Demetra George - Asteroid Goddesses: The Mythology, Psychology, and Astrology of the Re-Emerging Feminine

This edition first published in 2003 by

Ibis Press, an imprint of

Nicolas-Hays, Inc.

P. O. Box 540206

Lake Worth, FL 33454-0206

Distributed to the trade by

Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC

65 Parker St, Suite 7

Newburyport, MA 01950

www.redwheelweiser.com

Copyright 1986, 2003 Demetra George

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Nicolas-Hays, Inc. Reviewers may quote brief passages.

Cataloging-in-Publication Data available on request from the Library of Congress

ISBN 0-89254-082-6

Cover design by Valerie Cooper. Cover illustration based on an original drawing by Terrence Stark, commissioned by Tony Joseph for his work The Archetypal Universe. Used with permission of the artist.

Typeset in Garth Graphic 10/13

Printed in the United States of America

VG

7 6 5 4 3

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Z39.481992 (R1997).

www.redwheelweiser.com

www.redwheelweiser.com/newsletter

To the Mother Goddess in her emanation as Tara

May this offering bring compassionate understanding and benefit to all beings.

Of the many individuals who assisted me in the production of The Asteroid Goddesses, my heartfelt gratitude goes to my editor and writer Douglas Bloch whose dedication and expertise made this work a physical reality.

Other writer-editors include Polly Mitchell, Beth-Hedva, Maritha Pottenger, and Tom Bol Guta who provided the mandala concept.

For their financial support, thanks goes to Carolyn Cavalier and Sam Mills.

My ocean view of the beautiful Oregon coast continually inspired me during the conception and writing of this book.

Dharma Dan sustained a vision.

Emotional support was provided by my parents John and Jean Canner, my children Daniel and Reina Frankfort, Jim Frankfort, Michelle Frankfort, Charlie Tabasko who kept the home fires burning, Susan Swift, Robert Rubin, Joan Cypress, Aaron Greenberg, Signe Haynes, Bill Bisignano, Christiane Carruth, Dennis Conroy, Yeshe Nyingpo and the Newport Sangha, Papa John, and A.B.A.T.E.

Appreciation goes to Christa Bax and Rodney Derrick for the gracious use of their homes and to Dennis Riordin for the use of his computer.

My gratitude also extends to the astrological community, particularly to Eleanor Bach for starting me on my journey. My astrological colleagues Judy Franzen, Tsering Everest, Stash, Diana Stone, Yana Breeze, Mary Works, and Babette Cabral gave me feedback and encouragement. My astrological teachers Dane Rudhyar, Alan Oken, Virginia Dayan, Joanne Wickenburg, and Zipporah Dobyns imparted their inspiration.

Many productive hours were spent at the Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism of the C. G. Jung Institute of San Francisco.

And finally, for his teachings on motivation and compassion, I give special thanks to my spiritual teacher Lama Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche.

Demetra George

November 9, 1984

Waldport, Oregon

To begin, I would like to thank my astrological mentor, Richard, who introduced me to the sacred science of astrology 13 years ago.

I am also indebted to Demetra for asking me to collaborate with her on this pioneering work.

Finally, I give special thanks to my wife Joan (a gift from the goddesses whom I married while writing this book) for her unconditional devotion and support.

Douglas Bloch

November 11, 1984

Portland, Oregon

It has now been twenty-two years since I first met Douglas Bloch in 1981 and introduced him to the asteroids. He was so impressed with the profundity of the insights gained from the placements of the four major asteroids in his own chart, that he encouraged me to set down these teachings in a book so that they could be more widely disseminated. Douglas offered me his superb skills as an editor and consultant, and in 1984 we had completed a draft of Asteroid Goddesses. After an initial rejection from an astrological publisher who had absolutely no idea of how to evaluate the asteroids, which were a controversial and suspect technique in the astrological community at that time, Maritha Pottenger, editor-in-chief at Astro Computing Services, graciously offered to publish the book. Having been raised on amazing asteroid tales from her mother, Zip Dobyns, Maritha fully understood the significance of the topic and believed in the importance of the work. She told us that they did not think that the book would sell out of its first printing, but it was a subject that was worthy to be published. Asteroid Goddesses surprised everyone by going through 15 printings since its initial publication in 1986, and had a secure home with the Michelsen/Simms family at ACS Publications until the company changed hands.

Asteroid Goddesses has been out of print for several years now, and with the rights finally reverting back to Douglas and myself, Donald Weiser has been kind enough to reprint it under the Nicolas-Hays imprint, Ibis Press. In the interval, Asteroid Goddesses has traveled all over the world, been translated into many languages, and contributed to the development of an archetypal mythic approach to astrological interpretation. The timeless stories of the ancient goddesses continue to live in the psyche of modern women and men and to shape their lives. I knew in the late 1990's that the asteroids had finally come of age and had made it into the mainstream consciousness when Cosmopolitan's Yearly Forecast issue included Juno and the other goddesses in their annual predictions. Since the book has been out of print, Douglas and I have received numerous emails and calls from people unable to find any copies in the used book searches, testifying to the fact that astrologers are holding on to their copies. Gratitude to Donald Weiser for making it possible for future generations of astrologers to continue integrating the symbolism of feminine principle into astrological delineations, and to Valerie Cooper for the production of the new edition.

I want to acknowledge the invaluable contribution to the field of asteroid research made by A1 Morrison and Lee Lehman in their efforts in the early 1980's to produce the first ephemerides and initial delineations of the other asteroids as well which are briefly mentioned in this book, and I am indebted to their preliminary observations. Since then Mark Pottenger has developed software to generate the zodiacal positions of over 10,000 asteroids for a given date. These asteroids are named after mythic deities from various cultures, geographical places, personal names, and concepts. And yes, they all work! You will be dazzled by their significations, such as the conjunction of the asteroids Camellia and Parks with Venus in the chart of Prince Charles, or the opposition of the asteroids Paula and Monica to Bill Clinton's Moon, or the conjunction of the asteroids John and Aristotle opposing the significator of legal marriage in Jackie Kennedy Onassis' chart.

For anyone who is seriously interested in working with the asteroids, Mark Pottenger's CCRS Asteroid Program is essential. He can be contacted at Mark Pottenger, 3808 49th St., San Diego, CA 92105, ).

After having worked intimately with Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta for over twenty years, and many dozens of other asteroids as well, in 1997 my mind turned to other pursuits. I returned to graduate school, earned a Masters degree in Classics, which led to a faculty position at Kepler College, teaching the history of astrology in ancient and medieval civilizations, as well as the techniques of Hellenistic astrology. I am also currently translating ancient Greek Hermetic astrological medical texts. But the asteroids will always have a most sacred place in my heart and while I continue to utilize them in my work, I offer them up to all the new astrologers as a fertile and utterly fascinating field of research upon which to establish your reputations.