The Astrology of Dwarf Planets and Asteroids

It was a few years ago that I became interested in the part that asteroids play in an astrological reading. I don't remember what sparked that interest; I think it was something that I read about Chiron. Since that day I have always included several different asteroids in every chart that I do. There are around 10,000 named asteroids whose positions can be charted. Out of those I always tend to use Chiron, Juno, Vesta, Eros, Ceres and Pallas. I have started to include Hygeia mostly because I am interested in medicinal astrology and Hygeia is named for the Greek goddess of health. At this time I am mostly studying the affect that she has in natal charts.

Sometimes I pick asteroids to include just to humor myself and to see where they fall. For example, when I was adding asteroids to my husbands chart, I added Tesla, who helped lay the foundation for modern communications, and Amphitrite, the goddess of the sea. I was more than amused to find that both of these were located in Gemini. My husband went into satellite communications after leaving the Navy where he worked on precision approach RADAR. Yes, Gemini's are known for never staying in one place very long as well as their communication skills, so it is no surprise that he would have joined the Navy or went into satcom. However, it's my belief that Amphitrite and Tesla points to more precise areas.

Think of the astral bodies as characters in a play or movie; the sun, moon and planets are the major characters and the asteroids being the extras. The story makes sense with just the major characters, but the extras add color and enhance the major characters. I have recently started to wonder if we shouldn't be paying more attention to some of these asteroids.

In 2006 the International Astronomical Union, the official scientific body responsible for astronomical nomenclature, defined a dwarf planet as a celestial body that:

• is in orbit around the sun
• has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a near-spherical shape
• has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit
• is not a satellite

Since the adoption of dwarf planets, the asteroids Ceres, Eris and Chiron have been promoted to dwarf status while Pluto has been demoted. What does this mean to us astrologically? Personally, I think it's the cosmos way of telling us that Ceres, Eris and Chiron are equally as important as Pluto and we need to pay more attention to them.

Chiron
I find Chiron to be very interesting for several reasons. It has been classified previously as a comet, then an asteroid, and now a dwarf planet. It is constantly getting promoted up the celestial body food chain. Does this mean that it is becoming a more important archetype? Not only that, where its designation seems to be changing constantly, it seems that no one can agree what constellation Chiron is associated with. Some say Sagittarius, while others say Ophiuchus.

There is a lot that can be said about Ophiuchus, the serpent barer. Going back to the time of Ptolemy, Ophiuchus was listed as one of the constellations that crossed the elliptical, or the path of the sun, making it part of the zodiac. There are thirteen cycles of the moon every year, therefore it should follow that there are thirteen signs of the zodiac. It only makes sense. However, it doesn't work that way.

Thirteen has always been seen as an unlucky number; however, numerologically that isn't so. Thirteen represents the unusual, things off the beaten path. It is individualism, inventiveness and tolerance. Thirteen also isn't a neat number that divides evenly. There are many theories as to why we have twelve signs of the zodiac instead of thirteen. I wonder why Scorpio was picked over Ophiuchus. Yes, Scorpio is the brighter of the two constellations, but the sun also spends more time in Ophiuchus. If we were to inject Ophiuchus into the zodiac in its true place, the sun would only be in Scorpio for seven days. It's interesting that the characteristics of both Ophiuchus and Scorpio have been merged.

Maybe Chiron has been giving Sagittarius not only because Ophiuchus isn't officially recognized as a sign of the zodiac but because Sagittarius is also depicted as a centaur. In theory, why shouldn't the centaur sign be ruled by a centaur? This only makes half sense. Chiron was both a teacher and healer. Sagittarius only represents the teacher, not the healer. Scorpio represents the healer and not the teacher. However, Ophiuchus represents both. It is because of this muddy astrological water why we only look at the archetype that Chiron embodies and not the sign that it rules. Chiron is the wounded healer. His was a life spent mostly as a reclusive philosopher that would occasional teach exceptional mortals such as Jason and Achilles. He possessed the knowledge of math and medicine, astrology, astronomy and celestial mechanics. His healing arts were non-traditional, things that would be considered holistic today. Ironically, he couldn't heal himself when accidentally wounded by Hercules; the only way that Chiron could find release from his own pain was to ask for mortality where he could die. This is why the position of Chiron in the birth chart points to our inner most wound in the psyche. This is our karmic pain, and something very important for us to resolve to be able to move on with our live. The position of Chiron tells us where to find it.

Eris
In Greek mythology, Eris was the sister of Aries, the god of war. She was the one that would nurse dying soldiers. She was the one that would fill the heart with hate and the desire for revenge. It is her drive that pushes man to work.

As the goddess of strife and discord she was the one that started the Trojan War. Because of her trouble making ways, Eris was snubbed and not invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis (the parents of Achilles). In retaliation she threw the Apple of Discord, a golden apple inscribed with Kallisti (meaning: For the fairest one), into the party. An argument immediately broke out between Hera, Athena and Aphrodite over who the apple was meant for.

The prince of Troy, Paris, was chosen to pick the rightful recipient of the apple. Hera tried bribing him with political power, Athena promised skill in battle while Aphrodite offered the most beautiful woman win the world, the wife of Menelaus of Sparta, Helen. Paris awarded the apple to Aphrodite dooming his city in the war that followed.

It will be some time before astrologers can actually see and record how Eris affects us, as it takes 556.7 years to complete its orbit around the sun. The planet entered Aries in 1928 and will be there until about 2247. The slower moving planets represent the process of change in our lives. This makes the transits of this planet in our natal charts more important than where it is placed at birth. The transits will show us when major life changes will take place. That doesn't mean that we should ignore the house placement of this sign in the natal chart. What is her brother, Aries doing? What is she doing to assist him?

Looking at the archetype that she stands for, it is my belief that Eris stands for two things in the natal chart. The first is that which we will never forgive. What part of our life would someone have to mess with in order for us to want revenge and to carry it out? Everyone has that point, with some people you just have to dig much deeper to find it. How deep you have to dig, how far you have to push, depends on the aspects made with Mars.

The second thing that I believe Eris stands for is that spot in our life where there is the most chaos and confusion. What is interesting about this is I looked at both my chart and my husbands. My husband has Eris in the fifth house, the house of children. He is easily annoyed by the normal antics of children bouncing off the wall. In my chart Eris has just moved into the sixth house, the house of heath. Where the antics of the children don't phase me, I have a very hard time dealing with their health issues. Nothing stresses me out more than trying to feed seven children with food allergies and keeping allergens out of the house where everyone is safe.

I want to point out that some of the largest wars that have been fought since 1928 when Eris entered Aries. World War One and the Russian Civil War were fought as Eris sat on the cusp of Pisces and Aries. Since it has moved into Aries we have seen World War II, the Spanish Civil War, Albania invaded by Italy, the Greek Civil War, The Korean War, Viet Nam, Bay of Pigs, the Gulf War, now we have Kashmir, Afghanistan, and a second Gulf War Conflict just to name a handful of wars. We are living in a much more violent world. Our weapons are bigger and more destructive. We have gone from muskets in the Civil War to nuclear bombs and SCUD Missiles.

Yes, Eris is very much the goddess of strife and she is aiding her brother of war well. Where she fills the heart with the desire for revenge her brother carries it out, her by his side playing nurse to the wounded who will die anyway. She gives them comfort that they died honorably, that their cause was just.

Ceres
Ceres is not only the only one located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, but the smallest of the dwarf planets (and yet the largest object in the asteroid belt). After its discovery, Ceres was originally classified as a planet for just over a century. What is interesting about this is that it lies where, according to Bodes Law, a planet should be found, in the center of the solar system. Based on Bodes Law, it seems possible that Ceres, along with the asteroids of Pallas, Juno and Vesta, were all parts of a larger planet that was pulled apart by the gravitational pull of Jupiter. It's interesting to note that all four of these bodies are located near Jupiter, and all four of them in mythology were members of Jupiter's family. However, Ceres is the only one of the four asteroids that has been promoted to Dwarf Star status.

The mythology behind Ceres is one of a mother who mourned for her kidnapped daughter. Pluto snatched Kore to be his wife from a field where she and Ceres were picking flowers and took her to the underworld. As Ceres mourned the plants withered and died. Zeus finally intervened and sent Hermes to the underworld to beg Kores return. Pluto consented to give up Kore on the condition that she had not tasted the food of the dead. However, it was revealed that she had indeed eaten several pomegranate seeds. The compromise was made that for nine months out of the year she would spend on earth with her mother and the other three she would spend in the underworld with her husband. Her named was changed from Kore to Persephone, she who is to be feared. This has become the legend of why the plants die in the winter and the earth becomes cold and barren, it is because Ceres can not bear to be separated from her daughter.

In the chart, Ceres represents the earth goddess and the harvest, the connection of mother and child as well as our eating habits. It is her position that tells us where we are likely to become over protective and take on the "caretaker" role.

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In the natal chart I suspect it is more important to look at what sign asteroids and dwarf planets fall into and the aspects they make with the major planets more so than the house that they can be found in especially in the case of Eris. I also feel that they should be looked at in progressions and when/if they make their return. Everyone will see several returns of Ceres since it only takes 4.6 years to travel around the sun. The Chiron return happens once, maybe twice, in a person's life, as it takes 50 years to travel around the sun. That Chiron return happens about the time one official reaches middle age and goes through that inevitable mid-life crisis.

I recognize that many astrologers still only pay attention to the major planets and will never look at asteroids in a chart. After all, they don't have their own zodiac sign that they represent. They don't seem to have a fixed place in the celestial map. They seem to be more of travelers that stop by every once in a while and make their presence known. As more and more astrologers become interested in the dwarf planets and asteroids we will learn more about the affect that they have on ones chart and therefore ones life. We will know what to do with them much like we know what to do with Mars or Venus instead of just speculation and best guesses based on the archetypes that they represent.