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The Asteroids in Astrology, with Demetra George

The Asteroids in Astrology, with Demetra George

Episode 242 features an interview with astrologer Demetra George about her pioneering work on the asteroids in astrology, and why she feels they are interesting and important for astrologers to use.

Demetra published the book Asteroid Goddesses in 1986, which was one of the first works that established an approach for incorporating the asteroids into modern astrology, and this helped to popularize their use over the past three decades.

In her 2008 book Astrology and the Authentic Self she outlined a synthesis of modern and ancient astrology that showed how the asteroids could be incorporated into the framework of traditional astrology.

Previously we recorded a biographical episode about Demetra’s life, but our goal with this discussion was to provide a solid introduction to her work on the asteroids and why she thinks they are useful and important.

You can find out more information about Demetra on her website:

Demetra-George.com

She has a number of audio recordings of lectures on the asteroids that she has given over the years, and also offers an asteroid personal report.

Below you will find the show notes, followed by links to the recordings.

This episode is available in both audio and video versions.

Asteroids Episode Show Notes

  • Eleanor Bach published The Asteroid Ephemeris in 1973.
    • Story about how she gave the book to Demetra at a conference.
  • Demetra spent 10 years writing Asteroid Goddesses, published in 1986.
    • Goal was to demonstrate the usefulness and validity of the approach.
  • Other practitioners that contributed to popularization of asteroids
    • Lee Lehman, Al Morrison, Mark Pottenger, Martha Lang Wescott, Melanie Reinhart, Zane Stein, Barbara Hand Clow, Alex Miller, Nona Gwynn Press, Zip Dobyns, Roderick Kidston, Dave Campbell
  • The theoretical premise of the meaning of the asteroids as derived from the name.
    • The name having symbolic significance.
    • Not accidental.
    • Synchronistic correspondence.
    • Astronomers initially used the names of gods and goddesses.
    • Later names of ordinary and famous people
    • Places, trees, flowers, concepts.
  • Myth as an important tool in delineations / consultations.
    • When an asteroid or body is prominent in the chart, the myth becomes prominent in that person’s life in some way.
    • Mythological deities are symbolic expressions of inner structures of the psyche.
  • The re-emerging feminine.
    • Initial asteroids named after feminine goddesses.
    • Balancing out predominantly male assignments of planetary names/gods.
      • Only the Moon and Venus were feminine.
    • Partial premise is that discovery of outer planets signaled new epochs in history and shifts, why not asteroids?
      • Discovery coincides with an awakening of an aspect of consciousness.
  • The big 4 asteroids: Ceres, Pallas Athena, Vesta, Juno.
    • Discovered 1801-07
    • 100 asteroids discovered by 1868, 1,000 by 1921, 700,000 by 2015
  • The glyphs for the first four asteroids.
    • Issues regarding coming up with other glyphs.
  • Meanings of the first four big asteroids.
    • Ceres / Demeter
    • Pallas / Athena
    • Vesta / Hestia
    • Juno / Hera
  • Chiron – discovered in 1977.
  • Lillith
  • Incorporating the asteroids into a more traditional framework.
  • Later daimon conceptualization of the asteroids.
  • Personal name asteroids
  • Locations or place asteroids
  • Grouping asteroids that have similar themes.
  • There are so many asteroids now, how do you sort and prioritize which ones are more or less important to a person?
    • From Astrology and the Authentic Self:
    • Different levels of importance: high, moderate, low, nil.
    • High: conjunct of opposite luminaries, conjunct ruler of ASC or four angles.
    • Moderate: Square luminaries or conjunct/opposite inner planet.
    • Low: asteroid completes an aspect pattern, or trine/sextile luminary or ASC ruler.

Watch the Video Version of This Episode

Here is the video version of our discussion about the asteroids:

Transcript

A full transcript of this episode is available: Episode 242 transcript

Listen to the Audio Version of This Episode

You can either play the audio version of this episode of the podcast directly from the website or download it as an MP3 to your device by using the buttons below:

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4 comments
  • Thank You so much for this podcast..I found it extremely interesting and useful.I had not considered the archetype of Ceres much until this point, but it explains so much. I have Ceres conjunct Chiron in a Picsean 3rd house in opposition to a Pluto Uranus conjunction. I had a stillborn son some years ago and it seems very fitting and comforting somehow that the archetype exists in my natal chart. The Ceres characteristic s also fit in other ways….loving to feed people and grow things. Thanks again from a novice.

  • Hello Chris and Demetra,
    I want to thank you both for this episode. After listening to it I went to Demetra’s website and ordered the Asteroid Goddesses Reading for myself. I have had many readings, some by prominent astrologers who have been on this podcast, I’ve studied astrology for almost 30 years! I’ve always been perplexed why no one who’s looked at my chart has talked about the steady march of tragic, underworld, traumatic experiences that have been a part of my experience from the beginning. All of the asteroids are prominently placed and or configured in my chart, and they speak specifically to the losses and work of my life like no other view of my chart has so far. Thank you again. There’s something about these configurations being linked to the stories of the feminine that helps me embrace them even more.

  • Terrific fascinating entertaining stuff! I am assuming Demetra is not doing charts anymore. Who did she train or who are the students that draw and interpret charts using her methods? Thank you.