HAPPY SOLSTICE ALL
Ceres is the original Earth Mother. During good times she and her daughter Persephone wandered the Earth spreading seeds and making all things grow. One day, Pluto, Lord of the Underworld, tricked Persephone and took her into the Underworld. So aggrieved and annoyed was Ceres that she stopped all vegetation from growing. The Greeks were terrified of starvation and begged Zeus to mediate between Pluto and Ceres. Soon a bargain was struck whereby Persephone would be released but Ceres would have to go spend one half of the year in the Underworld. When Ceres did this, plants no longer grew and thus came winter. What a great story to explain the cycle of the seasons.
In astrology where the asteroid Ceres lies in a chart is the area that we see two things. One is parental relationships – loss, separation – and nurturing – how we nurture and how we feel the need to provide nurturing to others. Someone with Ceres in the 3rd house will likely nurture others by providing exposure to new ideas whereas Ceres in the 6th could produce a mother who runs an orderly and well structured family.
Ceres is a natural fit with Cancer – because they both are “motherly” but she also resonates with with Taurus. Taurus the Bull is the ultimate Earth sign and shows how we use resources – natural and otherwise. Also, because Taurus opposes Scorpio on the astrological wheel and Scorpio is ruled by Pluto – the guy whose tricks started all of this – there is a delicate balance between the power of Scorpio and the resource husbandry of Taurus.
By learning how Ceres fits between these planets we get a better outlook on how we deal with our Mother issues.