The ten planets of astrology, from the Sun to Pluto, describe a great deal: identity, feeling, thought, love, action, growth, limits and change. But they do not cover everything a person is. Some themes, such as how we care for others, how we heal, what we devote ourselves to or what in us refuses to be tamed, appear in the classical planets only as background. The asteroids were brought into astrology to say more about them.

Thousands of asteroids have names. Very few have a real body of interpretation behind them. Our asteroid readings use eight bodies and points that do, and read each of them the same way as the planets: by the sign it is in and the house it falls in.

Chiron: the wounded healer

Chiron is the one most people meet first, and strictly speaking it is not an asteroid but a centaur, a small body orbiting between Saturn and Uranus, discovered in 1977. It is named after the centaur of Greek myth who was a great healer and teacher and yet could not heal his own wound.

In a chart, Chiron marks the place where a person was hurt early and never quite stopped feeling it, and, because of that, the place where they turn out to be unusually good at helping others. Someone with Chiron in the third house may have felt unheard as a child and grow into the person who listens to everyone properly. The sign describes the nature of the wound; the house says where both the wound and the teaching live. Our report gives Chiron two readings: one on healing and growth, and one on turning vulnerabilities into strengths.

Lilith: what refuses to be tamed

Black Moon Lilith is not an object at all but a calculated point: the far end of the Moon's orbit around the Earth. It is read as the part of a person that will not be made convenient: raw instinct, independence, desires that do not ask for permission, and what happens when other people try to domesticate them. Our report gives Lilith two readings, one on the deeper side of sexuality and instinct, and one on self-empowerment and facing personal shadows. Its house often shows where a person has been told to be smaller, and where they eventually stop listening.

The four great asteroids

The next four were the first asteroids ever discovered, in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter, and they carry the names of four goddesses.

Ceres, now classed as a dwarf planet, is nurture: how you care for others and how you were cared for, what makes you feel nourished, and how you deal with loss and letting go. Ceres in Virgo may show care through practical help; Ceres in Leo through warmth, praise and attention. A person with Ceres in the sixth house may well express love by quietly making sure everyone has eaten.

Pallas is strategy and pattern recognition: the intelligence that sees the shape of a problem before the details, and the creativity that solves it. Its sign describes how you think strategically; its house shows the area of life where your problem-solving works best.

Juno is committed partnership: what you need from a long-term bond, what you consider fair within it, and what you will or will not put up with. Juno in Aries wants a partner who is also a worthy opponent. Juno in Libra wants fairness, and may keep careful mental notes about whose turn it is to choose.

Vesta is devotion and focus: what you keep sacred, what you give your full attention to, and what you are willing to do without in order to protect it. Its house shows where you can work with total concentration, and where you might forget the rest of the world exists.

Pholus and Eros

Pholus, discovered in 1992, is another centaur, with an even longer orbit than Chiron. It is read as a catalyst: the small event that sets off a large chain of consequences, and your relationship with impulses and the unexpected. Its house suggests where a little thing can turn into a big story.

Eros, discovered in 1898, is one of the asteroids that come close to the Earth. It describes passion in the broad sense: what truly excites you and draws you in, whether a person, a project or an idea, and how that passion fuels deeper connections and creative expression.

How to read the asteroids

Read them as detail rather than structure. A chart is built from its planets, its angles and its aspects; the asteroids sharpen a reading that already exists. They are at their most telling when one of them sits very close to the Sun, the Moon, the Ascendant or a personal planet. Ceres right on the Moon doubles the theme of nurture. Juno right on Venus puts partnership at the centre of love. An asteroid far from everything adds a shade, not a headline.

That is also why the asteroids are given tighter orbs than the planets when we look for aspects. A small body needs to be close to something before it has much to say.

What our report shows

The asteroid readings come in two parts. First, each body in its sign and house: two readings each for Chiron and Lilith, and one each for Ceres, Pallas, Juno, Vesta, Pholus and Eros, written for the exact combination in your chart. Then the aspects the asteroids make with your planets and with each other, so you can see which of them is woven into the main structure of your chart and which stands apart.

Above each part, you can ask the AI astrologer to synthesise the readings into one picture. And because the house is half of every reading, a known birth time makes this report far more precise.

Start with Chiron, and with whichever asteroid sits closest to your Sun, Moon or Ascendant. The others will keep, and they will make more sense once the main chart is familiar.

When you are ready, read the asteroids in your chart here, after your planets and aspects if you have not read those yet.

Frequently asked questions

Which asteroids does the report include?
Chiron, Lilith, Ceres, Pallas, Juno, Vesta, Pholus and Eros: the ones with an established body of interpretation behind them, rather than the thousands that have a name and nothing else.

Is Lilith an asteroid?
No. Black Moon Lilith is a calculated point, the far end of the Moon's orbit, not an object. It is read alongside the asteroids because it belongs to the same layer of a reading.

Is Chiron a planet?
No. It is a centaur, a small body orbiting between Saturn and Uranus, discovered in 1977. In astrology it is given more weight than the asteroids and less than a planet.

Do the asteroids matter as much as the planets?
No, and a reading that treats them as equals is padding. They add detail to a chart that has already been read from its planets, angles and aspects, and they matter most when they sit close to one of those.

Do I need my birth time?
For the signs, no. For the houses, yes, and every reading here combines the two. Without a birth time, the house part of each reading cannot be relied on.