Three Ways of Looking at the Planets

[sdi]

Okay, I’ve presented a couple ways so far of contrasting planets, based on the houses in which they rejoice and their zodiacal rulership. There’s a third, of course: zodiacal exaltation. These three each refer to different ways in which a planet is empowered:

• Rejoicing house shows where a planet is happiest.
• Zodiacal rulership shows where a planet is most free to act.
• Zodiacal exaltation shows where a planet is most powerful.

Each of these pairings showcases a different side of the planets. Let’s look at the rejoicing houses first:

• Mercury rejoices in the first house, and has no opposition in the seventh. The first house is also the horoskopos, the hour marker, the indicator of direction. This indicates Mercury is self-directed: happiest when It’s doing Its own thing, marching to the beat of Its own drum.
• Luna rejoices in the third house opposite Sol, who rejoices in the ninth house. The luminaries are related by light, and this opposition indicates that Luna is happiest when She receives and Sol is happiest when He emits. Hence Luna is dreamy and moody and Sol is expressive and joyful.
• Venus rejoices in the fifth house opposite Jupiter, who rejoices in the eleventh house. The benefics are related by their brightness and gentle natures, but Venus is of a more fickle or variable nature—being a morning and evening star—and so is more apt to be led about, while Jupiter is more constant. This similarly indicates that Venus is happiest when She is blessed, while Jupiter is happiest when He gives blessings. Hence Venus is pleasure and Jupiter is charity.
• Mars rejoices in the sixth house opposite Saturn, who rejoices in the twelfth house. The malefics are related by their darker colors and their harsh natures, but Mars is an intense red while Saturn is brownish. This indicates that Mars is fiery and happiest when He is acting in the heat of the moment, while Saturn (by contrast) is happiest when She’s deliberate. Hence Mars is passion and Saturn is contemplation.

Now, let’s look at the zodiacal rulerships:

• Mars rules hard Aries and Scorpio opposite Venus, who rules soft Libra and Taurus. This indicates that Mars is most free to act in a dominant or forceful manner, while Venus is most free to act in a gentle or submissive manner. Hence Mars is conflict and Venus is harmony.
• Mercury rules destabilizing Gemini and Virgo opposite Jupiter, who rules stabilizing Sagittarius and Pisces. This indicates that Mercury is most free to act when It’s able to change positions or destabilize an opponent, while Jupiter is most free to act when He’s able to take up an ideal and entrench His position. Hence Mercury is argumentative and Jupiter is affirmative.
• Luna and Sol rule bright Cancer and Leo opposite Saturn, who rules dark Capricorn and Aquarius. This indicates that the luminaries are most free to act visibly, while Saturn is most free to act in secret. Hence the luminaries are communal (though each in their own way) while Saturn is solitary.

Finally, let’s look at the zodiacal exaltations:

• Sol exalts in warming Aries opposite Saturn, who exalts in cooling Libra. (After all, these are the signs of the equinoxes, when the world changes from cold to warm, or vice versa.) This indicates that Sol is at His strongest when He is making the world warm, while Saturn is at Her strongest when She is making the world cold. Hence Sol is caring and magnanimous and Saturn is melancholy and austere.
• Luna exalts in Taurus, and has no opposition in Scorpio. This indicates that Luna’s power is unique. How is Luna unique? She is the only planet that changes shape, growing and shrinking. She also rises highest above the ecliptic and lowest below the ecliptic. In this way She has power over increase and decrease, fortune and misfortune, change for the better and change for the worse.
• Jupiter exalts in fertile Cancer opposite Mars, who exalts in desolate Capricorn. This indicates that Jupiter is at his strongest when He is constructive while Mars is strongest when He is destructive. Hence Jupiter is law and order and Mars is lawlessness and chaos.
• Mercury exalts in thoughtful Virgo opposite Venus, who exalts in feeling Pisces. This indicates that Mercury is at Its strongest when using Its mind, while Venus is at Her strongest when using Her body. Hence Mercury is intellect and Venus is sensuality.

And so, to recap the associations of the planets: Luna is impressionable and nurturing and changing, Mercury is unusual and argumentative and intellectual, Venus is pleasurable and harmonious and sensual, Sol is expressive and charismatic and magnanimous, Mars is passionate and dominating and destructive, Jupiter is charitable and idealistic and orderly, and Saturn is deliberate and solitary and austere.

To be honest, the more I dig into astrology, the more amazed at how elegant it all is. Everything ties together into a neat whole with mathematical precision. I find all these mutually-reinforcing concepts incredibly helpful: I've lived an pretty lopsided life and have a lot of difficulty relating to or comprehending many things that people take for granted, but astrology gives so many interrelated systems to work from, there's always a way to analogize something I don't understand from something I do.