Vesta - "The eternal Flame"
In Astrology Vesta represents the inner flame - what we really "burn" for, in the meaning of purpose. She's about DEVOTION, commitment, sacrifice and service. She can also be about transforming sexual energy to a "higher calling" - or liberating the sexual energies within self.
Committing to the spiritual path and galactic or universal connections.
Greek Mythology: Hestia is the firstborn child of Cronus and Rhea. She's as her later Roman counterpart the goddess of the eternal fire, the hearth. Poseidon (Neptune) and Apollo were fighting for her hand but she refused and stayed unmarried for all her life. In Greek tradition the "leading woman" in a household was responsible on getting the hearth fire burning. In Government buildings it was an Official and it was the first ritual to be hold, when a new city or village was developed.
It's interesting to note that in ancient times, it was believed that the inside of Earth was kind of a fire and the same would be true for the "center of the Universe"... so a truly spiritual path here...
Roman Mythology: Vesta the Goddess of hearth, home and family. She was a daughter of Saturn and Ops, therefore Sister of Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto , Juno and Ceres. Her Priestesses were called the "Vestal Virgins" and watched over the "eternal flame". Vesta didn't get involved with any of the stories of the other gods and goddesses. Cicero states it explicitly. The purity of the flames symbolized the vital force that is the root of the life of the community.
Vesta is a Virgin-Goddess and it's said that the mother of Romulus and Remus (building of Rome) was a Vestal-Virgin giving birth to the Son of Mars...
Some Astronomy: Vesta is the second-largest asteroid, both by mass and by volume, after the dwarf planet Ceres. It constitutes an estimated 9% of the mass of the asteroid belt. Vesta orbits the Sun between Mars and Jupiter, within the asteroid belt, with a period of 3.6 Earth years, specifically in the inner asteroid belt, interior to the Kirkwood gap at 2.50 AU. Its orbit is moderately inclined (i = 7.1°, compared to 7° for Mercury and 17° for Pluto) and moderately eccentric (e = 0.09, about the same as for Mars). Vesta's rotation is relatively fast for an asteroid (5.342 h) and prograde, with the north pole pointing in the direction of right ascension 20 h 32 min, declination +48° (in the constellation Cygnus) with an uncertainty of about 10°. This gives an axial tilt of 29°. (Ref. Wikipedia)
Credit: NASA Dawn spacecraft
Animation of Dawn's trajectory from 27 September 2007 to 5 October 2018 Dawn = pink · Earth = blue · Mars = yellow · 4 Vesta = light blue · 1 Ceres = green
Vesta's axis: (February 2022)
Southnode: 19°02' Sagittarius
Northnode: 19°02' Gemini
Aphelion: 20°20' Taurus
Perihelion: 20°20' Scorpio
Vesta Discovery
Vesta was discovered on 29th of March 1807 by the German Astronomer Heinrich W. M. Olbers. Geocentric location ca. 6 degrees 41 minutes sidereal Virgo and heliocentric ca. 10 degrees 48 minutes sid. Virgo - as Vesta was pretty north of the ecliptic, the geocentric chart shows close "conjunction" to the Virgo Cluster...
At that time her heliocentric nodal axis was at around 21 degrees Sagittarius - Gemini
and her Aphelion - Perihelion axis at 18 degrees Taurus - Scorpio...
Because she was the 4th Asteroid or minor planet to be discovered in the Asteroid Belt, she's also called 4 Vesta...
On the 29th of March 1807, she stood in a heliocentric Grand Trine with - Venus in Taurus and Eris in Capricorn (to a lesser degree with Chiron in Capricorn)...