Astrology 101- Outer Planets – How we integrate their meaning

planets-in-solar-system

ASTROLOGY 101 – OUTER PLANETS – HOW WE INTEGRATE THEIR MEANING

 

When a new heavenly body is discovered in our solar system, it is exciting news to astrologers! Naturally the planet has always been there, but when it is “discovered” by humans, it indicates an opening in the collective awareness of humankind. Ancient astronomers/astrologers (who used to be one and the same for centuries) were well aware of the inner planets orbiting the Sun, which are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. These 5 planets along with the Sun and Moon were all that astrologers worked with for 8000-plus years, and were the cornerstones of astrological understanding. Then, beginning with Uranus, the 3 outer planets were discovered during the last 3 centuries. Understandably, it takes astrologers a while before we integrate the influence of a planet and begin to utilize its meaning it in our work. There are some traditionalist astrologers even today, who still do not cast the outer planets, believing more time is needed for observation.

Here are some examples of this process.

Uranus taken by Voyager in 1986

Uranus taken by Voyager 2 in 1986

 Uranus was discovered on March 13, 1781 smack in-between the American and French Revolutions. This was the era when humanity was throwing off the tyrannous yoke of kings and ruling class feudal systems. “Freedom, Liberty, Equality!” was the cry of the times. Uranus, aptly named after the Greek god of Chaos, has come to represent the force of innovative, enlightenment, sudden unpredictable change, and was eventually designated the ruler of Aquarius. (Saturn had ruled Aquarius prior.)

Neptune taken by Voyager 2

Neptune taken by Voyager 2

Neptune was discovered Sept 23, 1846 in the midst of the Spiritualist revival of the 19th century. Neptune was named after the Roman god of the vast ocean waters. This was an era of spiritualists like Madam Blavatsky, metaphysical societies such as the Golden Dawn, and parlor room seances complete with ectoplasmic globs and table-tapping, unseen forces. First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln actually held a seance in the White House during this time. Neptune is now seen as a spiritualizing force, as well as a delusion indicator in astrology and has come to rule Pisces. (Jupiter was the prior ruler.)

Pluto taken by New Horizons in 2015

Pluto taken by New Horizons in 2015

Pluto was discovered February 18, 1930 at the beginning of the Great Depression and in-between the earth shattering, First and Second World Wars. Pluto was named after the Roman god of the underworld, the final transforming force who takes us from this world into the next. In this era, which saw Hitler’s rise to power in Europe, and Stalin’s terrible reign in Soviet Russia, humanity was facing its “shadow side” in full bloom! Pluto is now understood in astrology as the deepest karmic indicator, which potentially contains the most positive transformational energy when brought to conscious awareness. Pluto now is the co-ruler of  Scorpio which had Mars as its ruler for thousands of year and is still considered Scorpio’s co-ruler.

Chiron

Chiron

Chiron On November 1, 1977 the little planetary body with a very eccentric orbit – Chiron, was discovered. Some astronomers say Chiron is an asteroid or even a comet, rather than a planet. Astrologer Zein Stein’s website on Chiron is an excellent source of information, including the scientific “mixed-messages” so to speak, on what sort of orbiting entity Chiron exactly is. Whatever official designation “planet” Chiron finally receives, the process by which astrologers have integrated this heavenly body’s meaning is astrological history in action!

Chiron was named after the Greek Centaur who was teacher and trainer to the mythical heroes of the era, Hercules, Jason, Achilles et.al.. Hercules grievously wounded him during a sword training session, but since Chiron was a demi-god, he could not die, but was doomed to a life of constant pain. He petitioned Zeus (Jupiter to the Romans) King of the Gods to make him mortal, so that he could either die or heal himself. Zeus agreed and Chiron eventually healed himself by studying the herbs and healing plants of Earth. Chiron then went on to teach Asclepios, the human “first physician”, his healing knowledge. This is the reason Chiron is known as “The Wounded Healer”.  This is just one of many variations of the Chiron myth. They all share similar themes, but have noticeable differences too.  Here is more on the myth of Chiron and one about Chiron the healer.

I began studying astrology a few years before Chiron’s discovery, but did not notice any astrological “chatter” regarding Chiron until around 10 years later. By the early 1990’s a few astrologers began publishing books on their ideas about Chiron’s astrological significance. One of my early favorites is Chiron: Rainbow Bridge Between the Inner and Outer Planets, published in 1993 by Barbara Hand Clow. Today almost 40 years years after its discovery, when I plugged “Chiron, Astrology” into Amazon books search engine 11 pages with hundreds of titles came up. Obviously the chatter has become a roar!

Currently some astrologers still look askance at Chiron and do not cast it in charts. Their idea is that the jury is still out on what it signifies, if anything serious at all. Many more astrologers have begun to consistently use Chiron in birth and other charts and have found it to be an extremely potent indicator. I enthusiastically belong to the latter group, and would not dream of omitting Chiron from any chart I cast. Personally I consider Chiron in the birth chart to reveal a deep psychological and karmic wound which must be recognized, cleansed and healed if we are to grown beyond a certain point in our evolution. The glyph for Chiron (in beautiful synchronicity!) looks like a key. When we begin our Chironic healing process this key in effect turns, revealing an entirely new interior space we never knew existed before!

Chiron-Symbol

Chiron’s symbol

I’ve written in Heavenly Messages newsletters many times about Chiron’s effects, which have been especially notable since Chiron’s entry into Capricorn on Dec 11, 2001. This shift has had such a dramatic impact, its hard for any astrologer to not recognize its potency. I would not consider casting a birth chart without Chiron and I plan to continue educating my own clients and others about Chiron through the years, as we all continue to integrate its meaning.

 

 

Sedna

                       Sedna

 

Sedna the little dwarf planet named Sedna smaller than Pluto and further out in orbit Sedna was first observed on November 14, 2003, but the discovery was  announced on March 15, 2004. Sedna orbits 130 billion kilometers (84 billion miles) from the Sun, 900 times Earth’s solar distance. Sedna is red in color, and though contained in our solar system is so far away that the Sun looks only like a large star in Sedna’s sky.  Here’s a good article on dwarf planet Sedna from Space.com

Sedna was named for an Inuit sea goddess, who as a child was abused and cast into the sea by her own father. Here’s a portion of what mythologist Katleen Jenks has to say about Sedna: “ Sedna is an Inuit sea-goddess which makes naming the tenth planet after her triply remarkable: 1) she’s Inuit, not Graeco-Roman — thus, New World, not Old; She’s female — like Venus and Earth — all the others are male;  she’s a child-goddess — all the others are adults. ……. [Sedna] is an angry, ancient child, wise beyond the games of adults, and — just possibly — strong enough to tilt the balance in favor of sanity in her desire to put an end to the abuse of the powerless by the powerful. She has an orbit of 10,500 years, which means astrologically that she deals in millennia, not individual lives. Yet right now, and for the next 72 years, she is growing closer and brighter than she’s been since the last ice age.”

This is how the process begins. All interested parties weigh in with their contributions, beginning with the discover/s themselves, who get the privileged of naming the planet. So for this particular astrologer, as I’m sure it is for others, this is an exciting moment in astrology. We have a front row seat to see how Sedna takes her place on the stage of history!

Note I’ve update this section on Sedna, but I first wrote it in 2004 soon after Sedna was discovered. From following other astrologers, I have not noticed many refer often to Sedna, nor I have seen many references to many astrologers using Sedna in natal charts, unlike Chiron which is referred to and used in birth charts often. Here are a couple of articles on Sedna, Asteroid Senda and Sedna, Astrological Meaning, evolving thoughts

Eris and its Moon Dysnomia

Eris and its Moon Dysnomia

Eris the largest dwarf Planet  was discovered on January 5, 2005. And for the record I do NOT consider Pluto a dwarf planet, nor Ceres either. Ceres is the largest asteroid in the Asetroid Belt, not IMO a dwarf planet (astronomers are great and… idiots!) Here is an article by Space.com on Eris  from the astronomy point of view.  Interestingly when Sedna was discovered I thought it would capture astrologers imagination, but as noted above, not so much. But Eris discovered the following year does seem to have. In following other astrologers, I see Eris mentioned and referred to by transit, and in birth charts more often, whereas Sedna rarely is. Another indicator is that when I goggled” Eris in astrology” 152,000 articles come up. versus 39,500 for a “Sedna in astrology” search. I also noticed astrologers alternately refer to both Sedna and Eris as “the 10th planet”….hummm.

Here are some articles on Eris,  The Planet Eris in Astrology by Historical Astrology, and from astrologer Lynn Koiner, Eris – The Challange to Transform our Lives, and from Eric Francis’ Planet Waves Eris in Astrology, Facets and Fragments of Self .

I have to admit while Chiron definitely grabbed my enthusiastic attention, I have not felt the same about either Sedna or Eris. Perhaps that will change as time moves on, or perhaps fellow astrologers will peak my interest with more insight into these far away space beings.