Asteroid Persephone: Discovering the Daughter of Damnation
Asteroid Persephone is listed as number 399, and was discovered on February 23, 1895 in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. This celestial body is rather small, only 49 km across. It may be tiny, but if it is configured in your chart in a prominent way, particularly in aspect to Ceres or Pluto, her influence can be profound. Persephone takes just a little over 5 years to make her way around the Sun, so her orbital cycle means about 5 months at a time in each sign, give or take and Retrograde. This is not an asteroid that lies in the far reaches of the solar system, but close to us, and within our inner consciousness. As such, we experience Station, but it isn’t a prolonged shift, and aspects are a bit more fleeting than they would be if she were out in the Kuiper Belt beyond the far reaches of Neptune. Persephone in transit can be particularly powerful when it’s a time of seasonal transition, when she is in aspect to other bodies who play a direct role in her mythology, and when she is figured prominently in your natal chart. You can add her at astro.com by going into their extended charts menu easily. If you’re a client, I have your info and am happy to quickly tell you where she lies in your natal chart, just message me.
The mythological Persephone is a fascinating archetype. She is one of the few Goddesses who DO truly embody two different phases of life, according to mythology rather than modern projections of neo-pagan made up “mother maiden crone” that casts deities into lights under which they were not experienced nor seen. She begins her tale as the maiden, and becomes the Queen of the Underworld. Persephone is the reckless abandon of youth that results in hard and undeserved lessons, as she is taken captive and rises to power as Queen of the Underworld and emissary of the dead. She resides in bondage for half of the year, the mythic embodiment of the seasonal cycle from her descent into Pluto’s realm (Hades) on the Autumn Equinox to ascend again as the world begins anew on the Vernal Equinox in spring. 5 months in each sign is just a little longer than a season, and when I consider Persephone, I think about the season associated with the sign that she is in to discern the emotional tone of her insight, and the influence she is under. Libra through the end of Pisces is her Underworld time, and from Aries to the end of Virgo, she is once again with her mother. Ceres would argue that’s where her daughter belongs, but Persephone understands and accepts her journey, and learns to navigate both aspects of her nature.
The psychological nature of Persephone can entail a dark journey, where we must give up control. This is a process that is unwilling, and we may be resistant, sometimes to extremes. There are psychological scars as a result. There may be deep levels of self-blame, as while in Hades, had she not eaten just six pomegranate seeds, she would not be forever bound to her captor. She was trapped by trickery, and cannot resolve issues…this story can play out in the courtroom, as there was a trial to determine that Persephone DID, in fact, eat the seeds of her own volition, damning her to her role in Hades for forever. Persephone may also be victim-blamed and scapegoated for her mother’s behavior, as Ceres (Demeter) withdraws, dissociates, isolates over the disappearance of her daughter…the emotional ramifications are profound. Ceres, goddess of fertility and not just nurture of the soul but basic level of care for the body regarding growing FOOD, decides to stop allowing her inner resources to be used to produce, and she doesn’t care if the entire world dies in the process. Ceres draws very hard lines in the name of Persephone, ones that don’t just impact Ceres, but have selfishly devastating consequences for everyone. I usually talk about Ceres as the influence of nature and nurture, but what happens when a mother’s love turns to a mother’s grief? That’s also part of the journey we can experience with Ceres, one that manifests in the chart in the context of Persephone. Their entanglement can be one of blame and absolution, of shame and then relationship building to counterbalance…unlike Chiron, Ceres’ wounds are wounds that CAN be healed with the nurture that she brings, and that which she receives by being ALLOWED to once again be the source of life, the nurturer.
When it comes down to it, Persephone’s own choices, made in innocent folly, result in her innocence not only lost, but weaponized against her. Persephone is unwittingly appealing to Pluto, and can be characterized as a seductive presence, though she’s not trying to be. Persephone was completely innocent, but Pluto and his obsession with her is an eternal dance of holding close then letting go, one of abuse, danger, and Pluto’s specialty…control. Pluto saw, Pluto wanted, and Pluto took her. There may be damage as a result where Persephone feels she’s to blame for his sick and twisted obsession, his actions, and the perpetual relationship of obligation under which she is powerless, but as a consequence, within which she has power as Queen of the Underworld. Persephone has deep psychological consequences for her choices, and can feel like there is no way out of the darkness…however optimistic it may be to return to the world of the waking again each spring, she knows that when the air turns chill and the light begins to wane, that she must return to fulfill her duty to Pluto as consort and bride, unwilling yet profoundly compelled to stay. All of these themes are of relevance when we consider the astrological Persephone, and her journey is complicated. She isn’t just the maiden, innocently held captive, she begins to embrace her position, and wield her power as Queen of Hades.
Persephone is tricky to navigate in the natal chart, and can be very useful when we look at themes that have manifested in life that involve mother,captivity, being the object of obsession, being scapegoated, or loss of innocence. I do not mean this phrase as a euphemism for virginity, it’s just appallingly gross to think “virgin or not, innocent or not” and I do not deal in patriarchal themes that place way too much emphasis on. By innocent, I mean waking up to the harsh reality of the real world and the true evil that exists, wide eyed Persephone had not a care in the world, until she was suddenly and forever bound to Pluto.
Other mythological archetypes that figure powerfully into the story of Persephone are Mercury (Hermes) who had a role in aiding her, Hekate who heard her cries and saw to it that she was rescued from the Underworld, and Juptier (Zeus) as Persehpone’s father and kIng of the Gods. Aspects between asteroid Persephone and those celestial bodies will be intense, and I will cover Hekate on the Divine Dark Feminine Tier. Honestly, Persephone fits there as well, but I feel like it’s important to cover her on the Divine Flame Asteroid Tier in context of Ceres, as so many people have the complicated relationship between the two happening in their charts. The more that we understand by observing and feeling in transit, the more we understand how the influences within the chart manifest in our own lives.
Now, a few notes on her discovery chart. The time is given at 8 PM according to some sources, but I can’t find anything to cross reference and validate that, and I don’t trust any random “astrologer” with a blog proclaiming a time without supporting evidence actually noted at discovery, so I’m going to ignore chart angles unless a valid time surfaces somewhere.
Persephone was at 12 degrees Virgo when discovered, so she was nearing the end of her time above, and would have been preparing to descend into the Underworld. She was in the same sign as the South Node, indicating karmic responsibility, her journey is one of imperative, and it aligns with the past, it’s a manifestation of choices already made and places already traversed. We can’t change the South Node, all we can do is learn from it, harness the lessons, and seek to move toward the North Node and fulfill destiny. Persephone is Retrograde at time of discovery, which indicates a resistance to moving toward that Libra ingress point where she must, once again, return to Hades. Virgo is the sign of the maiden, and this is all part of her journey.
Uranus, planet of awakening and the unexpected, was AT STATION RETROGRADE. Uranus always has associations with discovery and does strongly influence astrology and its direction as a discipline and as a profession.
Ceres is at 28 Sagittarius, and I find that interesting, considering that during our time here on Earth, 28 Sagittarius is Galactic Center, which I can say is an extremely powerful place to be, any further and I will be meandering too far off course in my analysis here. In terms of the journey of CERES, she is at a point where her daughter is GONE, she has withdrawn, and she is searching frantically and without reward…and it’s almost the Capricorn ingress point, which marks the Winter Solstice, halfway between the Equinoxes, so her time of grief in missing her daughter is halfway over. This is a Ceres who is already missing her daughter, even though when we see Persephone and where she is in the Zodiac, she’s right there, not yet in the Underworld. This is a Ceres who lives under her own state of being, and it may not be perceptually accurate. She is removed from reality, Ceres and Persephone are at two different and irreconcilable points of the Underworld journey, and she may be missing crucial details about how her daughter feels.
Pluto, the force of control, domination, and the evil in the story, is at 9 degrees Gemini. Pluto in Gemini was a time of duality and facing the worst parts of human nature…Gemini has many many sides, and Pluto would have been exploring the darker ones with fascination and twisted enjoyment. The dynamic between Persephone and Pluto was Mutable signs that square, and Ceres was also in a Mutable sign, though not in a t-square by degree, these all require flexibility, and I think it’s safe to say that the arrangement finally reached between the three parties does, indeed, require infinite flexibility to navigate without allowing it to be ultimately destructive. Persephone squares Pluto by 3 degrees, and there is a strong tension and resistance at play here as she dreads the obligation, in grinding Retrograde, she resists. Pluto in Air signs is one that forces a change in THINKING, and in Gemini, this meant social and intellectual concepts.
The MOST interesting thing about this chart for me, however, is that there is a t-square by degree between Persephone, with Sun conjunct Mercury opposing from Pisces at 4 an 8 degrees respectively, where Sun and Mercury conspire to illuminate and reveal the existence and influence of Persephone, as Pluto squares Sun and Mercury from Gemini. The square between Pluto and Mercury is by only one degree, and remember…Mercury is debilitated in Pisces, and Pluto feels like he still gets a big win here, outwitting and keeping her, at least PART of the time. We aren’t certain of chart angles, like I said, but here it’s Pluto looming at the top of the chart, ever leering, ever present as a reminder that all shall fade, the light shall once again grow dim, and Persephone must return to his side regardless of how she resists, or how Ceres protests and objects and decides to starve the world of her nurture and care. Sun and Mercury are guided here in a sextile to Hekate, who was an integral part of the rescue plan in the mythology, Hekate doesn’t aspect the other parts of the t-square, she is supporting the illumination and the communication that it took to come to Persephone’s aid. As we go forward, those on the Divine Dark Feminine Tier, remember that Hekate insight pointed at Persephone in transit will be exceedingly important, given the relationship between the two. Hekate, as always, guiding and showing the path ahead.
What are the ways to help Persephone along the way? Let’s think about Moon. Moon was in rational and innovative Aquarius no matter what time Persephone was discovered on this date…as was Black Moon Lilith, and asteroid Lilith. Asteroid Lilith had not yet been discovered at that time, so this is an aspect of modern consciousness that has now evolved and which we can now incorporate in how we work with these energies. Those on the Divine Dark Feminine already have an idea of what the Lilith context would mean…autonomy. We can support healing for Persephone by releasing her from guilt and shame, and by staying out of the way when she is ready to embrace autonomy, whether that means leaving Hades, or ruling it alongside Pluto. We can stop victim blaming, we can stop projecting our own idealistic experience upon others…”I would never stay, I don’t know why she stayed” is a wide eyed false reality belonging only to those who have never lost their innocence and have never been held captive nor subjected to Pluto’s control. Lilith energy can help Persephone embrace her choices, and remind her that she made the only choices that she could, every step of the way. The Lilith energies sextile Ceres by sign, and they remind the grieving mother that she did all that she could do, too, and that she isn’t responsible for Pluto’s actions. At her heart, Ceres doesn’t truly blame Persephone at all, she blames herself that Persephone was picking flowers in the first place. Self-blame is the biggest source of Ceres' struggle in the dynamic, and is healed by working through that and remembering that others depend upon her aside from her daughter. She is not truly forsaken, though she feels that she has been. The resilience of Sagittarius is notorious for being optimistic to the extreme, obnoxious, even. This is a Ceres that can make it just 3 more months until the Equinox, no matter what tricks Pluto may have up his sleeve.