Our solar system has an infinite amount of celestial objects floating and orbiting around. Planets, stars, the occasional UFO, and yes, asteroids. There's even an entire day dedicated to the small, rocky objects that orbit the sun, called Asteroid Day, a global event dedicated to educating the world about asteroids. This year, it's on June 30.
Asteroids have traditionally been somewhat overlooked in the world of astrology. "Unlike the planets, the study of the asteroids and their effects is relatively new, since the first asteroid ephemerides wasn’t published until the early 1970s," explains Narayana Montúfar, senior astrologer at Astrology.com and Horoscope.com.
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Still, it'd be a mistake to sleep on these space stones. Astrologer Lisa Stardust says that astrologers believe that larger asteroids affect us on Earth, just like other celestial objects and transits, such as Mercury retrograde. Asteroids, specifically, bring a feminine energy into our lives.
"Most of the asteroids in our solar system can be found in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter," Kesaine Walker, an astrologer and Reiki master based in New York City, tells Refinery29. "They bring more feminine characters and goddesses to the solar system." It makes sense that asteroids became really big in the 1970’s, during the women’s movement. "As women started to join the workforce," Walker says, "astrologers began to study, track, and discuss asteroids on a more serious level."
The only two planets that we currently use in astrology that are named after feminine figures are Venus and the Moon — the rest are all named for male gods. Asteroids are important because they help bring a critical feminine energy into the astrological world.
Stardust says that an asteroid's name is usually based on the Greek mythology figure that reflects the energy of each specific asteroid. "Three popular asteroids are: Juno, Zeus’s wife that got jealous of his affairs over time and sought revenge; Ceres, who is the unconditional maternal energy and the reason we have seasons; and Pallas, who is the warrior goddess who fights for injustices," she says.
Montúfar names a few more important asteroids: "Vesta The Eternal Flame, Chiron The Wounded Healer, Eros The Lover, and Psyche The Soulmate." She continues, "Astrologically speaking, the asteroids add a whole new layer to interpretation, since they rule more specific realms than those of the planets."
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Leslie Hale, psychic astrologer as Keen.com, offers an example. "While Venus is typically considered the [general] 'planet of love,'" she says, "Juno functions [specifically] as the asteroid of marriage, and can show us how our feelings toward marriage and the type of partner one is likely to choose or get."
To find asteroids in your birth chart, you can use free online tools on websites such as Astrodienst. Montúfar says that to use asteroids in birth chart interpretations, you should pay attention to when they are placed at an angle to, or are tightly connecting with, natal planets. For example, if you have Eros The Lover in Cancer, you may crave emotional connection with partners; but if the asteroid is off in Libra, you may be more fickle with your romances.
Still, don't knock yourself if you're not entirely sure what an asteroid's placement in your birth chart means. After all, it's still a fairly new discovery in the astrological world, so we're all still learning. Working with a practicing astrologer may be able to help you suss out more meaning.