Have you seen the picture of Beyonce with her twins? The pictures likeness to Virgin Mary, mother of Christ, reminded me of Ceres the Great Mother Goddess. I looked it up and sure enough, Beyonce’s Ceres is in Virgo conjunct her Sun -which means her identity is fused with the archetype of nurturing, loving Earth Mama.While her public face has been primarily as the creative artist (Venus in Libra), she has been very vocal about how motherhood has given her a sense of purpose (Sun). “I feel more beautiful than I’ve ever felt because I’ve given birth, I have never felt so connected, never felt like I had such a purpose on this earth.” This fits with the mythology of the archetype: Ceres/Demeter’s primary identity is mother, and her primary relationship — the relationship she derives the most satisfaction and fulfillment from– is not with her spouse, but her child or children.
But Ceres isn’t just about motherhood. How well do you know Ceres, in your chart? Astrologically, she represents how we care for our self, our attachment to, and loss of, people and pets we love, and our ability to make peace with all cycles of life. She introduces the awareness that winter always follows spring, and so loving others must always include a process of letting go. She can have issues, galore, and rail against loss, at first, but a healthy relationship to Ceres aids self-acceptance and self-esteem.
Ceres, Nourishment & Self Love
As an astrologer, working with Ceres initially posed a practical problem. I adored Demetra George’s book Asteroid Goddesses when I first read it, but had no idea how to integrate the asteroids into an astrology session. As Demetra said in her book, until recently Ceres, along with Pallas, Juno, Vesta (feminine healing and creative intelligence -Pallas; power sharing in partnership -Juno; spiritual devotion -Vesta) have been dormant voices of the feminine. I knew their issues were important. How would these voices ever be included if I didn’t attempt to speak them? So I’d open the conversation by relaying her myth.
The myth is interesting (it’s a long myth; I tell it in pieces, depending on what’s occurring in a client’s life). Ceres’, the (Roman Demeter) Goddess of Agriculture and mother to Persephone, myth revolves around the abduction and return of her daughter, and her response to it. When Persephone disappeared (or was taken), Ceres stopped eating and bathing. She wandered the land and neglected her duty- to provide food. As time went on and people began to starve, Zeus intervened and made a deal: half the year Persephone would live with Hades underground, and the other half Persephone could visit her mother. Thus, the seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, autumn and winter being the times when Ceres made the world barren with rage at her daughter’s loss.
As this part suggests, Ceres can show compulsive behavior related to unhealthy attachments to others, food, and self-neglect. In some retellings, Ceres denied adolescent Persephone’s growing independence and that’s why her daughter had to be taken away from her. Sometimes Ceres types can be overbearing, and frankly, codependent; insisting that only she can provide everything you need, she can make others dependent on her. And just as depressed and grieving Ceres withheld food from herself and others when unhappy, food is an issue for some people with Ceres placements -either too much or too little (especially connected to Taurus, or Moon), sometimes to the point of a severe disorder. I’ve observed a difficult Ceres in charts of people with eating disorders. When food is equated with unconditional love, in its absence we can try to fill the void with food, or deny ourself nourishment. However, food is only one form of nourishment.
How to Feed Yourself
Do you know how to feed yourself? I’m not just talking about food. Think about it: How many of us in modern society struggle with how to authentically nourish our selves –on all levels? Ceres instructs us to go beyond food as love and expand our definition of what it means to nourish and love our self. This classically belonged to the planets — we look to the Moon for our happiness, nurturing and self-care needs, and Venus for self-esteem, but I’ve found Ceres offers specific information on how to lovingly accept, care for, provide for and nourish our self, and equally, how we may deny our self those same things.
To figure out how to feed your self: What is your Ceres sign? You need to “eat” your Ceres. For instance, with Ceres in Sagittarius, I nourish myself through higher knowledge, the search for meaning and the pursuit of enlightenment. Ceres also shows what you enjoy “feeding” others. I enjoy offering what I discover on my journey, as nourishment, for you. Ceres in Gemini finds information exchange, writing, talking and educating nourishing, and offers what they have in that vein to others. Beyonce’, with Ceres in Virgo, nourishes her self through the hard work of crafts-womanship, perfecting her art, then shares it with us. Ceres doesn’t hoard the harvest for herself, she shares.
Your Ceres aspects deepen the story. A more harmonious aspect from a planet offers its unobstructed energy to the nurturing urge. There’s a flow there between the energies which enhance your ability to care for your self and others. Challenging aspects offer you a picture of any early conditioning or blockages to being “fed”. A challenging aspect to Ceres indicates how you may deny your self nourishment, as Ceres did. You may need to go beyond your inadequate early conditioning, to integrate more self-compassion.
For instance, with Neptune conjunct my Ceres in my second house, for some periods of my life I denied myself second house Sagittarius – possibility, independence, higher education, the pursuit of enlightenment and wisdom- because these qualities were absent or discouraged by my early nurturer (Neptune-Ceres). Interestingly, I often used the excuse “I don’t have the money” (Neptune in 2nd). I also found spending money on food “a waste” -though now clean, whole food has become my highest value. This makes sense because I also dealt with neglect as a child; Neptune-Ceres can indicate a situation where nurturing/food is denied due to illness or mysterious reasons. When I gave myself permission to spend money on intangibles, like delicious food, classes and teachers who expand my mind and soul, I realized I’d been a flower in a desert in dire need of water! “Feeding myself” with things that inspire and lift Spirit, is my Ceres form of self-love.
Ceres teaches that self-acceptance is a verb -it’s the way we compassionately relate to our self, what “food” we offer our self, when we are hungry, lost, sad, and in need. When we do this, we discover there’s been a harvest there all along: our self-acceptance. For instance, with Ceres in Aquarius, individuality and differentness is the path to self-acceptance. Any encouragement there goes a long way. For instance, a client has Ceres in Aquarius in the sixth house of mentorship; she’s been learning astrology with me for about 10 years now. For Ceres in Virgo, self acceptance arises from feeling competent, useful and helpful, etc.
Loss, Stepmothers, Self-Sufficiency
In practice, I’ve observed that outer planets transits to Ceres often included loss: of a mother figure, child or pet. My grandmother died while Saturn joined my Ceres. A dear girlfriend lost a child in labor, and several client’s lost beloved pets died – all while Pluto transited their natal Ceres. I take no pleasure in making these types of connection for a client, and yet I also do, because in retelling Ceres’ myth it allows me to gently address a taboo topic in our culture -death. To talk about death in a feminine way, with less fear and more naturalness, takes it out of the realm of horror and normalizes it as part of the human experience. Which is what Ceres would want, as she was ultimately assigned the leader of the Goddess cult of Eleusis, which had rituals to demystify dying. When active by transit, it can be painful; her scythe cuts down harvest in its prime. But as an initiator of loss she wants to help us face our fears about dying and loss. Do we believe this life is all there is? Is death really something to fear? Don’t we experience little losses, daily?
She may challenge our attachments but Ceres is also present when we’re called into care-taking roles. A prominent Ceres, say, in a Solar Return can indicate a year of satisfaction through care-taking and nurturing. I adopted my dog during the year Ceres was conjunct my IC. Another client became a foster mother to a series of cats when her Ceres was astrologically active with Pluto- (so Ceres/Pluto isn’t all difficult news –she did endure some wicked trials surrounding those pets, but she is still fostering to this day). Ceres doesn’t ask us to become a mother, but that we find an outlet for our nurturing instincts. Fostering animals -and plants- is a fabulous way to do this. A client of mine works for the forest service. I love this: She lives on her astro-cartography Ceres line!
Which introduces the idea of step-parenting and foster parents. As a stepmother myself, I often wondered what planet to use as a significator for a step or foster parent. What planet would tell me more about my relationship to a stepmother- or my role as stepmom? The Moon didn’t seem adequate, especially when there’s more than one mother figure in one’s life. Enter Ceres. In myth, after she lost Persephone she disguised her Goddess aspect and went into a village where she was hired for a job as a nanny. In other words, she stepped into the role of mother for another’s child (this could also be fulfilled by a grandmother, a “manny”, or foster parent). So transits to Ceres can tell us more about our relationship to our step-in nurturers, a likewise, our Ceres to our experience as step-nurturer.
I also noticed themes of “empty-nesting” and self-sufficiency at Ceres times. Children leaving home for college can be harrowing, an empty time for one whose identity has revolved around being a mother. It’s natural to ask, Who am I without my children?, grieve or become depressed for a period. During these times, Ceres is often active by transit for the mother- or primary caretaker. One way of dealing with loss of a mother role is to find someone or something new to nurture, as Ceres did. One of my clients literally re-enacted this part of the Ceres myth exactly after the last of her three children left home and she decided to become a mom coach to new mothers. Of course, it’s an ideal time to nurture the self. To envision one’s identity as more multi-faceted than mother, an all-consuming role, is one of the biggest challenges a woman can face at this time.
Equally, Ceres is a symbol for self-sufficiency- how good we are at taking care of our self, and others by extension, because that’s just what the Great Mother, and nurturers do. A newly divorced client was facing the question of how to support her children as a single mother for the first time. Natal Ceres in Capricorn in the second house was being transited by Pluto. I suggested this would be a time that she could develop new income sources, out of necessity, but that it would feel good to do so. She did exactly that. I imagine that difficult aspects to Ceres can also point to patterns of extreme self-neglect, too, and of course, blockages around providing for one’s own basic physical and spiritual needs.
In summary, Ceres is worth getting to know. With Neptune conjunct my Ceres, for a long time I wasn’t aware of her presence (it’s odd how often that happens with Neptune, how Neptune can “disappear” an entire personality function, rendering it invisible to our self). Regardless, many astrologers don’t use the asteroids because they haven’t been integrated into our shared language, yet; unlike transits to Pluto, Jupiter or the Moon, “I’m having a transit to my Ceres” telepathically often conveys nothing. But I hope this helps with that. For you, just as she was for me, she could be a missing link, helping you to understand how to accept, nourish and love your self more authentically.
P.S. -What to know what Goddess wisdom Ceres has for you, in your birth chart? Order your custom Asteroid Goddess report today.
image sources: Adobe photo and Pinterest
well said.. very interesting post and i really need to feed myself..
Very interesting article! Hmm.. I have Ceres in 3rd house, in Aquarius, in Grand Trine with my Moon and North Node, exactly opposite my Sun.
I can’t really cook, I was never good at watering my plants or feeding my fish, or generally nourishing others (and myself) in a physical sense. I have a hard time being in my body, anyway, always wandering in some other dimensions XD However, I love sharing information, esp. what nourishes the soul.. I work as a teacher, too.
I always wanted to have children, many in fact. But, being over 30, I start to give up on my dream to have half a dozen :))) My 11th house Moon is conjunct Pluto and Saturn, and square Mars in Cancer in the 8th house.. will I ever have children? I guess I still consider having children one of my life missions, but I learnt to let go of that iron grip-like attachment that I had in my twenties.
Thank you very much for this inspiring article!!!
My Ceres is in the 11th house in Aries, squaring my Moon in the 1st house and having a trine with Mercury (that’s probably why I feel like sharing! 🙂 ) xxx
Ceres conjuncts my Capricorn ascendant and NN :- I grow veggies, am a decent cook and have raised a step-daughter. I’ve had to work hard at learning to ‘raise’ and nurture myself.
Ceres and Vesta straddle my cousin’s Gemini ascendant :- near-death with anorexia in her teens and now in her fifties, she still struggles with food and self-esteem. Can’t cook at all, but delights in ‘deep-and-meaningful’ conversation and is a wonderful friend.
Excellent article with much to think about – thank you!
Hi Jessica, see you have an award for your Astrology Blog. Well deserved indeed!! And this is a great article and just what I need to think on right now. I have Ceres in Cancer at 29 degrees in the 8th House. Someone said a long time ago I would be good at Hospice. I surely gently guide two parents through the door of death while both were under Hospice care. Everyone was amazed I could handle this being an only child. And then there is the childless aspect. I wanted children but as life took on more and more impossibilities for me to do so, I had to learn to let go of that idea. My Ceres is in mutual aspect to my Virgo moon in my 10th house as well so life has focused on Work and more work, when I want to get off this track. I do seem to play the mother though to a lot of young women in my work arena. Of course they are much younger than I. One thing I realize too is I do not know how to feed myself other than through cooking and food. I LOVE to cook and I LOVE to eat a yummy meal that is home cooked and share it. I wish I could learn other ways to nourish my soul. Venus in Capricorn in the Second house which is not directly opp. Ceres or directly flowing to my Virgo Moon, has so many doubts about what I should value, how valuable I am or not and how to value myself in general. I think I also need to learn how to nourish Venus, but she and Ceres need to take turns : ) thank you again for another indepth and nurturing post!
A friend of mine has Ceres in Aries, in the 8th House. As Uranus came within orb of a conjunction with Ceres, her period suddenly stopped. She didn’t have a period for well over a year as Uranus transited back and forth. After going through multiple tests it was decided that this lack of period was largely due to extreme stress and anxiety (Uranus in the 8th) as well as digestive issues. Her period finally started the day that Mercury retrograde backed up onto her Ascendant, interestingly enough – at this point Uranus had moved on. Since Ceres is associated with the menstrual cycle and women’s fertility, I found this example really interesting. Thanks for your post!
Hi Jessica, Uranus and Sun are going to conjunct with my natal Ceres Sun soon As I’m an Aquarius Taurus is my forth house. I am nervous with this constellation. Would you predict this?
Hi, see Lilith’s comment regarding tr. Uranus conjunct Ceres- how interesting!
You might want to be open to explore different ways of nurturing your self during this time frame. Literally. Many people will find they are changing their diet while Uranus transits Taurus.
Hi Jessica,
I try not to read too much regarding astrological aspects and transits bc I tend to view everything negatively. My daughter was just born recently in October and I noticed she has a sun conjunction with Ceres in her 3rd house. What is your insight on this natal aspect? Thanks
She’s a nurturer and caretaker, Christine. Her identity is fused with the Ceres Great Mother archetype.
Take heart: New mothers, especially, have a tendency to be extremely sensitive to anything negative regarding their kids. It’s biological– your mama bear nurturing/protective instinct is on high alert for you right now! Congratulations xx
I currently have transiting Ceres and Jupiter conjunct my Ascendant. This is also trine my natal Saturn and Sun in a grand trine. I think this should be a good aspect, but with Saturn thrown in there I always get worried. My daughter is having some health issues, I am unemployed and a single mom. I’m hoping for some good news soon. Any ideas on how to maximize the positivity of this transit?
Hello Jessica,
Great article. I have Ceres at 25 Capricorn in my 7th house. Obviously Saturn and then Pluto will be crossing in a few months. I’m a little concerned. I am a mother of grown up children but I’ve never had a very good love life. I’ve been seeing someone who just seems to have disappeared. This has happened to me a few times in my life. I just wonder what this latest set of transits to my Ceres could mean.
Great read… there is another Ceres/Neptune myth— the Arcadian myth of how Ceres tan from Neptune (Poisidon) and turned herself into a mare to hide from him. Upon seeing her, he turned himself into a stallion and raped her and she gave birth to Despoina. I think it’s fair to say The Ceres Neptune conj can manifest in sexual exploitation and distortions.
I wonder if you have any insights to offer for my natal Ceres being exactly conjunct my Sun (in Leo in my 4th house) AND Saturn only 3 degrees in the same sign too? Thankyou
So true. I lost my dear Mom as Ceres was 3 degrees conjunct Pluto. My transiting Pluto was conjunct my natal Sun also.
My beloved dog Penelope died of thyroid cancer in 2015 when Pluto transited my 6th house Ceres in Capricorn exact degree. I immediately looked it up at the time and it was profound. Today my son’s cat has died. I’m not done looking at all the possibilities, but I do see solar arc Ceres exactly conjuncting his 7th house Saturn in Cancer.
I’m so sorry, Donna -for both of you. Yes, that Ceres signature fits. xx Jessica
Best I’ve read on Ceres in a good long while, thank you, Jessica.
My Ceres is in Scorpio square my natal moon Leo (exact) part of a Grand Square (sun/Jupiter/Chiron 3rd/6th/9th/12th). I repeat patterns learnt in childhood in relationships –three-sided usually.
Transiting Ceres is square my Saturn opps Venus (Sun’s ruler) atm. I give too much. Receive too little (and put up with it–hoping for change). I am in the process of ending ALL old relationships. Or shall I just say the ones that are one-sided.(Have you read The Drama of Being a Child. Alice Miller (Virago 1987)? ‘Knowing’ and ‘Doing’ are different things and change is hard because in the beginning it doesn’t feel natural. Nth node Libra 8th. Nodal reversal atm…nothing much is light-hearted.
(Natal Pluto Virgo conj. DEC. sq MC, too) Transiting Uranus opps Juptiter (exact) now…but this time I reached for the new while leaving the old behind . New people: across age groups, cultures…I like my world with all sorts of people in in. I do not like and will not support mono-cultures.
Love that shot of you against the green. I am a farmer’s daughter.