Saturn in Libra

In honor of Saturn entering Libra (sidereal) today, I will post my summary of the effects of Saturn in Libra:

General Prosperity: Saturn in Libra is a symbol that limitations and restrictions are lifted and we are able to more easily rise to the positions, deeds and accomplishments that we truly desire.

Political Power: Thus Saturn in Libra more easily grants influence and power, especially in a political arena, including international influence and honor.

Learning: Besides granting political power, Saturn in Libra is also a positive factor towards intellectual and scholastic power and the ability to educate others and speak persuasively before large audiences.

Wealthy: By lifting obstacles and thus granting success, wealth also comes more readily.

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Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com

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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.

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- Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com

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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:

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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

The Most Important Planet

Image by Prairiekittin via Flickr

If you look at your own horoscope/ birth chart, or at someone elses, the first thing you wonder is, “what the heck… where do I start understanding this?” There are a few ways to answer that question, and several of them are good answers. Let’s explore one answer right now…

The first, most important thing you can do is figure out, which planet is most important? If you know this, you can automatically derive tons and tons of very useful, practical, helpful information from the horoscopic chart. Knowing this, you can categorize people into 7 or 9 broad categories and advise them accordingly. “Oh you are a Sun person.” “You are a Saturn person” etc. This is, though cursory, highly useful. Nobody should say that just because a technique is cursory it is not extremely useful for broad counseling and self-understanding!

Of course, the less generic and more refined you can make your assesment, the better. Therefore we might hope not just to classify a person as one planetary type or another, but perhaps we could aim to classify them as primary and secondary types “You are primarily a Saturn type and secondarily Venus.” Or perhaps we could go even further and give a whole balance of the influence of each planet “You are 50% Saturn, 20% Venus, 10% Mercury, etc.” This would be a highly useful tool for interpretation and counseling. So lets discuss how to figure out how important each planet is.

Sensitive Positions

First you want to know, “Which planets influence the most sensitive positions in the chart?” If you answer this question you more or less have figured out what the most important planet is, and what the order of importance is for each planet! There are a few other things to consider, but its safe to say this is the bulk of the issue.

So, first you need to know, “What are the ‘sensitive positions’ in a horoscope?”

Four Cardinal Points

First of all the Ascendant. The degree of the ascendant is the Eastern Horizon itself, and that is the most sensitive and important point in the sky. Following behind the Ascendant in importance are the other three of the four cardinal points – these are the cusps of the 10th, 7th and 4th houses, in that order of importance.

Calculating the Points

How do we figure out what these “cusps” are. You could use a non-fixed system and calculate the midheaven, then find the decendant exactly 180 degrees opposite the ascendant, and the Ic (4th house cusp) exactly 180 degrees opposite the midheaven (10th house cusp). That’s one way to do it. BTW this system is not just a “western” system. It is a “Vedic” system as well, “Bhava Chalit.”

Another way to calculate the four cardinal points is to use the fixed-house system. In this system the degree of the ascendant becomes the degree of the cusp for every house. So is the Ascendant is 2 degrees in Aries, the 10th house cusp is 2 degrees Capricorn, the 7th is 2 degrees Libra, and the 4th is 2 degrees Cancer.

I prefer the fixed house system, but am open to comparing results for both systems.

The Planets

The planets themselves are certainly very sensitive points in the horoscope. The most sensitive is the Moon, then whatever planet rules the 1st house, then the Sun, and then the planets in order of descending average speed – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, the Nodes (Rahu and Ketu) and Saturn.

How to Calculate “Influence”?

OK, now we know the sensitive points. How do we know how much these points are influenced? Let’s build a formula for it:

Each planet can influence a point up to 100% of it’s strength. Later on we will factor in the strength of the planet, so for now lets deal with the percentages alone. There are three ways a planet can influence a point – (1) by proximity, (2) by aspect, or (3) by disposition (being a “dispositor”).

Of these, being a dispositor is a black and white consideration. Either a planet is a dispositor or it isn’t. The other two are not black and white, instead they are gradations.

Aspects

Let’s consider aspects for example. You have to learn about how aspects really are evaluated, all the currently popular knowledge about it is only 1/4 of the story. For that, read my books or take my courses. I will tell you a bit about it now. Each planet has one or more locations it influences at 100% potential, and one or two locations it influences at 75%, at 50% and at 25% potention. These locations are degrees relative to the position of the planet. In between the degree of 100% aspect influence and the next degree, the amount of influence from the aspect gradually falls off till it reaches the correct amount at the next degree. Let’s use a concrete example.

Venus, like all planets, has 100% aspect influence on the “7th house” from it, which is 180 degrees away from it. And also like all planets she has 0% aspect influence on the “6th house” from it, which is 150. So if the Ascendant, for example, is 180 degrees from Venus – Venus will influence that sensitive point with 100% full power from her aspect. But if the Ascendant is 150 degrees from Venus, there is absolutely no influence from Venus at all here. What if the ascendant is 165 degrees from Venus? Well, that is halfway between 150 and 180, so Venus’ aspect influence is halfway between 0 and 100% – i.e. 50%.

OK, in this manner go through and calculate (or create some computer software to do it for you) how much each planet affects the all the sensitive points as a result of their aspect.

Conjunction

If a planet has zero aspect on something, one possibility is that it will be in physical proximity – conjunct. This generally means in the same sign/house. Like aspects, it is not black and white, but gradated. The closer a planet is to a sensitive point, the more influence it exerts. I figure it something like this. There are 6 possible points. If two bodies are in the same sign, I give 2 points. If they are in the same lunar mansion I give another 2, and if they are in the same navamsha, another 2. This method broadens the concept of conjunctions to include navamsha conjunctions and out of sign conjunctions that are still within the same lunar mansion. Based on this, I get a percentage of conjunction influence – 0, 33, 66 or 100%.

Dispositors

If a planet is a dispositor of a sensitive point, give it some note or mark. Ignore dispositors to the 10th, 7th and 4th house because that is included in the ascendant dispositor by default. So give those points to the ascendant dispositor. So the 1st lord gets lots of influence points just by being the 1st lord. Planets with lots of other planets in their houses also gain some influence marks in this way.

Putting it All Together

When you have your data on how much each planet influences the sensitive points you have to do some math. I am not going to tell you everything! =) That would (a) put me out of work, and (b) would be awefully complicated and only the math and science majors among you would finish reading the article.

What I do want to say is that at this point you have data about how much each planet influences each sensitive point. You need to do math to weight the importance of the various points and then sum them together in a weighted average for each planet. You also need to convert the dispositor marks to a compatible numeric percentage format to include in that weighted average.

At that point you will be able to say, “You are 38% jupiter, 24%Moon, 12% Saturn, etc. etc.”

But you should also factor in the strength of the planets. How to calculate the strength? You must use shad-bala. What the heck is that? You have to read my books or take my courses, there is no way I can explain it right now. But to summarize, shad-bala is a value that tells you how potent the planet is. So if a very impotent planet is affecting millions of sensitive points, there has to be some weighting going on in your evaluate to take into account that each instance of influence is weak. Conversely a very strong, potent planet (according to shad-bala) may affect fewer sensitive points, but each effect is very powerful. Therefore take the percentage numbers you have for each planet and figure out a good math formula for multiplying them against each planet’s shad-bala score.

Then you have a very good assesment of What is the most important planet in this chart?

Think this will take forever? Yes it will.

(A) you could either live like a sadhu and learn to be calm and patient and take forever before making judgements. or (B) you have to figure out how to teach a computer how to calculate all this stuff for you in a few milliseconds, or (C) you have to sit there in awe of astrology and wait for someone to include these calculations in some commercial or public software release, or (D) you just sit there in awe. or (E) you wait for me to make it a reading and then order it from me for something rediculously inexpensive like $10!

Hari Bolo. I hope you enjoyed this article and that it sharpens your understanding, appreciation and practice of astrology.

Thank you,

Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com