Working with the Sterile Fire of Vesta

by Jenn Zahrt

The sterile fire of Vesta
 Source: provided by TMA, art director Kalyja Rain

In late 2020, the asteroid Vesta entered tropical Virgo for an extended stay, ingressing on October 23, 2020, going retrograde at 21º 24’ on January 20, 2021, stationing direct at 6º 47’ Virgo on April 21, and finally emerging from the Virgin’s clutches and entering the Scales on July 19, 2021. The same week I realized this would happen, my friend Meteorite Mike sent me an email offering new specimens of space stuff, including a crop of Vesta meteorites. Before this moment, I had only turned to asteroids for limited divinatory fun (like looking for asteroids with significant names, and finding the one named after you conjoined the MC of someone you started a business with). Otherwise, asteroids eluded my astrological practice. Now Vesta called to me, and I began an extended dialogue with her through the creation of seven talismanic oils. Along the way, she taught me some potent new lessons about her work, and how to interpret her that I would like to share.

Astronomical Vesta

Let’s first examine the space object. Asteroid 4 Vesta, the second-largest object in the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars, takes 3.6 Earth years (1,325 days) to orbit the Sun. Vesta was the fourth asteroid discovered in this region of the solar system by the German astronomer Wilhelm Olbers on March 29, 1807, hence the number in front of its official name. Olbers named it Vesta after the Roman goddess of the hearth. Astrologers later used this appellation to start assigning meaning to the celestial object.

The physical makeup of Vesta suggests that it is a failed planet. If Jupiter had not formed, Vesta may have become a planet similar to Mars or Earth. The basalt on its crust indicates that lava once flowed there. The shape of the asteroid betrays evidence of celestial violence. Vesta’s South Pole received an impact so huge, fragments of it hurtled into space. It is claimed that 6% of all meteorites that fall to Earth come from Vesta. (1) Seven of them arrived on my doorstep through the mail, just as Vesta ingressed into Virgo.

Historical Vesta(ls)

To approach the Roman goddess Vesta properly, I dug into the history of her veneration and the cult of the Vestal virgins in ancient Roman religion and society. The fire of Vesta, tended in her temple, the aedes Vestae, symbolized the security and health of the Roman state. At any given time, six Vestal virgins tended the flame and performed religious rites critical to the maintenance of Rome.

A female selected for the order from a prominent Roman family, usually at the age of ten, went through a rite of initiation in which she wore the same braided hairstyle as a Roman bride, which represented the liminal status between the bride’s family of origin and her new husband’s family. (2) The Vestals, however, wore their locks in this fashion for the duration of their 30-year term, a constant reminder of their liminal status. Scholar Robin Wildfang argues that “the Vestals were at the same time members of the Roman virgines and also non-members of Rome’s family structure.” (3) This unique position allowed the Vestals to serve and represent Rome as a whole on a religious level “without any risk of pollution from a family cult.” (4) In effect, the Vestals divorced the families they grew up with, and joined an order of priestesses who served their society as a whole, as a supra-familial structure. Put another way, the Vestals were married to the entire State.

The term pollution is significant. Wildfang claims that the rituals the Vestals performed were “neither fertility rites nor reflections of traditional female activities,” but “rites concerned with purification, storage, and the preparation of grain for food use.” (5) The word “sterilization” comes to mind. Keep your kitchen clean so as not to contaminate your food. Failure to maintain a sterile environment leads to sickness, or worse.

Sterile Fire

The flames
 Source: Hans, Pixabay

Ancient Romans understood fire to be either fertile or sterile. Discussions of “fertile” fires are always gendered masculine and often associated with the fire god Vulcan, and “infertile” or “sterile” fires are coded female and always associated with the goddess Vesta. (6) This can be seen in ancient literature concerning Vesta: Ovid claims, “no bodies have been born from (its) flame,” and Dionysius of Halicarnassus says that its fire “is unfruitful,” a judgment also expressed by Plutarch. (7)

The religious rites in which Vesta’s fire plays a role center on purification. (8) Beyond tending the flame in the aedes Vestae, the Vestals used combinations of salt, pure water, and fire to create substances that aided in keeping animal sacrifices sterilized, grain stocks uncontaminated, and homes clean and warm. Rather than focusing on feeding a single family, the Vestals were charged with creating the conditions for the state’s food stores to stay pure and fend off disease, thus nourishing society as a whole.

By no longer belonging to a single family, the Vestal ensured that her life remained centered around the activities of the aedes Vestae and society at large. The vow of chastity and emphasis on virginity was less about not having pleasurable sex, and more about not having sex that would lead to procreation. To procreate would suture a Vestal back into a familial relationship that would distract from her service to the goddess Vesta and the Roman state. Author Penelope Trunk once told me mothering is “permanent interruption.” (9) Mothering a single human child (or more) would cause a Vestal to lose focus.

In Latin, “focus” means “hearth, fireplace.” Interestingly, the first recorded instance of focus meaning “point of convergence” comes from astronomer/astrologer Johannes Kepler in 1604, referring to optics and the way one can use a lens to set fire to an object. (10) Vesta aflame.

The concept of “sterile fire” casts the Vestal vow of chastity in an entirely new light: creating fertility not at an individual, but a societal level. Put on your own oxygen mask before helping others.

Magical Vesta

I also chose to meet astrological Vesta through the creation of talismanic oils. My premise for this stemmed from herbal alchemy, wherein the student creates their “simple seven,” choosing an herb for each traditional planet (including the Sun and Moon) to create a tincture called a spagyric. (11) Through making (and ingesting) these tinctures, the adept learns about the nature of each planet, and their alchemical wisdom grows. Thus, I wanted to create an oil combining facets of Vesta with traditional planets, her traditional herbs, and a piece of actual Vesta.

I dove into the history of the Vestals again, learning about the first three known heads of the Vestal order (Gegania, Veneneia, Canuleia), as well as one known for rekindling the Vestal flame with her garment when it threatened to extinguish (Aemelia), the longest serving Vestal (Occia), and the last known Vestal (Coelia Concordia). Through a process of meditation and petition, I landed on the following planetary associations: Gegania (sounds like “gigantic” Jupiter), Veneneia (a name resonant with Venus), Canuleia (another name resonance: Mercury rules channels and canals), Aemelia (her Mars-like bravery), Occia (Saturn for her longevity of service comprising 57 years, two Saturn cycles), and Coelia Concordia (the Moon due to her status as last, and the Moon’s relative youth and quick speed compared to the other visible planets). Given that only six Vestals served at any one time, I needed another concept to create a seventh oil. I chose Rhea Silvia, mother of the founders of Rome, Romulus, and Remus, and the mythical mother of the Vestal order. Due to her foundational status, I associated her with the Sun.

Finally, in addition to various herbs (such as bay leaves, rosemary, frankincense, hyssop, and thyme, to name a few), I added one Vesta meteorite to each bottle of oil. The reasoning behind this stems from the magical principle of contagion. By being in contact with a piece of the asteroid, the oil becomes a way to interact with the actual, astronomical Vesta, charged with magical, astrological significance. Again, I revisited the astronomy of Vesta to learn which meteorites came from its crust versus deeper layers, and through a process of consideration made matches between the meteorites and the oils.

Combining herbal wisdom, astronomical data, historical record, and astrological timing, these seven Vestal oils effectively form a miniature Vestal order. Their planetary associations align with a daily devotional practice that, as with herbal alchemy, allows you to tune into every facet of the traditional seven planets. Working with the Vestal oils applies her sterile fire to those planets, washing away contaminates, cleansing the doors of perception, centering you back in your sovereignty.

Astrological Vesta

In the Temple of Vesta
 Source: Constantin Hölscher, 1901, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

As a result of creating and working with these seven oils, I propose a nuanced interpretation of natal and transiting Vesta. The house where natal Vesta is found points to an area of life where you must “go Vestal” in order to serve a higher order of fertility in your life. Others are not invited here, except perhaps for a few chosen fellow “Vestals” on your path.

When natal Vesta is in the 4th house, for example, your home is your temple and being strict around who may visit is essential for you. Natal Vesta in the 3rd house guards what may enter the mind. The rigidity around learning stems not from intolerance, but a need to keep thoughts free of whatever is perceived as “contamination.” Natal Vesta in the 2nd can indicate being particular not just about money, but also food and what enters the body (the 2nd house traditionally indicates everything that supports the 1st house, the body). Natal Vesta in the 9th house loves to travel alone, whenever possible.

A mother recently reached out to me to ask how she could use astrology to support her son. His natal Vesta is in his 11th. He needs alone time with friends, and yet, he’ll be quite choosey about who these friends are. If she can resist hovering and create the conditions for this, he will flourish. I reminded her that her own natal Vesta is in her 7th house, indicating her need for quality time with her spouse in order for her to keep herself recharged and ready to provide for others.

As planets and other chart factors get involved by aspect, those facets of your life interface with this need for self-focus in ways described by the placement and aspect in question. I would avoid adding “Sun sign” characteristics to Vesta’s behavior in the signs. In my client experience, house placement is more revealing about where the “focus” needs to be. When you identify your Vesta placement, and then also its ruler, you can see how to work with Vesta to create a more devotional, determined temple in that area of your life. Realizing the place in your chart that needs sacred solitude can alleviate social pressures to “share” that part of life with others.

Transiting Vesta applies its “sterile fire” to the domain of life represented by the house it courses through. Here are some ideas for interpretation: In the 1st, adjust your style to suit your current iteration of self. In the 2nd, modify your diet or clarify spending habits. In the 3rd, think about what you think about, and what you don’t. In the 4th, spruce your literal hearth, or dive into ancestry. In the 5th, find creative flow and make something only you can make. In the 6th, perform any necessary maintenance and fix your routines. In the 7th, address contractual relationships, and in the 8th, your joint enmeshments, longings, and fears. In the 9th, get lost, either literally, or at least in your intellectual and spiritual life. In the 10th, reset your orientation to your vocation. In the 11th, tidy up your associations and support networks. Finally, in the 12th, dip into a bout of nostalgia for lost pasts, unlived futures, and dreams cresting your conscious horizon. Add more house meanings depending on your astrological tradition, and you’ll see how Vesta’s sterile fire can restore that area of your life, eliminating built-up gunk so you may flourish anew.

In conclusion, my extended walk with Vesta pointed me to see her as a more personal, feminine Sun. Vesta is a fire we can handle, and indeed must handle, for us to keep ourselves warm, fed, and happy. The Sun is necessary, yes, and also unreachable. To visit the Sun would spell certain death. Vesta’s placement demands a sacred self-focus, and when we truly honor her flame, everyone around us benefits.

References and Notes:
All URLs accessed in September 2023.
 1. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/blog/2013/1/the-giant-asteroid-a-retrospective
 2. Robin Lorsch Wildfang, Rome’s Vestal Virgins, Routledge, 2006, pp. 11–13.
 3. Ibid., p. 109.
 4. Ibid.
 5. Ibid.
 6. Ibid., p. 8.
 7. Ibid.
 8. Ibid., p. 9.
 9. Private phone call with Penelope Trunk in May of 2021.
 10. https://www.etymonline.com/word/focus#etymonline_v_11722
 11. For more on this please see Robert A. Bartlett, “Green Gold: Alchemy in the Plant Realm” Verdant Gnosis, Vol. 1, Revelore Press, 2017, pp. 11–22.

Published in: The Mountain Astrologer, Aries Nox 2022.

Author:
Jenn Zahrt PhD is the senior editor of The Mountain Astrologer, the founder of Revelore Press, and the director of the Celestial Arts Education Library (CAELi) in Olympia, WA. She spoke about Vesta (and more) at the Northwest Astrology Conference (NORWAC) in 2022. You may check out her Vesta oils on her website: www.jennzahrt.com

© 2022/23 - Jenn Zahrt

Taken from this issue:
This article was published in The Mountain Astrologer, Cancer Sol 2023 and can be purchased here.

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