9 Planets – 9 States of Personal Evolution

What are the Planets, and Why?

Planets are the active principles of astrology. Knowledge of what the planets represent is fundamental clearly understanding every other component of astrology – so learn carefully and well!

If you look up at the sky, it’s clear to see that the planets are “the active principles.” Go ahead and look up at night. You will see hundreds or thousands of points of light. Look night after night, very carefully, and you will notice that all of the points always form the same patterns relative to each other – almost all of them! There are a handful that move around with their own free will. They are the active stars, the “planets.”

As astronomy goes through various changes in modern times it might discover or declare various objects to be or not to be “planets.” That does not concern authentic astrology. Astrology is about the observable heavens. It is a science of foretelling the destiny of human beings, based on observing the sky with the natural human eye.

Thus astrological “planets” are the lights we see in the sky which are active – they move around. There are seven that are obvious, starting with the Sun and Moon. Next there is the dim but very swift light, Mercury; the bright and beautiful diamond-like light, Venus; the reddish and very unpredictable light, Mars; the slow but bright and pleasing light, Jupiter; and the dim, cold, crawling light, Saturn.

In addition to these main planets there are many “sub-planets” that are like satellites revolving around these seven. Most of these are beyond the scope of what we need to learn to get a working grasp of astrology, but there are two from this group that are elevated to a very high status, almost the same as the seven major planets, because unlike the others, they have a very dramatic and powerful visible effect of their own. These two are Rahu and Ketu – and their effect is to eclipse the Sun and Moon.

So altogether there are nine important planets crucial to the function of classical, authentic astrology: Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu.

Before learning about each planet separately, I want you to clearly understand how each functions as a part of a unified whole.

Mandala of Planets

Envision a circle with the Sun at the top, flowing in a counter-clockwise manner. Rahu is on the left side of the circle, Ketu is on the right, and they are the forces keeping the energy of the circuit flowing. Visualize three planets evenly spaced going down the left side of the circle, and the remaining three evenly spaced on the going up the right.

Starting from the Sun, Rahu takes us counter-clockwise to the Moon, then to Mercury, and finally to Venus. At that point Ketu takes us to the right side of the circuit and we come first to Mars, then Jupiter, and finally Saturn. This is the mandala (visual aid) to bear in your mind at all times as a symbol which will come to encapsulate everything you will learn about the planets.

All the planets revolve around the Sun. This is literally true in modern astronomy and in ancient astrology too, at least symbolically, because the Sun is the focal point of meaning for all the other planets.

The Sun represents the soul – the light within us that allows us to be alive, conscious and aware of existing. Every other planet is a stage of the soul’s transformation on its journey into and out of this temporary material world – the kingdom of destiny, fate, and karma.  The Moon, Mercury and Venus (“inner planets” in modern terms) are stages of our consciousness evolving outward and downward towards the phenomenal world. Mars, Jupiter and Saturn (“outer planets”) are stages of our consciousness evolving inward and upward towards its original pristine nature.

Seven Transforations of Sunlight

The Sun is light – consciousness. The first transformation of sunlight is the Moon, which is the light of the Sun reflecting into the night. The Moon is the mind – which reflects spiritual consciousness onto material things and thereby acquires desires and emotions.

Next, the Moon transforms into Mercury – intelligence – because the mind needs to be able to interact with the world that it desires and has feelings for. Mercury thus evolves from the sunlight and becomes our intellect, the faculty by which we can communicate and exchange.

Mercury then evolves into Venus – the senses – because the capacity to interact with this world requires actual tools of perception and action: “senses.” This marks the apogee of outward evolution from the soul’s brilliant light of consciousness towards the dark night of temporary objects.

Thereafter begins the return journey. First Mars evolves as our first attempt to deal with the inevitable problems that arise from attempting to enjoy the limited resources of temporary objects. Mars is the sunlight evolving the energy and strength to rise above in such a competitive environment.

Next, Mars transforms into Jupiter – moral guidance – because ambition and strength becomes terrible without it.  Jupiter then evolves into Saturn – reality’s limitations – because positive moral encouragement eventually must face the fact that the material world is not inherently a positive residence for the soul.

Paradoxically, by enforcing unbendable limitations and restrictions like misery, time and death, Saturn delivers the sunlight back to its original, blissful condition – completing the circuit of evolution.

Rahu and Ketu are the forces of transformation itself. Rahu facilitates the outward transformations orchestrated by the inner planets. Ketu empowers the outer planets to make their transformations to the soul.

The Nine-Planet Sutra

We must now begin to dive into the vast, spreading branches of meaning contained within each planet. But first I want to give you a verbal tool to go along with the visual diagram, as an aid to helping you remember and get deep context on the meanings of each planet.

A sūtra is a word or a few short words into which great volumes of meaning have been compressed. I will give you a sutra that will act like a filing cabinet in which to store and easily retrieve all the detailed knowledge you are about to learn about the planets.

The Sun: the soul.

The Moon: the mind.

Mercury is intellect.

Venus: the senses.

Mars is energy.

Jupiter: guidance.

Saturn: reality.

Rahu & Ketu are transformation, external and internal.

…

- Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com

…

Everything You’ll Ever Need to Know About SATURN

If you were taking my course, 102 – the planets, this would be what you would be discussing with me in your eighth class, the class on Saturn:

---

Saturn’s Sutra:
The Miserable Limitations of Reality.

When you cut straight to the chase, Saturn is all about reality.

Reality imposes limitations and is unyielding, yet only by embracing it do we escape misery. Reality itself is not miserable. Reality is beautiful. Our illusions contradict the beauty of reality, and this contradiction is the true mother of all misery. Saturn frequently operates as a miserable planet only because it exposes our unwillingness to embrace reality.

What “reality”? The truth that we are limited in every way; that we are neither perfect, powerful, nor significantly happy. If we detach from our illusions and embrace the truth of our small, limited nature, we experience peace. Then Saturn becomes the planet which erases all misery.

The Limitations Imposed by Reality

Reality has four walls: time, decay, weakness and flaw. These four walls define the limits of our small existence. Time not only limits our daily schedule, it also ushers in old age and death. Decay works alongside time causing our bodies to become diseased, our memories to fade, and our things to breakdown, fail and become garbage.

Weakness operates under the auspices of this decay. We feel too slow, ugly, and never smart enough. We feel powerless and become servile employees rather than bosses. Thus we feel disenfranchised, alienated, and alone. In isolation we develop abnormalities and thus become further shunned. We grasp at any and every chance to lick a discarded drop of happiness, and thus become perverse and lawless.

Weakness allows flaws and faults to exist. We are intimate with flaws and faults, because we are full of them. Thus we spot them everywhere and become critical, negative and spiteful.

The Strength to Face Reality

Saturn feels like an unyielding grindstone made of reality’s limitations and crushing our illusions to dust. We foolishly compensate by becoming more stubborn, as if we can compete with Saturn. When we are more willing to let go of these illusions, Saturn grants us stability, endurance, tenacity, & perseverance.

Detachment from Illusion = Elightenment

Saturn’s whole motive is to give us no alternative but to let go of our illusions so that we can truly be freed from misery. To those who are making progress on this path, Saturn grants detachment from material things and material ego. This develops further into enlightenment, when all illusions of identity and possession are discarded. In the enlightenment of embracing our true nature we find perfect freedom from misery and experience a state of deep inner peace.

Saturn – the Final Planet in Human Evolution

Saturn and Jupiter both seek to elevate the human soul up out of its descent into a world of illusory objects. Jupiter does so with a positive approach, Saturn with a negative approach. Jupiter rewards our good deeds and allows us to flourish. Saturn punishes our ignorance and forces us to admit the limits to which we can flourish in a venue which is a temporary phantasm – this world.

Saturn finally delivers the “sunlight” back to itself. The sunlight harbored desires in the Moon. It reached out to exchange with others through Mercury. Through Venus it created the senses that made those exchanges tangible. By Mars it developed strength to compete with others to obtain what it desires. Jupiter then helped it attain a broader world view and see the role of less selfish morality and religion. In the end, it is finally Saturn who forces the sunlight to deal with darkness, to deal with the reality that this world of illusory objects is hemmed at every step by restrictions and limits. Thus in the end it is Saturn who causes the sunlight to become disenchanted with illusion and instead seek out its inherent peaceful, satisfied nature.

Saturn in Action

“Too much” Saturn: We see the bad in everything, and almost no one can correct or show us another viewpoint. We are critical, and spiteful. Disliking most other people, we prefer to keep to ourselves and our own ways; thus we become strange, abnormal and perverse. Dull, menial, and slow in mind and body – we live weakly, surrounded by decaying things, filth, and illness. We age prematurely and are tormented to live out a long, tasteless life.

“Not enough” Saturn: We are frivolous, short-lived, short on attention, and attracted to any fluffy object that promises quick happiness. We flee from all critiques. We are impatient, give up easily, lack seriousness, hate to work and are gullible suckers for any idea that sounds optimistic and hopeful. We have unusual fear of death, and prefer to keep old and sick people out of sight.

Just right: We are realistic, patient, perseverant, and detached – able discard garbage and walk away from things that serve no purpose. We enjoy working, and work hard in whatever capacity is required of us. We can improve any idea. We are not afraid of sickness and death. We live long and seek true knowledge.

- Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com

Names of the Planets

He began by telling the names of the 9 planets: Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu. Of course these are translations of the names he gave. Since names are names after all, translations are not always terribly appropriate. So let’s look at the Sanskrit names the master actual gave for the planets.

The Sun he named Ravi which could literally translate as “Firebird.” The Sun is the great flame flying in the sky.

The Moon he named Chandra, “Lustrous.” The Moon is beautifully bright, without the flaming heat of the Sun.

Mars he named Mangala, which means “Luck.” Mars is a bold, competitive planet who relies on luck, and seems to master it in his ability to win in any contest.

Mercury he named Budha, meaning “The Intelligent.”

Jupiter he named Guru, “The Guide.”

Venus he named Shukra, “Bright.” Venus is the brightest of any light in the sky besides the Moon and Sun.

Saturn he named Shani, “Slow.” Saturn is the slowest moving of the nine planets.

The two remaining planets don’t really have popular English names, so we will keep their Sanskrit names.

Rahu we sometimes call the northern / ascending node or, more creatively Dragon’s Head. The name literally means “The Seizer,” referring mainly to Rahu’s ability to grab hold of the powerful Sun and Moon, causing eclipses.
Ketu is the southern / descending node or Dragon’s Tail. The sanskrit name literally means “flag.” We place flags on territory we have already conquered and controlled, which is will become meaningful the more you learn about Ketu.

- Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com

© 2010 Vic DiCara, All Rights Reserved

Symbols and Glyphs of Astrology

I am a huge fan of the glyphs developed in the West to represent the signs and planets. The essential meaning of every planet and sign is encoded into these fascinating symbols.

Glyphs for the Planets

Each planet’s glyph is made of the same primary symbols: a circle and a cross.

The circle is symbolic of life. The top of the circle is your original self, the bottom of the circle is your material identity. Life is a cyclic process of the original self transforming into a material being and then returning to a truer understanding of itself.

The cross is the symbol of effort. “We all have our crosses to bear.” The specific location of the cross on the circle reveals a lot about the meaning of a planets glyph.

There are two secondary symbols used in the glyphs: the half-circle and the arrow.

The half-circle is symbolic of evolution and development. The exact type of half-circle used in a specific glyph reveals a lot about it’s exact symbolism for that planet.

The arrow is simply a blurred cross, distorted due to the energy of the arrow’s movement. Only Mars has the energy to transform the cross of effort  into the arrow of ambition.

☉The Sun’s glyph is a circle with a dot in the middle. The circle is life. The dot in the middle of the circle is symbolic of the fact that the Sun is the center of all things in life. The center of life is your identity – the core of your conscious awareness.

☽The Moon’s glyph looks a lot like the moon, which is handy. It is the only glyph without a complete circle in it. Instead the left side of the circle has folded over or reflected to the right so that there are two half circles linked together on the right, making the characteristic crescent moon shape. Why? The Moon is your emotional self, a tricky reflection that creates and satisfies feelings of incompleteness which arise from our interest in a world of dualities.

The half-circle represents evolution. The Moon (emotions) allows evolution in both directions – towards the true self and away from it.

☿Mercury’s glyph is a circle with a cross at the bottom and a half circle at the top. The cross at the bottom shows that Mercury facilitates the effort for the true self to become a real manifestation in the material world. The half circle at the top is unique to Mercury. It shows that he alone can truly facilitate the evolution towards the higher self. This glyph encapsulates in a single symbol the fact that Mercury is your intelligence, which creates the ability to communicate as well as understand.

♀Venus’ glyph is like Mercury’s, without the half circle at the top. She gives you a physical body replete with fascinating senses through which you can truly experience the wonderful manifest world in your life.

♂Mars’ glyph is a circle with an arrow (a distorted cross) at an odd angle towards the top of the circle. This symbolizes that Mars is your energy. He is the passion and ambition which prods you to going off in your own unique direction with your own angle on life.

♃Jupiter’s glyph is a cross supporting the right side of a half circle. The right side of the circle represents evolution towards a deeper understanding of life. Jupiter is supportive of this effort. He encourages it and rewards it and provides the systems of religion, philosophy, and law which do the same.

♄Saturn’s glyph is a cross to which the right side of the circle is affixed and bound. The evolution towards a deeper understanding of life is nailed to the inescapable realities which Saturn generates: death, old age, decay and misery. We evolve by coming to grips with these realities.

☊Rahu’s glyph has no cross. In fact only the five real planets have crosses and represent effort. The Sun, Moon and the two nodes Rahu and Ketu are not literally planets. Their glyphs contain no crosses. They manifest their nature without any effort or evolution required.

Rahu and Ketu are the only planets to contain two complete circles. Their glyphs consist of these two circles joined by the arc of a half circle. The two circles represent two different lives, two different worlds. Rahu’s arc connects the two – bridging the present to the future, creating the ability and need to move upward and outward, and causing the possibility of nearly instantaneous change and movement.

☋Ketu’s glyph is identical to Rahu’s except that Ketu connects the two circles with a downward arc, while Rahu does so with an upward arc. This glyph symbolizes Ketu’s essential nature as a like between the present and the past, the ability and need to move inward and downward with the possibility of nearly instantaneous change and movement in those directions.

Sign Glyphs

♈Aries is the beginning of the zodiac – where the one (at the bottom) splits and becomes many (at the top). This symbolizes the tremendous energy and ambition of life itself.

♉In Taurus the energy forms a stable unit (a circle) which is like a womb for the new energy of life. The circular womb will cause things to grow and develop upwards (the half circle at the top).

♊ Gemini is the sign in which the incubated energy of creation is born and becomes a distinctly separate being. The many created at the beginning by Aries have developed by the support of taurus, and now become a second being, a truly individual self capable of its own experiences and ideas.

♋ In Cancer there are two circles attempting to connect. The new being of Gemini finds that she wishes to integrate her new self with her former self. Therefore Cancer is a place where energy directs inwards and emotions are examined rather privately.

♌ Leo begins a new cycle of evolution – the evolution to understand our own powers. A newly integrated single circle moves sets out with a new identity.

♍Virgo‘s glyph like taurus, creates circles. The three lines of the “m” represent the three layers of the world. The last line of the “m” weaves around itself, creating circular environments. In Virgo the newfound personal power of Leo enters these circles and attempts to more deeply and practically understand and express itself.

♎ Libra‘s glyph evokes both a balance and an equal sign. It shows a balance of desire to work equally with the world as well as on it. In Libra we attempt to achieve the delicate balance between our own personal strength and the personal strengths possessed by the other people in the world, to whom we relate.

♏ In Scorpio we complete the mastery of our own powers. Thus an arrow develops at the end of the three lines – the three layers of the world. This shows that we and now ready to move to a new stage and apply our newly understood personal power on a higher level.

♐Sagittarius’ glyph shows the arrow which appeared in Scorpio moving beyond the line of the “new level” of operation. Thus, in this sign we begin to truly explore the various ways in which we can develop ourselves on higher levels.

♑Capricorn’s glyph, like Taurus and Virgo before it, possesses circles. The straight lines from Sagittarius resolve into curves which create circles. This glyph shows that the new levels we discovered in Sagittarius can now enter a safe “womb” and incubate here to become more deeply and stably realized.

♒ The glyph of Aquarius, like Gemini and Libra before it, is dominated by two lines. These lines are wavy, showing that Capricorn’s effort to evolve a deeper understanding of life are now vibrant with power and potential.

♓ Pisces‘ glyph is two half circles bound together by a line. In Pisces we reach the end of one cycle of evolution. The new levels we discovered in Sagittarius, developed in Capricorn and expressed in Aquarius are now ready in Pisces to bear their final, deepest fruit: the ability to transfer us to an entirely new cycle of evolution. One of the half circles is the end of the old cycle. The line is Pisces effort to transport us to the other half circle, the beginning of a new cycle of evolution.

- Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com

© 2010 Vic DiCara, All Rights Reserved