Planets

NOTE: the planetary alignments with the Ascendant described below are conjunctions, parallels, squares, oppositions, and contra-parallels.

SUN (Apollo, cosmic masculine principle)

The SUN is the principle of Leo, fixed fire sign. The fulfillment of the majesty and power of Spirit embodied in human form. The royal energy of power, authority, strength. The basic will-to-power most strongly expressed in males. Color: orange to gold range.

SUN aligned with the Asc radiates Source power with a body that can be larger, taller, or sturdier than normal for the family of birth. The personality often wants the spotlight and recognition, to compete, be on display or perform. At very least it fills out the face and jawline, stabilizes health, and supports a sturdy constitution. At its height the Solar influence can give an Apollonian beauty or stature. There is a self-importance that desires to be at the center of things. Generally, it gives physical strength, stature, even athleticism.

MOON (cosmic feminine principle)

The MOON is the principle of the cardinal water sign, Cancer. The receptive principle of basic fertility of the receptive feminine feeling archetype. Subjective, internal guidance of memory, emotion, intuition. Herd or clan instincts and awareness of needs, both individual and collective. The basic nurturing instinct most strongly expressed in females. Color: silver to violet.

MOON aligned with the Asc puts feeling and rhythm into the person, as well as general sensitivity. This is a personality with soul. This can mean withdrawal frequently to tune in to one’s internal center. The person responds to feelings — their own and others — with change, empathy, or codependency. With some there is a need to experience variety and to travel. The need to feel, to give and receive is more pronounced than usual. The face is generally rounded if the Moon’s aspect to the Asc is tight enough.

MERCURY (the messenger)

MERCURY is the principle of mutable air sign Gemini in outward expression, mutable earth sign Virgo inwardly. Learning and the communication of it. The basic need to question and gain information about one’s environment and the particulars in it. The messenger of the gods. Mental fluctuation, as differentiated from internal emotional fluctuation of the Lunar principle. Color: yellow.

MERCURY aligned with the Asc puts thought, intellect or communicative ability into the personality. They care about learning and understanding. They need intelligent exchange with others. At the least they are thoughtful. At most, talkative or very intellectual. The personality is guided by mental processing unless another planet dominates. The hairline is often higher or the face narrower/longer than others in the family. There may be more nervousness or fluctuation. They can be quick-witted, talkative, funny, great conversationalists.

VENUS (goddess of love, feminine principle in action)

VENUS is the principle of fixed earth sign Taurus in introverted fashion, cardinal air sign Libra outwardly. Appreciation of beauty or pleasure, whether of self or others’. The social graces and strong aesthetic sense. The desire to host, please, or entertain others. The basic desire to be loved and to Love. Color: cyan to medium blues.

VENUS aligned with the Asc orients the person to love, pleasure, and beauty. These natives are social and want approval. They care about appearances and form. They enjoy nice things — pretty and delicious — so there is a tendency to plump up a bit or lose tone from enjoyment of life’s leisurely pursuits. Desire for harmony, but can become filled with vanity from a desire for admiration. Venus smooths out the contours of the face compared to relatives. They need friendship, closeness and pleasure pursuits.

MARS (god of war, masculine principle in action)

MARS is the self-assertion principle of cardinal fire sign Aries outwardly, fixed water sign Scorpio inwardly. This one sees its extremes most expressed in males. Decisiveness and action take priority over any type of deliberation or abstract considerations. Tendency for starting arguments or fights. Spans a range from irritation and defensiveness … to … courage and conviction. At its height a competitor or athlete, and at its lowest an impulsive person nearly always busy. The willingness to act upon whatever feelings one has, whether love or hate. Color: reds.

MARS aligned with the Asc indicates a person of self-directed impulses, independent, self-starting, assertive, even combative. Illnesses tend to be feverish and over quickly. Irritability and anger are parts of the personality to varying degrees. There is an enjoyment of speed, athletics, competition, and all things considered masculine. Tends to bring accidents, injuries (especially to head or face), burns, puncture wounds, etc. There is a fighting spirit that can be applied gracefully or abrasively, depending on sign and aspects. There is often a ruddy complexion and/or reddish hair in caucasian and those of mixed parentage.

JUPITER (ruler of all that is bright)

JUPITER is the principle of mutable fire sign Sagittarius outwardly, mutable water sign Pisces inwardly. Jupiter (Zeus) was the sky god who stood with eagles in one hand and lightning in the other. The larger forces of nature, good fortune and providence. Fierce and with a temper, but mostly considered good and generous. The most outwardly, actively indulgent of all the gods and planets with his many lovers, stirring up jealousies. “Jovial” is not just laughter, but the ability to enjoy all life to the fullest. Color: blue.

JUPITER aligned with the Asc of one’s birth chart generally expands the person in height and/or in girth and makes for a big personality (and body). Jupiter the expansion principle and without social involvement and growth of the mind, these people can become indulgent or restless. They are jovial, sociable, open with others. There can also be a drive to learn, be involved in education; may have a strong philosophical bent, giving good perspective on life to those around. Travel, adventure, and growth are desired, otherwise drama may be created. Often recognizable by big personalities and big laughs unless Saturn is stronger in the chart. Ranges from indulgent to generous.

SATURN (Cronus, god of time)

SATURN is the principle of cardinal earth sign Capricorn, of fixed air sign Aquarius secondarily. Saturn is the principle of lessons to learn in the Earth dimension, awareness of shortcomings and need to mature. Its action lengthens and limits, sometimes cutting away as the sickle does at harvest. It may be personified in the form of authoritarians, parents, paternalists who are not particularly interested in giving up power to the next generation. Color: greens.

SATURN aligned with the Asc may reduce or lengthen the body compared to parentage. It creates a sober person who deals in what is literal and defines life by substantive living, integrity, and the reaching of goals. There is a serious outlook, nearly the opposite of jovial, in which responsibility and obligation are put before pleasure. They are circumspect, cautious, conscientious, and ambitious. In some, the personality is solidified to create a special type of leadership by example; or will veer negatively into a craving for control. They can mature early and feel burdened by expectations and responsibilities. Tends to slow the person’s overall tempo and development in life.

URANUS (Awakener, Sky God)

URANUS is the principle of fixed air sign Aquarius. Invisible radiations, the energetic matrix connecting all life forms. Transcendent knowing, the psychic. The higher octave of Mercury. Everything tele-: television, radio, broadcasting. Knowing that goes beyond rote learning and the limits of language to something more global, universal, and transcendent. Color: dark greens.

This is the planet of extremes, anything or anyone that is ultra or especially eccentric or trans-national. A citizen of the world. Highly innovative or liberated individuals who don’t let blood ties or cultural norms hold them back.

Uranus’ Purpose: To disrupt stagnancy and orthodoxy; to connect energetically/psychically with all that is; to activate reform within the collective mind; to defy arbitrary rules and limitations; to expand what is accepted as part of human community.

Uranus aligned with the Asc creates a personality that reaches far because it has collective awareness and freedom from the ordinary limits of the mind. It urges one to global or cosmic thinking, social progress, science, and psi. Nerve and brain disorders resulting from liver imbalance are common to stressed, imbalanced Uranian bodies. When poorly integrated, rebellion and bizarre aberrations or excessive independence can result. Uranian types get a charge from group or psychic exchange, and this collective-energetic connection becomes the focus of the balanced Uranian type.

NEPTUNE (god of the Sea)

NEPTUNE is the principle of mutable water sign Pisces. Vision, idealism and perceptual sensitivity. The higher octave of Venus. Extra-sensory feeling and super-sensational sensitivity. Creative imagination and inspiration. Relates to what is missing or only imagined. Heightened sensitivity and intelligence. Color: dark rich blues and indigo.

A tendency for altered states of consciousness, spirituality, ecstasies or ideological belief, often urging one to the arts of poetry, music, dancing. This expanded awareness can come with the uneasiness and insecurity, loss of distinct definitions or boundaries, leaving one uncertain as to ultimate identity. It increases sensitivity, causing the person to leave behind the harsher aspects of life for higher or imagined realms.

Neptune’s Purpose: to increase sensitivity and reduce ego, softening one’s edges to merge and interact more easily with surroundings and others; to stimulate creative imagination for bringing more of the brilliance of heaven into a sometimes dull world. The great lesson is the power of imagination and finely tuned sensation to discover the hidden world around us and create our own reality.

Neptune aligned with the Asc can make for a very imaginative, sensitive personality with artistic or spiritual gifts. A dreamer, idealist, visionary, actor, illusionist, escapist, magician, some having boundary troubles and a tendency to victimhood or martyrdom. Often there will be a more spiritual or creative orientation that may take a while to find expression, which could deal in matters of ESP and the psychic. These people can also be compassionate and self-sacrificing, but at the very least emotional and imaginative.

Those with Neptune conjunct or parallel Asc/Sun/Moon, have an extra indefinable flair or mystique. Often a loner or introvert earlier in life. Neptunian types not engaged in conscious creativity often lapse into insecurity and worry, and at worst paranoia, xenophobia, cultic beliefs, mental illness, or addiction/dependence syndromes. They often need a confidence boost and will get it once they see objectively their own strengths and talents.

PLUTO (god of the underworld)

PLUTO is the principle of fixed water sign Scorpio. Now considered a dwarf planet binary (with its Moon, Charon) by astronomers. The higher octave of Mars. The underworld, death, life after death. Unconscious potential and power that must unfold over time, yet be unleashed fully in moments of great challenge or crisis. The Godforce deep inside which must externalize as profound creativity. Total consciousness. At its maximum it exerts great push upon a person and great pull upon those around. Extremes most expressed in males. Colors are dark, rich reds.

Plutonian Fire types may show relentlessness and obsession, but great power and energy; Earth types, a tendency for melancholy, inertia and stagnation, but amazing resourcefulness; Air types, great potential as social reformers, a lone point of stability in a world of shifting tastes and shifting intentions; Water types, creativity and depth of feeling that may struggle to communicate rather than stagnate in swamps of sentiment or resentment.The great lesson is that all power is shared.

Pluto’s Purpose: to anchor one’s sense of Self deep inside, uninfluenced by superficial trends and fads in the social world and to endure life’s challenges and compromises with personal power intact and flourishing. To feel and be guided by the Godself, and to eliminate what is not of one’s True Self. To reconcile one’s life with one’s mortality and what lies on the other side of inevitable death.

Pluto aligned with the Asc makes for an intense or brooding, resolute, determined person with great resourcefulness; someone who experiences the depths and heights in life; a personality with a strong constitution and great reserves and ability to recover. Driven to mastery, these people don’t do things halfway, tending to over-do rather than fall short. Very committed when true desires have been activated. Can be quite introverted, at least earlier in life until confidence has been gained.

Planetary Sojourns

Planets are not only the energy of the solar system and the ‘action’ in the birth chart, they are inter-dimensional torsion fields. This means that a soul can sojourn there between incarnations on earth (as stated in the Edgar Cayce readings) because that particular planet resonates with how the person lived/ended their life or because they desire to ‘tune up’ that particular energy within themselves before reincarnating.

Cayce Reading 281-55

Q – Through other planetary sojourns an entity has the opportunity to change its vibration …
A – Each planetary influence vibrates at a different rate of vibration. An entity entering that influence enters that vibration; not necessary that he change, but it is the grace of God that he may! It is part of the universal consciousness, the universal law.

Reading 1895-1

… the experiences of the entity in the interims of planetary sojourns between the earthly manifestations become the innate mental urges, that may or may not at times be a part of the day dreaming, or the thought and meditation of the inmost self.
    Here we find astrological aspects and influence in the experience, but rather because of the entity’s sojourn in the environ than because of a certain star, constellation or even zodiacal sign being in such and such a position at the time of birth.

Reading 5755-1, Cayce explaining his own sojourns

…The sojourn in Uranus was arrived at from what type of experience or activity of the entity? As Bainbridge [in a previous incarnation], the entity in the material sojourn [on earth] was a wastrel, one who considered only self; having to know the extremes in the own experience as well as others. Hence the entity was drawn to that environ… “As the tree falls, so does it lie.” Then in the Uranian sojourn there are the influences from the astrological aspects of extremes; and counted in thy own days from the very position of that attunement, that tone, that color…
    The birth of the entity into Uranus was not from the earth into Uranus, but from those stages of consciousness through which each entity or soul passes. It passes into oblivion as it were, save for its consciousness that there is a way, there is a light, there is an understanding, there have been failures and there are needs for help. Then help consciously is sought!