Minerva’s symbol in your horoscope looks like a lightbulb. It’s the one that hovers over your head when you have a great idea or crack the solution to a problem.
I loved it when Julija Simas at the C*I*A* made me Agent 93, because that’s Minerva’s number in astronomy. I should explain that the C*I*A* is an organisation for people who cast horoscopes, not for people who lurk in alleyways wearing trench coats.
If Minerva makes aspects to other horoscope factors in your chart, she becomes more important. Your wealth of knowledge about a particular area of your life (shown by Minerva’s sign and house) may dictate many other things too.
Minerva in Leo in the Fifth House (where you lead a younger generation) is common in the horoscopes of lecturers, teachers and professors. You also find it in the charts of wise parents who give their children what amounts to a home education, alongside their school education.
Note the Leo signature again – a younger generation who inherit Kepler’s influence: 
Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, was her father Jupiter’s greatest counsellor and advisor. She is associated with art, design, craft, politics and academia. Such noteworthy individuals have her influence in their charts:
Designers
Wise Old Birds
The best book on Minerva is not an astrology book. It is Athene, written by Ann Shearer, who read history at Cambridge before becoming a Jungian analyst. If you are curious about this symbol in your chart, start there.
Minerva’s first connection was with arts and crafts. When Julius Caesar met the Gauls for the first time (the Asterix cartoons come to life), he was pleased to find that Minerva was respected by them.
Shearer quotes Caesar in her book: “Among the gods they most worship Mercury…”
After him they set up Apollo, Mars, Jupiter and Minerva. Of these deities they have almost the same idea as all other nations: Apollo drives away diseases, Minerva supplies the first principles of arts and crafts, Jupiter holds the empire of heaven, Mars controls wars.”
Minerva was shipped to Britain and became grafted onto Britannia, goddess of the British Isles. If you look at old pennies, you can see her with Minerva’s helmet, shield, spear and olive branch.
We associate olives and the olive branch with Minerva, because of an ancient myth. Minerva and Neptune were both challenged in a fierce contest, to discover which of them could produce the greatest gift to humanity.
Neptune produced the horse, and everyone thought he had won. Minerva trotted back with an olive. A pizza ingredient. Honestly. Except…horses were instruments of war. The olive (and Minerva) won, not least because olives were not only valuable food, but they also produced the oil that the Romans slathered all over their skin.
We still ‘offer an olive branch’ today when we want to make peace, not war.
Minerva is all head. All brains. She was born from her father Jupiter’s head, fully formed. In a beautiful piece of synchronicity, when they dug up her old temple in Bath, they found the remains of her life size statue after 1400 years. Workmen digging a sewer found her head. That was all that was left. You can see it today, at The Roman Baths there – the temple of Sulis Minerva.
Ann Shearer writes:
“Her very name derives from mens, from mind – and now we see her as nothing but that.”
And, if you’re beginning to wonder if J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter have a part to play in all this, you might just be right. Minerva’s other great symbol is the owl, which we turn to next.
I have Robert Currey to thank for alerting me to the fact that J.K. Rowling knew more than a little about astrology. In fact, she once drew up and illustrated a horoscope for a friend. Robert tells the whole story on his website.
The astrologer, journalist and author Neil Spencer wrote a brilliant piece on the astrological connections between Harry Potter and the stars here.
As all fans of Harry know, the saga begins with an owl. This is historically Minerva’s bird, and of course she lent her name to one of the most important characters in the Potter series.
Owls watch and wait. They take their time. Whenever you find Minerva (or her Greek predecessor, Pallas) in an art gallery or museum, her famous owl will be close by. A Romano-Celtic bronze found in Wiltshire shows Minerva with her owl under her foot. If you walk around the ancient sculptures in the Louvre in Paris, you will see a beautiful owl held in Minerva’s hand.
Minerva’s intelligence is of a particular patient, all-knowing kind. It is quiet and observant. Not always obvious. Deep.
Whenever I give workshops or lectures about Minerva, women always come up to me afterwards and show me their owls. They have owl tattoos, owl bracelets and owl handbags. When they discover Minerva in their charts, they discover themselves!
Edited extract from 2020 Astrology: Your Five-Year Horoscope Guide by Jessica Adams.
All Images Courtesy of Unsplash.com and Pinterest unless noted.
If you have a stellium in Aquarius (more than three factors in that zodiac sign) then your Eleventh House of friendships and groups is unusually packed. What happens to those friendships when Saturn, Jupiter and then Pluto all pass through Aquarius? Have friends been lost, or has the friendship changed? That’s typical of this long cycle.
The NHS was founded on 5th July 1948 in London with an astrological chart that shows a complete replacement in 2022 and 2023. The horoscope for the National Health Service reveals a perfect storm that will affect nurses, doctors and patients.
Astrology forecasts made before an historic chain of eclipses chimed with predictions of drama for the Royal Family, Bill Clinton, Donald Trump – and a strange twist of fate involving Lolita. Published so long ago that Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein were still unknown to the public, they now suggest July-August 2021 is a time of reckoning. Meghan, Harry, Kate and William have also been drawn into the astrological timeline. How do the Leo eclipses pan out in 2021 and 2022?
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10 Responses
Thank you for this post Jessica. I love owls! I guess Minerva resonates with me. I have Minerva in Aries at 3 degrees and this is opposite my Appollo in Libra at 3 degrees. Does this imply problems with men? I have been single for quite a while now…. or would this be more of a work situation. Thanks for your guidance! Sending you warm wishes for the New Year!
Thank you. Minerva in Aries in your First House is about your wise self-promotion. You are the ‘Professor of Me’ when it comes to being upfront and front-and-centre. This does make you rather self-interested, which is useful for your success in life (you will never be invisible nor overlooked) but can set up tension with former, current or potential partners. You prefer to take the lead in any partnership. You may want to give yourself a three-way reading to see why you have been single for a while. Try Your Oracle, The Astrology Oracle and finally the Tarot on this website. It could be interesting for you!
Hi Jessica,
I find Minerva to be fascinating and somewhat understand her position in Aries based on the comments. Given that my Minerva is at 29 Aries, I’m curious if that orb is close enough to consider it in relation to Ceres at 0 Scorpio or if it’s only Leo that we look at. If in relation, can you share how that might show up in my life?
Thank you for all the wisdom you share!
Amy
Ceres at 0 Scorpio in your Eighth House of finance, property, business and charity does indeed aspect Minerva at 29 Aries, by one degree. It is a quincunx, so the two factors go together, but don’t really work together. Whenever you get transits at 29, 0 degrees you find you have to share control in a compromise (Ceres) over the money, house, apartment, possessions, good cause or company (Eighth House). This automatically triggers questions about image, reputation, name, brand, profile, self-promotion, Twitter presence (Aries) and your natural wisdom about that comes into play. A classic example which you may or may not have experienced is getting married, getting joint finances in both your names, but realising you do not want to change your real name. Thanks Amy.
Hello Jessica! Im a new member at your website and i’m already enjoying a lot your articles, tarot spreads and fortune cookies!
Regarding Minerva, i have at my fourth house in cancer, does this mean that my wisdom comes from the women in my life?
Also, i have Minerva in a 3 degree Opposition to Neptune in my chart.
Minerva in Cancer in the Fourth House is your wisdom about real estate, renovations and property in general. You know what to do. Your Minerva has been blocked, challenged and tested since December 2017 when nothing was easy or simple, but you are now in the clear. Minerva in Cancer in the Fourth House is also about being the wise woman in the family circle. You know just what to do about family matters or relatives. Don’t worry about a three degree opposition, it’s too wide. But do watch your Minerva. She usually appears with an owl omen when she’s around!
Hi Jessica,
Thank you so much about writing this lesson. It is so much information packed on one topic. Could you elaborate over the degrees more? What is difference if someone has Minerva 5 Virgo versus someone who has Minerva 25 Virgo? At different ends of a zodiac? Is it that with one placement the ‘influence’ is stronger?
Also, one Aquarius question. When you say things like “If you actually have factors at 9 Aquarius”, should I look at 9 degrees of my chart and find which planet is there? For e.g. I have Uranus 9 Sagittarius. Or, should I look at Aquarius and okay, I have Psyche in Aquarius even if not at 9 degrees or 5 degrees? Maybe this is a basic question but it will help connect the dots with the personal chart.
Thanks again! All your recent long videos on YouTube have been super helpful!
Thank you and I am happy you like the videos on YouTube. I will pass that on to Asporea who produce them for me. You were born with Minerva at 25 Virgo in the Sixth House of work, unpaid work, study, wellbeing and mental health. They all go together. Minerva as you can see is a symbol of great wisdom in your chart. There is no difference between being born with Minerva at 5 or 25 degrees – neither is stronger. If you read a statement about having factors at 9 Aquarius, that is exactly what it means. You either do or you don’t! So if you don’t, just bypass that message as it won’t apply to you. Minerva at 25 Virgo in your Sixth House will change your life as Pluto goes to 25 Capricorn and trines her, on January 26th to February 27th. There will be reshuffles and changes in your chosen field, or perhaps a second profession, which make it possible for you to work, study, volunteer in a more intelligent and thoughtful way. At the same time all your knowledge about the healthiest way for you to live, will also come into play. You may see an owl omen in this period. If so look twice and see the message. Minerva always carries an owl. If you are very lucky, you will have this powerful omen to show you that you are on the right track.
Dear Jessica Thank you for all that you do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwxOxQ1AOEg&app=desktop&persist_app=1 Please listen to this and/ or read Vandana Shiva’s book, Oneness versus the One Percent. Globalism and agriculture are so much more complex than the story we hear. Thank you. Sincerely, Jessica.
Thank you very much.
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