Asteroid Mythology

Asteroids, dwarf planets and the myths behind their names

The first four large bodies in the belt between Mars and Jupiter were found between 1801 and 1807, and all four were named after Roman goddesses. Ceres is the goddess of grain and motherhood, Pallas is a war name of Athena, Juno is the goddess of marriage and Vesta keeps the hearth. The large bodies found beyond Neptune between 2001 and 2007 took their names from Greek myth and also from Hawaiian, Rapa Nui, Inuit, Tongva and Chinese tradition. These pages tell the myths behind those names.

Asteroids entered astrological practice only in the second half of the twentieth century. Eleanor Bach published the first asteroid ephemeris in 1973, and Demetra George and Zipporah Dobyns built the interpretive tradition. In classical astrology these bodies have no rulership, exaltation, sect or joy. In this school asteroids and dwarf planets may be observed in the chart, but they rule no sign. To find where an asteroid falls in your birth chart, use the Asteroid Calculator.

Nine asteroids

The first bodies of the belt between Mars and Jupiter and five asteroids found later. Ceres has counted as a dwarf planet since 2006, but it stays here because it was historically the first asteroid.

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Ceres

From Demeter's search to Piazzi's discovery

Demeter, goddess of grain and motherhood. The abduction of her daughter, the Eleusinian Mysteries and the birth of the seasons.
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Pallas

From the goddess born of Zeus's head to Olbers's discovery

The war name of Athena. Birth from the father, the aegis, the loom and war as strategy.
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Juno

From Hera's throne to Harding's discovery

Hera, goddess of marriage. The sacred marriage, the flight of Io, the peacock and queenship.
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Vesta

From the fire on the hearth to Olbers's discovery

Hestia, goddess of the hearth. The first and last offering, the fire that must not go out and the priestesses of Rome.

Astraea

The goddess of justice who left the earth

Dike, goddess of justice. The Golden Age, the decay of the ages and the change into the constellation Virgo.

Hygieia

Daughter of Asclepius and the keeping of health

Hygieia, daughter of Asclepius. Preventive health, the bowl and the serpent, and the Hippocratic Oath.

Psyche

The butterfly of the soul and the wife of Eros

Psyche, the butterfly of the soul. The tale of Apuleius, the scene with the lamp and the four trials.

Eros

From the first force of the cosmos to the son of Aphrodite

Eros, god of desire. His first place in cosmogony, the arrows of gold and lead, and Anteros.

Sappho

The poet of Lesbos and her prayer to Aphrodite

Sappho, the poet of Lesbos. Not a goddess but a historical person: her prayer to Aphrodite and her lost books.

Dwarf planets and trans-Neptunian objects

These eight bodies were found beyond Neptune between 2001 and 2007, and all of them can be added to a chart in Thema. The International Astronomical Union usually names bodies in this region after figures of creation or of the underworld, so most of the names come from outside the Greek world: Hawaii, Rapa Nui, the Inuit, the Tongva and China. Each page rests on that culture's own sources and on the community's own accounts. In classical astrology these bodies have no rulership, exaltation, sect or joy either.

Eris

From the daughter of Nyx to the debate over a tenth planet

Eris, goddess of strife. Hesiod's two Erises, the golden apple and the discovery that made Pluto a dwarf planet.

Haumea

From the Hawaiian goddess of birth to a fast-spinning dwarf planet

Haumea, the Hawaiian goddess of birth. The children born from her body, the Makalei branch and her transformation into a breadfruit tree.

Makemake

From the creator god of Rapa Nui to the dwarf planet found at Easter

Makemake is the creator god of Rapa Nui. This page covers the birdman contest, the sea birds and the large-eyed face in the rock art.

Sedna

From the mother of the sea animals to one of the most distant bodies of the Solar System

Sedna is the Inuit sea woman. This page covers the severed fingers, the house on the sea floor and the shaman who combs her hair.

Quaoar

From the creative power of the Tongva to a ringed dwarf planet

Quaoar, the creator of the Tongva. A power whose name was not spoken aloud, the song of creation and Weywot, the sky.

Orcus

From the pitiless death god of Rome to the counter-twin of Pluto

Orcus, the Roman god of death. The jaws of the underworld, reaping death, Vanth the Etruscan guide of souls, and the anti-Pluto.

Ixion

From the Lapith king bound to a fiery wheel to the plutino that neighbours Pluto

Ixion, the Lapith king bound to a wheel. The first murder of a kinsman, the cloud in the likeness of Hera and the birth of the Centaurs.

Gonggong

From the water god who broke the pillar of heaven to the dwarf planet named by public vote

Gonggong, the water god of China. The broken pillar of heaven, the tilted world and his nine-headed helper Xiangliu.

The Black Moon and Lilith

Besides being the name of an asteroid, Lilith is the name of the Black Moon, the point of the Moon's orbit farthest from the Earth. The Black Moon is not a body in the sky but a calculated point. The asteroid 1181 Lilith takes its name from the composer Lili Boulanger. The page tells the Mesopotamian and Jewish traditions behind the name together with the two Liliths of astrology.

Lilith

From the night spirits of Mesopotamia to Adam's first wife and the Black Moon

From the night spirits of Mesopotamia to Adam's first wife. The Black Moon and the asteroid 1181 Lilith in astrology.

A centaur: Chiron

Chiron was found in 1977 between Saturn and Uranus. It is catalogued both as a minor planet (2060 Chiron) and as a comet (95P), and it appears in asteroid lists as well. Its mythology is told in the Planet Mythology section.

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Chiron

Cheiron, the wounded healer

The wise centaur son of Cronus and Philyra. Teacher of Asclepius and Achilles, and the wound that never heals.

In Planet Mythology

Family trees of the mythologies

You can see the families of these goddesses on the family tree pages. Each figure is listed with parents, partners and children.

GreekMesopotamianEgyptianNorseJapanese