Planets in signs
Planets are wanderers - they move quickly because they're in our solar system.
Signs are made up of fixed stars - they are light years away (show ancient light) and create the space-time fabric of our universe
When interpreting planets in signs, we are dealing with two temporalities.
What are the signs?
When interpreting the signs, every sign has an element and a modality.
There are four elements:
Fire (warm and dry) is an abstract element. It rules the spirit inside of things. Fire is energy - fire signs describe how quickly the particles making up a thing are vibrating.
Earth (cool and moist) is a material element. It rules the material inside of things. Earth is matter - earth signs describe how dense the particles making up a thing are.
Air (cool and dry) is an abstract element. It rules the space outside of things. Air is lack - air signs describe how the particles making up a thing relate to other particles.
Water (warm and moist) is a material element. It rules the fluidity of things. Water is movement - water signs describe how responsive the particles making up a thing are.
And three modalities:
Cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn) begin a season. They begin on a solstice or an equinox, when the daylight is at its shortest, longest, or equal to moonlight, and are times of change. They instigate things.
Fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius) make the hearts of the seasons. They develop or maintain the seasons, spring, summer, fall, and winter and extend their lengths. They are most characteristic to which seasons they fall under.
Mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces) end a season. They end one season, begin the preparation for the next season, and are fickle in temperature. They end, mutate, or adapt things.
Every sign has an element and modality
| Cardinal | Fixed | Mutable | |
| Fire | Aries | Leo | Sagittarius |
| Earth | Capricorn | Taurus | Virgo |
| Air | Libra | Aquarius | Gemini |
| Water | Cancer | Scorpio | Pisces |
What about the planets?
Planets are characterized by the way they appear to move, from Earth's perspective.
| The Moon waxes and wanes approximately every 29 days |
| The Sun rises once a day, gets smaller and in sky shorter during the winter, and bigger and in sky longer during the summer |
| Mercury follows the Sun and never more than one sign away. It also retrogrades frequently |
| Venus also follows the Sun and never more than two signs away. It disappears behind the Sun for 9 days before energy as morning star for 9 months, then disappears again for 50 days and emerges as evening star for 9 months |
| Mars is a wildcard and, depending on retrogrades, moves irregularity but takes approximately 2 years to go around the entire zodiac |
| Jupiter changes sign approximately every year and spends about 12 years going around the entire zodiac |
| Saturn changes sign about 2-3 years and spends approximately 29 years going around the zodiac |
Astrologers took these planets, almost like they were hands on a clock (and the solar system is the only life sized clock), and matched them up with biological and cultural aspects of human life.
| The Moon rules hormonal changes, mood changes, and appetite |
| The Sun rules energy, absorption of light, ability to grow, will, and ego |
| Mercury rules talents, expressions, communications, and mimicry |
| Venus rules talents, aesthetics, representations, and reflections |
| Mars rules output, identity, decisions, and aggression |
| Jupiter rules who we went to school with, how we think, how we share ideas, institutions, and our peers |
| Saturn rules maturity, people around our age group, communities, and social organization |
Trans-saturnians (invisible planets)
After modernization, we discovered that there are some planets beyond the scope of our naked eye. These planets, that come after Saturn, have no traditional meaning in astrology but are associated with more recent events.
Because they are so faraway, they move pretty slowly. Trans-saturnian planets only characterize entire generations of people, economic trends, or things that live at their scale (much longer than human beings).
| Uranus: discovered in 1781 by accident, during the "period of revolutions", beginning with the French Revolution. This was a social movement that focused on fraternity and an equality among western nations already involved in colonialism. |
| Neptune: discovered in 1846 but predicted to exist prior. Discovery was during American expansion, Gold Rush, and spiritual revivals |
| Pluto: 1930 after extremely detailed search, kept secret after discovery, disputed to be a planet or one man’s legacy. End of modernity and beginning of postmodernity. |
From the above information, astrologers have decided om the following meanings for these three planets.
| Uranus: groups, networking, cliques and communities. social change, social improvement |
| Neptune: economic inflation, trends, fads |
| Pluto: changes in era, reign, or dynasty |
Other objects
There are other objects in our solar system, which you can use astrologically. Because none of these objects were visible to the naked eye, they also have no meaning in traditional forms of astrology. They only have meaning after modernization and the dominance of the West. Keep that in mind as you explore all that modern astrology has to offer.
| Chiron: a comet between Saturn and Uranus, associated with wounds and healing |
| Juno: an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter, associated with female political power and the Greek goddess Hera |
| Ceres: an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter, associated with seasonal changes of the body and the Greek goddess Demeter |
| Pallas: an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter, associated with masculine forms within femininity and the Greek goddess Athena |
| Vesta: an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter, associated with the sexual freedom of chastity and the Greek goddess of the hearth |
| Lilith: an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter, associated with female disobedience of patriarchal norms and Adam's first wife |
| Eris: a dwarf planet beyond Pluto, associated with the vengeance of nature and the Greek titan of strife and discord |
You can even use the Earth, which represents your resources and reflects your sun sign.