I recently heard a new (to me) theory on the planets and why they affect us that I thought was interesting. All of the planets in our solar system are a repository of records. Just like Earth has the Akashic Records, the other planets have their own library of records. The records, of course, hold energy of their own. So depending on where a planet is in the zodiac at a certain time, will cause it to affect us differently based upon the records it has of us, a.k.a. our karma. Have you heard this before? Do you think that it is correct?
Regardless if you believe the planets’ energy comes from the records they hold, from life that previously lived there, or from some other source, they play an important role in astrology. Astrology as a whole is made up of many different parts combined. Think of it as a cake. The cake is made up of different ingredients like flour, butter, eggs, and vanilla. In the case of astrology, the classifications of the zodiac might be the flour. The zodiacs might be the butter. The planets might be the eggs. The houses might be the vanilla. On their own, each part is just an ingredient, but when mixed together they become a cake, which in this case is astrology. Below is a breakdown of each planet and their traits.
Inner Planets
The following planets are known as the inner planets or personal planets. These are the planets that are closer to us and move through the zodiac quickly. Because they are in all of the signs of the zodiacs so often, they have a stronger affect on us.
Sun
The sun is a masculine planet that is at the center of our universe. It is the brightest object in our sky and its brightness lights up our world. The sun represents the center of ourselves – our ego, identity, and purpose. Your sun sign has the biggest impact on your personality and it is the side of ourselves that we show to the world.
The sun, like all of the planets, has a positive and negative side to it. Its positive traits include warmth, happiness, confidence, and creativity. Your sun sign will push you to figure out what your life’s purpose is and helps you fulfill it. It represents health and well-being. Its negative traits include arrogance, self-centeredness, and being overly critical. When the sun has a weak presence in your zodiac chart, it could affect your health adversely.
Moon
The moon is a feminine planet that represents our emotions and the part of ourselves we keep hidden from the world. It is connected to nurturing, family, and the home. The moon is our subconscious mind. The moon rules the emotional sign of Cancer.
The positive aspects of the moon are imagination, creativity, and intuition. The negative side is moodiness and restlessness.
Mercury
Mercury is a neutral planet that represents the duality of the feminine and masculine traits that we all have. The Roman God, Mercury, was a messenger of the gods whose duty was to deliver messages between Jupiter and Pluto. For those of you more familiar with Greek mythology, these gods would be Hermes (Mercury), Zeus (Jupiter), and Hades (Pluto). Just as the God, Mercury, connected heaven and earth, the planet, Mercury, represents the connection between our mind (heaven) and body (earth). Mercury rules Gemini and Virgo.
Mercury is a strong communicator. It represents analysis, deductive reasoning, weighing of an idea, and expression in all forms. It has the fastest orbit of all of the other planets, which relates to the constant motion of our thoughts. Those with a strong placement of Mercury are usually witty, funny, and able to express themselves well. The negative side of Mercury is restlessness, anxiety, mischievousness, and indecisiveness.
Venus
Venus is a feminine planet that represents the finer things in life such as joy, love, and harmony. It is named after the Roman Goddess of love and beauty. The planet, Venus, is shrouded in clouds that reflect the sun’s light making it the brightest planet in our solar system. Underneath the clouds, however, is an extremely volatile and hot planet that is completely uninhabitable. This is symbolic of the saying, “Beauty is only skin deep.” We must learn to look beneath the beauty and love the not as beautiful parts as well. Venus rules Taurus and Libra.
Venus is loving, peaceful, sensual, and elegant. When you think about Taurus, you often think of a person who loves the finer things in life. They like beautiful, fine quality, and sensuous items. A Libra is often thought of someone who is all about their relationships. They like beautiful people and loving relationships. Venus commands relationships, creativity, self-value, love, and affection. On the shadow aspect of Venus, it can be vain and self-indulgent.
Mars
Mars is a masculine planet that is all about power, desire, and action. Mars is the Roman God of war and second in power next to Jupiter. It is the opposite of Venus, representing sexual-desires, battle, and leadership. The planet of Mars is covered in craters from asteroid impacts that represent the scars of battle. Mars rules Aries and Scorpio.
Mars is action. Wherever you have Mars on your chart is the area that you are most ready to act on right now. You are ready to move forward and will do so at all costs. Mars is strong, determined, excitable, and always ready to charge into battle. Mars can also be combative, argumentative, and ready for a fight.
Outer Planets
The following planets are known as the outer planets or generational planets. They move much slower through the zodiac than the inner planets and will typically be in one sign for a whole generation of people.
Jupiter
Jupiter is a masculine planet that represents expansion and growth. It is known to bring good luck and opportunities for growth. It is an optimistic planet that gives us the ability to understand the more difficult spiritual concepts. It is represents our superconscious mind. It rules Sagittarius.
Instead of Jupiter directly affecting you, it directly affects the planets it is near. It will amplify the affects that the other planet has on you. Jupiter is an expansive planet and is often found on your chart in an area that you want to grow.
Saturn
Saturn is a masculine planet that represents restriction. Most think of Saturn as a “bad” planet that brings bad things, but Saturn is a teaching planet that helps us to grow. It teaches you that you can reach your goals through hard work. Saturn rules Capricorn.
Saturn teaches us discipline, maturity, and resilience and provides order, structure, and self-control. It gives us tough love to help us overcome our toughest obstacles in life. When Saturn goes retrograde, we have to work even harder to reach our goals. You can think of Saturn as the strict parent who lacks a lot of emotions.
Uranus
Uranus is a neutral planet that is known as an awakener and rebel. It is the only planet in our solar system that spins on its side showing that it is not interested in being like everyone else. It loves being innovative and coming up with easier more efficient ways of doing things. It rules Aquarius.
Just like Aquarians, Uranus can be considered “quirky.” It governs creativity, objectivity, and enlightenment. It’s unpredictable and loves sudden changes. It rules over technology and the world has changed a lot because of technology. Uranus likes to break the rules and challenge the norm.
Neptune
Neptune is a feminine planet that helps us find our way through darkness by using our intuition. It is associated with things like illusion, dreams, magic, and spirit. It is called the dream planet because it shows us the ideal, perfect situation. We must realize, however, that we can never reach perfection. We have to learn to take the ideal situation and see what the reality can actually be. It rules Pisces.
Neptune is about mercy, creativity, intuition, psychic power, and compassion. It helps us gain wisdom from things we cannot see. It can negatively affect our lives, however, by making us feel disconnected from reality. We may find ourselves lost looking for something that doesn’t exist.
Pluto
Pluto is a feminine planet that represents power, destruction, and creation. Think of Pluto as the sister of Mars. It is the furthest planet from the Sun and is named after the Roman God of the underworld. Pluto tends to affect us all collectively rather than on an individual level. It rules Scorpio.
Pluto is all about power and change. Not just little changes like taking the stairs instead of the elevator. It likes massive change. It will completely destroy the old and bring in the new. You can liken it to a phoenix rising from the ashes. It takes 248 years to orbit the sun and will be in a single sign for around 10-20 years which affects entire generations of people and determines how they behave.
Phew! That’s a lot of information about the planets and how the aspects they each bring to astrology. Next up, I’ll talk about the houses of astrology and what they mean.