All the known planets, signs, gods, and goddesses are within you and represent part of your eternal, archetypal self.  When you make contact with a particular planet or mythological deity you are really making contact with a part of your eternal self.  

If you are intrigued or drawn to a particular mythological goddess, she may have something significant to tell you.  When you hear something of value that echoes in the stillness of your imagination, you will know that you have been touched and the goddess has spoken.

The late psychologist, Carl Jung, theorized that symbolic realities are just as important to human nature as are physical realities.  He argued that the gods and goddesses of ancient mythology were symbolic of deep motivating factors in human psychology; elements which are shared by all humanity (collective consciousness).

Because the planets are named for the gods and goddesses of mythology, and because the signs of the Zodiac also have mystic associations, we might suspect that these astrological factors are archetypes, and that their influence upon us is based as much upon symbolic reality as it is upon any astrophysical force.  Jung believed that symbolic or archetypal realities interact with the events of our everyday lives through a process called synchronicity.  The union between reality and symbol takes place on an internal, psychological level, and the unconscious is the active agent which shapes the union.  This principle of synchronicity was his rationale for other divinatory tools such as the Tarot and the I Ching.

Zeus was raised in peace and prosperity and eventually overthrew Cronus.  This lineage of fathers overtaken by their sons is a basic model of civilization as it has existed on earth for thousands of years.  One dynasty or nation rules - perhaps for centuries  - until the tides change and new rulers invade and a new order takes over.  Usually it happens by means of war - who has the most weapons, the bigger armies, the largest treasuries, the most power.  And the beat goes on. 

Gaia has recently sprung back to life (1987-1988), fueled by the theory known as the Gaia Hypothesis.  Developed by biologist James Lovelock, it maintains that our planet is a living, breathing organism, and that each individual act upon the earth is linked to and has direct consequences for every other part of the planet.  The physical sciences are ruled by Saturn, (biologists like Lovelock)  who are sons of our industrial world (Uranus).  It was the birth of the Industrial Revolution which coincided with the discovery of the planet Uranus (1781) and which led us into the age of technology and industry which has characterized our life on earth for these past two hundred years.   While it has given us tremendous breakthroughs in medicine, food production, communications, and travel - it has also been the culprit which has caused so much disease, toxicity, putrefaction of our rivers, streams, oceans, forests, and wildlife.  It is necessary once again to construct a plan to save Gaia and her children from extinction so that we may once again enter a Golden Age and live in peace and health for two thousand years.  

It seems the move is on to bring life on earth back into balance, but as with the birth of any new order, there is always some last minute resistance - a final attempt to hang onto old concepts.  It is not about going back to the way things were.  We've come too far for that.  It is not about women having sovereignty over men or men being in complete control over women.  Rather, it is a balanced union of male and female as equals.  Whether we are the descendants of the "gods" from outer space or from the evolutionary  process and the apes - if we think of Gaia as the embodiment of the Earth Mother, and Uranus as the embodiment of aliens and/or alien technologies (Sky Father) then the present human race is really a composite of both.  

The position of Earth in the horoscope is always 180° from the Sun.  Both points are crucial to the integration of the self.  It is the medium between light and darkness.  A strong Sun without a consciousness of Gaia is divorced from nature rather than at one with it.   Strong links by planetary aspect to the Sun/Earth polarity will be critical in helping to define the energy one  is working with in life.  For example; if a planet is square to the Sun in a horoscope, it will also be square to the Earth.  It will be the focal point of an astrological formation known as the "T-square".  

Just as the Sun in our charts is one symbol of father (radiant, creative, spiritual father) - Earth is is one more form of mother operating innately in our beings.

 The Asteroids . . . the archetypal system of feminine wholeness

According to Eleanor Bach who pioneered the research on the asteroid goddesses and their astrological significance, Ceres and Vesta (the "working" goddesses) belong to Virgo, while Pallas Athene and Juno (the "relationship" goddesses) belong to Libra.  One astronomical theory concerning the asteroid belt is that the thousands of chunks of asteroids floating adrift in a cosmic sea between Mars and Jupiter were once a whole planet.  Because Jupiter is so large and its gravitational pull so strong, this planet was pulled into Jupiter's mass and exploded.  It is believed that this planet represented an archetypal system of feminine wholeness - or at least a significant portion of the feminine, which, like the Goddess culture of old, was overtaken by masculine sky-gods such as Jupiter.  These floating pieces constitute the various fragments of the feminine which are seeking reunification.  

In myth each of these goddesses were part of Jupiter's family.  Ceres (Demeter), Juno (Hera) and Vesta (Hestia) were sisters of Zeus and had major roles in the Greek pantheon.  Ceres was the earth goddess in charge of the agriculture cycle. Vesta, the temple goddess, was in charge of mankind's spiritual center.  Juno and Pallas Athene were Jupiter's wife and favorite daughter.  Each of the four goddesses for whom the original four asteroids were named was one of the twelve Olympians that were honored and revered throughout the ancient world.  Their inclusion is timely.    

The introduction and subsequent incorporation of these four asteroids into the zodiacal  rulership scheme has eliminated some of the outworn themes of astrology.  

According to the story, Kore,  the maiden daughter of Demeter, was picking a flower one day when the earth opened up before her.  A dark chariot emerged from the depths, driven by a dark rider.  It was Hades (Pluto), lord of the underworld.  He seized her and carried her unwillingly into the land of the dead.  Triptolemus, the son of the Eleusinian king, had been herding his father's cattle when Kore's abduction took place and had witnessed the event.  When he told Demeter what had happened to her beloved daughter, the earth mother went into mourning and in her depression, forbade the earth to bear fruit until her daughter was returned.  Moved by the prayers of mortals, Zeus sent Hermes into the underworld to beg for Kore's release.  Hades consented as long as Kore had not yet tasted the food of the dead.  However, it was revealed that Kore had eaten seven pomegranate seeds.  A compromise had to be reached.  Kore would spend three months of each year in the underworld and the remaining nine upon earth.  During her absence, the cold of winter would reign, but while she was above ground, the long Mediterranean spring and summer would flourish.  Still she was now the dark Lord's queen and thus her name would no longer be Kore the maiden - but Persephone - "she who is to be feared". 

The Ceres and Persephone story depicts the rite of passage of the loss of innocence and the breaking of the bond between mother and child.  Ceres' position in the horoscope involves her role as mother and for this reason she can be associated with the sign of Cancer although the Moon is accepted as the sign's ruler.  However, it is not incorrect to link Ceres with the sign as well.  She is the "earth mother" who carefully and lovingly gives her child his/her first book to read at bedtime, who teaches the child to lace his shoes, and who provides the framework for the child to make its way in the world.  Those with Ceres in prominent positions will identify strongly with their inner earth mother or, in the charts of men, with the ability to play the role of "caretaker".  If Ceres is involved with the Moon there may be a strong emotional dependency between mother and child such as Kore and Demeter shared.  Persephone was every thing to her mother and when the child became separated from Demeter it was if a part of her were lost and  she no longer was able to function in the physical world performing her work.

The position of Ceres in the horoscope has a strong connection with food and eating habits, based on her role as the grain goddess.  An afflicted Ceres would result in one kind of eating disorder or another.  Ceres glyph - - is an upside down and reverse Saturn.  It would seem that both have a lot in common.  Both planets  have to do with parenting and both can potentially develop possessive, overbearing, or strangulating relationships with their children.

In addition to being Zeus' wife, Hera was also his sister, one of the children of Rhea and Cronus (Saturn). When Zeus (Jupiter) took her as his wife, he was not simply taking a marriage partner, but incorporating within his ruling domain the entire matriarchal world, previously headed by his new bride.  Their marriage was stormy and turbulent because of Zeus' frequent infidelities, Hera's jealous rages, and their mutual attempts to seek revenge on one another.  One may wonder why Jupiter, who could have had any woman in the world or goddess in the heavens, would continue this kind of relationship.  But were he not married to Hera, Jupiter would not have been himself, for Hera is the embodiment of Jupiter's female polarity as Jupiter is the embodiment of Hera's male side. Her strength and temperament empowered him and vice versa.  Their relationship is a prototype for the importance that marriage, no matter how turbulent, plays for a highly visible political leader or monarch.

Hera (Juno) is the patron goddess of Marriage.  She gave birth to two children - Mars and Vulcan (Hephaestus) -  but had no particular affinity for either of them; thus her role in the horoscope may be that of someone more concerned with peer relationships that with parent/child relationships.  The Juno/Hera  person's love for his or her children is very conditional . . . they must meet her social expectations to be worthy of parental affection.  

 It has been suggested that Hera's position in the horoscope is related to an individual's marriage potential.  But Hera's appearance in a chart may not be related strictly to marriage; she also represents the internal emotional rage which develops and combusts when a loved one has  betrayed, deceived, or misused his or her vows of loyalty and devotion.  Another dynamic of the marriage between Hera and Jupiter illustrates the notorious double standard still evident in contemporary marriages.  Modern day Heras who pine over their spouses' infidelities but refuse to do anything about it or who  inflict their anger on the spouse's lover rather than the spouse, are examples of a dysfunctional marriage.  Status and wealth are the main considerations for these Heras and so they hang in and refuse to divorce their spouses.

As a child of the father's brain, it was natural to associate Athene with the human intellect.  But her roots go much deeper and extend far back into antiquity.  One of her principal attributes is the shield she carries, emblazoned with the image of the Gorgon Medusa, a fierce female demon with snakes writhing from her head.  Mythologists see an identity between Athene and this fearsome Lady of the Snakes.  There are strong links between Pallas Athene and the archetype of Pluto.  Snakes played an important role in the secret teachings and mysteries surrounding life, death, and immortality, and Athene was to the Greeks, the Goddess of Wisdom.  Athene possessed the wisdom not merely of the intellect, but the instinctual feminine wisdom sacred to the Goddess.  Something of the more primal Athene has survived in the attribution of the owl to this goddess as her sacred bird.  The owl has always been known as a bird of "wisdom" and yet - we typically understand this to signify a deep inner knowing or understanding rather than wisdom of a purely intellectual type.

The picture that has been painted of Pallas Athene, even in contemporary feminist literature, focuses on her role as a daughter of the patriarchy, i.e., Zeus' daughter.  She comes closer to Jupiter than any of the other "Big Four" asteroids.  It is also true that Athene cast the deciding vote in the trial of Orestes - a case involving the question of mother-right versus father-right.  Athene's vote against the mother has been interpreted as patriarchal bias on her part reflecting as a sign of the times.  Athene is the upholder of laws and justice, and as the agent of such, reflects the laws currently governing the land.

Thus we  can observe that Pallas Athene's evolution from the primal Snake Goddess, possessor and protector of "feminine wisdom", to the Greek "daughter of the patriarchy," to the Roman "goddess of war" -  parallels the path for women though the centuries. 

Unlike many of the gods and goddesses of Olympus, who preferred to be around nectar and ambrosia, this goddess was far from idle.  A person with a strong Pallas Athene signature in the birth chart may have no idea on how to relax.  Athene was a highly skilled, intelligent, courageous, inventive, and industrious goddess.  We can identify Pallas Athene's most important function in the birth chart . . . her strategy, judgment, and wisdom - by assessing her house and sign position.

She vowed to remain eternally virgin and distanced herself from the quarrels of the gods.  It is from ancient Rome that most of the clues about Vesta are derived.  The ancient goddess of the hearth was assimilated to the Greek Hestia.  In Rome, Vesta's priestesses, the Vestal Virgins, enjoyed a status which was unique in the ancient world.  They not only tended the actual fire which was the symbolic center of the Roman Empire; they also tended the inner fire which was the vital spirit of the people.  They reflected the light of the sacred.  They were also the keepers of important wills and public documents.  Although they were regarded as especially sacrosanct, they were also subject to the most bizarre of penalties.  A Vestal Virgin found guilty of breaking her vow of chastity could be buried alive.

Vesta is the brightest of the asteroids which is fitting since she was the keeper of the sacred fire.  Prometheus may have stolen that fire from the gods to give to mankind, but it was Vesta who kept it alive.  The position of Vesta in a chart  will show an individual's ability to focus and direct his or her inner fire towards a specific cause, project, ideal, or spirituality.  Those who lack positive Vesta qualities will tend to be directionless, unable to define or forge a a path for themselves.  It can also indicate an inability to define boundaries and indicate a weak immune system.   An afflicted Vesta (Mars, Jupiter, Pluto) may indicate being sexually abused or having a domineering father (Saturn).  

It has been suggested that Vesta has a Virgo and/or Scorpio rulership.  Her orbital position is nearest to Mars and so she is especially linked to this planet.  Both represent the polarity of sexuality, and both are prone to problems in that area.  Vesta's matriarchal rulership over the kundalini fire is reminiscent of the the temple prostitutes of the ancient Near East, while her Graeco-Roman and post-Christian symbolism is identified with chastity and virginity.  Thus she represents a polarity that has characterized the feminine mystique for over a thousand years - the "Madonna-Whore" complex which has been a common male image of women throughout the Christian centuries.  To some men, a woman who does not embody virginal chastity is automatically a whore - in medieval terms, a consort of the devil.  Though this radical dualism has been absent from our media and literature for the last three or four decades, it is still a tacit assumption among men (and women) whose feminine polarity is deeply disturbed.

Observing the two glyphs of Virgo and Scorpio, it is interesting to note that the two resemble each other -  (Virgo's glyph turns inward representing the ascetic or virginal polarity, while Scorpio's glyph turns outward, which correlates with the outward expression of one's sexuality).

Psychologically, we may say that the desire for love, sex, and relationship is the first of human functions to emerge from the ocean of the unconscious symbolized by Pisces (exaltation of Venus).  It is Venus, the goddess of love, who  dances on the waters of the collective mind or world soul.  She emerges from the ocean still clothed in golden light, smiling with the knowledge of other realms; she is a  guide to the deepest layers of the unconscious.  As astrological ruler of both Taurus and Libra, Venus embodies two principles - self-worth in Taurus and how much value is derived from the beloved (Libra).  In Libra she is more concerned with the interplay of opposites that exist within a relationship.  In Taurus she exudes raw sensuality representing the aspect of the goddess whose sole purpose it is to enjoy the abundant earthiness of the physical world reflected in nature and the body.

As the goddess of love and beauty, Venus quite logically became the planet of relationships since she is the traditional ruler of the sign Libra.  For a long time, Venus has been erroneously associated with marriage in the horoscope.  However, with the addition of the four major asteroids, the proper functions were restored to the proper goddesses.  While Venus has associations to love and romance, she is not at all fond of marriage.  Yet, in examining the myth of Venus we find that she was indeed married to Hephaestus who she rejected and humiliated constantly.  While married to him, she engaged in an ongoing love affair with Mars.  It is these two planets, Venus and Mars, that many astrologers use to assess an individual's relationship needs (Aries and Libra respectively).  While the relationship between the two planets indicates an intense sexual and romantic attraction, they do not promise a long-term compatibility necessary for a marriage.  

Although Venus is beautiful and lovely, easily the most beautiful of the goddesses, she must be constantly assured  that this is so.  She is a fierce competitor to any woman whose beauty rivals hers and at these times, she reveals her jealous angry side.

The Moon was worshipped under a multiplicity of names and there is scarcely a goddess in the entire pantheon of the Greeks or Celts who does not possess a lunar aspect or manifestation of some kind.  It is difficult to to find any one goddess who represents the entire range of lunar symbolism.  Although the classical goddess most often associated with Moon is Artemis, the Greeks regarded her primarily as the Lady of Wild Beasts rather than the Moon.  It was the Romans who made this deity , under her Latin name Diana, an essentially lunar goddess.  

In an astrological chart, the Moon functions primarily as a receptacle - like the cauldron of the goddess which became in medieval legend, the Holy Grail.  Everything we remember, everything we have experienced, is stored in the cauldron of the Goddess.  Is it any wonder that the Moon has traditionally been associated with memory?

Throughout history, the Moon has been of more symbolic importance than the Sun.  It is the female principle that plays the aggressive role; the Moon pursues the Sun.  Symbolically, it is emotion (Moon) that triggers and encourages our ego urges (Sun).

In modern Astrology, the newly discovered (1781) planet Uranus rules Aquarius.  Uranus, which shatters old and outmoded concepts, is said to create a turmoil in our lives when it transits something important.  Under Uranus, Prometheus is perhaps the most fitting archetype for this sign.  However, like Prometheus,

Fair to say, it was more than just idle curiosity that caused her to open the box.  The sealed box was a place of darkness, fear, and ignorance.  Its opening represented illumination and knowledge (Uranus).  But when Pandora opened the box, out came all the ills and pestilence of the world inflicted by the gods on humanity.   However, in a moment of compassion, Zeus also supplied delusive hope to prevent men from killing themselves in despair and escaping the full impact of suffering their Heavenly Father intended for them.  The basic theme is also familiar in the myth of Eve.

Pandora's Vase became Pandora's Box only in the late medieval period, when Erasmus mistakenly translated pithos as pyxis.  The word pithos describes a honey-vase.  Thus Pandora also poured out blessings from the vessel; a womb symbol like the Cornucopia, anciently used as a vessel of death and rebirth.  It was symbolic of  humanity's hopefulness that knowledge and illumination would eventually cast out darkness, fear, and ignorance and is the prime ingredient in healing or transmuting all the ills, whether god-inflicted or man-made.  

According to another myth, Pandora was the first woman to be  personified in an anti-feminist fable by Hesiod, who tried to blame war, death, disease, and all other ills on women.  Instead of the myth explained above, his myth claimed that Zeus sent Pandora to earth to punish those men who had offended him.  Hesiod's story was further adapted to the legend of King Solomon, who was said to keep a horde of demons in a vase.  After his death, greedy men broke the vase in seeking treasure and let the demons out into the world.

An erroneous myth can be created to imply a false and unfair account of the true meaning behind the original and sacred myth.    Hesiod's false account of the Pandora myth is similar to the misleading myth of Mary Magdalene who has been unfairly portrayed as a prostitute by the patriarchal leaders of the church instead of one of Jesus' most devoted disciple and perhaps his wife.

Once someone or something has been labeled, it is very difficult to reverse the impact it was intended to make. Unfortunately, this occurs frequently - with a medical or psychological diagnosis, a projected character trait in someone, a misunderstanding of motivation, a false accusation, etc.  The Pandora myth reflects human nature when it is lacking integrity and is an excellent example of why we should not jump to conclusions about someone or something.  We should always try to discern the motivation behind the "labeling" and discriminate what is truth from what is someone's endeavor to  justify their vindictiveness, prejudice and/or ignorance.  It is each person's responsibility to avail himself of the truth before accepting another's myth.