For the Romans, Ceres was the goddess of soil, agriculture, grains and also of the seasons. Her symbols include a poppy flower or wheat. The ancients believed that she had been the first to teach humanity agriculture, harvesting wheat and making bread.
Because Modern Astrology uses planets and asteroids named after the astrology practiced by the Romans, I will develop on the myth behind Ceres.
Astronomically, Ceres was the first asteroid discovered in 1801, between Mars and Jupiter; announced as a planet by its discoverer Giuseppe Piazzi, then demoted to asteroid status and since 2006 — it is considered a dwarf planet.
This up and down in the status of this planet reminds me of women’s status in society: in antiquity with high respect for its role in society, then stripped of many rights for centuries, and recently: gaining back recognition.
Back to Roman mythology (which by the way, adopts many Greek stories about similar gods). Ceres (correspondent of the Greek goddess Demeter) was the second daughter of Saturn and Rhea (Ops according to different sources).
She was a sister then wife of Jupiter, Saturn’s overthrower. Together, they had a daughter, Proserpina (Greek: Persephone), renowned for her beauty. One day, Pluto was struck by one of Cupid’s arrows and he fell in love with Proserpina. He kidnapped her and took her to the underworld, where he made her his queen.
The legend continues with Ceres looking for her daughter but she couldn’t find her anywhere on earth. Struck with grief and rage, she cursed the Earth to no longer be fertile and all grains to be destroyed by floods or wildfires, because the earth couldn’t help her find her beloved daughter. This brought widespread famine. According to the myths, humans prayed to Jupiter to intervene and ask Ceres to show kindness to humanity by protecting the harvest again.
Jupiter agreed to intervene — him being the ruler of all gods and humans- and decided that Proserpina will spend half the year with her mother Ceres on earth and half the year with her husband, in the underworld. The reason for this split is because while in the underworld, she had eaten half of a pomegranate, which was a metaphor for the interruption of abstinence. This way, the legend goes, every year, Proserpina returns to spend half the year with her mother: the boom of spring and the joy and warmth of summer, and half the year, she spends with her husband, while the autumn and winter are expressions of Ceres’ awaiting in silence for the return of her offspring.
Ceres is thus an important symbol in the family dynamic; she is the mother-in-law of Pluto, one of the most influential archetypes in astrology. She had to accept the marriage between her beloved Proserpina and Pluto, but also Pluto had to concede and allow for his wife to spend half the year with her mother, on earth. This is a metaphor expressing shared power and influence. Wherever is an imbalance in an area of a chart where there’s Ceres, suggests that will at some point involve a countering, a balancing — a mending of a broken heart. But not to the extent where one loses the other one wins, but a compromise. Sometimes, in an area of life corresponding to a house or sign where there’s a natal Ceres or transited by Ceres, there might be an apparent loss. That ‘loss’ might be the ‘correction’, the ‘balancing act’.
Ceres’ journey through the 12 signs of the Zodiac takes about 4.6 years and it spends approximately 4 months in a sign (more when in Retrograde). On December 19 2022, Ceres will transit from Virgo (health, work, work routines, service) into Libra (close relationships of any kind). She will directly oppose (180 degrees across the chart) Jupiter, which will ingress in Aries, for nearly two months, until late February 2023. Remember the symbolic appeal from Ceres to Jupiter? well, with an opposition between Ceres (grieving a loss, perceived unfairness) in Libra (area of life where close relationships are in focus) and Jupiter (the opportunity, luck, expansion) in Aries (area of life focusing on identity ‘me, me, me’, self-image), might imply this is a period when caring for one’s individuality and finding space for self within a close relationship is challenging (because of the opposition). Close business relationships and ‘duo’-partnerships of all kinds are under this influence in late December — late February. We might notice this on a global scale in bilateral relations.
On a personal level, transiting Ceres will conjunct (energize) any natal factor you have in Libra and oppose any natal factor in Aries, plus square anything in Cancer or Capricorn. To check for your natal chart, you can search online, there are many websites which show your natal chart for free; make sure you display both planets and asteroids, so you get a full picture of the potential influences in your life.
I’ve written here what astrology is good for, in my opinion. Not expecting for it to dictate my life, rather as a relaxing read and potentially in validating (or not) something I’m pondering or have already researched.
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