Minor body
Juno in astrology
Juno carries the myth of Hera, wife of Zeus, whose story is mostly about a marriage she would not leave and could not make faithful. It is read as the placement of commitment: not who you are attracted to, which is Venus, but what you actually require from a partnership in order to stay in it.
How old this reading is
Discovered 1804; astrological use is largely from the 1970s onward
Also called: 3 Juno, Hera.
Juno at a glance
| What it is | An asteroid |
|---|---|
| Discovered | 1804, by Karl Harding |
| Cycle | About 4.4 years |
| Time in a sign | About 4 to 5 months, varying with the orbit |
| Retrograde | Once a year, for about three months |
| Governs | Commitment, marriage, partnership terms, jealousy, equality |
Real objects that are not planets: a centaur, and four of the largest asteroids. All were discovered long after the tradition was formed, so their readings are modern by necessity.
What Juno means in a birth chart
The useful distinction is between attraction and terms. Venus describes what appeals to you. Juno is read as what a relationship has to provide before you will treat it as binding, which is often something quite different and much less romantic: fairness, loyalty, intellectual respect, autonomy, or simply being taken seriously.
Because the Hera myth is about betrayal as much as marriage, Juno also carries the tradition's reading of jealousy and of the imbalances people tolerate in order to stay. It is one of the less flattering placements and one of the more recognisable.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between Juno and Venus?
- Venus describes what attracts you. Juno describes what you need from a commitment in order to stay in it, which is often a matter of fairness and respect rather than attraction.
Where is your Juno?
None of this describes you until you know where your Juno actually sits. Every chart on this site now includes it, calculated from the Swiss Ephemeris alongside the ten planets.
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