Hebe enters Gemini

 Hebe

by Charles Picqué (1826)

Either sandwiched or nestled between two other asteroids we follow here on the blog, asteroid Hebe enters Gemini on April 11th at 9:07pm (UT/+0).

And which other asteroids am I referring to? Well, right behind Hebe wanders Sabine, symbol of enforced servitude. (Yes, slavery.) Ahead of Hebe stands Industria, symbol of hard work or ‘industriousness.’

This order will remain intact until April 26th when Hebe will overtake and move ahead of Industria in moving towards a conjunction with Aldebaran (a fixed star symbol of integrity) late on April 30th as it becomes May 1st (as calculated using a UT/+0 time zone).

Fixed stars are something like ‘outposts’ in the zodiac. They represent durable points of manifestation, which suggests that Hebe the Servant is at this point moving out of and away from the concept or experience of servitude (Sabine) towards whatever symbolizes true integrity in each of our lives separately, and collectively.

If you’re someone with a Gemini Sun, Moon, Saturn or Ascendant, Hebe’s entering Gemini and spending the rest of April moving towards a conjunction with Aldebaran at 9 Gemini suggests us you’re being brought more towards a recognition of what your life should be about (Sun), or what your values should be or prioritize (Moon), or which of your various thrusts or projects needs to take precedent now (Saturn).

Or maybe just how you need to be more attentive  and deliberate in what you choose to do or say – or what you choose not to do or say (Ascendant)!

Those with said positions in Sagittarius will be finding out now how well their efforts work, and have an opportunity to refine how they’re doing what they do and get better responses. Will you want to do it? Maybe yes, maybe no – but that’s part of the whole Hebe thing: how well do you cope with the fact you don’t run the world?

(Honest, you don’t!)

Folks with that same list of positions in Pisces or Virgo will now have a chance to capitalize on whatever they’re up to or into, though it’s going to require a shift of focus and an ‘amalgamating’ of a new facet,  means/outlet/venue or POV into their current methodology. This isn’t about giving anything up, just taking on a more ‘dynamic’ quality.

Those with positions in Taurus and Cancer (the one-sign-away semi-sextile positions) or the Scorpio-Capricorn realms actually face the toughest aspects with this Hebe shift since something about how they’re going about trying to service their (ultimate) cause needs altering. It’s not that the change is so hard, it’s that you’re likely to feel offended – you know, that old ‘so my best wasn’t good enough?’ moment.

I know….it smarts! But try to let the ego stuff pass then try, try again.

And no – I’m not leaving out the Aries and Leo folk, though Hebe in Gemini for you is an opportunity and challenge all in one!

Why so? Well, that’s because Hebe is about service and Aries and Leo are very self-determinative signs. But hey – maybe you want more respect, appreciation and a way to earn bigger, better opportunities? If so, think in terms of what would ‘work’ for others. This is a fine time for that in your world.

A simple diagram of Hebe's orbit. The Sun is the dot in the middle,

Earth's orbit is shown in blue. Outside Earth's orbit is that of Mars

- in red - with the outer ring (it's actually a pale pink though I know

that's hard to see) is the orbital path of planet Jupiter. Between

Jupiter and Mars being where we find the asteroid belt, Hebe

orbits on the 'near' side of said grouping.

diagram courtesy of Reyk

As for how long Hebe is going to be in Gemini, that answer is “a couple of months” – Hebe will be moving on into Cancer come June 7.

Maybe you’re asking just how important Hebe really is. Isn’t Hebe just another of the jillion or so asteroids wandering around the asteroid belt?

Well, yes. And as far as that goes, Hebe doesn’t do anything all that dramatic. When at it’s aphelion (the farthest distance from the Sun) its only 2.914 AU out there…which in light of the asteroid belt’s extreme being 4.9 AU (Jupiter’s closest point) puts Hebe pretty much in the middle of the pack at its farthest from the Sun. 

As for its perihelion (closest point to the Sun), Hebe’s celestial noodling brings it to around 1.937 AU…which is pretty darn close (in outer space terms) to Mars’ outer reach, which is at 1.6658 AU.

So that means as symbolic factors go, Hebe is one of those which is closer (maybe more “in our face”?) than other things. The metaphysics of our solar system being all about ‘starting at the center and working out…’ that also means that Hebe is one of those concepts we meet up with Hebe sooner rather than later. Service, or the usefulness of what we do, is a primary, not ‘oh, by the way’ consideration in life.

Or at least it probably should be.

There are a couple of ways to think of Hebe. It’s either use usefulness of what we do or doing something which is of service – i.e., useful to others. Given that in

Olympian terms Hebe is the official bearer of ambrosia to the honcho gods, this latter idea is emphasized in the sense that ambrosia feeds and preserves immortal life. And if we think of the whole of the asteroid belt as those things we learn on our way to accomplishing things, maybe Hebe is a bit about ‘giving back’ or passing on what we’ve learned to others…even if that’s simple sharing!

Obviously where Hebe falls in your natal chart has something to do with how you view Hebe qualities and questions, but given how the mass of this one single asteroid is (at last count) estimated to be one-half of one percent of the total mass of the entire asteroid belt, Hebe isn’t quite your most minor of minor points.

So here’s opportunity knocking. Will you answer the door? And if you do, what will you do once that door gets opened?