For the last couple of weeks, we have been watching the Mars Saturn conjunction and thinking about it's influence on us. Buried deeply in this conjunction is another ancient archetype, as Vesta has been running with and is now 'sandwiched' between these two slowly separating Roman lords. Her vibration has been very much a part the celestial drama which we have recently observed unfolding.

  Just who is this Vesta, anyway?

One of the brighter asteroids, Vesta.

  Vesta is an asteroid. She is only one of several thousand asteroids of various sizes found in the 'asteroid belt' located between Mars and Jupiter. The current prevailing wind among the astronomical community is that the asteroid belt was a planet that never came together, with all these broken up pieces orbiting a specific neighborhood of space. At about 460 km. (285 miles) in diameter, Vesta was the fourth asteroid to be discovered, and the third largest. It is the only one ever visible to the unaided eye. First observed on 29 March 1807 by Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers (1758-1840), this is the same German physician who first saw Pallas, the second asteroid discovery.

The Temple of Vesta in Rome

  Mythologically, Vesta was a goddess. Her story goes back to the very roots of Rome. It is the sacred flame, the heart of the city, its essential essence. The Romans truly believed that if the flame went out, a very dark shadow would fall. Instituted by Numa Pompilius in the 7th century BC, the Temple of Vesta was located in an area which has come to be known as the Forum, the civic core of the city, where all the most sacred temples could be found. Vesta was the hearth fire of Rome. While all statues and temples were said to contain 'numen', the divine spirit of life, Vesta was numen. During the Classical Age the divine pantheon is anthropomorphized (given human form). Yet Vesta ever remained the flame. Her temple had no statue.

  "Nothing," wrote Ovid in describing Vesta "but a living flame." Originally, the king's daughters watched over the light, but these evolved into priestesses known as the Vestal Virgins. While in service to the goddess, their entire lives were orchestrated in daily rituals to honor and sanctify the altar, but they were also held in highest veneration. They had exclusive seats at the Colosseum. Any condemned to death that happened to cross their path in the streets was immediately forgiven, no matter what the crime. Even the Emperor and Senate had to step aside for the Vestal Virgins.

Sacred flame

  Esther Leinbach, in her 'Planets and Asteroids' felt as though Vesta's essence is found in death and regeneration, in sexuality and sacrifice. Those familiar with an astrological vocabulary will spot some Scorpionic themes here. It is the act of the Phoenix being reborn from its own funeral pyre.

  These are the kundalini fires, which can be sexual licentiousness, or celibacy and sterility. The hearth fire also holds the family together, especially in the cold, hard nights of winter. In astrological charts, this manifests as security and stabilizing factors. As a result, Vesta is concerned with tradition, law and order, cohesiveness, security in numbers and sacrifices needed for service of the larger group. Vesta is both the regulating force, and the gumption to get it done.

  The rewards are wonderful, the penalties severe.