you don’t already know where they’re located in your chart and you would like to, follow these directions:
- Go to astro.com
- Click on Horoscopes, located to the left of the top banner
- Click on Extended Chart Selection
- Enter your birth data
- Next, find the section “Additional Objects” (bottomish/left)
- Select Ceres, Juno, Pallas Athena, Vesta from the Additional Objects box
When you update your chart, you’ll now see the asteroids represented by the following glyphs:
When placed prominently in our chart, the myths associated with these goddesses often express themselves in our life. As an example, Ceres can often speak to adoption stories, separations that occur through a parent’s unavailability such as periods of sickness or debility, divorce and custody battles and estrangement.
To determine if an asteroid goddess is prominent in your chart, look for these factors:
- In an angular house, especially the 1st and 10th. The closer to the angle, the stronger the influence.
- Conjunct the Sun or Moon; especially strong if it’s your sect light.
- Conjunct the planet that rules the Ascendant.
If the asteroid is not in an angular house or conjunct the sun, moon or chart ruler, it can still play a strong role if it makes a hard aspect to another planet in the chart, especially one that rules an angular house. Oftentimes, the myth of this asteroid goddess will resonates deeply, like a tuning fork that rings an archetypal bell inside.