The ten planetary objects represent major unconscious forces, which over the millennia took shape and manifestation within the world’s mythology.
The ten planets and their corresponding archetypes are:
- Sun: Male, yang, the father, the ideal self, will.
- Moon: Female, yin, the mother, receptivity, death and rebirth, fertility.
- Mercury: The mind, communication, thought, speech, writing, intelligence.
- Venus: Love, beauty, harmony, feminine, yin, birth and creation.
- Mars: The warrior, ambition, force, power, masculine, sexuality, aggression.
- Jupiter: Generosity, abundance, indulgence, extravagance, inheritance, sharing.
- Saturn: Authority, restrictions, rules, laws, judgment, power, respect, career.
- Uranus: Revolution, destruction, creativity, eccentricity, originality, reinvention.
- Neptune: Spirituality, intuition, love, harmony, balance, numinous, unformed.
- Pluto: Death, rebirth, destruction, violence, regeneration, non-attachment.
The combination of planets and the myriad of geometric aspects they can form together is near infinite. Not one chart is like another, even if they belonged to identical twins.
The planets and their assigned meanings are symbolic of a limitless potential within the unconscious realm. These archetypal energies are the unconscious impulses that compel one to act and to form responses without thinking, it’s what shapes our habits, and influences the nature of one’s reaction to events and environment.
Yet, none of the planets are as influential in a natal chart as the Sun and Moon.
The Astrological Sun
The Sun is the light that shines within. It is the ideal self that we aspire to purely express. The Sun is the symbol of Spirit, and the life force energy that gave rise to all life, as the sun gives rise to life on earth.
The Sun’s placement by sign in a natal chart is quite significant, yes; but, the element and the astrological-chart House placement are also quite important. If someone is a water sign as opposed to a fire sign, they will exhibit base behaviors with a very different tone. If the Sun is in the First House as opposed to the Twelfth House, the differences in the way two Sun-sign Leos may express their sign’s traits could be extreme.
The phrase “to follow your bliss” is Sun energy; it is about the true and right expression of what is in the heart; also another symbol for fire and spirit.
The Astrological Moon
The Moon is our soul. The Sun is Spirit, but the moon represents the soul. More so the moon represents the goddess, mother, nature, and the womb. Where the moon is in our chart is where and how we feel in response to the world. It is the indication of the hue of one’s emotional state; is it sad, jubilant, optimistic, cynical, strong, sensitive? Where the moon is in our natal chart should give evidence to the unconscious character of the person’s general emotional state.
Aspects: The Dynamic Language of the Sun and Moon
Besides the sign location of the Sun and the Moon (Sun in Leo and Moon in Cancer, for example) the geometric angles and aspects they form to one another reveal another level of activity and significance. These angles are measured in 15º and 30º intervals, and possess a complex network of meaning and interpretation.
The Sun and Moon are nothing less than the symbolic aspects of our yang and yin powers within, they are the animus and anima aspects of our souls, they are our male and female natures: Adam and Even within.
The placement of the Sun, Moon, and planets by sign, house, and aspect is a language with great meaning and significant insight into the salient powers within every person.
The Sun and Moon and the Other Planets
The relationships formed between the Sun, Moon, and the other planetary objects has infinite potential and possibility. Some planets never venture too far from the Sun (Mercury and Venus), while others remain far away for months at a time (Neptune and Pluto).
The Moon is the fastest moving object in the sky, while the Sun is only the the fourth quickest. The moon moves through signs, houses, and aspects other planets for brief periods of time, and usually adopts the character of the sign and house it traverses through. The Sun remains in a sign and house for approximately 30 days, and tends to compliment and influence the sign more so than the moon. The moon receives the energy of other planets, while the Sun amplifies them.
The combinations of how any person with their Sun in Leo (for example) would think, feel, desire, and respond to life are infinite. Each person’s birth chart is an incredibly insightful look into the basic framework of their unconscious self, allowing the opportunity to acknowledge and adjust how one thinks, perceives, and acts in accordance with their true self: A self that is in part Sun and Moon.
Source:
- Kevin Burk, Understanding the Birth Chart, Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, MN, 2003
Sean Abreu - My choice in topics may seem discordant. I hope a clear vista will present itself with time, connecting disparate points spread across the ...
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