By Dorian Grimault, astrologer · Published · updated
Juno, the third asteroid ever discovered, is named after the wife of Jupiter, queen of the Roman gods, known as Hera to the Greeks. In modern astrology, she has less to do with seduction than with commitment: what you expect from a partnership that lasts, the place you take in it, and what hurts you when the balance breaks. Your AstralPro report reads her in the domain of love life, after placing her in the positions table.
In Greek mythology, Hera is the goddess of marriage and of married women. She marries Zeus, who cheats on her constantly, and many of her stories show her jealous, vengeful toward her husband's mistresses and their children. But Hera is also the one who holds on: she never leaves the bond, she defends its dignity and status, and she presides over lawful unions. The Romans honoured her as Juno, protector of wives and of births, and, according to the most widespread etymology, the month of June owes her its name.
This myth gives Juno an ambivalence that astrologers keep intact: on one side, faithfulness and the demand to be recognized as a full partner; on the other, jealousy, possessiveness and the suffering caused by inequality within the couple.
Juno was discovered in 1804 by Karl Harding. Her astrological use began with Eleanor Bach's ephemeris in 1973 and grew in the 1980s, notably with Demetra George. Her reading is therefore recent and specific to modern psychological astrology.
Several themes are attributed to her:
Juno thus differs from Venus, which describes what you love and what attracts you, and from house 7, which describes the ground of the couple. Juno speaks of the pact itself. Some authors link her to Libra, the sign of contracts and reciprocity, or to Scorpio, the sign of bonds that commit deeply; these links remain proposals, with no value as a domicile, and your report does not apply them.
Juno has her line in the positions table of the natal report: position to the degree and minute, sign, house. The Dignity column shows a dash, because AstralPro leaves the asteroids outside the system of dignities: no domicile, no exaltation, and not the word “peregrine” either, which is reserved for the planets.
No planet block in chapter I, and no line in “The complete aspect grid”, which only calculates the ten planets, the North Node, Lilith, Chiron, the Ascendant and the Midheaven. Juno is read in chapter IV, Life Domains, under Love life, from the angle of commitment and partnership, and in no other domain. This domain starts from Venus, Mars, House 5 and the Descendant with House 7, which the brief asks to name as what you look for in the other. Juno adds her own note: commitment, sacred marriage, balance in partnership. Always in psychological terms: the report never speaks of the couple in an explicit or predictive way.
For Camille Morel, AstralPro's sample chart (fictional data), Juno sits at 12°27′ Libra, in house 11, and it is the Love life rubric that reads this placement. Libra is the sign of agreement and reciprocity: here, commitment is thought of as a balance to be negotiated by two, where each keeps their place. House 11, the house of friendships and shared projects, suggests that a lasting bond needs a dimension of complicity and common ideals, almost an alliance between equals.
The Love life domain does not stop there. In Camille's chart, Venus is in Scorpio, house 12, in detriment and in sect; the cusp of House 7 and the Descendant are at 15°59′ Taurus, ruled by Venus. There is therefore a contrast to read: a Taurus Descendant that seeks tangible stability, a Venus in Scorpio that loves deeply and in secret, and a Juno in Libra that asks for fairness. The aspect her data assigns to this rubric is Saturn square Pluto, orb 1°24′. Juno is not part of it: she specifies an expectation, she does not carry the tension.
Juno's sign describes the form of commitment you respect: solid and concrete in Earth, passionate in Water, free and talked through in Air, enthusiastic and frank in Fire. Her house shows the area where this commitment plays out, or where you are more likely to meet lasting partners. Then bring her together with Venus and the Descendant: if all three speak the same language, your expectations are consistent; if they diverge, as in Camille's chart, the report shows you where the inner tug-of-war lies. Do not read Juno as the announcement of a marriage or a breakup: she describes an expectation and a style of commitment, not an event.
Juno takes a little over four years to go around the zodiac. As with the other asteroids, it is her house that makes her specific to your time of birth.
These entries describe astrology for everyone. Your birth chart, though, is unique: discover what your birth sky reveals about you.
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