Planets and their Influences

Last Updated on December 18, 2017 by Coven of the Goddess

Our solar system that our astrology system is based upon consists of the Earth, The Sun, the Moon and eight other planets that revolve in a precise and ordered pattern. This pattern marks not only our days, but our seasons, our years and our lives. Because each entity in our solar system moves at a different speed, rate, separate path or orbit, the combinations of the placements of the planets are almost endless. At the moment of your birth, the Sun, Moon and planets were in a particular in the heavens that will not be repeated for 4,320,000 years. Even twins would not have the same horoscope as every four minutes the Ascendant changes by one degree. This means there is the possibility they could have Ascendents in different signs and when the Ascendant shifts the entire birth chart shifts.

Each planet has a specific influence in astrology and governs a certain area of your personality or your approach to life. For example; Mercury relates to your mental outlook; Venus governs your love nature. It is the placement in various zodiacal signs that determines how you “express” the different facets of your personality. If your Mercury is in Gemini, you tend to be extremely verbal and quick-witted. If your Mercury is in Capricorn, you handle detail work very well and carefully plot your plans in advance.If your Venus is in Leo, you are not happy unless you receive a great deal of attention from a love. If your Venus is in Aquarius, you consider freedom of expression for each person to be the most important thing in a love relationship.

Planets also rule certain houses. Example; Mars rules/associates with Aries/first house. This we will cover more when we learn the houses. Learn the planet properties and we will learn the rulership with the houses in a later lesson.

The Sun

• The sun is the light of life that you must let shine. It represents the conscious mind, will, ego, vitality, leadership, power, and authority.
• It rules the fifth sign, Leo, and the fifth house.
• Its cycle is equivalent to the Earth’s year.
• Key Words: powerful, dignified, natural leader, loves to be star.

The Moon

• The Moon is your emotional needs. It symbolizes our subconscious mind, habits, feelings, moods, instincts, reflections, and aspirations.
• It rules the fourth sign, Cancer and the Fourth House.
• It orbits the Earth and the zodiac every twenty-eight days, and it completes one cycle between new moons every twenty-nine and one-half days.
• Key Words: sensitive, domestic nurturing, sentimental.

Mercury

• Mercury is your ability to think and communicate. It is inventive, restless and curious and stands for thought, writing, and education.
• It rules the third sign, Gemini, the sixth sign, Virgo, and the Third and Sixth Houses.
• It orbits the Sun every eighty-eight days, over four times a year.
• Key Words: alert, inquisitive, inventive, logical.

Venus

• Venus is the planet of love and beauty. Venus is known as the loveliest and brightest planet. It stands for beauty, nature, the arts, affection, social life, pleasure and happiness.
• It rules the second sign, Taurus, and the seventh sign, Libra, and the Second and Seventh Houses.
• It orbits the Sun every two hundred and twenty-five days.
• Key Words: gentle, lovable, unselfish, charming, companionable.
• Love, pleasures, the fine arts. Planet of love and pleasure. Rules capacity to express affection and to enjoy beauty. Rules over love affairs, art and beauty, adornment and decoration, the social graces, affection, harmony, and friendship. Governs the higher emotions, Venus makes life beautiful. Rules ability to love and to share with another person. Other side of influence is encourages more importance on pleasure, ease, and luxury, than on self-discipline. A strong streak of narcissism and a lack of will-power indicates negative side is stressed.

Mars

• Mars shows us our drives, passions and courage. It stands for enterprise, adventure, enthusiasm, zeal, courage athletic and mechanical skill, and sexual desire. It brings war, violence, quarrels and accidents.
• It rules the first sign, Aries, the eighth sign, Scorpio, and the First and Eighth Houses. Its period of revolution around the Sun lasts almost two years.
• Key Words: energetic, aggressive, decisive, innovative.
• Energy, challenges, sports. Planet of physical energy. Governs sex drive, forcefulness, and aggression. Governs energy, boldness, the will to win, the ability to turn ideas into action. Planet of passion, sexuality, and force. Signifies ambition, desire, courage and strength. Governs the sex organs. Influence also brings strife and conflict, tension and anger, accidents and destruction. It rules heat, fire, earthquakes, violence, and war. Negative side can cause sudden injury or illness. Represents unleashed energy and human will.

Jupiter

• Jupiter deals with our optimism, religious and ethical principles. It stands for wisdom, the higher mind, prophecy, organized religions, universities, law, ceremonies, and rituals.
• It rules the ninth sign, Sagittarius, the twelfth sign, Pisces, and the Ninth and Twelfth Houses.
  It orbits the Sun in just under twelve years.
• Key Words: Optimistic, philosophical, jovial, liberal-minded.
• Expansion, religion, happiness. Planet of good luck, optimism, success, and generosity. Brings joy to life. Identified with idea of expansiveness and abundance. Jupiter’s kingdom is luck, health and happiness, wealth and worldly goods, power and high position. Rules over knowledge, higher learning, breadth of vision, and honesty. Influence bestows a willingness to partake of life, to gather new experiences. Influence can make you extravagant, lazy, luxury-loving and blindly optimistic. Planet of blessings.

Saturn

• Saturn is the great teacher. It represents caution, conservatism, realism, pessimism, orthodoxy and old age. It elicits depth of thought, ambition, perseverance, and the desire for status.
• It rules the tenth sign, Capricorn, the eleventh sign, Aquarius, and the Tenth and Eleventh Houses.
• Its orbit lasts twenty-nine and a half years.
  Key Words: methodical, patient, disciplined, dutiful.
• Responsibility, maturity, realities. Planet of responsibility, and symbolizes the ethic of hard work. Influences that a person’s character is strengthened through trial and difficulty. Planet of diligence, self-control, and limitation. Domain is patience, stability, maturity, and realism. Influence is stern and restrictive, cold and severe. Effect is to delay rewards until they are earned. Bestows an ability to wait. Planet of courage, steadfastness and integrity. Negative influence is over-ambition, calculating and selfish, solitary, inhibited, and unhappy-associated with inflexibility, cruelty, humorless, and pessimism. Represents illness, handicaps, and misfortune. Our destiny. Rules fate, things we cannot escape, and payment that must be made for what is received.

Uranus

• Uranus is the planet of quick and sudden changes. It stands for our new awareness of individual freedom and liberty. It can bring quick, beneficial reforms or violent, disruptive, destructive events.
• It rules Aquarius and the Eleventh House. Uranus revolves around the Sun once every eighty-four years.
• Key Words: scientific, impersonal, unusual aims, innovative groups.
• Originality, science, progress. Planet of change and originality, symbolizing the element of surprise. Brings sudden events and opportunities. Awakens, shocks, revolutionizes. Responsible for the flash of human genius that creates something new. Planet of the future, associated with modern science, invention, electricity, humanitarian movements, and revolution. Planet of sudden upheaval and swift, unexpected happenings. Domain is all that is new, original, different, and unorthodox. Relates to inner will and secret power. The guiding force behind the visionary. Tends to make one eccentric in behavior, undisciplined, reckless and perverse. Brings change, new situations, and new people into our lives. Gifts are sudden and ephemeral; take immediate advantage before they flash by. Message is to move with change and not be afraid of the future.

Neptune

• Neptune is the psychic ocean of beliefs in which lies either delusion or great wisdom. It is the symbol of everything intangible, mystical, imaginative, delicate and subtle. It is life unrestricted by ordinary limits and boundaries.
• It rules Pisces and the Twelfth House. Neptune revolves around the Sun once every one hundred and sixty-five years.
• Key Words: kindly, courteous, sensitive, intuitive, religious.
• Dreams, illusions, inspiration. Planet of mystery and illusion. Power is that of the imagination. Represents your dream life and your mystic qualities. Planet of bewitchment. Planet of idealism and spirituality. Realm is the subconscious world, hidden memory, intuition, and clairvoyance. Positive side of influence represents glamor and mystery, artistic imagination, dreams and visions. Negative side is characterized by deception, confusion, fraud, treachery, and sham. Rules over a wide domain of human activity, from motion pictures, drama, dance, and poetry to hypnosis and anesthesia, hospitals, institutions and prisons, poison, and drug addiction. Brings one into contact with a higher plane of consciousness. Symbolizes perfection. Represents unselfish ideals, your spiritual quest, and search for the Impossible Dream.

Pluto

• Pluto is the great transformer. It symbolizes the capacity to change totally and forever a person’s lifestyle, thought and behavior. Pluto rules all the powerful forces of creation and destruction.
• Pluto Rules the sign of Scorpio and the Eighth House. Pluto revolves around the sun once every two hundred and forty-eight years.
• Key Words: power to create and to destroy.
• Rebirth, renewal, resources. Planet of awesome power, but is still found largely inexplicable and difficult to understand. Brings to light things hidden in the depths of your subconscious, releases dormant forces, and causes suppressed energies suddenly to erupt. Signifies death and rebirth. Planet of regenerative forces, of destruction and annihilation, and then complete transformation. Keyword is elimination; Pluto wipes the slate clean. Influences masses of humanity, enormous groups of people, and large organizations. Rules over disruptive elements in nature as earthquakes and volcanoes. It’s power has been likened to that of nuclear fission, which both destroys and creates. Governs the uncovering of secrets of the past in order to clear ground for the future. Force is felt as an undercurrent of turbulence and uncontrolled energy. Strong negative power may cause one to be cruel, sadistic, treacherous, or even lead a life of crime. Represents the highest and lowest of which mankind is capable. Governs impulses in our secret psyches that we do not yet fully understand

Mercury

• Communication, intellect, skills. Planet of intelligence and the mind. Associated with speed and agility. Rules over intelligence, perception and reason, memory, speaking and writing.
• Reflects the way you see, hear, understand, and assimilate information. Day-to-day travel, short trips, and the various means of transportation are under its dominion.
• Controls functions of the nerves, arms, hands, and fingers. Also rules the voice. Negative side produces tendency to be critical, sarcastic, argumentative, and sly.