Minor Planet Basics
What is a Minor Planet ?
The focus of Star Maps Substack is to explore the astrological use of what are called Minor Planets, otherwise known as “near earth objects”. These are housed in a massive database maintained by the Minor Planet Center under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union. While this database of 1.5 million near earth objects is constantly updated, only a small fraction of them have been named, to date: < 30,000.
Over the past ten years, I have endeavored to test and define the astrological validity of the named Minor Planets. Given the sheer volume of data they represent, I found it helpful to create guidelines to reduce the extraneous “noise” of having too much information. When these guidelines are followed, the Minor Planets have shown an uncanny, often shocking, elegance in their coherence to theme.
How to Choose a Minor Planet
Direct correspondence
MP Nanking for Treaty of Nanking
Extension
MP Zhongguo for China (Zhongguo is “China” in Chinese)
Implication
MP Morpheus for the Opium Wars (opium-derived morphine was named after Morpheus)
Be Careful with Orbs
Use orbs < 1°, unless the MP is in a very tight stellium.
Ukraine’s jam-packed 7th house provides a good example:
MP Senator, MP Black, MP Buck, and MP Waterloo, all within 4°28’ of each other.
Choosing Between Multiple Minor Planets
You will often find a number of MPs that reference the same target name. Let’s use the example of a client named Neil Smith, whose wife is named Anne. For all three of these names, there are a great many candidates.
To pick the ones that are significant, simply enter all the possible MPs and look for those with the most exact orbs and meaningful placements. Then add a significant synastry chart to further compare.
Here we see that “Neil”, the husband MP, and “Anne”, the spouse MP, and the surname MP all show precise alignment.
Unusual Ways to Find a Minor Planet
When the normal ways to find a Minor Planet fail to yield results, don’t give up. The IAU Minor Planet List is an international database, and spellings often differ from their English equivalents:
Searching for “Socrates” will fail, but “Sokrates” works.
I’ve also found instances where an MP name is a homolog, or “sounds like”, the target term:
“Liszt” for “list”
Go By the Numbers
When the event or theme you are researching is a number, don’t hesitate to use it. An excellent example of this is “911”, for the September 11 Twin Tower Attacks. I found that MP 911, which was named for Agamemnon, worked flawlessly across all the charts for that event.
Here we see the Sun position in the chart for the North Tower attack. It is perfectly conjunct MP 911 (Agamemnon) on the 12th house cusp:
Here, in synastry with the World Trade Center incorporation chart (red), is WTC MP 911 (Agamemnon) on the IC of the North Tower attack. This implies that the origin of the attack had something to do with WTC, Inc. and its owner.
Using an Unnamed Minor Planet
I have found one instance that justifies the use of an unnamed MP. In researching Nikola Tesla’s patent for the first robotic device, the Telautomaton, I used the patent number itself: 613809. MP 613809 has no name, but it was clearly significant in all of the related charts.
Here is just one synastry example: Nikola Tesla (blue) and Telautomaton Patent (red). Tesla’s natal Sun is perfectly conjunct MP 613809, which trines the Patent Sun conjunct MP Tesla. (And while we are here with Mr. Tesla, I can’t resist pointing out that Tesla’s MP Tesla is perfectly conjunct the Patent MP Robot.)
Minor Planet Humor
If nothing else, the Minor Planets have a great sense of humor. I will add more examples in future, but for now will simply post this recent jest about my upcoming move:
“Leaving MP Neverland to look for my MP Refugium. It’s been MP Ruff at times, but moving is a great way to get rid of all the accumulated MP Junko. MP Ask that you MP Bless me as I exit those MP Swangin doors!”
(More will be added here from time to time . . .)1
One thing that has worked well for me with MPs may apply here . . Let's use 322 for example. We associate that number with Skull and Bones . . so find a group of charts, the more the better, that relate to the theme of Skull and Bones, Put in your target MPs and TEST them.
The MPs are NOT like the traditional planets, where everyone has a Venus, a Moon and a Mars, and we all agree on the general characteristics of these planets, and so on. MPs are a breed apart. If MP 322 is important in one person's chart, if may have zero relevance in yours. And, if 322, as an occult number, has nothing to do with the theme of a given chart, even if it is perfectly conjunct an angle or planet, it serves no apparent purpose