The Asteroids, Daimons and Fate

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 There are three different Lilliths Talks about it more in later book Finding Our Way Through the Dark (1995) Incorporating the asteroids into a more traditional framework. Astrology and the Authentic Self as a great synthesis of modern and traditional. 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. Timestamps 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:41 Demetra's history with the asteroids 00:02:06 Meeting Eleanor Bach and the first asteroid ephemeris 00:04:31 The significance of the first ephemeris 00:05:45 The story behind the name Demetra 00:07:13 Early work using mythology in consultations 00:09:37 Writing the book "Asteroid Goddesses" 00:11:49 The community's initial resistance to asteroids 00:12:46 The women's spirituality movement's interest in asteroids 00:14:28 Asteroids and the re-emergence of the feminine 00:17:53 The first four asteroids named after goddesses 00:18:21 The gender imbalance in the planetary pantheon 00:20:45 Are asteroids a serious form of astrology? 00:21:26 The reclassification of Pluto and Ceres 00:23:07 The premise that an asteroid's name is synchronistically meaningful 00:24:45 Example: Prince Charles's chart 00:28:11 Mythology as the starting point for interpretation 00:31:32 Why mythology dropped out of the astrological tradition 00:35:09 Other astrologers who popularized the asteroids 00:37:08 The launch of "Asteroid Goddesses" at UAC 1986 00:40:34 Why Chiron gets more attention than the asteroids 00:43:09 The overwhelming number of asteroids 00:44:51 Origin of the glyphs for the first four asteroids 00:49:20 Core meaning of Ceres 00:56:36 Core meaning of Pallas Athena 01:02:02 Core meaning of Juno 01:04:57 Core meaning of Vesta 01:07:17 Vesta and sacred sexuality 01:09:31 Vesta and the Me Too movement 01:12:28 How to incorporate asteroids into a traditional framework 01:14:51 How to prioritize asteroids: The seven power points 01:16:22 Orbs and aspects for asteroids 01:18:53 The asteroids as daimons (intermediate spirits) 01:21:03 Example: Jackie Kennedy's chart and personal name asteroids 01:25:46 Lilith: The asteroid and the Black Moon 01:30:05 Where to find Demetra's work 01:31:23 Closing remarks Watch the Video Version of This Episode Here is the video version of our discussion about the asteroids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ly8yBEJW_c - 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: