Esther


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Related to Esther: Book of Esther

Esther

Old Testament
1. a beautiful Jewish woman who became queen of Persia and saved her people from massacre
2. the book in which this episode is recounted
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

Esther

(religion, spiritualism, and occult)

Esther, asteroid 622 (the 622nd asteroid to be discovered, on November 13, 1906), is approximately 28 kilometers in diameter and has an orbital period of 3.8 years. It was named after the biblical heroine Esther, whose name was Persian for “star” or “Venus.” Queen Esther, herself a Jew, intervened to prevent a genocidal campaign against the Jewish people. Like its namesake, the asteroid represents opposition to genocide and a kind of “rescuer” impulse. In a natal chart, its location by sign and house indicates where and how one is most likely to be a “rescuer.” When afflicted by inharmonious aspects, Esther may show a rescuer complex—an individual who engages in rescue behavior for self-aggrandizement. If prominent in a chart (e.g., conjunct the Sun or the ascendant), it may show an individual who becomes involved in a rescue-related career or in a humanitarian group like Amnesty International.

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.
The Astrology Book, Second Edition © 2003 Visible Ink Press®. All rights reserved.
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References in classic literature ?
Living so continually in her own circle of ideas, and never regulating her mind by a proper reference to present things, Esther Dudley appears to have grown partially crazed.
What does old Esther's joy portend?" whispered a spectator.
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Esther fitted up the closet with a little table, placed a footstool before it, and over it a picture taken from one of the shut-up rooms.
During one of her play hours she wrote out the important document as well as she could, with some help from Esther as to certain legal terms, and when the good-natured Frenchwoman had signed her name, Amy felt relieved and laid it by to show Laurie, whom she wanted as a second witness.
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The naturalist might have expended his breath much longer, without producing any desirable result, had Esther been his only auditor.
On the summit, Obed fully expected to encounter Esther, of whose linguacious powers he had too often been furnished with the most sinister reproofs, and of which he stood in an awe too salutary to covet a repetition of the attacks.
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'They need not know,' he began; but before anything more could be said on either side, Esther and Arthur re-entered the room.
'If I have spoken too warmly, forgive me,' he murmured on taking his leave, 'or I shall never forgive myself.' Esther smiled and glanced at me: I merely bowed, and her countenance fell.
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"I cannot say that I am glad to hear it," Esther replied quietly.
Doctor Sarson bowed to Esther, who scarcely glanced at him.
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You are different from other children, Esther, because you were not born, like them, in common sinfulness and wrath.
"This," said my godmother in an undertone, "is the child." Then she said in her naturally stern way of speaking, "This is Esther, sir."
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