Venus Retrograde Fun With Name Asteroids
Why am I suddenly surrounded by Elizabeths?
Venus Retrograde began this past Saturday, and that may bring people from your past back into your life. If everyone you reconnect with seems to have the same first name, you should totally look at the name asteroids.
When astronomers discover asteroids, they’re allowed to name the asteroids. Astrologers have since discovered that the names given to asteroids can be strangely relevant to the asteroids’ placement in natal and event charts. For example, even Wikipedia doesn’t know who asteroid 164 Eva is named after, but my name is Eva, and that asteroid is conjunct the Ascendant in my natal chart.
Looking to name asteroids therefore seems like a logical way to investigate why I have been surrounded by Elizabeths for the past several months. It began in January, when I put out the call for contributors to what became Impossible Dreams while Mercury and Mars were both retrograde. I emailed as many astrologers as I could think of, including several members of a local astrology group that had drifted apart some time ago. I’d known Elizabeth Lyon through both that astrology group and Willamette Writers, which I was involved with during my fiction writing years. She wound up being a very helpful collaborator on Impossible Dreams, and not just as a writer — she also has more experience with editing and publishing than I do, so she was able to advise me on those issues.
In June, I became obsessed with the controversy over Elizabeth Gilbert’s canceled novel The Snow Forest. Then, I ordered Melanie Gurley’s book on Venus Retrograde, and her Eugene-based publisher, Elizabeth Russell, texted with me to arrange local pickup. Finally, this past Saturday, I met up with Elizabeth #4 — not into astrology herself, but long ago she invited me to join the art club where I met the late Johanna Mitchell, my introduction to the in-person astrology world. (2010 was a very different time regarding the world’s openness to astrology, especially with me being a status-conscious Leo from a relatively conservative background, so it was crucial for me to be able to connect with Johanna over a noncontroversial interest in art while I gradually worked up the confidence to pursue the fun stuff more openly.)
So, what’s going on with the Elizabeth name asteroid in my chart? Astro.com provides an extensive list of name asteroids, but there’s not an exact match to Elizabeth. However, in an engaging presentation at NORWAC 2023, Demetra George pointed out that multiple spellings of a name can be operative for name asteroids; in her case study regarding King Charles III and Queen Camilla, the asteroids Camelia and Camilla both made significant appearances.
I ran my chart with 412 Elisabetha, 25337 Elisabetta, and 25036 Elizabethof. In my natal chart, 412 Elisabetha and 25337 Elisabetta are both in the early degrees of Taurus — exactly where the transiting North Node in Taurus has been hanging out for the past few months!
Meanwhile, my chart is an awesome case study for my own name asteroids. Natally, I have 164 Eva conjunct my Ascendant and 13658 Sylvester (how my last name is pronounced, though not how it’s spelled) conjunct my Midheaven. As I write about this, of course the ongoing transit of asteroid 164 Eva is conjunct my natal Mercury!
Let me know in the comments if you’ve had any interesting experiences with name asteroids lately!