the planets
Most people are introduced to astrology through their 'Sun Sign' (aka sign), where is where the sun was when you were born. However, each planet in the sky holds symbolic meaning in astrology. Planets are the most important factors in astrology, and chart interpretation. A lot of time the focus gets put onto the twelve signs, but the planets are much more vital when we interpret the energy of the cosmos. The planets are like the actors. They are the driving forces in the chart. Imagine the planets are like lights, they shine and exude energy. The filters we put over the lights to change the color or the flavor are like the astrological signs they sit in. The lights shine, without them no other energy would matter.
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Each planet is symbolic in a chart. Imagine you are like a house. The outside of your house is like your sun sign, the inside decor of your house is like your moon sign, mercury is like your home office and rules over communication and intellect, venus is like your living room where you host and gather, mars is like your home gym that shows your drive and vitality. All planets mean something different to your personality. Beyond personality, the placements of each planet are significant to understanding your soul, and your soul's purpose. We can look to planet and what sign or house they fall into in a chart and make accurate predictions about your personality and life. For example, if you have the Moon in a particular sign, this would describe your inner world. Venus would describe how you do relationships, and so on.
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Note, there is more to it than just planets. There are angles that matter, and other chart points like the nodes, asteroids and dwarf planets that all have vital implications in astrology. However, we have to start somewhere, so let's start with the planets!
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The inner planets move quickly around the Sun, which means they are only in a sign for a shorter period of time. This means their placement by sign (and house)
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If you're interested in learning more about your planets, consider a reading with me. We will go over in detail what your planets mean. This will include a personalized packed with my notes on your planetary placements.
Inner Planets
The inner planets are personal signatures, which means they represent aspects of your personal makeup that are very unique.
What sign does
The Sun
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Deity | Apollo, Helios/Sol. God of music, truth and prophecy, healing, the sun and light, plague, poetry.
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Physical Characteristics | The sun sits in the center of our solar system. It gives light and life to all planets. It is a star that shines brightly in our galaxy.
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Temperament | Hot and Dry (balanced)
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Planetary Joy | Ninth House
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Ruling Planet Of | Leo
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Interpreting Meaning | Basic Identity, consciousness, and purpose. The sun is your ego consciousness and creative life force. It shows how you shine in the world. The sun also represents what our soul can evolve towards. To be more like your sun sign is considered to be a gift in your chart. Your job is to embody and embrace the positive characteristics of our sun sign.
The Moon
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Deity | Artemis or The Triple Lunar Goddess. Takes the form of the tryptic goddess. The mother or maternal archetype or energy.
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Physical Characteristics | Waxes and wanes through the night sky. Lunar cycle takes approx 28 days.
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Temperament | Wet
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Planetary Joy | Third House
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Ruling Planet Of | Cancer
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Interpreting Meaning | Emotions, feelings, daily habits. Subconscious. Our inner child. The moon can also represent what our soul brings from past lives. Many astrologers contend that our Moon sun was our Sun sign from a past life.
Mercury
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Deity | Mercury/Hermes. He is the god of financial gain, commerce, eloquence, messages, communication (including divination), travelers, boundaries, luck, trickery and thieves; he also serves as the guide of souls to the underworld.
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Physical Characteristics | Closest to the Sun. Moves quickly through the sky. Goes retrograde in the sky three times per year for about three weeks.
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Temperament | Dry
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Planetary Joy | First House
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Ruling Planet Of | Gemini & Virgo
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Interpreting Meaning | Capacity to think, speak, learn, and reason. Represents the intellect, mind, intelligence. Relates, translates, and labels concepts we cannot understand and disseminates to the world.
Venus
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Deity | Venus/Aphrodite. Goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, passion and procreation. Sexuality.
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Physical Characteristics | Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. Very gaseous. Venus' axis is downward (upside down) and she rotates in the opposite direction than all other planets. She is stunningly bright in the night sky.
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Temperament | Warm and Wet
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Planetary Joy | Fifth House
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Ruling Planet Of | Taurus & Libra
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Interpreting Meaning | Shows how we do relationships and how we love. Capacity to attract people and things you love and value.
Mars
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Deity | Mars/Ares Ares was viewed primarily as a destructive and destabilizing force, Mars represented military power as a way to secure peace, and was a father (pater) of the Roman people. Pater of the people, Guardian of soldiers and farmers, God of War, Destruction and Masculinity.
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Physical Characteristics | Rusty, red color and dry.
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Temperament | Hot and Dry
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Planetary Joy | Sixth House
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Ruling Planet Of | Aries & Scorpio
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Interpreting Meaning | Shows our drive, our will power. Indicates the ability to assert oneself based on personal desire. Anywhere Mars touches charges that area or aspect of our lives.
Outer Planets
The outer planets move slower around the sun. By sign, they are significant for a generation. By house, they are personally significant.
Jupiter
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Deity | Jupiter/Zeus. God of the sky, lightning, thunder, law, order, and justice He was respected as an all father who was chief of the gods and assigned the others to their roles: Even the gods who are not his natural children address him as Father, and all the gods rise in his presence.
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Physical Characteristics | Larger than all of the planets combined. Jupiter is massive and has many, many moons. The 4 moons visible by the human eye are called the Galilean moons that are larger than the dwarf planets.
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Temperament | Warm & Wet
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Planetary Joy | Eleventh House
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Ruling Over | Sagittarius & Pisces
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Interpreting Meaning | Magnifies, amplifies. Depending on dignity, can bring luck and abundance. Search for meaning, truth, ethics.
Saturn
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Deity | Saturn/Kronos. The God of time, karma.
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Physical Characteristics | Saturn is distinguished because of his rings. Saturn is the last planet we can see with our eyes, and is a rusty brown color.
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Temperament | Cold and dry.
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Planetary Joy | Twelfth House
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Ruling Planet | Capricorn & Aquarius
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Interpreting Meaning | Shows the maturity, ability to create form, order, and discipline. Can also represent an area of life where there are restrictions, delays, and karmic lessons to learn. Lord of Karma, major karmic problem in the Native’s life. The position and aspects reveal where we meet our most specific and concentrated tests (pain/frustration).
Uranus
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Deity | Uranus/Caelus. The sky god, father sky was the son and husband of Gaia, mother earth.
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Physical Characteristics | Cold, lovely turquoise color, actually orbits on a sideways axis instead of upright.
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Discovery | March 13, 1781
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Modern Ruling Planet | Aquarius
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Interpreting Meaning | Your unique and individual capacity to liberate from past limitations. Can also represent areas of trauma or creative inspiration.
Neptune
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Deity | Neptune/Poseidon | About the God. God of music, truth and prophecy, healing, the sun and light, plague, poetry.
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Physical Characteristics | Large, gaseous, mysterious blue color. Discovered by science, elusive.
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Discovery | September 23, 1846
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Modern Ruling Planet | Pisces
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Interpreting Meaning | Ability to transcend the finite through expressing unity with the greater whole. Can represent dissolution or creativity.
Pluto
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Deity | Pluto/Hades. God of the underworld.
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Physical Characteristics | The farthest (dwarf) planet. Small, but penetrating. Takes ~246 years to make one rotation around the sun.
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Discovery | February 18, 1930
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Modern Ruling Planet | Scorpio
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Interpreting Meaning | Represents the ability to transform and renew oneself. Can show desire for true power and cunning. By sign, it shows the souls impulses and DNA. Where a soul came from. Very important in evolutionary astrology.