The "Big Four" Asteroids

Because Juno and Pallas are more subject to perturbation (gravitational influences from nearby bodies affecting their orbits), their positions were sometimes off by as much as two degrees in that early ephemeris. In the mid 1970's, Neil F. Michelsen, Rique Pottenger, and Zipporah Dobyns combined forces to create The Asteroid Ephemeris 1888-2000 with accurate daily positions for both longitude and declination. Rique did the computer calculations on Neil's computer. (Astro Computing Services was then in Pelham, NY.) Zipporah Dobyns wrote the introduction, and TIA Publications published the book.

In the late 1980's, Astro published Asteroid Goddesses by Demetra George--the first comprehensive "cookbook" which interpreted each of the "big four" by sign placement, house placement, and aspects. Demetra also included examples of lots of famous people.

I resisted working with the asteroids for several years--not wanting to put "four more bodies" in my horoscope. Eventually, I succumbed to "asteroid mania." It is not that one must have the asteroids to do good astrology. Au contraire! I know astrologers doing just fine with only the 10 planets. I use the asteroids because they make my life easier!

Anything important in the horoscope is said more than once. Significant themes are repeated in different ways (by house, sign, aspect, etc.). The asteroids, however, can act as little yellow highlighters. When they are in high focus (e.g., conjunct a planet or angle or making lots of aspects), the asteroids reveal the importance of certain issues. Yes, those issues are also said in other ways in the horoscope, by the traditional 10 planets. But with the asteroids, I "see" the issues more quickly and easily. So, I use asteroids as a labor-saving device. I put in "four more bodies" because it saves time in identifying major themes.

The asteroids are not in high focus in every chart and they are not particularly relevant in some charts. In such cases, I merely let them remain background--as I would let any planet remain background when several other planets are in high focus or major configurations.

This article will explore some of my experiences with the asteroids, my perceptions of their symbolism, and give some examples from client charts.