Past Articles

AR 64 Chiron, Wise Centaur or Rogue Comet?

AR 63 Astrology and the Hero's Journey

AR 62 Aquarius Ascending

AR 61 Dwarfing Pluto

AR 60 Jupiter in Sagittarius

AR 59 Neptune in Aquarius

AR 58 Mercury, Messenger of the Gods

AR 57 Moon Signs

AR 56 Chinese Astrology

AR 55 Circular Logic

AR 54 Jupiter in Scorpio

AR 53 The Lion in Winter

AR 52 As Above, So Below

AR 51 The Ancient Quest

AR 50 Astrology and Alchemy

AR 49 Star of Wonder

AR 48 Jupiter in Libra

AR 47 Once in a Blue Moon

AR 46 Sedna Enters the Arena

AR 45 Royal Stars of Persia

AR 44 Ancient Formulas for Immortality

AR 43 Twelve Gates of Heaven

AR 42 Jupiter in Virgo

AR 41 Geometry of the Spheres

AR 40 Saturn in Cancer, June, 2003 to July, 2005

AR 39 The Poles of the Zodiac

AR 38
Uranus In
Pisces
2003-2011

AR 37
Twelfth Planet, Plutinos or
Planet X

AR 36
Eclipses – Promise or Peril?

AR35
Solar Fire

AR34
The Lunar Mansions of Vedic Astrology

AR 33
Children of the Gods

AR 32
Wheels Within Wheels

AR 31
Horoscopes of Destiny

AR 30
Zodicac of Dendera

AR 29
A Star Is Born

AR 28
Age of Aquarius

AR 27
Persia's Royal Stars of Ancients

AR 23
The Lore of a Shaman

The      Asteroids What Can Rocky Planetoids Tell Us About the Sacred Feminine

Itokawa (JAXA/ISAS

“Life begins when you get out of the grandstand into the game.” -
P. L. Debevoise

The first asteroid was discovered on January 1, 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi in Italy. He thought he saw a new comet. Piazzi named the object Ceres, after the Roman goddess of agriculture. Over the next few years three similar “goddesses” were located which were named Pallas, Vesta and Juno. By the close of the 19th century several hundred of these small bodies had been identified.

They are called asteroids, which means “starlike,” but that is really a misnomer. The term planetoid, “planet-like” is more appropriate as they are rocky and metallic objects without atmospheres that orbit the Sun. In August 2006 the IAU (International Astronomers Union), introduced the term “Small Solar System Bodies,” or SSSBs. At the same time the term Dwarf Planet was coined to describe the largest minor planets. Pluto is now considered a Dwarf Planet.

Tens of thousands of asteroids congregate in the so-called Main Asteroid Belt. The main belt is a vast, doughnut-shaped ring located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter but closer to Mars. Asteroids are not visible to the naked eye but many can be seen with binoculars or small telescopes. Some asteroids even have moons, while others orbit in binary pairs.

The strong gravitational force of Jupiter shepherds the asteroid belt, pulling the asteroids away from the Sun, and keeping them from careening into the inner planets. Most asteroids orbit from between 186 million to 370 million miles from the Sun and have a slightly elliptical orbits varying from about three to six earth years. Asteroids range in size from Ceres, which has a diameter of 938 km (578 miles), roughly the size of Texas, down to pebble-size bits of rock. Sixteen asteroids have a diameter of 240 km or greater. Ceres is now considered to be a Dwarf Planet, which in her case is a promotion.

Astronomers theorize that the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, are actually captured asteroids. Hundreds of thousands have been discovered with the present rate of discovery at around five thousand per month. So many have been identified that the numbering system had to be expanded. We didn’t get our first close-up glimpse of an asteroid until 1991 when Galileo photographed 951 Gaspra while en route to Jupiter. NASA’s current Dawn Mission hopes to orbit Ceres and Vesta from 2011-2015.

Astronomers believe asteroids are composed of proto-planetary material which was prevented from accreting into a planet-sized body by Jupiter's strong gravity when the solar system formed 4.6 billion years ago. Alternative scholar Zechariah Sitchin believes the asteroid belt was once a planet that was shattered by another body entering the solar system. Either way it’s estimated that if the total mass of all the asteroids now present in the Main Asteroid Belt were combined the result would comprise a body approximately 930 miles in diameter (1,500 kilometers), less than half the size of the Moon.

Asteroids are categorized by their composition and their position in the solar system: Main Belt, Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs), and Trojans. Trojan asteroids orbit in gravitationally stable Lagrange points within a planet's orbit, either trailing or preceding their planet. Lagrange points are where the gravitational attraction of the Sun and of the planet balance each other; about sixty degrees of arc in either direction. Jupiter has the most Trojan asteroids, but Mars also has some. Perhaps they are the rest of the unformed planetary material. Trojan asteroids have been named after heroes on both sides of the Trojan War. Achilles was the first Trojan asteroid found. The asteroids preceding Jupiter in its orbit were named for heroes on the Greek side, those following Jupiter in its orbit were named for the heroes who fought for Troy. A few asteroids have a dual comet/asteroid nature and are called Centaurs, like Chiron, which was discussed in Atlantis Rising #64.

Feminine Side

The first asteroids to be discovered were named for goddesses in Greco-Roman myths, but over time, as hundreds more were identified, the naming process became both random and creative, including famous people, characters from literature and relatives of the discoverers. The practice of using feminine names lasted until asteroid number 334 which was dubbed Chicago. As the number of asteroids escalated the naming tendencies deteriorated. One asteroid is actually named after a family cat. Even so the trend has been toward predominantly feminine names. It’s interesting to speculate if the main asteroid belt had coalesced into a planet would it have been named after a female Olympian?

In terms of the planetary names in our solar system, and from an astrological perspective, we are decidedly skewed toward the masculine. Of the ten “planets” used in western astrology only Venus and the Moon are feminine, and the Moon doesn’t even have a proper name. Some astrologers have suggested calling her Luna. In a more egalitarian approach, and comparable to the twelve zodiac signs, the Greeks had twelve primary Olympians, six male and six female.

Four of the largest asteroids, Ceres, Pallas Athena, Juno and Vesta, were named after Greek and Roman goddesses who correspond to the remaining Greek Olympian goddesses. These four have now become part of astrological interpretation. Astrologers who have incorporated these goddesses into their interpretative took kit tend to follow the myths as they are told in the Greek stories and their symbolic interpretation is seen through the lens of Greek myth. I believe this approach is incomplete as the archetypes actually stem from much older goddesses whose power had already been diluted, and even negated, by the time of the so-called age of heroes.

Also intriguing is how Zeus/Jupiter’s influence parallels that of myth. His introduction by invading groups diminished the role of the goddess over time and the myths demonstrate a gradual decline in the role of the goddesses and their archetypal significance. Today we are witnessing a renaissance of the sacred feminine and perhaps these ancient archetypes will regain their original status and significance.

Astrological Interpretation

The asteroid belt itself is a collective with some notable members because of their size relative to others. The belt acts like a dividing line between “terrestrial” planets and the gas giants beyond, representing perhaps a turning from more ordinary concerns to an outer focus. The asteroid goddesses can be seen collectively as four aspects or facets of women’s lives. Ceres is the role of mother, Athena was always seen as an independent “virgin,” Juno is queen and partner, and Vesta is the priestess archetype. They can also be understood to possess qualities like the four cardinal points of the year revealing stages or phases in women’s lives.

Ceres - Renewal

Ceres was the Roman goddess of grain and agriculture. Our word cereal comes from her name. Demeter was her Greek equivalent. Ceres represents the cycle of the year and the waxing and waning of the seasons. Together with her daughter Prosperpina, like the Greek Persephone, her story recounts the annual cycle of fertility and the apparent wasteland of winter where life is trapped underground, just like the mythical daughters who were abducted to the underworld. When the daughter is gone the world withers, but when mother and daughter are reunited all life blooms. Ceres’s archetypal power lies in understanding that everything in the universe is cyclical, not linear. All forms die and all life is constantly renewed. While we can’t alter the annual ebb and flow of light and dark, even though we try with artificial light, we can learn to move in resonance with the cycles and use them to our advantage. Mastery involves moving in synch with the ebb and flow of the cycles of life. Her presence in a horoscope can reveal where we need to go with the flow.

Pallas Athena - Wisdom

Although the Greeks saw her as a goddess of both war and wisdom her earlier archetype embodied the abstract idea of truth, like the Egyptian Ma’at. Her true essence embodies right relationship to all things; the absolute truth which lies at the heart. Minerva was her Roman counterpart, as was the Gnostic Greek Sophia, and in these goddesses the wisdom aspect was uppermost. Athena was both warrior and peace time general to the Greeks as well as spinner and weaver which also gave her domain over fate. Mythically Zeus swallowed his first wife Metis (Justice) so his firstborn child Athena would not be more powerful than he was. Athena sprang from Zeus’s head clad in full armor. She even wields the thunderbolt. Increasingly scholars view this as a shift from the Paleolithic orientation to a Great Goddess to a deity who is a solitary sky father capable of giving birth without benefit of a woman. As an archetype Athena shows where courage to face the truth is required and where wisdom concerning our own life battles is needed.

Juno - Sovereignty

Juno, Hera to the Greeks, was the wife of Jupiter (Zeus) and queen of the gods. This once all-powerful goddess of pre-Minoan Crete was reduced over time to a jealous wife. In Greek myth she is cast in a small and spiteful role, seeking vengeance for the numerous amorous exploits of the king of heaven. Perhaps more than any other goddess she is minimized because she was once so powerful. Juno/Hera was literally Queen of Heaven like her Egyptian counterpart Isis. She was Guardian of the Mysteries, including the mysteries of life and death. Juno’s deeper message in our horoscopes is learning how we wield and share power and how we express dominion in our own lives.

Vesta - Devotion

Vesta and her Vestal Virgins were keepers of the sacred flame in special temples. This was extended to the flames in the hearth at the center of every home. The cauldron that hangs over the fire is a vastly ancient symbol for the container and metamorphic processes of creation which preceded the Grail by thousands of years. Vesta’s domain is a path of devotion and guarding the sacred cauldron and the life-transforming secrets the vessel contains. Curiously, the word for pyramid is Greek and means “fire in the middle,” like the hearth fire at the center of every abode. Vesta represents devotion and sacred service and her presence in the chart reveals the area of life where this call to service will be felt.

Collective Consciousness

We all have all of the archetypal patterns whether we are male or female. Some we are aware of and others operate unconsciously. The Swiss psychoanalyst, Carl Jung, described what he called the collective consciousness of humanity which acts like a vast reservoir of largely unconscious material and is the source and wellspring of archetypes.

Jung warned that suppressed or repressed archetypes in the collective psyche of humanity do not disappear. Instead they go underground and emerge in dreams, nightmares or even dysfunctional or dangerous complexes. Claiming the “missing myths” from the archetpal realms can help humanity attain psychological wholeness. Our ability to see the shadow side of unacknowledged archetypes is profoundly healing on an individual and group level.

Although astrology charts can get crowded with all the discoveries which keep popping up in the solar system, using discretion and intuition can add a rich pallet of symbolic language which yields a depth of understanding not available with a smaller array of planetary deities.