by Bruce Johnson —
Bruce Johnson has over 30 years of study in the fields of Ancient Wisdom and occultism. He has taught classes on a wide range of topics, from Atlantis to mediums to Zoroaster. He is also a spiritualist minister, with a background in spiritual astrology. He lives in Colorado with his wife and their cat.

The discovery of the asteroid Ceres in 1801 seemed to fill the gap between Mars and Jupiter where the Titius-Bode Law mathematically determined a “missing planet’ should be. After the detection of a second asteroid named Pallas in 1802, German astronomer Heinrich Olbers announced his E.P.H., the Exploded Planet Hypothesis. His E.P.H. recognized an ancient planet with an orbit between Mars and Jupiter that had exploded into fragments of all sizes, creating of a ring of asteroids now called the Asteroid Belt.
The E.P.H. is also known as the “Disruption Theory”, or Phaeton Hypothesis. Olbers, who also discovered the asteroid Vesta, correctly predicted that more remains from this planetary disruption would be located and classified. Interestingly enough, the ancient Chaldean astrologers previously knew of the Asteroid Belt.
The planet that was blasted to bits in Olber’s brilliant theory is considered hypothetical to traditional astronomy, like the planet Vulcan. It is known by various names including- Phaeton, the fifth planet, Maldek, and Malona, among others. Both the E.P.H. and the ancient records conclude that Phaeton was obliterated by a planetary explosion, and that the Asteroid Belt is not the result of an external collision, or a Jupiter-related failed planetary accretion. Among modern astronomers, there is a growing minority that support the E.P.H. including Tom Van Flanders, who proposes a Multiple Exploded Planet Hypothesis to account for the Asteroid Belt.
Asteroid Facts – Although the great majority of the Asteroid Belt lies between Mars and Jupiter, there are numerous asteroids that exist beyond these limits, including the near-Earth asteroids. More than 10,000 asteroids in the Asteroid Belt have been catalogued so far. Asteroids vary widely in size, from the size of pebbles up to the dwarf planet Ceres with its 600- mile diameter. The asteroids Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta, are among those minor planets considered significant by some astrologers. Asteroids, also called minor planets and planetoids, can have their own miniature satellites and sometimes a ring. Asteroids are divided into two basic color groups- the stony/rocky looking S-type, and the much darker carbon compound bearing C-type.
The accurate teaching is that the present Asteroid Belt is primarily a small remnant of a planet that existed between Mars and Jupiter and exploded ages ago. The remnants of dead and destroyed planets from this and other solar systems can be seen in asteroids, meteors, meteorites, and cosmic dust. In addition to the circle of rubble caused by the original cataclysm, the Asteroid Belt has captured a large number of additional asteroids from assorted dead worlds over millions of years. These extra asteroids expanded not only the mass of the Asteroid Belt, but its range of mineral diversity as well. Beware of inaccurate information on the internet concerning the Asteroids. I have seen sites claim that Edgar Cayce uses the words inhabitants, Maldek and nuclear war in his reading referencing the Asteroid Belt. In fact, none of those words are used in Cayce’s lone reading concerning the asteroids. Cayce doesn’t mention in that reading whether the planet referred to in Reading 195-43 was destroyed due to human or natural causes. He simply states that there is a missing planet of our solar system that through its combustion or destruction, caused many changes. None of the Cayce readings mention a major upcoming asteroid colliding with Earth.