LESSON VI
THE PLANETS
* Introduction *
Astrology is the science of the stars. There is no doubt that each of the nine planets and their satellites, revolving around the Sun, have a direct, special or individual influence upon the earth and everything that happens to it and on it. There are thousands of stars in the sky that can be seen on a clear night; however, only one of them is within our solar system and this one cannot be seen at night. That is our Sun. We see the light from our sun reflected from our moon and the planets in our solar system which are above the horizon. The other stars are beyond our solar system and very far away. Their influence upon us has not yet been analyzed.
Let us take a brief look at our galaxy with its 9 planets and 32 satellites and thousands of asteroids and comets, stretching over a domain at least 8 billion miles across - so far that light traveling at 186,282 miles a second, requires a half a day to cross it. If you think of the sun as a grapefruit then a grain of sand 40 ft. away would be Jupiter, and Jupiter is eleven times the size of the earth. In astrology we are concerned now with the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. The influence that the planets exert on us, as they pass through the 12 signs in the zodiac has been studied and recorded for thousands of years. The studying is still going on and presently some of our graduate students are engaged in study which could help to expand the scope of astrology in the future. With any new materials presented to you, an outline of its history will help to clarify its substance.
As the shepherds of old watched the starry arch of the night wheel majestically overhead, they took great comfort in the apparent constancy of the heavens. Save for an occasional meteor whose brilliant trail flashed across the void of space each heavenly lamp stayed firmly fixed in its niche. But as ancient astronomers mapped the skies they found five "stars" that were strangely different. Most stars always held the same position in the same constellation, they appeared to be fixed in place. These particular five "stars" did not appear stationary, instead they wandered through a certain band of constellations. Also while the fixed stars shone with a twinkling light, the five shone with a light that was steadier. The Greeks called them planets, or wanderers because unaccountably and mysteriously they drifted from night to night across the winking field of lights in their own fashion, coming and going, sometimes disappearing for weeks at a time. The Greeks did not realize then that these orbital bodies were only reflecting the light of the only star in our solar system, i.e. the Sun. The Romans gave them the names of their gods: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto were discovered as astrology and astronomy continued to decipher information about the universe. From the earliest recorded times, astrologers ascribed mystical qualities to these celestial bodies, as well as to the sun and the moon, teaching that they affect the destinies of nations and kings.
The planets move through the signs of the Zodiac and so through the houses of the horoscope changing their influence as they travel from sign to sign and house to house because this varies their relative distance from earth and influence thereon, e.g. Mighty Jupiter's influence on earth is much greater as its orbit brings it to its closest distance from earth than its farthest. This is true of all the planets.
In this course you will be instructed in a concise method of delineating the effect of each planet as it passes through each house and sign. Such delineation is based upon the thousands of records of effects on things and humans since astrology first began. You will refer back to this countless times during your career as a professional astrologer. Years of research has gone into this material and we feel it is the best available.
In their movements the planets form aspects to one another and to the Sun and moon. They also shape other important factors such as the midheaven and ascendent of the horoscope.
The planets do not move along at the same speed. The planet's speed varies according to its distance from the Sun. The farther away from the Sun the slower it travels and vice versa, the closer it is the faster it travels, e.g. Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun and also the fastest moving of all the planets as it takes only 88 days to pass through the entire Zodiac. Pluto on the other hand is the farthest planet from the Sun and also the slowest spending 247 years to pass through the Zodiac.
It is interesting to note that the ancients believed that the earth stood still, while all the heavenly bodies revolved around it. It was convenient for them to believe that their earth was the center of the universe for then man was the master of the universe. Unfortunately this was not so and as the instruments developed by astronomers became more intricate and efficient the Sun slowly evolved as the center of the universe. The man who cut through this problem was the Polish astronomer Copernicus. He worked out a new system which placed the Sun at the center of the universe. This was a daring idea, for at that time an attack on an earth-centered universe was considered an attack on the church. So the process of acceptance for Copernicus' work was slow and painful yet nonetheless successful although grossly in error.
Since then knowledge of the planets has been progressing at a monumental pace. Astronomers have not only plotted out the exact orbits of each planet but have made enormous strides in determining the size, atmosphere and make-up of all nine planets. They have found that the planets fall into two distinct classes, determined by size and density.
Density is a measure of the amount of matter in a body of a certain volume. (A baseball and a tennis ball, for example, are about the same size. But the baseball is much more dense; there is more matter packed into its volume.)
One class consists of small solid planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and Pluto. Earth is the largest of these. All have an average density several times that of water. The other class is made up of the giant planets - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. The largest of these Jupiter, has a diameter almost eleven times greater than the earth's. Neptune, the smallest, has a diameter three and a half times that of earth. However, the densities of the four giants are low. So it follows that they must be made in part of gas or liquid.
Man is not a part of the planet earth alone. He is a part of the universe just as the earth and the other planets are, hence, man is not only subject to the aging process of earth, but to the aging process of the universe. This concept is one of the foundations of astrology, constantly reminding us that the planets all have an important part to play in our lives. Let's then explore our Sun centered solar system and the planets that orbit around it, with their satellites. See Illustration I.
The Sun, the only fixed celestial body in our solar system, is the center of that system. (Remember though that in astrology we consider the earth to be the center of the horoscope and thus the earth's symbol is not shown on the horoscope chart but we do show its satellite the moon.)
Our Sun if a solitary star, not a double, and it if the star we know best. Unlike the Sun, many stars travel through the sky in groups of two, and in most cases these stars orbit about each other and move around some mutual center of gravity.
The construction of the symbols of the Sun, Moon and the planets consists of a circle, a crescent and a cross in different individual arrangements. The circle represents man's individuality, the crescent is his personality, and the cross is his materiality. A dot in the circle implies the drive for creativity. The Sun's symbol is a circle with a dot in the center, the individuality surrounded by distinct creativeness. The circle represents what is infinite and boundless, that which has no beginning or end. Hence, it is an appropriate symbol for the Sun, without which life could not survive. The dot in the middle indicates the seed of a lesser light contained within the larger. The whole symbol typifies the Sun's personification of man's life and spirit.
The theory most commonly accepted, explaining the birth of the Sun and its planets, was devised by Immanuel Kant in 1775 and revised countless times since. It supposes that about 5 billion years ago the sun and the planets began to form out of a vast, thin-spread cloud of the gas and dust. The cloud particles were moving and tended to attract one another and so the cloud began to condense. As it condensed, the force of gravity at its center grew stronger and stronger and eventually the cloud collapsed on itself. It formed a huge ball of gas and dust that began to spin. The particles in the middle of the disk were under great pressure and temperatures rose until this central mass became white-hot and began to generate light and heat. Under very great pressure at very high temperatures, the nuclei of the hydrogen atoms fuse, forming the nuclei of helium atoms. As they do so, energy is given off and the energy is radiated. While the sun was forming at the center, the outer parts of the disk had broken up into whirlpools of gas and dust. The dust particles settled toward the centers of the whirlpools and they began to collide. When two particles of the same size collided, they evaporated in the heat developed by the collision. When two particles of different sizes collided, the small one was added to the mass of the large one. In this way, during a few hundred million years, the planets formed. They were glowing hot, but they did not shine by nuclear fusion because their masses were not great enough to make the hydrogen nuclei fuse.
This is essentially why astrologers consider your Sun sign so powerful. It is the authority of our solar system. It gives existence and energy (life) to its satellites (planets) and without it the orbs could not survive. Not only are the planets controlled by the Sun but they owe their very existence to it. It becomes obvious, then, why the Sun is the most dominant force in the horoscope.
In astrology, the Sun represents the creative urge and the will to lead.
Man stripped of all his acquired habits and mannerisms, and of all the trappings of education and civilization is portrayed in the Sun's glorious influence. It reveals the man behind every mask he can make for himself. As an astrologer you will come to realize the high influence the sun has on each human being and everything else on earth. The influence must be considered with the varied and different influences of the planets reflecting and changing the Sun's radiation. Each planet and the moon produce a different effect. This phenomenon is the very heart of astrology. Most important is the fact that these varying effects have been scientifically proven! e.g. if you stand in the Sun long enough the radiation burns your skin. Refer to lesson one as to the Sun's effect on earth life.
The Sun represents life, not only in the heart but in each cell. And in all life, according to the ancient astrologer, there is consciousness - not necessarily self-consciousness but a consciousness which is aware of the presence and need of other living entities. The Sun is a fire star. It is said to be masculine or positive, that is it seeks to give rather than to receive. It is the natural ruler of the sign Leo and of the fifth house of the Zodiac.
You can see how crucial a careful interpretation of the Sun's influence will be in your client's chart. You will understand this clearly by the end of the course.
The moon is very large in our sky. Although there are bigger moons in the solar system, ours is the biggest in proportion to its planet. When it rises or acts sometimes it looks huge. This is because we are looking at it through a heavier layer of atmosphere than when it is high above the horizon. This heavier layer of atmosphere acts like a magnifying glass. (See Illustration III.) The symbol of the moon, being shaped like a crescent, pictures all that is receptive in your nature. It governs the instincts, the emotions, and the imagination. The moon is the storehouse of memory and if it is strongly situated in a chart they will have a good memory and be fascinated with history and antiques, unless of course there are other negating influences.
Just as the moon magnetically influences water in the oceans it also influences the water in the body's cells. Remember each cell contains 70% water! You are aware of the effect of the sun on water and hence on each cell. The moon in a chart influences ability, or lack of it, to draw large masses of people to you, whether in the home, the business world, on the stage, or in government.
The moon causes growth and rules fecundity. The power of the moon in your horoscope will determine which area of consciousness within you has the most chance of growth. Whereas the sun is the giver of life the moon is considered to be the soul that takes care of that life. When we say that the moon defines the personality we have to understand what the personality means to the astrologer. To the astrologer the personality affords us the power to realize that we as personalities are separate and distinct from others. It embraces, memory, all our feelings and emotions, to a certain extent reason, and our likes and dislikes. It is through all of these qualities that we are conscious that we are ourselves and not some other person. Unless, something tragic scars our memory of self, causing a dual personality, e.g., Jekyll and Hyde. This however must not be confused with the fact that we all feel differently on certain days, or even in certain years of our lives, when different aspects of the moon are forming, or when different transits are at work.
The moon is of the water element and so deals with our emotions. It is said to be feminine or negative meaning that it receives and holds rather than giving and creating. It is the ruler of the sign Cancer and of the natural fourth house.
Now suppose we visit each planet seeing it as if we were aboard an unmanned spacecraft that will approach it sometime within the next few years. In the autumn of 1973, a spacecraft will be launched on a voyage to Venus and Mercury, the two planets lying between earth and the sun. Our voyage first takes us to Venus and then Mercury and the planets beyond.
We are approaching Venus on the dark side and only a sliver of the lighted side is clearly visible. Behind us, 28 million miles distant, our home planet, has shrunk into a brilliant planet, brighter than any, except the sun, in the heavens. The messages we relay back to earth, traveling at the speed of light, take two and a half minutes to reach home. The sun, now only 67 million miles away has grown a third larger than it appears from earth and twice as much solar heat and light beam down on our spacecraft. Our closest approach, as we swing around the planet, is 3,100 miles away and Venus is shining brilliantly with a slightly yellowish color. All we can see however, is an expanse of dense clouds. That is all any man has ever seen of Venus and it may be all any man will ever see for what lurks below that veil is an awesome world of unbearable heat and pressures of terrifying distortions. Scientists estimate that the temperatures on this orb reach 1,000°F. at the equator. It is hardly suitable for life as man understands it. The atmosphere of this fiery planet is thought to be about 95 percent carbon dioxide exerting a pressure 100 times the pressure of the earth's atmosphere. The dense clouds surrounding the planet are as high as 35 miles. (The highest earth clouds are 10 miles)
Two well known symbols, that of the circle of the sun and the cross of matter, form the construction of the symbol for Venus. They are joined together with the circle at the top. The whole portrays the sun energizing the earth and causing vegetation and animal life. Venus, then, manifests all the things of the world glorified under the radiance of the sun. It embraces the principle of love on earth, of attraction, joy, gifts and benefits.
Venus moves the reproductive instinct into the emotion of love in all its beauty. It confers the power of cohesion, uniting things and people together. Venus is considered to be a benefic in the natural horoscope and when favorably positioned it signifies harmony, sweetness, gentleness, a definitive spirit of refinement and an exacting good taste. It encourages man to make his surroundings beautiful and so it governs the arts. In music it rules the melody rather than the harmony, the latter being more under the mental mercury.
Venus rules two signs and two houses. It rules Taurus and the second house, also Libra and the seventh house. It is a water planet and feminine in nature.
Catapulted by Venus' gravitational field, our spacecraft bends its flight path by some 40 degrees and races on toward Mercury, the innermost and smallest planet in the solar system. A year or so later we reach this small planet which has only about a third the diameter of earth. We approach it so fast and it looms so swiftly that we almost feel vertigo. Our earth lies 93 million miles behind yet it is still a very bright point of light. The sun is now only 43 million miles away and it appears twice as large as when viewed from earth. The surface of Mercury filling our view is a rare sight, never clearly seen from earth. Now we see it with perfect clarity, no atmospheric effects block the vista. We are only about 600 miles from the surface, and our eyes can distinguish objects as small as 1,700 feet across. Everywhere we see evidence that this rocky cinder has been cratered by comets and asteroids, and it is not hard to imagine that it was once scorched by tremendous heat. Would there be life on Mercury? Conditions do not seem at all favorable and no one seriously suggests it.
Mercury is the planet of mind, reason, and intellect. Its symbol is made up of the crow of matter, the circle of the sun, and the crescent of the moon. Mind gets its first start through receiving an impact from the physical world. This impact sets up an emotion in the consciousness (moon). The emotion is then transmitted through the fire of the life of the sun into action: the total result is called mind.
When Mercury, or the mind, begins to play upon the instincts of man, progress starts. For example, when it plays upon the nutritive instinct, it begins to find new ways and means of cooking food. When Mercury plays on the instinct of pugnacity, man begins to make clubs, swords, and armor and from there has "progressed" to the terrifying weapons of today. Mercury of itself is neither moral nor unmoral. It is amoral.
Mercury implies intellectual movement and progress. The mind sets the human species apart from the animal, which acts from instinct. Mercury distinguished the progressive man from the unprogressive, who can do only what he has been trained to do in his youth. Instinct is an inborn gift and it comes from the moon.
Mercury rules two signs and two houses. It rules Gemini and the third house and Virgo and the sixth house. It is sometimes referred to as sexless but nonetheless some astrologers say it is masculine when ruling Gemini, and feminine when ruling Virgo.
Propelled by an atlas-centaur orbit our spacecraft rapidly approaches Mars and sets down into an orbit about 1,000 miles above the ruddy surface. The colors are burnt ocher in the bright areas and a gray red in the dark, with none of the greens and blues observers "see" in their telescopes. The bright greens and blues are simply optical illusions. Incredible huge crators appear and Nix Olympica (snow of olympus) a bright-ringed crater 300 miles across, and Soles Lacus (lake of the sun) are among the more notable ones. These romantic names were given at a time when every educated man was steeped in mythology.
The craters dominate the landscape and we see no mountain chains, no bodies of water, no canals. The atmosphere seems clear almost to the horizon, where a narrow rim of bluish haze, with an occasional bright patch, gives way quickly to the blackness of space. A diminished sun shines some 130,000,000 miles away, only 2/3 of its remembered size. Only half as much solar energy is falling on Mars as on earth.
The circle and the cross, as was the case with Venus, compose the symbol of Mars. The difference is that the cross is now at the top. The whole symbol implies the concept of matter emerging from the sun or the influence of solar activity in the creation of matter. For this reason Mars is said to rule creativity, new outpourings of energy, construction, invention, ceaseless activity, force, power, work, strife, war, and death. It promulgates the endless new stream of energy which brings about new forms; hence it is said to rule the sex energies.
Mars is considered a malific planet and so it lends a harmful influence in the horoscope depending on its position. For instance when the rays of Mars play on the moon, they single out the instinct of pugnacity, anger and self-assertiveness. Mars can either make these forces extremely detrimental or it can exalt them into the noblest of virtues - courage, strength of character, self-confidence, and power.
The very symbol of Mars in its ancient form is that of the orb of power given to kings at their coronation. In pictures made for the church during the Middle Ages, God the father-creator is distinguished from the other members of the trinity by the fact that he carries the orb - the symbol of Mars - denoting power and creation.
Mars is of the fire element and hence it displays ceaseless activity, zeal and fervor. It is positive or masculine and it rules two signs and two houses, Aries and the first house, Scorpio and the eighth house. Pluto has some rule over Scorpio too. The fire of Mars usually results in heat whereas the fire of the sun should result in light.
As we leave Mars behind and beam in on Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, we must pass through the asteroid belt which occupies 150,000,000 miles of space. The belt has no known yet astrological influence on us hence it is mainly study for astronomers. As we approach the mammoth orb two striking phenomena catch the eye. A great red spot, one of the most curious objects of the entire solar system, stands out like a blemish on the southern hemisphere. Its elliptical area, seeming to float among the clouds is larger than earth's surface. The most likely theory yet proposed suggests that it is a kind of eddy in the atmosphere caused by a depression on a high spot far below. A crisp black circle marks the shadow of 10, one of Jupiter's 12 moons. Unexplainably, this shadow has been known to emit more radiant heat than the cloud layer around it. 11 additional and smaller satellites give Jupiter a family larger than the sun's. Astronomers and scientists know very little about Jupiter and yet what they do know and what they surmise make it in many ways the most exciting, the most provocative, body in the solar system.
The symbol of Jupiter is composed of the crescent moon of the soul consciousness and the cross of matter. The moon elevated signifies the instinctive consciousness. It also signifies a consciousness which has learned all its lessons and is now perfected. It has become a moon, or soul, of what we might term the super-conscious rather than the subconscious. The emotions have been purified and become beautiful through the play of the imaginative faculty which, having seen a vision of something lovely, has worked to attain it.
The emotions can become beautiful under Jupiter, but they are always expanded in scope. The moon and Venus may express tenderness to one, but Jupiter may express benevolence, kindness, and generosity to everyone.
Jupiter transforms the imagination of the moon into vision and identity. It seeks the cause and basis of actions leaving all traces of instinct behind. It is basically the planet of the judge and the lawmaker continually inquiring into motives and purposes. The morality, inherent in man, begins its development when the rays of Jupiter are favorable. There is nothing petty or small about Jupiter as it cultivates a broad outlook standing for soul growth, expansion and magnanimity.
Jupiter is of the fire element, masculine or positive. It rules two signs and two houses - Sagittarius and the ninth house and Pisces and the twelfth house.
Since leaving earth it has taken us three years even with Jupiter's powerful kick, to reach Saturn, the sixth planet in our solar system. The sun lies nearly 900 million miles behind us, twice as far as from Jupiter. Its warmth and light are only a hundredth of what we are accustomed to: Saturn travels in external twilight. A message to earth - at the speed of light - now requires nearly an hour and a half.
We are diving under Saturn and its famous rings and 10 moons are clearly visible. Still some 281,000 miles away Saturn, the most extravagant sight in the family of the sun, glows with a dull yellowish hue. But the brilliant white of the rings suggests the glitter of countless diamonds.
The symbol of Saturn is composed of the same cross and crescent as we have in Jupiter, but in this case the cross of matter is at the top. Saturn is the scientist, whereas Jupiter is the exponent of theories. Scientific laws and the countless theories of mankind are created by Saturn. These laws and theories are communicated to the world through Jupiter. Facts and material things weigh down upon the soul of Saturn and from these he evolves theories. Jupiter, then, accepts the theories and uses them to accelerate the social or economic progress of the world. Saturn's symbol implies that material facts are blended in the consciousness until man arrives at some inner understanding, and can give utterance to a statement, rule, law, or reason for the facts being as they are. Saturn rules all that is intricately organized.
Saturn is the principle of contradiction and the principle of solidification. Snow crystals in all their exquisite beauty and form come under Saturn. They are matter in its specialized form. Saturn rules form whether the pillars of a church, the shell of an egg or the skin of the body. Because Saturn governs composition it rules the governments of nations and the executive bodies of large corporations. It rules citizen organization whereas Jupiter rules the ideas underlying the structure.
Saturn gives depth to the character and strength of conviction. He confers sobriety, prudence, good sense, dependability, and patience. Saturn should be considered the builder of an idea whereas Jupiter is its architect. If you should use paltry materials and skimp on the construction of your ideas, beware of the storms of Saturn, but, if you have used efficient material then Saturn will do little harm.
Saturn is a masculine or positive planet and it rules two signs and two houses; Capricorn and the tenth house and Aquarius and the eleventh house. Modern astrologers also attribute some Uranian influence in Aquarius.
It is now 4 years since we left Jupiter and we are moving into the outer solar system, crossing the orbits of far-ranging comets. Uranus now roughly 15,000 miles away, appears as a pale greenish orb with faint markings. Five moons are in its retinue. Earth glimmers nearly 2 billion miles away and messages traveling at the incredible speed of light require nearly 2 hours and 45 minutes to reach earth. Uranus is unique in the solar system in that its axis is inclined at the peculiar angle of 98 degrees from the plane of its orbit hence it lies somewhat on its side.
The two pillars of the symbol of Uranus represent human nature and the devine. The symbol of Uranus signifies the energy of the spirit playing upon matter, and conversely, all investigation of matter resulting in some form of dynamic energy.
Uranus is the planet of insight and inquiry into the astounding laws governing nature. The insight appears in flashes and defines the times when material things can be beneficial and when to avoid them. It is the planet of the inventor, and is original and scientific, almost never prone to emotion.
Very significantly Uranus governs astrology. This is because it extends an acute insight into the very substance of the laws that concern man and his relationship to the solar system. It is the planet of electricity and is sometimes said to be malefic, for when it strikes, it can cause the whole efforts of a lifetime to tumble down and be destroyed. But this is more than likely because the plan of life has been wrong. Before something new can exist the old must be destroyed. Some of our greatest men have had to start over in the middle of life, and it has been the new profession which has brought enduring fame.
As man evolves and he learns more about Uranus, he discovers by insight and self control how to manage the effects of Uranus in his chart and how to make use of its illumination without being destroyed. It is sometimes referred to as the planet of revolutionaries, for it is never content to allow old institutions to continue without change. It is for this reason that Saturn and Uranus are constantly in mortal conflict. Those with a strong Uranus influence tend to act from motives and reasons that ordinary humanity cannot understand. He is considered peculiar and is often disliked, because people tend to dislike what they do not understand.
Uranus is masculine, positive and electric. It is part ruler of the sign Aquarius.
As we move away from Uranus we see Neptune dead ahead, a bluish-green sphere whose features have never been photographed from earth. Farthest out of the giant planets, this twin of Uranus now moves nearly 3 billion miles from the sun. So intense is the cold that our spacecraft would drop to 370° below zero F, except for the heat from our radio-isotope thermal generators. Information about Neptune is sorely needed as our understanding of it and its moons is meager. However, the radio telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, plus NASA's space ship program will teach us a lot more about Pluto/ Neptune/ Uranus, the known universe and the other planets.
Both Uranus and Neptune have densities greater than Jupiter and Saturn. This suggests that the two outer planets are not as rich in hydrogen and helium, but must contain a higher proportion of water and ammonia ices as do comets.
The symbol of Neptune is the trident, which confers power over the sea, and its inhabitants. The symbol is composed of the crescent of the moon pierced by the staff of the sun. Spirit penetrates swiftly and surely into man's consciousness and when man is worthy of it, confers the gift of prophecy.
The effects of Neptune are the most eccentric of all the planets. Similar to Uranus Neptune does not seem to act from any reason or motive that can be understood by people in general. Neptune is more involved with beauty rather than forces which seem to monopolize Uranus. Neptune's vibrations can give the composer in one moment the whole of an opera. This, of course, is contingent with the rest of the native's chart as Neptune alone does not contribute any love of active hard work. Neptune inclines to be the dreamer.
Neptune bestows poetry, prophecy, and fragrance whereas Uranus, like the sun, gives light. Uranus is concerned with the mechanisms of the radio. Neptune affords the ability of distribution of the voices and music from the radio over the whole earth. Neptune rules all things that are widely distributed, whether rumors, or chainstore businesses. Uranus rules the actual act of advertising but the carrying of the information to wide areas of people comes under Neptune.
Neptune is sometimes thought to be too elusive to help the businessman, but it is pure fact that some of the most successful businessmen often have Neptune strongly situated in their horoscopes. Such men have a mystic uncanny knack of realizing the most effective item to make the corresponding right move.
Neptune provides second sight, mediumistic power, and the knowledge of the past and the future. After centuries of denial that such gifts existed, several of our large universities are now studying these matters. Whereas Uranus is often too positive in insisting upon his ideas being put into action prematurely, Neptune is often too negative ever to put his ideas into action. Uranus is vigorous and Neptune is diffuse.
Neptune is a planet of the water element that is, emotional. It is a part ruler of Pisces and the twelfth house.
When we finally approach our outer-most planet we are now thirty times as far from the sun as is earth, and the solar energy falling on each square mile is a thousandth of that for earth. Arid, frigid, and dark, Pluto numbs the mind with its remoteness and hostility. Icy hummocks and a sprawling crater glimmers in the wan light of a tiny sun (bright star) nearly four billion miles away.
The symbol of Pluto is composed of the sun, moon, and the cross of matter, or spirit, soul, and body. Pluto defines the epochal periods when we can sense abrupt changes in our lives that have been unknown for some time. The caterpillar changes into the butterfly. We can perceive this phenomena the instant the butterfly arrives yet it takes long and calculated observation on the nature of caterpillars to realize that this radical change is part of its destiny. We can give scientific explanation for what has happened, but we really don't know. All we know is that the change has taken place. This change is innate within the caterpillar and we attribute this to Pluto. The suddenness lies in our consciousness, which realizes that the caterpillar has become something we did not expect. The pattern is innate, but we find it hard to conceive that a creeping thing can be suddenly able to fly.
Pluto defines the stages in our lives when action or activities, which have been happening in our subconscious become a concrete reality, a basis for consideration. We awake to facts, and our reflections upon these facts becomes a turning point in our lives, for better or worse. With certain people, a Pluto aspect leads to a fuller, more constructive life, and to a mature consciousness. With other people, it marks a period when laziness, resentment, loose morals, evils, and even crime, can become the order of the day.
Pluto marks the transformations which took place at various points of our lives that have made us what we are today. How often do we hear people say, "If 1 had acted differently at such-and-such a period of my life, how different, for the better or worse, my life would be today." If we progressed a person's chart, we will undoubtedly find that the change could be accrued to a strong transit of Pluto at such a time.
Pluto then will direct us to the time when the mind comprehends events which have previously stood fixed in our subconscious.
Pluto rules atomic energy. In the world of philosophy and religion Pluto rules the factory that causes radical transformation in human lives, such as those that have completely changed certain people, notable for laziness, selfishness, or drunkenness, into happy, radiant, constructive forces for righteousness. Under Pluto the change is real. In Neptune such a change may be only a temporary appearance yet the vision of Neptune may have to appear before Pluto can step in to make the final change.
Pluto rules the ending that leads to new beginnings - the end of the caterpillar and the start of the butterfly. For precisely this reason, Pluto exerts exact influence over Scorpio and also over Aries, the sign of new beginnings. It is a fire planet and, therefore, masculine.
* Conclusion *
We have now covered our solar system and our long voyage to its planets is over. We are beginning to comprehend the continuity of the celestial bodies, and indeed, their implicit influence on each and every one of us. As you continue your development as an astrologer the planets, just as the signs, will become very personal to you. Eventually they will become your best friends as you master the art of delineating their influence in a chart (your own, a friend, or a client's). Always keep in mind that the light you see coming from them is a reflection of the Sun's (our solar systems one star) radiation. This reflection of the Sun's radiation varies, depending upon many things, e.g. distance from earth at a given time; arrival of the radiation at the same time as other radiation from other planets reaches earth; natal horoscope of the person now being affected, and there are others. This is what makes each person different and the astrologer analyzes these varying effects by erecting the horoscope, progressing it and delineating. The chart on page 35, illustration A, is designed so that you can have this important information readily available at any time. It is something which you should commit to memory as early as possible.
