Asteroid Fides in Astrology

Where does Fidelity hold the most weight in your chart?

The Virtue Fides looks confidently into the light, as she has nothing to hide, symbolized by her white veiled dress. She holds a balancing scale and a turtledove.

Asteroid Interpretation Series

Fides (37)

Fides was one of the most respected and honored virtues in ancient Rome. She was so central to how they viewed her as an ideal part of society that that she was personified and deified as a goddess. Most of the other Virtues were just named concepts that never took on a physical form in artwork like the pantheon Gods. Fides translates to "trust" or "faith" was known as the goddess of these traits and the mutual obligation we have to one another as neighbors and fellow humans. She was charged with the invisible ties of honor and reliability that bond society together and keep us from descending into chaos and division. Her name is the root of the words “fidelity” and “confidence,” and her influence extended across social, legal, and spiritual spheres. This extended not only to formal agreements but also over the informal integrity that allowed neighbors, friends, and lovers to trust each other.

Fides as a concept was never seen as something that could be one-sided. Her moral authority came from the accepted understanding that a sacred pact was reciprocal and that broken promises were not only dishonorable, they were sacrilegious and required atonement. This mutuality formed the foundation of early Roman civic life that ran the day to day details of life's workings. She was seen as a goddess who watched over marriages, political oaths, military codes, and commercial exchanges. To break faith with another person was to invite divine punishment from the Gods and total social ruin. Her symbols were a white veil and a turtledove which emphasized her purity of intention as well as the tender vulnerability required for trust to flourish.

She also embodies moral fortitude which is the rare ability to honor one’s word even when it costs everything to do it. Conjunctions to personal planets or angles (within 2.5°) in the natal chart can show us that real trustworthiness is forged in moments where our morals are tested in places that don't always matter on a large scale. This asteroid shows the placements where we are required to be dependable from a higher calling, where promises deeply matter, and where a bond is either upheld or we learn what it means to have this kind of contract broken, often witnessing the full fallout in gory detail.

As always, these interpretations are generalized and should be read in the context of the full chart. House placement and aspects to other bodies will significantly shape how Fides functions in a given life.

When Fides is conjunct the Sun,