Asteroid Goddesses Report PDF

ASTEROID GODDESSES
Demetra George and Douglas Bloch with Patricia White
Programming: Rique Pottenger
ASTEROID GODDESSES
Chloe Armand
Born on Sep 7, 1961 at 6:02 am PDT

San Diego, CA
Placidus cusps Tropical zodiac
Astro Job #
Prepared on 1/16/ 1 33 35
2001 Astro Communications Services, Inc. 1-800-888-9983

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1 6
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09 09
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NATAL CHART
Chloe Armand
7 Sep 1961 6h 2m 0s PDT
San Diego, CA
33
Placidus 32N42 117W 9

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Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 1
Ceres. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 10

Ceres in Taurus
Ceres in the Ninth House
Ceres trine Jupiter. Orb is 1 36

Ceres trine Saturn. Orb is 2 33
Ceres square Uranus. Orb is 1 12
Ceres sextile Juno. Orb is 0 40
Pallas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 19
Pallas in Pisces

Pallas in the Seventh House
Pallas on the Descendant
Pallas opposite the Sun. Orb is 2 41
Pallas quincunx the Moon. Orb is 0 37
Juno. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 28

Juno in Pisces
Juno in the Seventh House
Juno sesquiquadrate Venus. Orb is 1 11

Juno sextile Jupiter. Orb is 0 56
Juno sextile Saturn. Orb is 3 13
Juno quincunx Uranus. Orb is 0 31
Vesta. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 37
Vesta in Gemini

Vesta in the Ninth House
Vesta on the MC
Vesta trine Mercury. Orb is 1 22

Vesta trine Jupiter. Orb is 4 55
Vesta square Uranus. Orb is 5 19
Vesta square Pluto. Orb is 5 26
!#" $ % &('*),+.- / 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Asteroid Goddesses Chloe Armand San Diego, CA
Born on Sep 7, 1961 at 6:02 am PDT Placidus
Introduction
The Discovery of the Asteroids
The asteroids are small planet-like bodies that orbit the Sun in a belt that
lies mostly between Mars and Jupiter. They first dawned on human con-
sciousness in the early 1800s. The first four asteroids to be sighted were
given the names of four of the great goddesses of classical antiquity:
Ceres (discovered in 1801), Pallas Athene (discovered in 1802), Juno
(discovered in 1804) and Vesta (discovered in 1807).
Many more asteroids were soon discovered, so that by the end of the
19th century, over a thousand were known. The first asteroid ephemeris
(a table listing planetary positions) was made available to astrologers in
1973 by Eleanor Bach, and it covered only the original four. Today
astrologers have computer software that tracks the placements of over
five thousand.
What the Asteroids Mean for the World
Astrologers have often observed the tendency for the sighting and
naming of new bodies in the solar system to come at the same time in
history as the activation of new centers of consciousness in the collective
human psyche. Overall, the rapid discovery of so many new celestial
bodies in such a short time mirrors the modern acceleration of human
brain potential, and the recent exponential growth of information that has
yielded so many thousands of new facts.
As to uncovering a more particular meaning for the asteroids, the names

that become attached to newly discovered bodies always seem to be
significant. Though many asteroids were given the names of gods,
people, places, concepts and things, over three-quarters of the first
thousand to be discovered were named after goddesses from various
mythological traditions.
The naming of so many asteroids after female deities paralleled an

awakening of a feminine-defined principle in women, men and society.
Around 1973, when the first astrological asteroid ephemeris was
published and astrologers began extensive consideration of asteroids, the
womens movement emerged, and new aspects of feminine expression
began to awaken in human consciousness. Women became imbued with
the seed possibilities of feminine creativity and intelligence that expanded
and transcended the traditional roles of wife and mother. This period also
marked the rediscovery of womens ancient history, the growth of
womens culture in creative and professional areas, and the rebirth of the
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Goddess in womens spirituality. The lives of men and that of society in

general have also been affected by the activation and growing influence
of a right-brain, feminine-polarity, holistic way of perceiving the world.
In the symbolic language of astrology, the goddess asteroids provided

new archetypes that specifically addressed the current psychological and
social issues that arose from this activation of the feminine principle. On-
ly two of the usual planets, the Moon and Venus, represent feminine
archetypes, and these are of the mother and the wife. Until the asteroids,
astrology had to fit all other womens experiences into masculine-defined
archetypes. What was needed was a set of symbols by which to describe
the other avenues of feminine expression that exist today. During the
years since 1972 when astrologers have observed the significance of
asteroids in birth charts, they have uncovered a wealth of information that
adds insight and understanding above and beyond that gained from the
usual ten planets.
Astrologys Use of Asteroids
Clearly, it is impossible to include all the thousands of asteroids in a birth

chart and then make sense of them. To select asteroids to look at, some
astrologers note only the asteroids that are very closely conjunct
important points in the chart such as the Sun, Moon, Ascendant,
Midheaven or a particular planet that is being considered. Alternatively,
they look for asteroid names that suggest people, places or themes in a
persons life, and then see where these asteroids fall in the chart. Using
these approaches, astrologers such as Zipporah Dobyns, Jacob
Schwartz, J. Lee Lehman, Nona Gwyn Press and Batya Stark (as well as
myself) have come up with an amazing number of startling (and often
amusing) synchronicities. Playing the asteroid name game is great fun,
and it gives yet another comforting manifestation of the interconnected-
ness of all things.
Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta
Among the thousands of asteroids known, Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta
have a special place. While these are not necessarily the largest
asteroids, they were the first to be discovered, and as such they have
imprinted themselves on human consciousness in a major way.
They also complete the female pantheon of goddesses, rounding out the
system of symbols begun in the usual ten planets. Of the six great
goddesses of Olympus, only Aphrodite (Venus) and Artemis (the Moon)
are represented in the conventional astrological symbol system. The
other four great goddesses of Graeco-Roman mythology, Demeter
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(Ceres), Athene (Pallas), Hera (Juno) and Hestia (Vesta), were missing
from astrology until they were re-invoked by their discovery in the early
1800s.
The Mandala of the Asteroid Goddesses
Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta represent four very basic feminine
archetypes which amplify and particularize the more general energies of
the Moon and Venus. Their relation to the regular planets and to each
other becomes clear in a mandala.
The large circle in the mandala represents the Moon, the fundamental
feminine principle that contains all the potential expressions of the
feminine nature. Behind the Moon resides the Sun, the embodiment of
the fundamental masculine principle. The union of the masculine and
feminine, of the Sun God and Moon Goddess, gives rise to what mystics
have described as Oneness.
In the center of the mandala is Venus. As the essence of the feminine

nature in her activated form, Venus embodies the feminine creative,
magnetic, sexual, reproductive, vital life force. Venus is surrounded by
Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta. Each of the four in its unique way uses
the creative sexual energy of Venus to express the various functions and
activities of the feminine principle as it operates in both women and men.
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Note that these asteroids are placed at the four cardinal directions of the
mandala. These correspond to the four "angles" of the astrological chart:
the Ascendant and Descendant to the left and right along the horizon, and
the MC (Medium Coeli or Midheaven) and IC (Imum Coeli or Lowest
Heaven), at the top and bottom of the vertical meridian line. The basic
symbolism of these four great goddesses is as follows:
Ceres, the archetypal Mother and the Goddess of Agriculture, gives

birth to the world of physical form, bearing children and providing food
for their survival. As the Mother archetype, she stands for the principle
of unconditional love and nurturing support in both women and men. In
the above mandala she is placed at the IC, the very bottom of the
horoscope wheel, which in astrology is related to the foundation, the

roots, and the family.
Pallas Athene, the daughter of Zeus, is the Goddess of Wisdom who

generates mental and artistic creations from her mind. Sprung from the
head of her father, she represents the principle of creative intelligence.
Her place in the mandala is at the MC, the "head" of the chart, the
uppermost point, which symbolizes ones ambitions and ones visible,
socially useful accomplishments.
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Juno, or Hera, was the wife of Zeus. As such, she is the Goddess of
Marriage who fosters and sustains union with a partner. More generally,
she symbolizes the principle of relatedness and commitment to another
over time. In the mandala, she is placed at the Descendant, which in
the horoscope wheel is the point that signifies reaching out from the Self
to another in order to complete oneself in a one-to-one relationship.
Vesta, or Hestia, was Zeuss elder sister who never married. In mytho-
logy she became the protectress of the hearth and the sacred altar
flame. The archetypal Temple Priestess, she is a virgin in the original
sense of being whole and complete in oneself. In the system of
goddess symbols, she represents the principle of spiritual focus and of
devotion to following ones calling. Placed in the mandala at the
Ascendant, Vesta corresponds to the Self.
These asteroids represent the primary relationships of a womans life:

that of mother, daughter, wife and sister. The fertile sexual energy of
Venus is used by Ceres to birth children of the body, by Pallas to birth
children of the mind, by Juno to build relationships with others, and by
Vesta to deepen a relationship with the Self or with the Divine.
The Asteroid Goddesses in the Charts of Men
Just as the planets named after male gods pertain to the lives of women,
these asteroids named for female goddesses are also important in the
lives of men. The recognition and honoring of ones contrasexual side
completes and strengthens the personality, embracing the unintegrated

energies that are often sources of trouble.
Ceres expands on the Moons symbolism by further illuminating the

relationship of a man to his mother and also to women and other
nurturing figures in his adult life. In addition, Ceres signifies a mans
own tender, caregiving side and the ways in which this part of his nature
can find expression. Typical manifestations of Ceres energies in a man
are teaching and mentoring, pediatrics and pedagogy, farming and
gardening, cooking and nutrition, medicine and therapy, ecology and
environmental protection, and, of course, his part in helping his own

children thrive and grow.
Pallas, for a man as well as a woman, can symbolize his capacity for
strategy, his quest for clarity and truth, his sense of justice, the acquisi-
tion of skill and ingenuity in useful arts, and the ability to channel life
energy for healing. Just as she can in women, Pallas can signify either
a mans rejection of the feminine within himself, or the drive to integrate
the opposite sexual polarity into his psyche. The placement of Pallas
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incanhisalsolife.suggest how a man perceives the strong, independent women

This usually has to do with his sense of his own competence.
Juno can signify a mans style of dealing with marriage and other forms
of partnership, including, in some cases, business partnerships. Her
placement determines how the struggle between the self and the other
plays out, and whether the partnerships a man enters into are likely to
be equal or unequal. Juno may also show the sort of wife a man is likely
to pick, and his attitude toward married women in general. This asteroid
has to do with the man in his procreative role as husband and father,
and, by extension, in any joint venture for the production of a new entity.
Just as she does for a woman, Juno may also show how a man deals
with the infidelity of a partner.
Vesta signifies a mans relationship to himself as a complete being,

apart from relationships with others. Her placement can suggest to a
man how he can best become still, look within, and tend to Deity or his
inner spirit. Just as she does in women, Vesta can also signify a mans
urge to conserve and preserve the home, the state, the culture and its
institutions.
The Asteroids as Developmental Stages
When you combine the above basic symbolism of the first four asteroids
with the order in which they were discovered, the four great goddess
asteroids form yet another self-contained symbol system, one that defines
four stages of human, and most particularly feminine, lives:
Ceres, the first asteroid to be discovered, governs the first stage of life,
when the persons primary focus is the mother. This is the stage of the

Child.
Pallas, the second to be discovered, suggests the time of life when the
child starts looking toward the father to be initiated into the rules of the
world outside the home. This period starts when many girls become
tomboys and dream of their future careers. It continues into the period
when young people are out in the world studying or working or pursuing
a career but are not yet parents. In a womans life this pre-reproductive

stage is that of the Maiden.
Juno, the third asteroid to be discovered, was the archetypal wife on

Olympus and was also a protectress of childbirth. She suggests the one
stage of a persons life that is commonly devoted to marriage and
reproduction. In a woman, this is the stage of the Matron.
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Vesta, the last-discovered of the four, represents the final stage of life
when a womans focus commonly turns away from child-bearing and
child-rearing, and she turns toward cultivating herself as a separate
individual, apart from her family relationships. In women, this post-
reproductive period is the stage of the Crone. This supplements the pre-
reproductive or self-contained Virgin symbolism already mentioned in
connection with Vesta.
Arranging the asteroids in this way gives further clues to their meaning.
Naturally, however, a woman may embody the symbolism of any of these
asteroids at any time in her life.
These life stages pertain to a womans life in particular, something that

has until recently been largely neglected. They of course have their
analogies in the lives of men, but in a slightly modified form, since
reproduction does not tend to be so central to mens lives and many men
can reproduce well into old age. Like women, men typically have a Ceres
stage in which their primary attachment is to their mother, a Pallas stage
where they are initiated by the father into the outside world, a Juno stage
when they are husbands and fathers working to sustain a family, and a
Vesta stage when they are free to retire and cultivate their inner lives.
How to Use This Report
You could think of your birth chart as a play. The planets and asteroids
are the actors, harmonizing with, clashing against, or ignoring one
another, depending on the aspects that they do or do not make with the
other points in the chart. The sign of the zodiac that the asteroid or planet
is in shows where the actor is "coming from": whether he or she is at
home or in foreign territory, and his or her style of operation. The house
that a planet or asteroid falls into is like the scenery, showing the area of
life in which that archetype is most likely to operate.
The house cusps, and the Ascendant, Imum Coeli, Descendant and
Midheaven (which in most systems of house division are the cusps of the
First, Fourth, Seventh and Tenth houses) are the fastest-moving points in
the chart. Moving about one degree along the zodiac during every four
minutes of time, they travel all the way around the zodiac every twenty-
four hours.
These are what make your chart different from the charts of other people
born the same day. They deliver the most personal, particular information
in your chart, but for them to do so, your birth time must be given as
accurately as possible, preferably within a half-hour of time. If you are
uncertain of your birth time, it is best to ignore the paragraphs that deal
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with houses, or with conjunctions to the Ascendant, Imum Coeli,

Descendant or Midheaven. If necessary, you can probably get your birth
time from your birth certificate, obtainable from the Bureau of Vital
Records in the state where you were born.
When Youre Reading This Report
When you read about the sign and house placements of each asteroid, it
is best not to draw any conclusions about that asteroid until you after
youve read about the asteroids aspects. For example, if you had Ceres
in Cancer conjunct the planet Uranus, Ceress Cancerian need for emo-
tional security would be offset by Uranuss desire for freedom and
change. Both indications may apply, but in different areas of life, or you
may feel an ongoing sense of contradiction and tension between the two.
Conversely, if several indications reinforce each other, their manifestation
in your life will most likely be strong and obvious.
Also remember that when a planet is at the end of a house within a

degree or two of the cusp of the next house, it starts to take on the
meanings of the next house as well.
An Important Note about Aspects
The authors do not consider the "hard" aspects (squares, oppositions,

semisquares and sesquiquadrates) and other traditionally difficult aspects
(like quincunxes and sometimes semisextiles) as uniformly bad. Neither
do they consider the so-called "soft" or "easy" aspects (trine and sextile)
as always good. Practicing astrology from a mythic and psychological
point of view, they find that the nature of the two archetypal principles
being connected is more important than the nature of the aspect. Re-
gardless of the type of aspect being made, most people experience the
entire range of interactions between two planets (or between a planet and
an asteroid).
We believe that people grow by integrating opposing polarities in the

psyche (represented by the opposition aspect) and by resolving inner
conflicts (represented by the square). We do not wish to give you the
limiting suggestion that the issues depicted by difficult aspects are impos-
sible to resolve, or give you a false sense of security that the so-called
good aspects require no awareness and effort on your part. You will
therefore find that the interpretations in this report cover a wide range of
both positive and negative possibilities for each aspect.
Aspects do, however, differ in strength. Major aspects (particularly the

conjunction and opposition) and aspects involving the Sun or Moon tend
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to speak louder than others. To help you spot the more important
aspects in your chart, youll see notations ranging from "Very strong
influence" to "Slight influence."
You can get an even more precise idea of the strength of an aspect by
looking at the aspect lines in the table of contents at the beginning of this
report. The values after "Orb is" show how far the aspect is from being
exact. If you see an aspect with an orb of zero (that is, less than one
degree), you can mentally "bump up" the aspects rating a notch (for
example, from "Strong" to "Very strong"). Conversely, if you see an orb
greater than eight degrees, you can consider the aspects importance
diminished.
With this said, let us now explore the role that each of these four asteroid
goddesses plays in your astrological chart.
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Ceres, the Mother
Appropriately, the first asteroid to be discovered was named after the

Olympian goddess who most exemplifies the mother--the first human
being with whom most of us have contact, the first relationship that we
encounter in life. Ceres, the Mother, deals with all sorts of mother-child
issues. Of the four stages in a persons life, she signifies the Child.
The glyph or written symbol for Ceres takes the form of a scythe.
Besides signifying the goddess of agriculture, this tool for harvesting
suggests both the roundness of a breast and the themes of separation
and death that run through the legend of Ceres. As the mother, she
brings us into life, and, like the Christian Mary who grieves over her
crucified Son, she also lets us go into death, thus starting another cycle.
For this reason she is associated with the IC of the horoscope, the very
bottom of the day cycle, where, in the system of astrological houses, life
begins and ends.
The Myth of Ceres
Known to the Greeks as Demeter, Ceres was the goddess of agriculture

who worked unceasingly to bring food and nourishment to the people of
the earth. One of the great classical myths tells of her daughter
Persephones ravishment and abduction by Pluto, lord of the underworld.
Grieving, Ceres wandered over the earth in search of her missing child.
In her grief, depression and anger, she caused a famine, withholding
production of all food until her daughter was returned.
Persephone meanwhile had eaten pomegranate seeds, a symbol of

sexual awareness, thus giving Pluto a claim over her so that she could
not be returned permanently to her mother. A compromise was reached
whereby Persephone would spend part of each year in the underworld
with Pluto caring for the souls of the dead, but each spring would be
reunited with her mother in the upper world as she initiated the dead into
the rites of rebirth. For over two thousand years, this drama was
celebrated regularly in ancient Greece as the initiation rites of the
Eleusinian mysteries.
Ceres Within Us
Ceres represents the part of our nature that longs to give birth and then to
nourish and sustain the new life. She represents the essential bonding or
lack thereof that occurs between mother and child. She is the impulse
not just to nurture, but also to be nurtured by others through the giving
and receiving of acceptance and unconditional love.
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The story of Ceres and Persephone speaks to the complex mother-child

relationship, emphasizing the interplay of closeness and separation, of
nurturing and eventual letting-go as the child becomes an adult able to
function on her or his own. Once the letting-go is accomplished, the child
is free to reestablish the bond in a different key by becoming a friend to
the parent and by producing grandchildren.
The Ceres myth also contains the themes of major physical or emotional
loss, separation, abandonment, rejection, and estrangement that occur
between parents and children, and later in life with other loved ones. One
example of this is the anguish we face in cases of divorce or adoption
when we need to share our children with their other parent. Ceres
symbolizes attachment to whatever we have given birth to or created, and
also the agony of losing it. If her myth is one of loss, however, it is also
one of return, of death but also rebirth. Reminding us that loss makes
way for new birth, Ceres can teach us the lesson of letting go.
A central part of Ceres bonding is the giving of food as an expression of

love. In our early experiences as children, this food and love may be
freely given. In other instances, however, it is conditionally awarded,
withheld as a form of punishment, pushed upon us, or simply neglected.
Then the self-love and self-worth of the child are undermined and under-
developed, causing a host of psychological problems.
The mythological Ceres withheld food in the midst of her grief and
depression. Correspondingly, one typical kind of Ceres wound is an
obsessive relationship with food, including the whole range of eating
disorders and food-related illnesses. Related to this, there can also be
problems with a poor body image.
In her grief, Ceres became immobilized. Thus another Ceres problem

manifests as being plunged into depths of depression or despair, making
us incapable of daily functioning, work, and all other forms of productivity.
To the extent that depression is associated with incomplete mourning,
working through the stages of grief (shock, anger, bargaining, depression,
and ultimately acceptance) can help to promote healing in times of loss.
An additional theme comes from Ceress daughter Persephone being

raped by Pluto, her mothers brother. This points to fears that parents
may have in protecting their children from similar harm. Certain Ceres
placements in the chart may also point to ones having oneself
experienced incest or other sexual abuse as a child.
In a desire to keep their children safe, parents with strong Ceres place-
ments can become overly controlling and restrictive. In order to establish
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their own identity, their children may then struggle against the parental
attachment. This, in turn, can bring up the Ceres theme of loss of the
child.
On a transpersonal level, Ceres as the Mother of the World moves us to

care about the homeless and hungry, and also about the destruction of
the earths resources. She urges us to take compassionate action to
provide for fundamental human needs, and to care for the body of the
earth which supports and sustains us.
Ceres not only gave birth to the living, but in her aspect as Persephone
she received the souls of the dead back into her womb to prepare them
for rebirth. Thus Ceres can also express as a vocation for either
midwifery or hospice work, facilitating the transition from death to life and
back again on either the physical or the psychological level.
Ceres embodies the great truth of transformation, that from death comes
new life. This comes not just from the Persephone part of her story, but
also from the nature of food, which always requires the taking of plant or
animal life in order to sustain our own lives.
Ceres also teaches the wisdom that over-attachment and possessiveness

can eventually bring loss, whereas sharing and letting go lead ultimately
to reunion.
Ceres in Your Chart
Ceress Zodiacal Sign
The zodiacal sign of Ceres shows the particular quality of nurturing that
you experienced as a child. This sets the stage for how you presently
nurture the child within yourself, and ultimately determines how you nur-
ture others. The sign position of Ceres can alert you to possible problems
with nurturing, and can direct you to the kinds of experience that you
need to feel unconditionally loved and accepted.
These indications may be reinforced or contradicted by other factors in

the chart such as aspects and (if you have given an accurate birth time)
houses. Therefore, to get a rounded picture, be sure to read through the
whole section on each asteroid.
Ceres in Taurus
When you were born, Ceres was traveling through the sign Taurus. This
means that when you were a child you most likely identified nurturance
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with receiving physical security, a sense of stability, and being touched

and held. You also wanted your caregivers to provide a home environ-
ment with lots of physical comforts.
If these needs were not met in an ideal manner, you may have felt either
materially impoverished or anxious and fearful about a lack of material in
your life. You may have reacted (and still be reacting) to this lack by
feeling that you never have enough. This can lead to excessive attach-
ment to things or to the hoarding of possessions.
As an adult, you still desire to have these needs met by whomever you
turn to for your nurturing--whether it be a parent, partner or other loved
one. Your natural style of nurturing others is by fostering their physical
security and providing for them in tangible ways. Also, in being a good
provider for others as well as yourself, you can achieve a feeling of self-
worth and self-acceptance. Just as when you were a child, your feelings
of warmth and safety have a lot to do with your physical surroundings.
______
The House that Ceres Occupies
Assuming that the birth time that you have given is accurate within an
hour or so, the houses of the horoscope give more particular information
about the way the asteroids and planets operate in your chart.
Besides the Fourth House, which shows your earliest upbringing, the
house that Ceres falls into shows where or in what department of life you
may most directly feel the need for mothering and nurturing. The house
that Ceres is in also suggests the areas in which you are likely to feel
your profoundest losses. In addition, it can give a key as to what kinds of
experiences will either foster feelings of self-love, or feelings of self-
criticism and rejection.
Ceres in the Ninth House
With Ceres moving through the Ninth House at the hour of your birth, you
nurture yourself and others through pursuing higher knowledge and truth,
and by communicating it to others. You may foster the growth of others
as a teacher in higher institutions of learning, or through writings that you
publish. These may well be about Ceres-related issues such as
parenting or agriculture. Alternatively, your nurturing activities may
involve contact with other countries or cultures: for example, by being a
missionary or Peace Corps worker, or by adopting or otherwise helping
foreign children.
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You yourself receive spiritual nourishment from travel that broadens your
horizons and expands your world-view. One of the most nurturing things
your parents and/or friends do for you is to introduce you to new ideas
and encourage you to develop a religious outlook or a philosophy of life.
As for philosophies, you may be drawn to those (such as Marxism) that

particularly address the question of providing for fundamental human
needs such as food and shelter. Religions that attract you will probably
be based in some way on the worship of the all-nurturing mother-
goddess, be she the Virgin Mary, Gaia, or one of Her many other forms.
You may also be drawn to churches or sects (such as the Quakers) that
stress service to others.
Among the many forms of loss that people are likely to experience, for
you one of the most poignant can be a loss of faith in whatever you
currently believe. With your questing mind, however, you are specially
equipped eventually to restore that loss with a newer and larger vision. In
this way you foster your own growth.
______
The Aspects that Ceres Makes
The aspects that Ceres makes with other planets and asteroids show how
her nurturing energies interact with the concerns of the other gods and
goddesses in your chart. If her aspects reinforce the themes suggested
by her sign and house, these themes are bound to be obvious in your life.
If the aspects in some way contradict the themes of the sign and house,
they may give rise to interesting tensions that take some creativity and
practice to resolve. If an asteroid makes an aspect with the Sun or Moon,
her importance for you is greatly magnified.
Ceres trine (120 degrees) Jupiter. Moderate influence.
Ceress capacity to nurture and protect combines with Jupiters urge to

search for meaning, truth and ethical values.
This aspect intensifies Ceress need to bestow love and unconditional

acceptance. Jupiters generous nature increases--even to excess--your
desire to nurture your loved ones, and to provide for their well-being and
domestic comfort. Jupiter also influences you to nurture your children by
giving them the best of educational opportunities and by imparting a
strong system of values and beliefs.
On the wider scene, you may nurture peoples minds as well as their
14

souls through teaching and publishing. Or you may provide for others by
becoming involved in world hunger programs or with the large-scale
production, provision, and distribution of food and other basic services.
Since Jupiter rules excess, and Ceres rules self-worth, there is a potential
for grandiosity through an overinflated sense of self. This could be the
result of a parents overindulging you. When you left the nest, you may
have felt shocked that the world didnt cater to your every need.
There is also a danger of over-identifying with the parental role and

believing that you must bestow all good things, perhaps even the best, on
your family and perhaps on the rest of the world as well. Remember that
if you give too much, you deplete your own nurturing reserves. This can
lead to personal overindulgence such as overeating or overspending. To
keep this overweening hunger at bay, you must remember to balance
generosity to others with generosity to yourself.
______
Ceres trine (120 degrees) Saturn. Moderate influence.
Ceress capacity to nurture and protect combines with Saturns urge to

create structure, limit and form.
When it works optimally, this aspect shows that your primary caregivers
provided a stable, orderly and structured environment for you. They
strove to impart the virtues of discipline and self-responsibility, so that as
an adult you are responsible, loyal and dedicated to members of your
own family. Your nurturing relationships will then be characterized by
respect, depth and enduring bonds.
On the other hand, since Saturn rules the concept of limits and scarcity,
you may have experienced a lack of love and validation from your primary
caregivers. Excessive punishment, rigidity or harsh discipline may have
been administered. In your home setting you may have felt restricted and
confined. Your caregivers may have been absent, or cold, or have
demanded certain behaviors or expected you to live up to high standards
in exchange for their approval. The result is that you may still feel that in
order to be loved you have to perform.
Whatever the details, you did not feel unconditionally loved. Because you
didnt get what you needed, it may be difficult for you to offer and express
emotional support to your own loved ones. To break the pattern of feeling
deprived and resentful, you may have to let go of blaming your parents
and learn to give yourself the love you that were previously denied.
15

In other cases, your parents may have been overly responsible, doing
everything for you and not allowing you to discover your own strength. In
this case, as an adult the most nurturing thing you can do for yourself is to
learn to be strong your own. This means developing self-discipline and
independence.
Another scenario is that you may have had to take on the responsibility of
parenting your siblings, or even your parents in some cases, if they were
physically or emotionally debilitated. In your current role as provider,
also, you may feel overly obligated and constrained by the responsibilities
of caring for your children or elderly parents. Although taking responsibil-
ity can be a source of satisfaction and self-development and a way to
express love, it should not be allowed to fill up your whole field of view.
You may have to discipline your self to take time off to give yourself the
nurture and pleasure that you need.
______
Ceres square (90 degrees) Uranus. Moderate influence.
Ceress capacity to nurture and protect combines with Uranuss urge to

express ones uniqueness and to deviate from the norm.
When this aspect works well, you have an original and innovative
approach toward caring for others that is related to the way you were
treated as a child. As a parent, you are likely to give your children a great
deal of freedom to be themselves and to follow their own interests. You
nurture individuality and are tolerant of peoples unusual behavior. You
may also extend the idea of family to embrace odd groupings not usually
thought of as family. In fact, other people may have viewed your family of
origin as unusual or eccentric.
This combination also suggests that you can universalize the nurturing
impulse into humanitarian activities. Your desire to nurture can take the
form of envisioning and working toward social change. Ceres-Uranus
individuals are often advocates of human rights and especially support
childrens individuality. Moreover, this aspect can connote a highly
developed intuition concerning human nature that enables you to
establish rapport with people very much unlike yourself, including those of
other races and nationalities.
The downside of this aspect is that you may have experienced childhood
nurturing that was unreliable and erratic. Life might have seemed
unpredictable, out of control, or chaotic. If your own home life was
unstable, this can create difficulty in forming emotional bonds as an adult.
16

If you were raised in a "broken" home or rebelled against your parents,

you may later feel a persistent conflict between family closeness and
personal freedom.
Because setting limits was not modeled for you, as a parent you may
have difficulty in setting limits for your own children. You may have
erratic relations and separations with them or may experience them as
rebellious. This may bother you if Saturn is strong in your chart, but if
Uranus predominates you may think of it as normal. For the sake of your
children and possibly your own sanity, it is a good idea to lay down some
ground rules that will ensure at least a minimum amount of order.
One other meaning of this aspect can be unusual tastes in food.
______
Ceres sextile (60 degrees) Juno. Moderate influence.
Ceress urge to nurture and give unconditional love combines with Junos
desire for a committed relationship.
With this contact, the likelihood is high that the purpose of your primary
relationship will be to raise children and create a family. If there are no
children, you and your partner will mutually exchange unconditional love
and caretaking. The two of you may become involved with Ceres-related
projects such as gardening, nurturing others, and caring for the earth.
Also, nurturing each other through the preparing and sharing of food may
be important in your relationship.
You may attract a nurturing, parental partner, or your partner may see
you in this way. More than most people, you may experience your
partner as nurturing and providing. If Ceres energies are not working
well, however, you may experience your partner as over-attached,
smothering or dependent.
In your committed relationships, parental issues may be played out with

one person playing the role of "parent" and the other playing the role of
"child." There may be nothing wrong with this, especially if you periodical-
ly switch roles so that each person can play both parent and child.
Problems arise when roles become rigid and one partner becomes
excessively dependent on the other. Junos need for mutuality and equal-
ity is subverted by this kind of dependency.
Another way this aspect could work out is that unresolved difficulties with
your parents could bleed over into your primary relationship. Thus, your
17

! " #
unmet needs from your parental relationships as well as your resent-

ments may be projected onto your partner. Therapy can be helpful to
decondition the subconscious images and past imprinting that may be
contaminating your relationship in the present.
There may exist potential disagreements with your mate over child
rearing. In addition, you may experience conflicts between your responsi-
bilities as a parent and those as a partner. If your children are from a
previous marriage and your spouse does not get along with them, then
you may experience conflicting pulls of loyalty between the two. There
may also be problems with inlaws or other members of your partners
family.
Alternatively, your primary relationship may be not with a mate but with
either your parents or your children. As an adult, you may share a home
with your parents. This could be to care for them as they age. You could
also care for them from a distance, but your relationship with them would
be somehow central in your life. Or, in the absence of a mate, you may
look to your children to meet your primary relationship needs. This is not
healthy for the child, who could become emotionally enmeshed with you.
18
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Pallas, the Daughter
Pallas, the second asteroid to be discovered, was named for the goddess
who, instead of being born from the womb, sprang from the head of her
father and in her later actions exemplified strengths that are often thought
of as masculine. Befittingly, this second asteroid to be discovered
represents a second developmental stage in peoples lives, when they
look to their fathers to provide them with the firmness and independence
to leave the home and go forth into the world. This is the time of life when
one acquires skills and a sense of competence, and starts to formulate
oneself as an independent person. In societies where female children
were expected to marry at the earliest possible age, this stage was large-
ly neglected in a womans development, but it is a stage as important for
women as it is for men. For either sex, only when this stage is
successfully mastered is one truly ready to embark on the next stage,
wherein one becomes a partner in a relationship of equals.
The astrological glyph for Pallas pictures the spear that is carried by the
goddess in many depictions. The spear points upward and outward
toward the world at large. Like the suit of swords in the Tarot, the spear
suggests the intellect, which probes and severs, seeking knowledge and
separating one idea from another to achieve clarity. The glyph also
suggests a head upon a body; signifying the goddesss origin, her
associations with the intellect, and the movement from the womb center
to the head, or from the bottom, or IC, of the horoscope wheel to the top,
or Midheaven.
The Myth of Pallas Athene
Pallas was better known to the Greeks as Athene, the Goddess of

Wisdom. She is said to have sprung full-grown, clad in a suit of gleaming
war armor, from the crown of the head of her father, Zeus (Jupiter), and to
have immediately taken her place at his right-hand side.
As patroness of Athens, she presided over military strategies during

wartime and over justice in peacetime. She also fostered useful arts,
including spinning and weaving, pottery, healing and other areas in which
human skill and ingenuity improve the quality of life for all. Another art
that she fostered was horse-taming (an interesting association in light of
the "horse-crazy" stage that many girls go through in early adolescence).
Among all the goddesses, the classical Greeks held Pallas Athene in a
unique position of power and respect. She walked easily and freely
through the world of gods, heroes, and men as their colleague, advisor,
equal, and friend.
19
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She was idealized as Athene Parthenia, the virgin warrior queen, and
took neither lovers nor consorts. In the myths she denied her matriarchal
origins, claiming that no mother gave her life, as she arranged for the
death of her sister Medusa. In all things except marriage, she upheld
male supremacy.
The price that was extracted from her was the denial of her femininity.
She severed her connection from her mother (Metis), her sisters, the
community of women, and her sexuality, and lost touch with her feminine
qualities of sensitivity, softness, and vulnerability.
Pallas Athene is mythologically related to an ancient lineage of

goddesses from the Near East, North Africa and Crete who were
associated with the serpent as a symbol of wisdom and healing. She
affirmed this connection by placing the head of her dark sister, Medusa,
the serpent-haired queen of wisdom, in the center of her breastplate. In
the yogic tradition, kundalini energy is depicted as a serpent that is coiled
at the base of the spine ready to rise through the spinal canal and emerge
from the top of the head as cosmic illumination. This has similarities to
the wisdom of Pallas Athene, who emerged from the head of Jupiter.
Pallas Within Us
Pallas Athenes association with both the serpent and the taming of
horses suggests that her basic theme has to do with reason civilizing the
forces of nature for the benefit of humankind. As a woman, she
represents the force of nature that brings new life into being, the raw
energy that underlies aliveness. As her fathers daughter, she executes
his will, using that force for the good of society. Administering justice, she
is able to discern the truth amid tumultuous emotions. Healing illness,
she diverts the life force back into the proper channels. As a weaver and
potter, she uses cleverness and dexterity to turn raw materials into useful
objects.
Through the ages, women have been major contributors to these arts of
civilization. However, in some eras such as the one we are emerging
from, many of the civilized arts including the law, medicine and
manufacturing were largely taken over by men while the role of most
women was limited to handmaiden and reproducer of the race.
In our culture still, women who are smart, powerful, strong, and accom-
plished are like Pallas in that they may not be considered "real women."
They are often pressured to make a choice between career and creative
self-expression on the one hand, and relationship and family on the other.
We see Pallas Athene all over again in the high-school girl who is
20
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applauded for her victory on the debate team, but who is not asked to the
prom.
The danger of the Pallas Athene archetype is one of severing our

feminine side and encasing the wounds in armor. This may lead us to
further our ambitions with a kind of cold, ruthless, calculating, expedient
strategy.
To heal ourselves, we must remember that even though the Greek myths
had Athene denying her female origins, they still made her not a god but
a goddess, one whose unique strength has its roots in the feminine
powers of nature. Her story enlarges the possibilities for women, telling
women everywhere that they, too, are free, if they wish, to channel their
womanly life-creating Venus energy not only through their procreative
powers but also through their intellects. This is the Pallas way of
enriching and enhancing life. Pallas Athene, that productive and powerful
goddess, shows that women do not have to be men to be effective in the
world. As women, they are able to impart a special kind of life-promoting
energy to intellectual and professional pursuits.
As Zeuss favorite daughter, the archetypal "daddys girl," Pallas Athene

points to another issue, our relationships to our own fathers. In our birth
charts she reveals the ways in which we emulate them, seek their
approval, want to interact in their world, and give them power over our
lives. A strong, well-placed Pallas in a womans chart usually shows a girl
who was cultivated by her father and who has learned valuable life skills
from him.
As a woman dressed in the garb of a warrior, Pallas speaks to calling up

and expressing the masculine within women, and the feminine within
men. This movement toward androgyny balances and integrates polar-
ities within the self and brings wholeness through reclaiming our con-
trasexual identity.
Pallas Athenes serpent symbolism also connects her to the healing arts.
In one of her guises she was called Hygeia, goddess of miraculous cures.
Her armor and shield can be likened to our immune system warding off
attacks. She especially represents the power of our minds in curing
disease.
To sum up, Pallas represents the part of you that wants to channel crea-
tive energy to give birth to mental and artistic progeny, children of the
mind. She represents your capacity for creative wisdom and clear
thinking, and speaks to your desire to strive for excellence and accom-
plishment in your chosen field of expression. The model of the strong,
21
i j kl m n o pqrst u v w x y z { | } ~
courageous, ingenious, artistically creative and intelligent woman, Pallas

shows how you use your intelligence to seek truth; how you achieve in
practical, mental or artistic fields; and how you work to attain worldly
power.
Insofar as Pallas is the military strategist and the administerer of justice,

her placement in the horoscope shows how you apply your intelligence to
warding off attack and preserving balance and integrity in your body, mind
and social interactions. This is not only a matter of self-defense, it is also
a fundamental principle of healing. The placement of Pallas in your chart
shows the healing modalities that are likely to work best for you, either
when applied to yourself, or by you to others.
In addition, the placement of Pallas may suggest how you relate to your
father and to what fathers stand for, and how you incorporate the qualities
of the opposite sex into your own makeup. It may also suggest what life
was like for you when you were deciding upon a career and setting out for
yourself in the world.
Pallas in Your Chart
Pallass Zodiacal Sign
The zodiacal sign in which Pallas was placed at your birth shows the style
of perception through which your creative mind operates, and also your
style of applying your creative intelligence and ingenuity to the affairs of
life. It can therefore have a lot to do with your career and hobbies. It also
shows the special kind of wisdom and skill that you offer to the world. In
a sense, the placement of Pallas shows how you carry out the will of the
Deity (or the light within you), and make it materialize here on Earth.
Pallas in Pisces
Your creative intelligence springs from a special ability to perceive the

underlying unity in people and things.
As a healer, you may have a knack for intuitive diagnosis, or find yourself
interested in psychic or spiritual healing. For your own well-being, you
might use the psychological techniques of guided imagery and dream
interpretation, as well as meditation, devotion, and tuning in to your spirit
guides. Other possible avenues of healing might be through music or
dance. Its possible that you may heal through the feet, as in podiatry or
reflexology.
Your artistic production would tend to be especially poetic, imaginative, or
22

inspirational. You may like to create in cinema, photography or other

areas that play with light and illusion. (For example, Walt Disney, whose
fantasies have entertained generations, has Pallas in Pisces.) Music and
dance are other likely avenues of expression, and these may well have
an ethereal quality that brings back to earth something from the heavens
or the beyond.
In the realm of politics, you may identify with the archetype of the
enlightened warrior, the bodhisattva, or the martyr. With your sense of
the underlying unity between all people, you are likely to be motivated by
compassion, for both the highly placed and the downtrodden, no matter
what their station in life. Because you can approach the powerful without
self-righteousness, you are doubly effective in helping the unfortunate.
To achieve your aims, you may use or advocate nonviolent resistance,
turning the other cheek and refusing to use force. Besides the issues
dealing with human welfare, areas such as toleration, pacifism, and the
resolution of conflicts may also engage your creative ingenuity.
The wisdom of Pallas in Pisces is the wisdom of compassion: the recogni-

tion of universal suffering and desire for all beings to be happy. It is also
the wisdom of knowing when to let go and let a higher power do the job.
______
The House that Pallas Occupies
The house in which Pallas is found shows what departments of life are
most likely to provide the outlet for your creative intelligence and ingenu-
ity. Taken along with the Tenth and Sixth houses, which are the tradi-
tional significators of your calling and your daily work, the house that
Pallas occupies can be an indicator of your career. Along with the Fifth
house, the house in which Pallas is found can also indicate your hobbies.
Pallas in the Seventh House
Pallas Athene in the Seventh House directs your creative intelligence and
ingenuity toward one-to-one relationships. These could be partnerships,
marital or otherwise. You may have a special talent for fostering such
relationships by creating harmony and cooperation between people.
Likely to have strong mediating and counseling abilities, you might do well
in a career such as marital counseling, mediation, or conflict manage-
ment.
You may also do well at one-to-one consulting or counseling activities

such as being a therapist or astrologer. Another possibility is adversarial
23

relationships with an opponent, such as in debating or legal work.
The Seventh House rules what you yourself seek in a marriage or other
one-to-one relationship such as a business partnership. With Pallas in
the Seventh, you may seek partnerships where you can cooperate in
intellectual or artistic pursuits. Also, you may find yourself attracted to
partners with Pallas-like qualities such as intelligence, creativity and com-
petence. If this is true of you, it is good to ask yourself whether you your-
self are also manifesting these qualities. If you are not, you may be
projecting these parts of yourself onto your partner, thus giving this sort of
strength away when you yourself would be better off owning it.
Pallas in the Seventh may affect your relationships in another way also.
In the myth, Pallas had to sacrifice personal relationship in order to rise to
a position of power and prominence. You may feel more comfortable in
non-binding relationships such as friendships because you believe that
having a long-term relationship is not compatible with creative autonomy
and professional advancement.
______
Pallas has special prominence in your chart.
Assuming that the birth time you have given is accurate, Pallas stands
very close to the longitude of your Descendant. This gives her particular
importance for you. Pallas themes figure very strongly in your makeup,
but you are somewhat likely to experience them as coming from other
people instead of from yourself.
It is fine to have clever and competent mates, partners, associates and

friends, so long as you are exercising your own cleverness and com-
petence. If you sought approval from your father, there is a danger of
continuing this with subsequent men, acting in their interests rather than
your own, concealing your own considerable talents and giving away your
autonomy. Even if you avoid this pitfall, you may sometimes need to deal
with a fear of winning in any kind of direct competition with someone else.
Unless your Mars is strongly placed, you are most comfortable con-
centrating on the job at hand and letting winning take care of itself.
Occasionally someone with this placement has the opposite problem:

being relentlessly independent in relationship situations at times when it
would be appropriate to be more soft and receptive. The cure is to
develop your competence to the point where you feel so secure in it that
you can easily let it go when the need arises. You are fortunate in your
innate capacity for independence and autonomy, because this is the very
24

best foundation for a relationship of true equals.
Because Pallas is so much in the foreground of your chart, even minor

themes in her story are apt to find echoes in your life. You should take
special note of the aspects that Pallas makes with other planets and
asteroids.
The Aspects that Pallas Makes
The aspects that link Pallas to other planets and asteroids in your chart
show how her intelligence and skill become connected with other drives
such as your urge to nurture, to communicate, to create and to assert
yourself.
Pallas opposite (180 degrees) the Sun. Very strong influence.
The wisdom and creative intelligence of Pallas unite with the symbol of
your basic identity and conscious purpose.
Your life in some way has to do with transforming sexual and creative
energy into mental, artistic or practical accomplishment. Central to your
being is an urge to benefit society by means of your ingenuity and
wisdom. Pallas aspecting the Sun points to strength of character,
intelligence, and courage as you strive for excellence and accomplish-
ment in your chosen field of expression. You probably communicate
clearly and efficiently, and are known for your original ideas, brilliant mind,
pioneering vision or strategic planning.
The naturalist Charles Darwin is an example of the Pallas-Sun character.

Having Pallas conjunct the Sun in Aquarius, he caused a revolution in
biological science with his original theory of evolution by natural selection.
With Pallas a central theme in your chart, you may identify yourself as a
person who has a vast reservoir of mentally creative energy. Over the
course of your life, however, your obvious intelligence may have created
personal difficulties as you were rejected or not seen as a sexual partner.
This may have been especially painful when you were an adolescent, a
time when boys and especially girls who are brainy are often perceived as
not being datable. In adulthood, one usually finds more tolerance for
intelligence, such that it may even become a means of attracting others.
However, earlier social wounds may cause you to harden your armor
against these hurts, so that you come to devalue feelings in favor of the
rational intellect. This can be a classic Pallas blind spot, preventing
intake of the valuable information that feelings provide.
25

Pallass asexualization sometimes indicates a movement toward

androgyny. Women with this aspect may feel more than usually in touch
with their masculine energies, and men with their feminine side. This can
make them feel equal and at ease as a friend in the company of both men
and women. These associations may or may not lead to sexual relation-
ships.
In an often-unconscious quest to integrate the contrasexual nature, such

people may feel alienated and confused about their sexual identity and
experience confusion in their sexual interactions with others. Frustrated
sexual energy is, however, often then channeled into mental and artistic
accomplishments.
This aspect also sometimes indicates difficulties relating to ones father.

If you are a woman, you may have been "daddys little girl," continually
seeking his approval and validation. This can lead to being disappointed
in men who do not live up to your idealized image of your father. Or you
could identify totally with your father, rejecting the feminine in yourself and
championing mens values over those of women. In a mans chart, this
aspect could also lead to conflicts or power struggles with strong women.
When the energies of the Sun and Pallas combine in a stressful manner,
you may have periods in your life when you feel creatively stuck, or lose
faith in your ability to accomplish your goals. Or you may set your sights
on goals that you have not clearly thought out.
The mythology surrounding Pallas Athene can give you a further and
deeper understanding of this very important aspect in your chart. In the
story of this goddess, you may find still other themes that are reflected in
your life experience.
______
Pallas quincunx (150 degrees) the Moon. Moderate influence.
Pallas, archetype of the wise daughter, combines with the symbol of the
feminine, emotional and feeling nature.
When it works well, this combination can show a fusion of intellect and
emotion, producing a clear perception of the world of feelings. With a
harmonious Pallas-Moon aspect, your intelligence and creativity are aug-
mented by feminine powers and abilities that are strongly experienced
and clearly expressed. You may possess a highly intuitive and fertile
mind as well as overall psychic ability. This could suit you for work, such
as psychotherapy, in which your keen pattern perception can help to heal
26

the emotional problems of others.
Because Pallas defended those under attack, you may become involved
with the protection and defense of the helpless and disempowered. One
expression of this combination would be working as an advocate for
women, or for young children and their mothers.
Like Pallas Athene, women with this aspect can model to others an image
of a woman who is strong, successful, intelligent and creative. If you are
a man, you may attract Pallas women who are strong, creative, and
independent. Such was the case with Chopin, who had Pallas in Aries
opposing the Moon (his own feminine nature) in Libra. Delicate in health,
this composer of exquisite piano music became involved with the icon-
oclastic and mannish woman writer George Sand.
When the energies of Pallas and the Moon do not combine harmoniously,
you may experience an ongoing conflict between your mind and your
feelings. As a child, you may have viewed your mother as weak,
powerless and ineffectual, and have preferred to identify with your father.
You may have had conflicts with, or were not attuned to, your sisters or
other women. This may have led to an alienation from your own feminine
qualities of softness, sensitivity and vulnerability. Out of a strong fear of
being dependent in any way, you may put on a false front of
independence. As an adult, you may call upon logical, analytical and cold
behavior as a means to gain worldly power and success.
The resolution of these conflicts lies in acknowledging a feminine-defined

intelligence that integrates the mind and heart, combining Pallas Athenes
logical thought with the Moons intuition, warmth, and feeling.
Further to understand this important aspect, we suggest that you re-read

the story of Pallas. As you do so, you may find that many of its sub-
themes as well are reflected in your life experience.
27

Juno, the Wife
Juno, the third asteroid to be discovered, represents a third stage of life.

After the Pallas stage of going out into the world, possibly to have a
career, one is ready to encounter ones equal and embark upon the
journey of partnership that usually takes the form of marriage.
The glyph for Juno suggests a scepter, befitting the queen of the gods,
and a flower, befitting her femininity. In general form, the glyph for Juno
resembles that for Venus; but instead of the circle denoting Venuss
mirror, there are outward-pointing rays, indicating that the seductive
femininity of Venus is about to turn outward, bearing fruit in marriage and
children.
The Myth of Juno
In classical mythology, Juno, known to the Greeks as Hera, was wedded

to Jupiter (Greek Zeus), supreme king of heaven and earth. As such, she
became his queen and the Goddess of Marriage. In the myths of an
earlier time, however, long before her meeting with Jupiter, Juno was one
of the primary great goddesses in her own right. As the only one who
was his equal, Juno was chosen by Jupiter to initiate with him the rites of
legal, monogamous, patriarchally defined marriage. As his queen, she
became but a figurehead and was repeatedly deceived, betrayed, and
humiliated by her husbands many infidelities. In the myths Juno was
portrayed as a jealous, manipulative, vindictive, revengeful, and malcon-
tent wife who, after tempestuous fights, would periodically leave her
husband. However, she always returned to try to work things out one
more time.
Juno Within Us
In the human psyche, Juno represents that aspect of each persons na-
ture which feels the urge to unite with another person to build a future
together in a committed relationship. This partnership is sustained over
time through a formal and binding commitment, whether it be a worldly or
a spiritual bond. Juno speaks to our desire to connect with a mate who is
our true equal on all levels--psychologically, emotionally, mentally and
spiritually.
When we do not receive intimacy, depth, equality, honesty, respect and

fulfillment in our unions, Juno speaks to our emotions of disappointment,
despair, anger and rage, which can overwhelm us. This is especially true
when we have given up a great deal, such as a career, family, home, or
religion, to enter the relationship. The Juno in us makes us confront the
28

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issues of submission and domination, fidelity and infidelity, trust and

deception, forgiveness and revenge. In her realm we find ourselves in
power struggles for equality as we attempt to balance and integrate our-
selves with another person and learn to transform selfish desires into
cooperative union.
Within a context of separation and return, Juno encourages us to take the

vow of "for better or worse, in sickness and health, till death us do part."
She brings the wisdom that conscious relationship is a path to spiritual
enlightenment, and the knowledge that relationships allow us to perfect
and complete ourselves.
In todays world, Juno is also a symbol for the plight of battered and
powerless wives and minorities; for the psychological complexes of love-
addiction and codependency; for the rise in divorce rates as people are
driven to release unmeaningful relationships; and for the re-definition of
traditional relationships in the face of feminism and of gay and lesbian
coupling.
To sum up, Juno is the archetype of the wife and partner who maintains
her marital commitment to her husband in the face of conflict and
struggle. In the birth chart she, along with other chart factors such as the
Seventh House, represents your capacity for meaningful committed rela-
tionships, your attitude toward such relationships, and the type of relation-
ship experiences that you need in order to feel fulfilled. She represents
both what you need and what you attract, and she also signifies the ways
in which you act out your disappointment over broken unions. These
relationships are usually romantic in nature, but may sometimes assume
other forms such as business, professional or creative partnerships.
If you are in a relationship, you may want also to determine the element
of your partners Juno. In general, fire signs are most compatible with air
signs, while earth and water seem to form a harmonious pair. However, if
you and your partners Junos are placed in challenging elements (for
example, fire and water), the relationship is still workable. It simply
means that you will have to make more of an effort to understand each
others needs.
Juno in Your Chart
Junos Zodiacal Sign
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The sign that Juno was in when you were born describes what you are
seeking in a long-term sexual partnership such as marriage, or, by exten-
sion, in a business partnership or enduring friendship. It can give clues
about your most likely relationship problems, and can suggest ways to
make your style of relating work more harmoniously for you.
Juno in Pisces
Through your committed relationships you seek to realize your highest

ideals. You may be extremely romantic, longing to reach a mystical state
of transcendence through union with your mate. Such a lofty ideal will not
always be met in the reality of committed partnership, which demands
daily work, struggle and the resolution of conflict. It needs to be tempered
by the understanding that your partner is an imperfect human being and
not a god or goddess.
If the gap between your ideal and the reality is too great, either of you
may withdraw, become disillusioned, become a victim or martyr, or es-
cape into fantasy or substance abuse. This placement of Juno may even
work against forming a partnership in the first place, either because one is
too shy or passive to go out and look for a mate, or because no earthly
person can measure up to ones romantic ideal.
If the danger lies in Pisces, so also does the cure. As long as you dont
seek complete perfection in a relationship, it will be all right. The strength
of this Pisces placement is that, paradoxically, it can also give you an
accepting, non-judgmental approach to your partner. With a Piscean abil-
ity to empathize, you can see the world from your partners point of view
and cherish your partners foibles. This empathy and flexibility and ability
to be "in tune" may also bring you a mate with very little effort. Also,
rather than demanding that your partner be ideal, you can both strive
toward a common ideal: by together pursuing a spiritual path, or by
creating imaginative works of fantasy or illusion.
Another tendency of Juno in Pisces is a wish to become totally merged

with the partner. As with all water signs, you want to know that your
partner will always be there for you. If you lose your sense of self and
give away your power and individuality, problems will arise. This is be-
cause Juno relationships require a certain measure of equality. For there
to be a true partnership there must be two distinct selves. You need to
balance devotion to your beloved with a similar devotion to your own
selfhood. In this way your relationship is nourished and kept vital.
Your business partnerships will probably not be concerned so much with

money and tangible products as with the dissemination of ideas, the
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spreading of faith, the giving of comfort, or the creation of works of art,

glamour, fantasy or illusion. This is the perfect placement for a close,
intuitive collaboration, but do be sure to keep all your agreements clear
and above-board from the very start.
______
The House that Juno Occupies
In the birth chart, Junos house position shows where or in what depart-
ment of life you will experience your most significant relationship interac-
tions.
Juno in the Seventh House
With Juno in the house of committed partnerships, the need to form and
maintain primary relationships becomes a major focus throughout your
life. Your life lessons are learning to share power, resolve conflicts, and
develop trust. To avoid giving power away to the partner, you need first
to cultivate a strong sense of self. You then need to develop receptivity to
accommodate the needs of another person. Lessons also come through
learning how to approach others to initiate relationships, as well as how to
get along with them once the relationship has started. For you fully to
integrate these themes, it may take more than one relationship over the
course of a lifetime.
While marriage or an equivalent form of long-term sexual partnership may

be paramount, you may also work out these themes in business partner-
ships or other forms of one-to-one relationship. This could be the rela-
tionship between a client and a therapist, counselor, consultant or tutor.
You may spend a good part of your life playing either the role of the client
or the one who is consulted. Even when you are "just friends" with
someone, the relationship may take on the quality of an important one-to-
one confrontation in which you struggle to become true equals.
One side of face-to-face confrontation is warfare. Particularly if Mars is

prominent in your chart, or is connected with Juno or your Seventh
House, you may work out your relationship issues in open conflict with
another. Fortunately, these conflicts are likely to be straightforward
instead of sneaky, and if you stick to some rules and fight fairly, they may
actually have a constructive outcome.
______
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The Aspects that Juno Makes
Junos aspects to other planets and asteroids indicate how her issues of
attracting and keeping long-term relationships fit in with your other drives,
as, for example, for self-expression, communication, creativity or the
search for meaning in life.
l
Juno sesquiquadrate (135 ) Venus. Slight influence.
Junos desire for committed relationship combines with the feminine

principle of love and sexuality.
A Juno-Venus aspect such as this emphasizes the romantic and aesthetic

dimensions of partnership. You may form artistically creative partner-
ships, or marital partnerships that you infuse with love, pleasure, and the
appreciation of beauty. It is usually important for you to you experience
your partner as beautiful and sexually desirable.
The downside is that Juno and Venus represent two different approaches
to relationship. Whereas Juno symbolizes the monogamous wife, Venus
symbolizes the polygamous lover. When these two symbols are well-
integrated in your chart, you have a passionate, erotic relationship with
your marriage partner. When the Venus and Juno energies are not
integrated, you may have a satisfactory relationship with your partner but
still find that either you or your partner are drawn to having outside
romantic relationships. This is exactly what happened in the Juno story,
where her husband, Jupiter, enraged her by having many sexual affairs.
This can give rise to jealousy, fear of sexual betrayal, and competition
with real or imagined rivals.
In other instances, one or both partners may remain faithful, but may be
frustrated by sexual problems or by a lack of sexual fulfillment in the
primary relationship. There may be differences in tastes, preferences and
values. Or a woman may feel dependent on the relationship to validate
her femininity.
Juno-Venus individuals are attracted to artistic and sensual (that is,

Venusian) types. While at some times they may experience their partner
as attractive, pleasing and graceful, at other times they may view the
other as self-indulgent, passive or superficial (beauty being only skin
deep).
______
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Juno sextile (60 degrees) Jupiter. Moderate influence.
Junos desire for committed relationship combines with Jupiters urge to

Because of Jupiters philosophical orientation, you may look to your

primary relationships to broaden your horizons and find meaning in life.
For you, a meeting of minds contributes to your sense of unification on
emotional, sexual, and spiritual levels. In fact, you may choose to work
with a partner for the advancement of a shared philosophical, educa-
tional, or religious belief system.
The downside of this combination recalls the mythic story of the marriage
of Juno and Jupiter. In this relationship, Junos desire for equality,
respect, and full self-expression was not met. Even when Juno is in a
harmonious aspect to Jupiter in your chart, a prevalent theme in your
relationship may well be a search for equality.
When the energies of Juno and Jupiter combine in an inharmonious way,

you may experience, as Juno did in her marriage, infidelity, betrayal,
humiliation, frustration, resentment, and despair. There may be periodic
separations and numerous attempts at reconciliation.
Because of Junos loyalty to her marital commitment, she stayed in her

marriage with Jupiter despite her difficulties. In similar fashion, you may
be invested in keeping the relationship going, even if the relationship is
not meeting your needs. Especially if children are involved or you have
certain religious beliefs or societal values, you may be torn between your
desire to honor your commitment and your need to leave a relationship
that is not working.
Because Jupiter governs high ideals, you may also have brought a
certain idealism into the relationship, an idealism that does not match the
current reality you face. Because Jupiter rules expansion, the issues of
your relationship may assume huge and seemingly overwhelming propor-
tions, overshadowing other parts of your life. If this is the case, try to find
ways to gain detachment or perspective on your situation.
Another way this aspect could work out is that your own philosophical or
religious belief system may be at odds with your partners. The resolution
of this challenge lies in each partner learning to accept and tolerate each
others moral and philosophical views.
With a Juno-Jupiter signature, you will probably be attracted to Jupiterian

types. This means that you may experience your partner at times as
33

expansive, broadminded and optimistic, and at other times as arrogant,

self-righteous, and excessive.
______
Juno sextile (60 degrees) Saturn. Moderate influence.
Junos desire for committed relationship combines with Saturns urge to

create order, form and discipline.
In your chart Juno is influenced by Saturns tendency to slow things

down, make them tangible, and impose form and structure on them. In
your committed relationships, this melding of Juno and Saturn can take
various forms.
To begin with, you will probably be slower than average getting into a
committed relationship, either marrying later than most people, or at least
not committing yourself until you have given it a great deal of thought.
Sometimes, in order to form a meaningful relationship, people with this
contact may first need to overcome limiting belief systems, personal
insecurities, or fears of commitment.
Once committed, however, you tend to stay that way, and your relation-
ship will probably have great longevity. It is natural for you to take a
grounded and realistic approach to your partnerships, and to be capable
of great loyalty. You may hang on in order to complete and perfect the
relationship. You may also remain in the partnership for quite non-
romantic reasons, such as social pressure, a sense of duty, or the desire
for material security. Or even if it is quite romantic and full of fun, your
relationship may center on building something concrete in the world.
Juno-Saturn contacts favor any sort of partnership involving business and
other financial concerns.
Another way that Saturn with Juno can work out is in a difference in real
or perceived age between you and your partner. It may be simply that
one of you is considerably older than the other in an otherwise un-
Saturnine relationship. Alternatively, one of you may play a parental role,
while the other plays the child who sees the parent-person as a serious,
responsible provider of safety and security. Carried to extremes, one
partner might see the other as childish and irresponsible, while himself
being seen as authoritarian and controlling. Sometimes this aspect
means that one or both of the partners is depressed.
It is fortunate that people with Juno-Saturn contacts tend to understand

that relationships take a lot of work. Dont be discouraged. When you
34

are willing to make the effort needed to overcome obstacles, you can
realize your goals. With Juno teamed with Saturn, you have the stuff to
persevere until you manifest the relationship you want.
______
Juno quincunx (150 degrees) Uranus. Slight influence.
Junos capacity for meaningful relationships combines with Uranuss urge

to express ones own individuality and to deviate from the norm.
There is an inherent conflict between Junos need for committed relation-

ship and Uranuss need for freedom. While Juno wants to be related at
all costs, Uranus perceives traditional relationships as limiting and con-
stricting, and refuses to participate for very long. With this aspect, fears
of confinement and restriction can lead to erratic and unreliable commit-
ments.
In order to have productive and happy relationships, you need to be

aware of this quality in yourself. Instead of fretting because your relation-
ship doesnt fit social norms, you need to structure your relationship so
that it allows for a comfortable degree of freedom for you both. This could
mean having separate living spaces, spending a certain amount of time
apart, or having agreements about how you each relate to people outside
of your partnership.
Its possible (particularly if the Juno-Uranus aspect is an opposition or

involves the Seventh House) that you project the Uranian qualities onto
your partner. Having been brought up to believe in conventional ideas of
marital fidelity, you may refuse to acknowledge your own urge for
freedom. If you are suffering because you think you are the loyal one and
it is your partner who is straying, its time to own up to the fact that it is
you who have the Juno-Uranus aspect. With this aspect, you chose this
particular person to do what you could not do yourself--that is, ensure that
your relationship would not be too narrow and stifling.
To be happy in a Juno-Uranus relationship, the partners need to work to

integrate their own individuality and independence into some sort of com-
mitted framework. This can occur when each partner acknowledges and
supports the others need for freedom while maintaining a loving bond.
In order to find a form of committed partnership that suits you, you may
find yourself revolutionizing traditional relationship roles with new visions
and formulations. By universalizing the relating urge to include any and
all types of relationships, you may push against the limits of social con-
35

vention.
In the course of seeking forms of committed relationship that allow for

individual freedom and expression, your creative experimentation may
lead to chaos, instability and short-lived relationships. You may have
idealistic aspirations about relating, and not be able to bring these aspira-
tions into reality, giving rise to a tension between what you envision and
what you are able to live out.
Also because of the high frequency and intensity of Uranian energy, it

may be difficult to sustain a state of constant excitement and change with
your partner for long periods of time. The ensuing burnout may
precipitate periodic separations, followed by the excitement of coming
together again.
With a Juno-Uranus aspect, you may be attracted to unconventional

types, or you may attract others who expect you to fill this role. You, or
your partner, or both of you may experience the other as original, free-
spirited, and open minded. If the Uranian energies are not working well,
however, the partner may be seen instead as erratic, unreliable, or just
plain weird.
Whatever relationship you enter, it may be in some way innovative,

unusual, radical or experimental. And as a partner, you are likely to
introduce into the relationship the qualities of change, excitement, and
freedom.
In the political sphere, Juno represents the disempowered and

oppressed: particularly minorities, children, and victims of domestic
violence. With Juno connected to Uranus and his urge for social reform,
you may feel called to be an advocate for such groups.
36

Vesta, the Sister
After one has been nurtured, gone out into the world, found ones life
partner and borne children, the time comes to turn inward to reconnect
with ones spirit. In women, the Matron becomes the Crone; in the culture
of India, the householder sets out on his final spiritual journey as a monk-
like wanderer; and in Jungian psychology, the active person of affairs
embarks on an inward journey to find the Self.
Vesta, the fourth and final of the major Olympian goddesses to give her
name to an asteroid, relates to this final stage of life. Although renowned
for her shining beauty, she is in fact the eldest of the Olympian gods.
Like Pallas Athene, Vesta was known as a virgin. If Pallas Athene was
the pre-reproductive Maiden, Vesta could be thought of as the post-
reproductive Crone. After their thirty-year term of office was up, the Ves-
tal Virgins of Rome were allowed to marry, but they were then often
beyond childbearing age. In pre-classical times, the cult of the goddess
who later became Vesta included sex as a sacrament. Thus Vesta,
insofar as she is sexual, represents a rarefied form of sex that transcends
the procreative function and aims to achieve spiritual union rather than
physical children.
Vesta was related to Jupiter as his sister. This, too, expresses her non-
procreative way of relating, and the fact that she is often thought of as the
prototype of the nun, whom we also call "Sister."
Besides suggesting the letter V, which points downward and inward, the
astrological glyph for Vesta represents a flame burning on either a hearth
or an altar. This signifies Vestas function as keeper of the hearth fire and
the temple flame, but it also points to the cultivation of the pure spark of
spirit within us. Fittingly, Vesta is the brightest object in the asteroid belt.
The Myth of Vesta
To the ancient Greeks, Vesta was known as Hestia, a name derived from
the word for hearth, and it appears that she had to do with the domestica-
tion of fire for human use in the home and in sacrificial offerings. As the
eldest of the Olympian gods, she was the most venerated, and was
always given the first sacrifices and libations. There are few stories about
her deeds, and the few depictions of her show her in repose, indicating an
inward, contemplative nature. She refused the marriage offers of Apollo
and Poseidon, and under Zeuss protection vowed to remain a virgin
forever.
37

In Roman mythology, Hestia became Vesta, always veiled, but known as

the most beautiful of the deities. In the home she was venerated as the
protectress of the hearth and its flame. In public life, she was thought of
as the protectress of the state, and her priestesses were the six Vestal
Virgins of Rome. Dedicated to spiritual service, the Vestals were respon-
sible for keeping the sacred flame burning, which was thought to ensure
the safety of Rome. They enjoyed great prestige, but if they let the flame
go out, they were whipped, and if they violated their oath of chastity
during their term of office, they were punished by a public whipping, and
then buried alive.
Vesta became the prototype of the medieval nun. However, several

thousand years earlier in the ancient Near East, the predecessors of the
Vestals tended a temple flame but also engaged in sacred sexual rites in
order to bring healing and fertility to the people and the land.
The original meaning of the word "virgin" meant not "chaste," but simply
"unmarried." Whereas Ceres and Juno required relationship to complete
themselves, Vestas priestesses represent an aspect of the feminine na-
ture that is whole and complete in itself.
When the old goddess religions gave way to those of the solar gods,
sexuality became divorced from spirituality, such that a woman desiring to
follow a spiritual path had to remain chaste. Earlier, however, a priestess,
representing the Goddess, could enter into a state of spiritual
transcendence through sexual union with an partner in a manner that did
not call for marriage or commitment. In the later patriarchal culture,
ecstatic illumination was experienced as the descent of the spirit of the
god into oneself, and the now-chaste Greek priestesses became the
brides of the god Apollo in the sense that the Christian nuns became the
brides of Christ.
Vesta Within Us
In the human psyche, Vesta represents the part of each persons nature
that feels the urge to experience the sexual energy of Venus in a sacred
manner. This may occur in several different ways.
If we are a typical product of our cultures mores, we will most likely inter-
nalize this sexual energy. We may devote ourselves to following a spiri-
tual, religious, or meditational path, even following in priestly or monastic
footsteps. Or, in our lifelong therapeutic work, we may experience this
union with the Self as the process of psychological integration. In one
way or another, we turn inward to attain clarity, and in this way we
energize ourselves. The vision that arises when we reach the whole and
38

self-contained core of our being then enables us to follow a vocation in

which we can be of service in the world.
Vesta the virgin speaks to us of the importance of the relationship we

have with ourselves. This may lead to a single lifestyle. If we are
married, we may not be comfortable with the total surrender asked for in
the merging with another. In Vestas realm we may find our most
satisfactory sexual encounters in being our own best lover.
Alternatively, we may hark back to the earlier cults of priestesses in the

Ancient Near East, and periodically find ourselves in sexual encounters
with those who pass briefly through our lives or to whom we are not
married or committed. These couplings are often marked by a sense that
something special, healing and sacred has occurred. To the extent that
our society has no context in which to validate sexual unions that do not
lead to becoming mated, we may be left with a sense of shame, guilt, and
incompleteness. To free ourselves from this burden, we must understand
the inherent nature of Vestas virgins and how they unified sexuality and
spirituality.
Vesta protects not only the inner flame of spirituality and sexual energy,
but also other precious things that ensure the continuation of human life.
As "keeper of the flame" she preserved the state and the institutions of
society. She also guarded the home and hearth, including kitchens and
the preparation and purity of food. Today she could be seen as a
librarian, museum curator, or other sort of worker who preserves the
sparks of human culture. She could also express herself in an occupation
that deals with housing or food.
Through Vesta, you integrate and regenerate on inner levels so that you
can then focus and dedicate yourself to work in the outer world. In the
human psyche, Vesta represents the process of spiritual focus that can
lead to personal integration. In a broader sense, she signifies the ability
to focus on and dedicate ourselves to a particular area of life. When our
focus becomes too narrow, we can sometimes feel limited and hemmed
in. When our capacity to focus is obstructed, we can feel scattered. This,
too, may cause us to experience limitation in the area of life represented
by Vestas sign or house position.
To sum up, Vesta is the archetype of the Sister and the Temple Priestess,
whose virginity signifies her wholeness and completeness within herself.
Her sign, house and aspect placements in your birth chart show how you
use the basic sexual energy of Venus to deepen your relationship to your-
self.
39
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Vesta in Your Chart
Vestas Zodiacal Sign
The zodiacal sign of Vesta in your chart suggests how you can best culti-
vate the spiritual flame within, and then use it in service to others. It can
alert you to ways in which the intense focusing quality of Vesta can
become too narrow and hence counterproductive, and it can also provide
a key to exploring the spiritual qualities of sexual energy.
Vesta in Gemini
Your path of self-integration involves sharing and communicating informa-

tion. You are likely to find your path of service in a Gemini-ruled
endeavor such as writing, teaching, editing, networking, reporting, or
working in some area of education or the media.
You may prefer to work alone, possibly as a free-lancer. If you work with
others, the content of your communication may have to do with finding
ones solitary spiritual path. Other topics you might want to communicate
about are the retirement years, the purity or preservation of food, the
preservation of art and ideas in museums and libraries, fraternity or
sisterhood, religion, or self-development in any form.
To bring the sacred dimension into your sexual relationships, you need to
experience a meeting of minds with your partner. For you, even talking
about sex can be a transcendent experience, and you may well write
exquisite love letters or love poetry that both heals and uplifts.
The spiritual paths that attract you will probably have a decidedly mental
element. You may take a theological approach to religion, or may find
comfort in the elegance of mathematics or the order of nature. Observing
your mental processes in meditation may reveal to you the deity within.
You may also find deep spiritual meaning in your conversations with
others.
You have the power to engage in long-term, concentrated focus on

intellectual matters. When this focus becomes too single-minded,
however, you can get so caught up in the words that the meaning is lost.
Beware of excessive intellectualism or superficiality. The mind can be an
asset, but must not be allowed to substitute for genuine emotional
experience.
______
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The House that Vesta Occupies
Vestas house position shows the areas of life where you are most likely
to experience your desire for self-integration and your dedication to a
calling. This can be a place of dedication and commitment, and also a
place where you experience limitation of some sort in order to realize that
commitment.
Regardless of the house where your Vesta is placed, you might also like
to look at other houses that have to do with Vesta themes. The Fourth
and Twelfth houses show how you withdraw into yourself to do inner
work. The Tenth House signifies your dedication and your calling. The
Sixth House deals with service, the Twelfth House with where you
experience limitation and blockages, and the Eighth House with inner
transformation and your attitudes toward sex.
Vesta in the Ninth House
With Vesta in the Ninth, your process of self-integration involves dedi-

cating yourself to search for truth and to convey wisdom to others. You
may be set upon this path by a limitation such as a lack of education,
being intellectually confined by an official belief system, or being
forbidden to believe in, investigate or communicate something.
Your pursuit of truth may lead to travel in distant places or to studying the
ideas of other cultures or religions. Your path of service may involve
higher education, disseminating information, or a religious vocation such
as priest, priestess, minister, rabbi, or missionary. Whether for your own
enlightenment or service to others, your spiritual path is to broaden
horizons, bring disparate ideas together, enlarge vision and bring
something new into view. Be aware that an overly extreme focus on your
belief system may result in a tendency toward political or religious
fanaticism.
You may also be drawn to working for a moral or ethical cause. Since the
Ninth House rules the legal system, you may work for legal causes that
support your ideals.
______
Vesta has special prominence in your chart.
If your birth time is accurately given, at the moment you were born Vesta
was just reaching the highest point in your chart, where the Sun would be
at noon. Being so close to the Midheaven makes her themes sing out
41
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loud and clear in your life as part of your most public self.
With Vesta conjunct the Midheaven, your calling, your life goals, your
sense of who you are, and your reputation all have to do with the mythic
themes of Vesta. This may have had its origin under the tutelage of one
of your parents, or by your following a parental role model. When all is
said and done, the legacy that you bring to the world may involve
preserving the values of civilization (as perhaps a librarian, curator,
historian or other scholar), keeping the home-fires burning (most likely
under extraordinary circumstances), or cultivating the spiritual flame
within yourself and others (as maybe a writer, ecclesiastic or therapist).
Its possible that you could work with infertility, sexual problems or the
sacred dimensions of sex, or help others find meaning and spiritual fulfill-
ment in their later years.
Whatever it is, your work is extremely important to you, especially as it

furthers your life direction and career. To be fulfilling, it should have to do
with service. Though you may serve humanity or your spiritual ideal and
thus make a valuable contribution, you are likely to be modest about it,
hiding it, as it were, under Vestas veil.
Because Vesta is so prominently placed at the top of your horoscope, you

may find personal relevance in many of the details of her myth. Also, you
should place special emphasis on the aspects she makes with other
asteroids and planets in your chart.
The Aspects that Vesta Makes
Vestas aspects to other bodies in the solar system show how her drive to
go inward and search for higher meaning either clashes with or finds an
outlet through the other functions of your chart.
Vesta trine (120 degrees) Mercury. Moderate influence.
Vestas urge to deepen your relationship to yourself and find your true vo-
cation combines with Mercurys urge to communicate and share ideas.
With Vesta connected to Mercury in your chart, your path of self-integra-

tion involves learning to think and communicate clearly.
A Vesta-Mercury aspect can indicate a highly developed mind that can

powerfully focus and direct its thoughts. When you are in touch with your
sense of mission, you have a strong drive to express your ideas or to
dedicate yourself to the transmission of spiritual teachings. You have
great powers of focus and concentration as they apply to the fields of
42
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research, learning and communication. You may be called to writing as a

vocation, or you may use writing to communicate your spiritual ideals.
When the energies of Vesta and Mercury are not well-integrated, you may
have poor concentration and be mentally scattered and unfocused. Even
though it may be difficult at first, you will find that meditation will calm and
still your mind. (You may also want to correct possible physical causes
such as food allergies, reduce your level of stress, or cut down on distrac-
tions by simplifying your life to essentials). Also with Vesta-Mercury, your
communication to others may come across as being either noncommittal
or diffused and hard to understand. Alternatively, Vestas extreme self-
focus may cause your thinking to be overly narrow, obsessive or
introspective.
To bring the sacred dimension into your intimate sexual relationships, you
need to experience excellent communication and a meeting of the minds
with your partner.
______
Vesta trine (120 degrees) Jupiter. Moderate influence.
Vestas urge to tread a spiritual path combines with Jupiters urge to

When you have a Vesta-Jupiter aspect in your chart, your path to

personal integration involves defining your own set of ethical, moral and
religious values. Once these values are defined, you can put them into
practice in your vocation.
Because Vesta as temple priestess rules spirituality and Jupiter governs

the search for meaning, this contact tends to give you a spiritual nature.
Rather than being primarily mystical and transcendent, however, your
spirituality is probably grounded in the social order. Because of Vestas
association with sacred sexuality which she later had to sublimate, you
may redirect your sexual drive into realizing your broad visions and
pursuing your vocation.
Your lifes calling will probably involve dedicating yourself to the pursuit of
truth and knowledge. Your ability to focus on and synthesize the details
of broad-scale issues is an asset in many Jupiterian vocations. These
include politics, business, teaching, the ministry, law, or anything that has
to do with foreign countries or cultures. Because of Jupiters expansive
nature, your efforts may have wide ramifications.
43
p q rst u v wxyz{ | } ~
A prime example of a Vesta-Jupiter aspect is Elizabeth I of England.

Known as the Virgin Queen, she remained single throughout her reign,
took many lovers, initiated Englands colonial expansion, and attempted
to resolve her countrys religious conflicts.
You have the power to engage in long-term, concentrated focus in realms

such as philosophy, theology, law or government. When your focus
becomes too single-minded, however, you may believe that yours is the
only valid truth and you may become fanatical in your convictions. When
the energies of Jupiter and Vesta are not skillfully integrated, you may
find it difficult to discover a calling, or you may experience a conflict
between two sets of philosophical or spiritual values.
______
Vesta square (90 degrees) Uranus. Moderate influence.
Vestas urge to deepen your relationship to yourself and find an inner

calling combines with Uranuss urge to express your individuality and to
deviate from the norm.
This Vesta-Uranus combination in your chart suggests that your path to

the divine may be through discovering your own originality and innovative
nature. For you, personal integration comes from accepting the ways in
which you are different from others and ahead of your time. These often-
unexpected insights can lead you to discover your spiritual purpose and
vocation in life. Having the courage to be true to who you are can enable
you to be a catalyst for change and reform.
Your mind naturally focuses on innovative ideas. You may pursue

scientific and technological studies that are on the cutting edge of the fu-
ture. You may use new technology such as the Internet as way to gain
and disseminate spiritual knowledge. Part of your spiritual path may be to
dedicate yourself to new political, humanitarian, and revolutionary visions
that challenge the status quo and question authority and tradition. This
aspect can symbolize the spiritual leader (in the broadest sense of the
word) who through his or her ministry challenges orthodox dogma, rules
and conventions and calls for reform in religious and spiritual institutions.
This aspect also combines Uranuss urge for freedom with Vestas con-
cern with the non-marital and non-procreative aspects of sex. It suggests
that you would advocate sexual liberation and might actually implement
non-possessive behavior in sexual relationships. If you do this, you may
find yourself judged by a society that does not have a context in which to
place such liberated attitudes.
44

When the energies of Vesta and Uranus do not combine harmoniously,

your sense of spiritual purpose may undergo erratic and unexpected
changes, making it hard to commit yourself to a vision or ideal. Alterna-
tively, an urge to rebel against authority may impede you from either
staying focused on commitments or making them in the first place. Politi-
cally, this aspect can manifest as the rebel without a cause.
To make the most of this Vesta-Uranus aspect, you can dedicate yourself
to some sort of innovation or reform. In this way you can use the chaotic
Uranian energies to make constructive changes in the status quo, or
perhaps even create a whole new order.
______
Vesta square (90 degrees) Pluto. Moderate influence.
Vestas urge to deepen your relationship to yourself and find an inner

calling combines with the Plutonian urge to bring about profound change.
This Vesta-Pluto aspect emphasizes the transformative dimension of the

spiritual path. For you, personal integration involves diving down into the
deepest levels of your psyche and encountering anything and everything
that you find there, including the most ugly and demonic parts of yourself.
Intuitively, you know that within these seemingly destructive forces is
enormous power for change and renewal. Facing these demons with
respect, you make them your allies. In this way you release and purify
the unconscious patterns and beliefs that create separation between you
and the Divine.
Vesta gives you great power to engage in long-term, concentrated focus

on this and related tasks. You may plumb inner realms through pure
introspection, through the study of dreams, the penetrating analysis of the
outward behavior and events that reflect the inner realms, or through the
mirror of symbols in art and literature. Alternatively, life events may force
you to deal with your inner demons, the worst parts of yourself and the
most shattering fears. Again, Vesta gives you the focus and concentra-
tion to do so.
Once you have confronted your demons successfully, you are ready to
follow your true calling. Having faced the worst in yourself, you are
uniquely equipped to comfort others who are going through various sorts
of hell. Your work may involve life-threatening diseases, major crises and
catastrophes, or helping others face death or other kinds of profound loss.
Triumphing over your worst inner demons also gives you great poise and
power for other sorts of work, such as doing business or politics on a
45

grand scale, dealing with people who have great power for good or evil,
or creating art that has a devastating emotional effect. Whatever you do,
it may affect large numbers of people. Plutos penetrating, delving quality
and Vestas one-pointed focus could also suit you for scientific or other
kinds of research.
Like Vestas temple priestesses of old, you are able to engage in sexual
practices that create regeneration, healing, and spiritual illumination.
Another possibility is that you can sublimate your sexual energy and
redirect it toward a variety of creative accomplishments. Sigmund Freud
provides an interesting example of this. With Vesta conjunct Pluto, he
focused his work on uncovering and healing the sexual complexes of his
patients.
When the energies of Vesta and Pluto do not work well together, you
could be subject to sexual obsessions and compulsions, or experience
sex in connection with power, domination and control. Or a single-
minded focus on dark and dangerous realms could lead to extreme, one-
dimensional, obsessive and decidedly unwholesome thinking and actions.
With great power to do good also comes great power to do evil. With
Pluto involved, it is important to exercise discrimination and care when
using Vestas great capacity for focus and devotion.
46

Conclusion
Taking This Report Further
Now that you have read all about your asteroids, you may wonder which
of the four goddess archetypes predominates in your nature. Having just
immersed yourself in the symbolism of these four great goddesses, you
most likely have a feeling for which of the mythical themes has touched
you the most deeply.
But what does your chart say about this? Looking back at the lists of
chart positions and aspects at the beginning of this report can give you
some idea of which asteroid has the strongest position in your chart.
Roughly in order of importance, the main factors that give a planet or
asteroid strength are:
1. Being in aspect to the Sun, Moon or Ascendant. If there is a tie, you

can consider the aspect with the smallest orb to be the strongest. In
order of importance, the aspects are the conjunction, opposition, square,
trine and sextile. The "minor" aspects such as the quincunx,
semisextile, semisquare and sesquiquadrate are only considered if they
are very close (say, within an orb of 2 degrees).

Pallas is opposite the Sun (2 41 orb).

Pallas is quincunx the Moon (0 37 orb).
Vesta is square the Ascendant (5 50 orb).
2. Being closely conjunct (within 5 to 7 degrees of) the Midheaven,

Descendant or IC. If you have more than one asteroid conjunct one of
these points, the one that has the smallest value in the "Orb" column is
the strongest. If the orbs are approximately the same, aspects to the
Midheaven are considered stronger than aspects to the Descendant or
IC. Also, applying aspects are stronger than separating ones.

Pallas is conjunct the Descendant (8 50 orb).
Vesta is conjunct the MC (3 54 orb).
3. Having the closest aspect of any of the four asteroids. The closest
aspect shown below is from the asteroid to one of the planets, the other
asteroids, the Ascendant, the Midheaven, or the Nodes. You might think
of this as a sort of keynote aspect in your chart, especially if it is a major
aspect such as the conjunction, opposition, square or trine.

Juno is quincunx North Node (0 25 orb).
47

4. Having the most aspects. This means that the asteroid is well-
integrated into your chart and influences many functions in your life. If it
is involved in a pattern of planets such as a cluster of conjunctions, a T-
square, grand cross, or grand trine, this group of planets and asteroids
will form a more or less self-contained complex that describes a
recurring theme in your life.
Vesta has 7 aspects.

Ceres has 5 aspects.
Juno has 5 aspects.
Pallas has 2 aspects.
5. Having an asteroid that is "elevated." Look at your chart wheel. Even

if an asteroid or planet is not closely conjunct the Midheaven, if it is
closer to the Midheaven than any other planet or asteroid, it gains some
power because it tends to be more publicly observable than the other
celestial bodies in your chart.
The body closest to your Midheaven is Vesta.
After all these considerations, do you feel that you are primarily a Ceres
nurturer, a Pallas career person, a Juno partner, or a Vesta keeper-of-
the-flame? We hope that these four great goddesses of antiquity have
given you some new and useful perspectives on the major themes in your
life.
If you would like to learn more about these goddesses and what they
represent in your birth chart, we recommend the books Asteroid
Goddesses by Demetra George, and Astrology for Yourself by Douglas
Bloch and Demetra George. These are available at bookstores or
through the authors.
The Authors of This Report
This report comprises over forty years of combined research by the

authors. During this time, we have been amazed at the power of the
goddess archetypes to give understanding and meaning to peoples lives.
With the release of the Asteroid Goddesses computer report, this informa-
tion is being made available to many more individuals. As part of our
continuing research, we would like to hear your stories about how the
themes symbolized by the asteroid goddesses in your birth chart have
manifested in your life. Please write, call, or email us at the addresses
that follow.
48

Demetra George, a practitioner of astrology for thirty years, teaches

internationally and leads pilgrimages to sacred sites in the Mediterranean.
Her pioneering work synthesizes ancient history, cross-cultural mythology
and archetypal psychology with contemporary astrology. In order to
further her studies in mythology she is currently pursuing graduate
studies in Classics at the University of Oregon.
Demetra George is the author of four books. Asteroid Goddesses (San

Diego: ACS Publications, 1986; co-authored with Douglas Bloch) is con-
sidered a seminal textbook on the subject. It is rich with additional
meanings for the four first-discovered asteroids, as well as having some
interesting perspectives on lesser-known asteroids. Other books by
Demetra George include Astrology for Yourself (Wingbow Press, 1987,
co-authored with Douglas Bloch), a basic text on astrology in workbook
format; Finding Our Way Through the Dark (ACS, 1994); and Mysteries of
the Dark Moon (Harper, 1992).
Demetra George can be reached at dgeorge@orednet.org or at P.O. Box

5431, Eugene, OR 97405, or telephoned at (541) 345-5680.
Douglas Bloch, M.A., has practiced as an astrological writer, counselor

and teacher since 1973. He is a member of the Oregon Astrological
Association and the AFAN astrology network, and has hosted a call-in
radio talk show in the Portland, Oregon, area.
His own books include Words That Heal (Pallas Communications, 1989);
Listening to Your Inner Voice (Hazelden, 1991); I Am With You Always
(Pallas Communications, 1992); Positive Self-Talk for Children (Bantam,
1993), and When Going through Hell... Dont Stop: A Survivors Guide to
Overcoming Clinical Depression and Anxiety (Pallas Communications,
1998). With Demetra George he has co-authored the books Asteroid
Goddesses and Astrology for Yourself.
Douglas Bloch can be reached at dbloch@teleport.com or 4226 NE 23rd

Avenue, Portland, OR 97211, or telephoned at (503) 284-2848.
49

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ASTEROID GODDESSES

Demetra George and Douglas Bloch with Patricia White

Programming: Rique Pottenger

Born on Sep 7, 1961 at 6:02 am PDT

2001 Astro Communications Services, Inc. 1-800-888-9983

Placidus 32N42 117W 9

The Discovery of the Asteroids

What the Asteroids Mean for the World

As to uncovering a more particular meaning for the asteroids, the names

The naming of so many asteroids after female deities paralleled an

Goddess in womens spirituality. The lives of men and that of society in

In the symbolic language of astrology, the goddess asteroids provided

Astrologys Use of Asteroids

Clearly, it is impossible to include all the thousands of asteroids in a birth

Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta

The Mandala of the Asteroid Goddesses

In the center of the mandala is Venus. As the essence of the feminine

Ceres, the archetypal Mother and the Goddess of Agriculture, gives

horoscope wheel, which in astrology is related to the foundation, the

Pallas Athene, the daughter of Zeus, is the Goddess of Wisdom who

These asteroids represent the primary relationships of a womans life:

The Asteroid Goddesses in the Charts of Men

completes and strengthens the personality, embracing the unintegrated

Ceres expands on the Moons symbolism by further illuminating the

environmental protection, and, of course, his part in helping his own

incanhisalsolife.suggest how a man perceives the strong, independent women

Vesta signifies a mans relationship to himself as a complete being,

The Asteroids as Developmental Stages

Juno, the third asteroid to be discovered, was the archetypal wife on

These life stages pertain to a womans life in particular, something that

How to Use This Report

with houses, or with conjunctions to the Ascendant, Imum Coeli,

When Youre Reading This Report

Also remember that when a planet is at the end of a house within a

An Important Note about Aspects

The authors do not consider the "hard" aspects (squares, oppositions,

We believe that people grow by integrating opposing polarities in the

Aspects do, however, differ in strength. Major aspects (particularly the

Ceres, the Mother

Appropriately, the first asteroid to be discovered was named after the

The Myth of Ceres

Known to the Greeks as Demeter, Ceres was the goddess of agriculture

Persephone meanwhile had eaten pomegranate seeds, a symbol of

The story of Ceres and Persephone speaks to the complex mother-child

A central part of Ceres bonding is the giving of food as an expression of

In her grief, Ceres became immobilized. Thus another Ceres problem

An additional theme comes from Ceress daughter Persephone being

On a transpersonal level, Ceres as the Mother of the World moves us to

Ceres also teaches the wisdom that over-attachment and possessiveness

Ceres in Your Chart

Ceress Zodiacal Sign

These indications may be reinforced or contradicted by other factors in

with receiving physical security, a sense of stability, and being touched

The House that Ceres Occupies

Ceres in the Ninth House

As for philosophies, you may be drawn to those (such as Marxism) that

The Aspects that Ceres Makes

Ceres trine (120 degrees) Jupiter. Moderate influence.

Ceress capacity to nurture and protect combines with Jupiters urge to