Asteroid Astrology

Origins and history of asteroid astrology

• Ceres was the first asteroid discovered 1801 – designating it the first asteroid (#1), followed by three more, so they became popular as new “planets”, and then a big gap for discoveries until Astraea was discoverd nearly 40 years later.
• Asteroids were initially introduced as “minor planets” in 1841 and in 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) reclassified planetoids and comets into dwarf planets and small Solar System bodies (SSSBs).
• The greek latin mythology popularised asteroids too, and you’ll see a great number of them in the main belt, located between Mars and Jupiter.
• Eleanor Bach’s publication of the first asteroid ephemeris was in 1973.
• Chiron (discovered in 1977) and other Centaur asteroid bodies in the outer Solar System are located between Jupiter and Neptune. They have unstable orbits due to the crazy gravitational influence of the giant planets, and therefore must have come from elsewhere, away and outside of Neptune, completely alien to our system. This adds to their mythological naming, as there isn’t anything more “otherworldly” than half human half animal.
• Demetra George brought out “Asteroid Goddesses” in 1986 which aligned with western astrology standings, with a more feminine edge, and saw a surge in interest for this area of astrology.
• Richard Tarnas (“The Passion of the Western Mind” 1991 author) supported Stanislav Grof for the psychological findings that archetypal astrology, the primordial patterns in human experiences, “the only system that can successfully predict both the content and timing of experiences encountered in non-ordinary states of consciousness in experiential psychotherapy”.
• Liz Greene combines psychology, archetypes, and astrology over at my most used database system of choice – Astro.com, a place where she writes yearly transit reports inclusive of some asteroids

Asteroid astrology vs Placidus astrology

When I curate astrology readings, I use the Placidus system, and I subscribe to the western astrology understanding. I won’t use whole house systems, as I like utilising cusp energy – sometimes from my experience it’s super prominent in your chart, and it would suck to not know it!

For a lot of the reasons I mentioned above, I find asteroids add an amazing detail to your charts, but they are very different from a “normal” chart reading. Asteroids can add depth and nuance to your chart, but they are not a replacement for traditional astrology techniques.

Asteroid astrology focuses on the study of asteroids and other minor celestial bodies, while Placidus astrology primarily focuses on the planets in our solar system in a time-based manner from moment of birth – some houses will look shorter than others, for example.

The interpretation of asteroids in a birth chart is different from that of planets. While planets have well-established meanings and associations in traditional astrology, asteroids may have more personalized meanings based on their position in a person’s chart, as well as who that asteroid represents/means. An example could be a therapist having really strong Psyche, Kant, Jung and Ceres placements.

What do asteroids mean in astrology?

In short, they add a layer of personality to your reading that ultimately you may have been left with questions about had you not known they were there.

But if you wanna know what they mean to you, very specifically, then I’m obviously going to advocate you book in a private session with me to get into it all!

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If you’re looking for “superstitious beliefs” or “spiritual meaning of asteroids” then I can say in history that meteors, comets, asteroids and even supernovas have all held a wider public belief in terms of it being an omen. Whether a deified person, such as the Chinese emperor, or it being a “sign from the gods” the timing and context of the sighting is what determines it’s omen meaning.

Why use asteroids in astrology readings?

• Asteroid belt being closer than Trans-Pluto energy.
• Adds more feminine energy (and gender queer fun) to your astrological chart (since Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, Pluto and the Sun are all masculine energies).
• If you’re looking for inspiration or guidance in very specific themes in life, you can pull up the chart of natal and current asteroid transits.
• If you’re feeling an overwhelm of an archetype in your life, you can look into it’s asteroid. For example, if you’re going through a rough breakup and feeling intense emotions, you can look at the asteroid Juno, which represents marriage and commitment in astrology. Its placement in your birth chart can give insight into how you handle relationships and what lessons you may need to learn from this experience. Similarly, the asteroid Vesta represents dedication, spiritual fire, and focus. Its placement in your chart can reveal where you may have a strong sense of duty or where you feel most fulfilled and devoted when working hard towards a goal.
• You can dive deeper into specific aspects of one’s life rather than just looking at general planetary placements (such as grouping by theme, like karmic asteroids or love asteroids).
• They are physical objects (unlike Black Moon Lilith, or Pars Fortunae, which are maths) which have transits, and can be interacted with for multiple ongoing variety of readings.
• There are over 25,000 asteroids, whereas normally we use just our solar system for basic astrology readings. Imagine how that can layer your astrology reading.

What are the main asteroids in astrology?

There’s not any set “main” ones tbh, because it depends WHY you need that asteroid. Here’s a list of frequently used though with their correspondences to explore for yourself!

#1 Ceres – (nurturing, mother, balance, harmony, how you take care of yourself and others) 

#2 Pallas – (career, skills, creativity, problem solving, strategic thinking) 

#3 Juno – (romantic, partnerships, life partner, soulmate, love, marriage)

#4 Vesta – (soul work, inner fire, inner passion, what drives you, spirituality)

#5 Astraea – (justice, balance, and the pursuit of fairness)

#6 Hebe – (youth, vitality, and rejuvenation)

#7 Iris – (healing balance, fairness, balance, delivering emotions, message bringer, delivering truths, and where you retain hope)

#8 Flora – (approach to beauty, attitude to fertility, blossoming and expressing growth)

#9 Metis – (strategic rebellion, revolutionary elements, wisdom, wit, cunning, skill, craft)

#10 Hygeia – (health, well-being, hygiene, and cleanliness)

#11 Parthenope – (how you’re impacted by jealousy, influenced by music, difficulties with rejection, discoverer, devotion, chastity)

#12 Victoria – (where you win, success, victory, speed, Nike)

#13 Egeria – (wisdom, guidance, prophetic ability, water element, sacred writings and books)

#14 Irene – (personifying peace, benevolent traits as a daughter, calm)

#15 Eunomia – (structure, law, order, benevolent traits as a governor/mentor, tied as a “Peace, Justice and Order” trinity to Irene 14 and Dike 99)

#16 Psyche – (the soul, mind, perspective emotions, and the unconscious, balanced with Eros for soulmate compatibility)

#17 Thetis – (protection, boundaries, and the balance of power)

#18 Melpomene – (tragedy, drama, and the power of expression)

#19 Fortuna – (luck, fortune, and success)

#20 Massalia – (Marseille – coming to/departing port, multicultural influence, travel and trade)

#433 Eros – (what turns you on sexually, what’s sexually appealing to you, balanced with #16 Psyche for soulmate compatibility)

#2060 Chiron – (the wounded healer, the deep subconscious, the teacher, shows us where we are vulnerable or very sensitive)

#1181 Lilith – (sex, activism, fear, rebellion, secret desires, where you won’t be quiet or play nice, areas where you can be obsessive etc)

#136199 Eris – (using chaos and disruption to reorganization, grief, misery)

Asteroid astrology calculator

Sources & Further reading:

https://archive.org/details/psychologyoffutu0000grof

With thanks to Astroseek for this widget 🙂 

Warmest wishes always, and if you want to book in your own personal reading with me to interpret for you, the shop link is below!

Lizzie x