The word planet comes from Ancient Greek, and it means wanderer. Our earliest ancestors saw the wanderers moving across the night sky, as opposed to the fixed stars that stayed in place. Whole mythologies and astrological systems came into being by observing the stars and planets.
- The Earth is our planetary home base, with its own energy field.
- The Sun and Moon are the luminaries. But in astrology, they are referred to as planets.
- The inner planets are those whose shorter cycles we experience in a lifetime. They are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
- The outer planets, also known as the slow-moving planets, are Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.
- The Sun is your spirit, basic nature and vehicle to fulfill your life potential.
- The Moon is the soul, emotional interior, childhood and ancient memory, and instinctual habits and reactions.
- Mercury is the thinking and talking Self, how you learn, exchange ideas, and shape your worldview.
- Venus is the atmospheres of love and friendship you thrive in and your creative potential.
- Mars ignites your sexual passions, and is the inner instigator that gets you moving.
- Those with the speediest orbits are the so-called personal planets; they are the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars.
- The personal planets shape our natures the most, and their transits to the natal chart are often short and subtle.
- Jupiter’s orbit is twelve years, and Saturn’s is 29 ½ years; they’re known as social planets, shaping how we each act within society.
- The trans-personal, also known as generational planets have long orbits that are tracked as historic trends.
- Jupiter guides you to a sense of life meaning, and is the bringer of luck, faith and the expansion of horizons.
- Saturn shows you the edges to work within, as the planet of limits, restrictions, inner frustrations and mortality.
- Uranus triggers breakthroughs and the impulse to shatter the status quo, and seek new frontiers.
- Neptune is the planet of delusions, illusions, escapism and the longing to transcend the mundane and merge with the divine.
- Pluto embodies the mysterious power of death and rebirth; it strips us and brings us to our knees, so that we might carry the wisdom of the dark.
