Vesta

Vesta was discovered in 1807 and is named for the Roman goddess of the hearth. It is one of the four asteroids used by modern astrologers, and the brightest of them in the sky.

What it stands for

• devotion
• focus
• the hearth
• sacrifice

In the birth chart

In the birth chart Vesta is read as what a person is devoted to and what they will sacrifice for it. Its sign and house show where the inner flame is kept.

The name and the myth

The priestesses of Vesta, the Vestal Virgins, tended the sacred fire in her temple in Rome, and if the flame went out it was a bad omen for the city. That image of a flame kept alive is the core of her astrological meaning.

How astrology reads it

Astrology uses Vesta for focus, commitment to a calling and the cost of that commitment. A strong Vesta is said to give devotion and a need for solitude, and the shadow side is sensitivity to criticism.

Tarot, astrology and numerology are traditions of symbolism. This page says what the tradition associates with its subject. It does not predict anything and it is not advice.