Who are the Planets?

Previously, we laid a historical foundation and defined astrology as the study of the correlation between celestial and earthly events. We learned that horoscopic astrology as practiced in the West today has its roots in the Hellenistic era (323-33 BC) when the first natal charts were calculated. The founders of the Hellenistic tradition were drawing upon earlier advancements in mathematics, astronomy, and celestial observation carried out in Egypt and Mesopotamia over several millennia. Although Egypt and Babylon both held complex calendrical and divinatory systems involving the planets, their practice was primarily carried out for kings and the state. The Hellenistic era is notable for focusing upon the fate and fortune of individuals and introducing the natal chart, whose elements of the planets, signs, aspects, and houses are still in use today. 

Of these four components, the planets are the most vital. Astrology without the planets would be like a story without characters. Their predictable movements along the ecliptic forms an endless dance which astrologers constantly interpret and analyze. To best grasp their character and meanings, one really ought to stargaze. Seeing the twinkling of Venus, the deep crimson of Mars, or Saturn’s ruddy brown color provides an embodied experience in which to ground the planets’ significations. In fact, much of the conceptual framework upholding Hellenistic doctrines come from the everyday experience of looking at the night sky, beholding these seemingly “wandering stars” with the naked eye. 

With this sense of wonder in mind, the question still lingers: what are the planets? Or better put, who are the planets? The contemporary mind may seek to answer this question with recourse to science. Although modern astronomy provides useful descriptions of the planet’s material composition and their orbits, it cannot furnish us with myths or meanings. Science assumes the Cosmos is mute and inanimate, lacking purpose and awareness. Not so to the ancient mind or contemporary animist. The movements of the planets display an inherent purposiveness that suggests to many cultures that they are divine beings, cosmic forces, or omens expressing a divine language. When taking a broad view of diverse beliefs about the planets, one sees that they are best understood as archetypes and polyvalent symbols.

Writing in 1919, the renowned Swiss psychologist Carl Jung first coined the term “archetype” to refer to primordial images of the unconscious. In his studies, he came to the conclusion that the unconscious is something collectively shared and that deep within it are psychological forces which manifest in mythology as deities and demons. These deep forces also emerge as motifs and themes throughout human lives and history. Employing horoscopes in his psychiatric sessions, Jung was in fact fascinated by astrology, finding in it the "sum of all the psychological knowledge of antiquity." Both the Greeks and the Babylonians before them intentionally named the planets after gods of their pantheons whom they believed best represented the sum total of that planet’s nature. Therefore, we find in ancient astrology an understanding that the planets are visible manifestations of cosmic forces. The names and stories surrounding these forces may change from culture to culture, but the archetype remains. For example, whether called Inanna or Aphrodite, the planet Venus often signifies beauty, love, and sensuality.

The next aspect to understand about the archetypes is their polyvalence, meaning "having many forms, functions, or facets." In astrology, this polyvalence manifests in the ability for planets to symbolically represent many interconnected things, depending upon the context. Take the planet Mars for example. In a natal consultation, Mars may represent the native's military career or their boisterous, brusque personality. Mundane astrology studies world events and the history of nations. Therefore, in a mundane chart, Mars may stand for a conflict or battle or war. Horary astrology answers specific questions about personal situations. So in a horary consultation Mars may be something literal like a knife, a car, or an accident. Underneath this range of distinct manifestations is the underlying archetype of Mars.

What follows are descriptions and keywords which I feel cut to the core of each planet’s archetypal meaning. My primary influences for these significations are William Lilly’s Christian Astrology, Chris Brennan’s translation of Vettius Valens’ Anthology, the archetypal astrologer Richard Tarnas’ book Cosmos and Psyche, and the Hygromanteia of Solomon, a Byzantine-era grimoire. I only included the seven classical planets, however astrologers also incorporate the outer planets like Uranus and Neptune, exotic celestial bodies like Chiron, or calculated points like Nodes of the Moon. In the future, I may address these newer additions to the astrological lexicon, but I feel that the seven original planets provide us with a wealth of meaning.

Planetary Keywords

Sun: Vital energy, animating force, ascension, ambitions, achievements, ideals, individuality, creativity, luminosity, the Will, self-awareness and self-expression. That which stands out, shines, and initiates.

Moon: The body, the soul, the collective, the world. Inclusion, intuition, instinct, care, comfort, security, and safety. That which nurtures, gestates, and births. 

Mercury: The mind, thought, reason, communication, language, perception, translation, transmission, and transportation. That which studies, grasps, and articulates. 

Venus: Desire, love, friendship, romance, beauty, peace, harmony, value, attraction, romance, sensual pleasure, art, and aesthetics. That which is admirable and enjoyable to experience. 

Mars: Raw force, division, conflict, vigor, violence, war, competition, courage, struggle, strife, assertion, and ignition. That which is adverse and painful. 

Jupiter: Joy, nobility, fortune, wisdom, law, religion, philosophy, growth, progression, plenty, piety, advancement, and abundance. That which encompasses and includes. 

Saturn: Gravity, limitation, constriction, containment, structure, sorrow, suffering, endurance, elders, tradition, discipline, depression, and death. That which opposes and oppresses.

What is Astrology?

Etymologically, the word astrology comes to us from the Greeks and has two parts: astro and logos. Logos means “a branch of study” and astro means “stars,” so astrology literally means the study of the stars, much as biology is the study of life. Studying the stars may sound like a misnomer however, since most astrologers focus on planets such as Mars, Mercury, and Uranus, not stars like Sirius or Betelgeuse. Why not call it planetology?

To the ancient mind beholding the glimmering night sky, there was little apparent difference between the stars and planets. In fact, the planets were known as asteres planetai or “wandering stars,” because they roamed across the heavens, rather than remaining fixed in place upon the firmament. Crossing constellations, moving backward and forward upon the ecliptic, the wandering stars displayed an inherent agency that marveled the ancients.

Before the advent of television, electric light, and the printing press, both the fixed and wandering stars were an integral part of myth and meaning for all peoples.

Although all human societies globally are bound, in some way, to the observation of the night sky, some ancient cultures specifically focused upon the study of the wandering stars, obsessively measuring their movements and comparing them against earthly events. Astrology as we know it in the West emerged from this study.

During the 6th millennium BCE, astral priests in Mesopotamia read omens in the sky for mundane purposes such as the rulership of kings, health of crops, spread of disease, and outcome of warfare. Their observations were collected and collated over the centuries. The first major astrological almanac, the Enuma Anu Enlil, emerged some time in the 2nd millennium BCE. Composed on a vast series of cuneiform tablets, the EAE contains instructions for interpreting celestial phenomena and is presented as a series “if x/then y” statements. For example, one tablet reads, "If in Nisannu the sunrise (looks) sprinkled with blood and the light is cool: rebellion will not stop in the country, there will be devouring by Adad." While their if/then statements are a far cry from any horoscope, the Mesopotamian civilization of Babylon is credited with dividing the apparent path of the sun, known as the “ecliptic,”' into 360 degrees spread evenly across 12 signs, essentially creating the zodiac we know today. Through these key contributions, the Babylonians laid the foundation of Western astrology as the study of the correlation between celestial and earthly events.

At this time, astrology remained an art for elites and kings, practiced by a scholarly class. About 900 miles to the west, the ancient Egyptians created several calendrical systems, including a solar calendar consisting of 36 parts connected to various stars and constellations. They too had an elite class of priests who enlisted astrology, in addition to other divination systems, to advise the pharaoh, schedule rituals, and forecast the future. Both cultures developed astrology as a high form of divination, one more predictable and empirical than reading animal entrails, yet connected to complex astral theologies.

These foundations laid by the Babylonians and Egyptians experienced rapid growth and development during the Hellenistic era. In fact, the system we call "astrology" in the West today congealed during Hellenistic era of the 3rd and 2nd century BC. Following the conquest of Alexander the Great, Greek became the lingua franca of the Classical world. People from as far afield as Northern India to Mesopotamia to Egypt could converse and compare ideas. Advancements in mathematics and astronomy and the rich diversity of religious, philosophical, and mystery traditions around the Mediterranean were exchanged across vast trade routes. In the port city of Alexandria in Egypt, native temple priests, Indian Buddhists, Greek philosophers, and Jewish mystics exchanged beliefs in the marketplace of ideas. Amidst this multicultural milieu emerged Hellenistic astrology.

Synthesizing the 12 signs of the Mesopotamian zodiac, the 36 Egyptian decans, and Greek metaphysics, Hellenistic astrology emerges onto the historical record seemingly fully formed. It stands in contrast to older systems of celestial study because it presented the horoskopos, or what we call the "natal chart" today, as a brand new invention. Before this point, astrological prognostication was primarily done only for kings and countries, whose fate was of paramount importance. After the conquest of Alexander, the fate of individuals took on equal, if not greater, significance. By roughly 200 BCE, we see the earliest evidence of birth charts calculated according to the ascending degree, just like the charts calculated today on apps and websites. Key features arise at this time including planets, signs, houses, and aspects.

These four features form the basis for any kind of chart interpretation today, no matter what branch of astrology one practices. The planets are the primary voices, giving testimony about the question at hand. Signs qualify the voices of the planets, either strengthening or weakening what they have to say, while aspects describe the relationship of the planets to one another. Finally, charts are divided into 12 houses. In any given chart, the signs and planets can fall in any one of these 12 houses. One classic metaphor is that, if life is a play, the planets are the actors, the signs are their costumes, the aspects are their relationships, and the houses are the backdrop of the drama.

Over the next four weeks, we will examine each of these features in detail, beginning with the planets.