there has been less general agreement on the meanings of the degrees than on the
meaning of other subdivisions. There have been counts of not less than 17 distinct
systems for assigning significance to the degrees. This lack of unanimity is less impor-
tant, however, than astrologers’ disagreement over other issues, because, for purposes
of individual chart interpretation, degree meanings provide a level of detail that
astrologers rarely have time to develop. Hence, most do not use them. Probably the
most widely used system among those who do consider degree meanings is the Sabian
Symbols popularized by Marc Edmund Jones and Dane Rudhyar.Sources:
Jones, M.E. The Sabian Symbols.New York Sabian Publishing Society, 1953.
Rudhyar, Dane. The Astrology of Personality.New York: Lucis Trust, 1936.DELINEATION
Delineation is an alternative term for astrological interpretation. Traditionally, delin-
eation meant the interpretation of specific components of an astrological chart, and
the term synthesis was reserved for the interpretation of the chart as a whole. In cur-
rent usage, however, delineation can mean any level of interpretation.DEMBOWSKA
Dembowska, asteroid 349 (the 349th asteroid to be discovered, on December 9,
1892), is approximately 164 kilometers in diameter and has an orbital period of 5
years. It was named after the Italian astronomer Baron Ercole Dembowska, who estab-
lished observatories at Naples and Milan. The name of this planetoid—which seems
to suggest an unusual mythological figure, but which does not appear in any mytho-
logical dictionaries—led to its inclusion in The Asteroid Ephemeris: Dudu, Dembowska,
Pittsburgh, Frigga,Batya Stark and Mark Pottenger’s tour de force of astrological
humor.Sources:
Kowal, Charles T. Asteroids: Their Nature and Utilization.Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Ellis
Horwood Limited, 1988.
Room, Adrian. Dictionary of Astronomical Names.London: Routledge, 1988.
Schwartz, Jacob. Asteroid Name Encyclopedia.St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1995.
Stark, Batya, and Mark Pottenger. The Asteroid Ephemeris: Dudu, Dembowska, Pittsburgh, Frigga.
San Diego: Astro Computing Services, 1982.DEMETER
Demeter, asteroid 1,108 (the 1,108th asteroid to be discovered, on May 31, 1929), is
approximately 21 kilometers in diameter and has an orbital period of 3.8 years.
Demeter, whom the Romans equated with Ceres, was one of the 12 great Olympian
deities of the Greek pantheon. She was the goddess of agriculture and the guardian of
the institution of marriage. Jacob Schwartz gives the astrological significance of this
asteroid as “fertility, mother-child relationships and agriculture.” According toDelineation
[198] THEASTROLOGYBOOK