Juno, Pallas, and Ceres--Oh My!!

horoskope88

Hey,

I'm posting on the topic of...the 4 major asteroids, Ceres, Juno, Pallas, and Vesta, and also Chiron, the uh...whatever the general consensus says it is.

How many here use them when reading charts? For those that do, would you say that they are an integral part of the interpretation and must be taken into consideration if they are prominent in the chart, and could you do without them? For those that don't, why don't you?

As I understand it, these asteroids are pretty slow-moving, and so have generational effects, yes? So, should they then be treated much like the outer planets, whose effects are so long lasting and spanning such a wide group of people that they only become prominent if in contact with a personal planet?

And also, what would you say are the best learning resources about incorporating the asteroids into your astrological practice? (Books, etc.) What would you recommend to someone who wants to learn about using them?

I'm wondering this, because I've just begun to plug to asteroids into my charts, and in many of them (like for my mother and father), they form many close aspects to the personal planets and the four major angles. It's like they've got something to tell me, and I have no clue what.
 

Fluffmeister

horoskope88 said:
Hey,

I'm posting on the topic of...the 4 major asteroids, Ceres, Juno, Pallas, and Vesta, and also Chiron, the uh...whatever the general consensus says it is.

How many here use them when reading charts? For those that do, would you say that they are an integral part of the interpretation and must be taken into consideration if they are prominent in the chart, and could you do without them? For those that don't, why don't you?


Yes, I do use them. I never used to, because they seemed too small to count - but they made such sense in my chart that I wouldn't be without at least the "big four".

As I understand it, these asteroids are pretty slow-moving, and so have generational effects, yes? So, should they then be treated much like the outer planets, whose effects are so long lasting and spanning such a wide group of people that they only become prominent if in contact with a personal planet?

No. The *asteroids* lie between Mars and Jupiter, so move relatively quickly (an average of 5-6 years to make a complete orbit). The *centaurs*, of which Chiron is the most prominent, are pretty much generational - Chiron has an orbit of 50 years. Centaurs are rocky bodies that probably originated beyond the orbit of Neptune, and were plucked into an eccentric orbit. In fact, some astronomers reckon Pluto would probably have been classified as a centaur now, instead of a planet.

And also, what would you say are the best learning resources about incorporating the asteroids into your astrological practice? (Books, etc.) What would you recommend to someone who wants to learn about using them?

For asteroids, the best book is Demetra George's "Asteroid Goddesses". For Chiron, Melanie Reinhart's book "Chiron - the healing journey" is splendid.

There's also some articles on asteroids and centaurs on the Bristol School of Astrology site at http://www.bsa.bristolastrology.net/articles.html