Asteroid Meanings in Astrology Explained

In a made-up chart, Juno at 14 degrees Libra and Venus at 16 degrees Libra are 2 degrees apart, a conjunction found by simple subtraction.

Asteroids are rocky or metallic leftovers from the early solar system. Most circle the Sun in a wide belt between Mars and Jupiter, and most are far too small and faint to see without a telescope. More than a million have been cataloged, and tens of thousands carry names.

Astronomers name them for mythological figures, places, scientists and artists, and many other things. That naming habit is the reason astrology has a vocabulary for them: when a body is named for a goddess, astrologers often borrow the goddess’s story for its meaning.

A body does not have to be large to matter in a chart, because the argument for using one is symbolic rather than physical. The mass of an asteroid is tiny next to any planet, and astrologers do not claim a gravitational effect on people. A sky point simply gives a theme somewhere to be placed.

Astrology mostly uses the first four asteroids found, which were treated as planets for a few decades after their discovery. Ceres was found in 1801, Pallas in 1802, Juno in 1804 and Vesta in 1807. Each has a myth that suggests a theme.

Chart programs show several extra points, and they are easy to confuse. Learn what each one is before you read it.

• Chiron is a small body between Saturn and Uranus, classed by astronomers as a centaur, not an asteroid.
• Black Moon Lilith is a calculated point, the Moon’s farthest position from Earth, not a body at all.
• Ceres is an asteroid but is also classed as a dwarf planet, as Pluto is.
• The lunar nodes are intersections of two paths, not bodies.

You need a chart program or ephemeris that includes the asteroid, since many charts leave them out. If it is there, treat it the way you would any minor point.

1. Note its sign and degree, and ask which of the myth’s themes the sign adds a style to.
2. Note its house, if you have a reliable birth time, and treat that as the area of life where the theme shows.
3. Look for conjunctions with planets within about one to three degrees, since close contacts carry the most meaning.
4. Write one sentence, framed as a question, and stop there.

Every body you add creates many new pairs. With n bodies there are n × (n - 1) ÷ 2 pairs. A conjunction within 3 degrees either side covers a 6-degree window out of 360, so by chance alone any one pair has a chance of about 6 ÷ 360, or one in sixty. The table multiplies it out, treating the bodies as independent, which is only approximately true.

Adding four asteroids roughly doubles the number of conjunctions you would expect from chance alone, from under one to about one and a half. That does not make asteroid contacts meaningless. It does mean that a close contact is something to hold loosely, and that the more bodies you use, the easier it is to find a story that fits whatever you already believe.

A sensible habit is to pick a small set before you look at the chart, such as the four above, and to use tight orbs. Adding more is fine as long as you say that you did.

This chart is constructed for teaching and belongs to no real person. Juno is at 14 degrees Libra, 180 + 14 = 194 degrees, and Venus is at 16 degrees Libra, 196 degrees, so they are conjunct with an orb of 2. Vesta is at 9 degrees Capricorn, 270 + 9 = 279 degrees, and the Moon is at 8 degrees Aries, 8 degrees. The gap, going the short way, is 8 + 360 - 279 = 89 degrees, a square with an orb of 1.

A reader might note that Juno with Venus links commitment themes to affection, and that Vesta square the Moon sets focus against emotional needs. These are questions to explore, not conclusions. With 14 bodies, one to two chance conjunctions are expected anyway, which is a reason to keep the sentences modest.

Some astrologers look up an asteroid named for a person, a place or a word that matches something in a client’s life, then read its position. With tens of thousands of names to choose from, a match can almost always be found, so the method confirms itself. If you try it, treat it as storytelling, not evidence, and notice how easily the match comes.

Do I need to use asteroids? No. Most astrology, old and new, works without them, and many working astrologers skip them.

Do asteroids need a birth time? A sign can be found from the date alone, but houses and angles need the time and place.

Are asteroid meanings agreed? Less than planet meanings. Sources differ, so check the one you use and read keywords as suggestions.

Which asteroid should I start with? Pick the one whose myth matches a question you already have, and read that one for a month before adding another.

Adding more bodies raises the number of chance contacts, so use a small set, tight orbs and a chart program that lists the asteroid by name.