◐ The Function of the Planets in Astrology & What They Represent ◑
The role of the Planets in Astrology is to show us WHAT is happening. They are the themes & the driving force in our lives. Planets represent topics, ideas, & principles that exist within us & the world around us.
Each & every person on this Earth will have ALL of the Planets & Signs energies. The way the energy acts within us will differ from person to person depending on what signs, houses, & aspects they are in. The differences in our charts make the planet's energy expression unique to each individual.
The planets are always moving at different speeds. When they move, they occupy different Zodiac Signs for different lengths of time. When someone is born, wherever these planets are located essentially "snapshot" & that energy will reside within that person forever, which is why everyone's is different!
However, I personally like to add a 4th group to separate the Sun & Moon instead.
The Sun represents the basic core of our being. It is our guiding light, our purpose, our life energy. I want to add that this does not make the Sun the most important planet in our chart! It is just a good place to start to show our central identity & potential.
- Security
Topics & keywords Mercury rules:
- Love
Saturn is the planet of hard work. It is a gatekeeper: restraining, limiting, imposing rules, building structure, & honoring traditions. Saturn creates order & discipline in the areas of life that it touches, forcing you to look within, mature, instill patience, & learn lessons.
The Outer Planets in Astrology go by many names. Outer. Collective. Transformative, etc. All are accurate to describe them. These planets represent the collective during an era. They show the shifts in worldly views, ideas, & structures. They are less personal & day-to-day than the other planets, but they necessitate growth within us & the world as a whole, whether good or bad.
Uranus ushers in the new, unique, & radical things in our life. It represents innovation, change, & freedom. In our charts, Uranus shows what sets us apart from the rest. It gives us the gifts of intelligence, creation, & free will. I normally don't use this, but most Astrologers refer to Uranus as the "Higher Octave of Mercury".
Neptune represents imagination & the unconscious. It has a hand in music/art, spirituality, & our dreams. Neptune symbolizes our otherworldly desires; things that are not gained in reality. This is why Neptune is also the planet of escape, sacrifice, & confusion.
Pluto is a symbol of depth & intensity. It represents power, secrets, development, & long cycles. Pluto is a generational planet that indicates a theme of profound changes in the world. In a Birth Chart, Pluto takes you into a life journey of struggles (in the house it's located) to purge us of the things we need to sacrifice in order to emerge & evolve.
The Outer Planets are still somewhat newly discovered, so their place in Astrology is still being defined. This is why people argue & fuss over their Rulerships & how to use them. With that being said, I agree with their rulerships, but I believe that they should not be used in certain ways & situations:
Planets not only rule topics, but they rule over the Zodiac Signs as well. When I describe each planet, I will also tell which sign it rules. Think of the rulership as the Planets have manifested their principles into an expression for the sign that it rules.
Each & every person on this Earth will have ALL of the Planets & Signs energies. The way the energy acts within us will differ from person to person depending on what signs, houses, & aspects they are in. The differences in our charts make the planet's energy expression unique to each individual.
The planets are always moving at different speeds. When they move, they occupy different Zodiac Signs for different lengths of time. When someone is born, wherever these planets are located essentially "snapshot" & that energy will reside within that person forever, which is why everyone's is different!
Now that we know the role of the Planets in Astrology, we can discuss what they represent!
To start, the Planet groupings are separated to describe how their driving force affects you & the world. Also to show what areas of life they touch. I'll explain each group, what planets are in them, & what each Planet represents below. There are 10 planets that we use & they are broken into 3 groupings:
- Personal Planets
- Social Planets
- Collective (or Outer) Planets
- The Luminaries
NOTE: You don't have to follow my format & add this 4th group.
This is just what I personally like to do. This way is neither right nor wrong!
☼ The Luminaries ☾
The Luminaries are the 'planets' that function as the Core of our Being. I like to say that they are our Heart & Soul. This group consists of:
- The Sun (rules the sign Leo)
- The Moon (rules the sign Cancer)
☼ Sun ☼
Some topics & keywords that the Sun rules:
- Ego
- Pride
- Confidence
- Development
- Creativity
- Authority
- Goals
- Our Shine
☽ Moon ☾
The Moon shapes our emotions & soul. It represents our deepest needs, habits, & instincts. The Moon reveals how we show love to the people around us & how we express the things that are within our subconscious or beneath the surface.
Topics & keywords that the Moon rules:
- Needs
- Intuition
- Feelings
- Comfort
- Cycles
- Nurturing
- Vulnerability
- Privacy
- Home
♀ The Personal Planets ♂
The Personal Planets are the planets that show our personal character drives. They govern the Mind & Body. This group consists of:
- Mercury (rules the signs Gemini & Virgo)
- Venus (rules the signs Taurus & Libra)
- Mars (rules the signs Aries & Scorpio)
☿ Mercury ☿
Mercury describes how we learn, communicate, think, solve problems & perceive things. Mercury also governs our curiosity, transportation, & siblings. Mercury is the Mind. I like to think of Mercury as the connector that links our core (Sun/Moon) to our personality (Venus/Mars).
- Thoughts
- Opinions
- Knowledge
- Education
- Connections
- Language
- Logic
- Ideas
- Communication
♀ Venus ♀
Venus is the planet of Pleasure. It shows our tastes, desires, peace, attraction, art & beauty. Valuable & luxurious things also come under it's domain. Venus indicates our relationship desires & describes our 1on 1 bonds w/ others. Venus also represents vengeance & jealousy. Note I didn't discuss Venus ruling money here. I explain in Jupiter's paragraph as well, but Venus represents expensive, valuable, & pretty people, things, & places, not money itself.
Topics & keywords that Venus rules:
- Aesthetic
- Art/Music
- Affection
- Charm
- Cooperation
- Cosmetics
- Things we enjoy
♂ Mars ♂
Mars is the planet of Energy! It is a symbol of passion, motivation & initiative. Mars paints our sexual urges & drive & is a representation of the rawest sense of yourself. Without Mars's push we'd lack purpose. Wherever Mars is in your chart could also create danger & trouble.
Topics & keywords that Mars rules:
- Courage
- Ambition
- Action
- Anger
- Aggression
- Conflict
- Disharmony
♃ The Social Planets ♄
The Social Planets role is to connect our heart, mind, body, & soul to society, it's beliefs & regulations. Or in simpler words, they act as a bridge between our personal self & society around us. The Social Planets are:
- Jupiter (rules the signs Sagittarius & Pisces)
- Saturn (rules the signs Capricorn & Aquarius)
♃ Jupiter ♃
Being the biggest planet in the solar system, Jupiter is symbolic of growth, opportunity, & adventure. It is a planet of expansion, giving us inspiration to look beyond to seek higher knowledge, different beliefs & new cultures. Jupiter also represents luck, blessings, ethics, & law.
Contrary to popular belief, Jupiter is also the main planet to look at for money matters. Jupiter represents wealth itself while Venus represents things we enjoy & find comfort in. Venus is a love of luxurious things. Jupiter can show how much money one would have & how much it'll grow.
Topics & keywords that Jupiter rules:
- Optimism
- Morals
- Fortune
- Abundance
- Possibilities
- Overindulgence
- Religion
- Higher Education
- Philosophy
- Charity
♄ Saturn ♄
Topics & keywords that Saturn rules:
- Responsibility
- Confinement
- Rules
- Realism- Age
- Time
- Seriousness
♅ The Outer Planets ♆
A lot of Astrologers debate about the Outer Planets rulerships &/or whether they even rule signs at all. Regardless of your opinion or take on it, the general consensus Astrologers have come up with has given these planets the following signs to have domain over:
- Uranus (rules the sign Aquarius)
- Neptune (rules the sign Pisces
- Pluto (rules the sign Scorpio)
I will go over some notes on how you should be using the Outer Planets in Astrology after describing each planet.
♅ Uranus ♅
Topics & keywords that Uranus rules:
- Individuality
- Unpredictability
- Independence
- Revolution
- Logic/Intellect
- Invention
- Rebelliousness
♆ Neptune ♆
(My personal favorite planet)
Again, most people refer to Neptune as the "Higher Octave of Venus". I did a deep dive on Neptune (will post soon!) & I have a theory that Neptune 'absorbs' its significations from all the other planets, because it is the only planet that has multiple things in common with every other planet in Astrology. Personally though, I find it shares the most similarities from Jupiter & Venus, but I'll explain that later!
Ultimately though, Neptune urges us to find love & beauty like Venus, but unlike Venus, Neptune wants us to find that love unconditionally. Things that are not traditionally beautiful or are "otherworldly" & intangible come under Neptune's domain. Neptune also urges us to look beyond like Jupiter, but while Jupiter seeks to expand on the things in our reality, Neptune offers us release & transcendence into the limitless realm.
Topics & keywords related to Neptune:
- Bliss
- Unconditional
- Idealism
- Illusions
- Fantasy
- Embracing
- Magnetism
♇ Pluto ♇
Pluto is a tiny planet that represents everything big & powerful in this world. (Again, another indicator of money, but here, we're talking about BIG WEALTH. It's main theme though is cycles. It rules things that never truly cease to exist. Disintegration & growth never stop, death & birth always persists (figuratively & literally). Things become hidden, come into the light, retreat back into the shadows, etc.
Topics & keywords that Pluto rule:
- Intensity
- Things hidden/private
- Rebirth
- Disintegration
- Survival
- Control
- Power
- Wealth
- Transformation
~ Notes on the Outer Planets ~
- Outers should NOT be used as your chart ruler. They move very slowly & "can not be seen", meaning that they have a less personal effect on you (unless you meet certain requirements which I will go over in a sec).They represent generations & the world. For you, they represent external things in your life, life long/soul journeys, & lifetime cycles, not particularly personality traits. They will not "personify" you.
- In order to truly be personified by the Outer Planets, they must have a very significant placement in your chart. The planets stay in signs for years & years & take hundreds to make 1 cycle through the Zodiac, so they represent a large amount of people at once. In order to determine whether you are truly a "Uranian", "Neptunian", or "Plutonian", look at the location of this planet. The sign it's in will not matter here. Check a few things:
- Is the planet in an angular house? (1H, 4H, 7H, 10H)
- Is the planet conjunct any of the angles in your chart? (The Ascendant, Descendant, IC, or MC)
- Is the planet apart of a stellium in conjunction to other planets?
- Is the planet making a major aspect to your chart ruler?
- Is the planet making a lot of Conjunctions, Oppositions, Squares, or Trines? (primarily conjunctions to personal planets & within a 5° orb? The tighter, the better)
If you meet more than one of these requirements then these planets will have more of a personal influence on you. ESPECIALLY if it's apart of a conjunct stellium & conjunct an angle.
- Due to everything I mentioned above, I personally find that Outer Planets are less relevant in Natal Astrology (unless meeting those requirements) & are much more powerful when analyzing your transits. Transits from Uranus, Neptune, & Pluto last up to years & will facilitate lots growth within you when the transit is done.
~ Closure ~
Thank you for reading! I hope that you learned something! - Ahmira ❤
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