NL29 Pt. 2

Planets

What is the Thema Mundi

It’s a model chart, used as a teaching device, that illustrates a variety of concepts.

What is the Chaldean order?

The Chaldean order is the arrangement of the planets by descending order of speed

How is the Chaledean order emphasized within the arrangement of the planets relative to the Sun and the Moon in the Thema Mundi?

On either side of the Lights, we have Mercury-ruled signs, then Venus-ruled signs, then the Mars-ruled signs, then the Jupiter-ruled signs, and last are the Saturn-ruled signs which are opposite to the signs of the Lights

How many kinds of planetary opposites are there? Name them

Two kinds: domicile versus exile/detriment and exaltation versus fall/depression

Why are the houses of Mercury opposite to the houses of Jupiter?

These 2 planets are contrary to another. Mercury likes to deconstruct and analyze things whereas Jupiter tends to represent wholeness.

Why are the houses of Mars contrary to the houses of Venus?

Venus represents desire and pleasure, whereas Mars represents fear and war.

What is another term for ‘home sign’?

Domicile

How does a planet behave when it is in its home sign?

It is able to affect its own significations with greater strength, virtue, or ease.

How does a planet behave when it is in the sign opposite to its own?

It will struggle due to the conflicting nature of the planet that is associated with that sign.

Name two of the most frequently used terms for a planet being in the sign opposite to its own?

Exile or detriment

Why is it that the Sun is exalted where Saturn is depressed; and where Saturn is exalted, the Sun is depressed?

The Sun representing light and warmth, is exalted in the place of the Spring Equinox, where the light is exalted, whereas Saturn, representing darkness and coldness, is exalted in the place of the Fall Equinox, where the darkness is exalted. The Sun is depressed in the place where the light is exalted.

Why is it that Jupiter is exalted where Mars is depressed; and where Mars is exalted, Jupiter is depressed?

Jupiter, representing the life, abundance and growth, is exalted in the place of the Summer Solstice, where the life-breath is exalted, whereas Mars, bringer of death and destruction, is exalted in the place of the Winter Solstice, where death is exalted. Jupiter is depressed in the place where death is exalted, whereas Mars is depressed in the place where the life-breath is exalted.

Why is it that at the place where the Moon is depressed, nothing can be exalted?

Where the Moon, who is the fortune, fate, circumstances of all, is depressed, nothing can be lifted up.

What are a planet’s topical significations?

The significations that the planet takes on is by virtue of the houses it rules and the house it is placed in, which is unique to each individual birth chart.

What are some of the natural significations of the sun?

Spirit, soul, wisdom, life, warmth, fame, ambition, direction, the plotline, authority, fathers, unique relative to the crowd, distinguished

What are some of the natural significations of the Moon?

Fortune, circumstance, fluctuation, materiality, body, impermanence, remembrance, devotion, nurturance, feelings, moods, home, family, mothers, women, pregnancy

What are some of the natural significations of Saturn?

Distance, isolation, alienation, limitation, maturity, seriousness, depression, impermanence, death, contemplation, discipline, control, containment, time, outsiders, division between what is in and out

What are some of the natural significations of Mars?

Conflict, strife, cutting, fighting, competition, courage, action, heat, impulsiveness, danger, fear, incisiveness, speed, accidents, injuries, frustration, dominance, will, power, sacrifice, martyrdom

What are some of the natural significations of Venus?

Love, harmony, beauty, pleasure, laughter peace, friendship, diplomacy, romance, style, aesthetics, sensuality, extravagance, appetite, desire, lust, vanity, superficiality

What are some of the natural significations of Mercury?

Exchange, movement, fluidity between boundaries, curiosity, skill, information, intelligence, wit, flexibility, writing, technology, messages, invention, trickery, speech, interpretation, science, systems of information

A planet in its home sign is in its own…

Domicile

What is another term for detriment?

Exile

What is another term for fall?

Depression

What is another term for exile?

Detriment

What is another term for depression?

Fall

What is the opposite of domicile?

Detriment or exile

What is the opposite of exaltation?

Depression or Fall

What is the domicile of the Moon?

Cancer

What are the domiciles of Mercury?

Gemini and Virgo

What are the domiciles of Venus?

Libra and Taurus

What are the domiciles of Saturn?

Capricorn and Aquarius

What are the domiciles of Jupiter?

Sagittarius and Pisces

The home sign of the Sun is opposite to one of the home signs of…

Saturn

The home sign of the Moon is opposite to one of the home signs of…

Saturn

The home signs of Mercury are opposite to the home signs of…

Jupiter

The home signs of Venus are opposite to the home signs of…

Mars

The home signs of Mars are opposite to the home signs of…

Venus

The home signs of Jupiter are opposite to the home signs of…

Mercury

The home signs of Saturn are opposite to the home signs of…

The Sun and the Moon

What sign is opposite to Aries?

Libra

What sign is opposite to Taurus?

Scorpio

What sign is opposite to Gemini?

Sagittarius

What sign is opposite to Leo?

Aquarius

What sign is opposite to Virgo?

Pisces

What sign is opposite to Libra?

Aries

What sign is opposite to Scorpio?

Taurus

What sign is opposite to Sagittarius?

Gemini

What sign is opposite to Capricorn?

Cancer

What sign is opposite to Aquarius?

Leo

Which planet is in detriment in Aries?

Venus

Which planet is in its detriment in Taurus?

Mars

Which planet is in its detriment in Cancer?

Saturn

Which planet is in its detriment in Leo?

Saturn

Which planet is in its detriment in Virgo?

Jupiter

Which planet is in its detriment in Libra?

Mars

Which planet is in its detriment in Sagittarius?

Mercury

Which planet is in its detriment in Aquarius?

Sun

Which planet is in its detriment in Pisces?

Mercury

Which planet is in its fall in Aries?

Saturn

Which planet is in its fall in Cancer?

Mars

Which planet is in its fall in Virgo?

Venus

Which planet is in its fall in Libra?

Sun

Which planet is in its fall in Scorpio?

Moon

Which planet is in its fall in Capricorn?

Jupiter

Which planet is in its fall in Pisces?

Mercury

Word for 'planet' + meaning in Greek tradition

Planes aster = wandering star

Word for 'planet' + meaning in Indian tradition

Graha = grabber/to grasp

Why is fate not the same as determinism?

We have free will, but we are not free from the consequences of our free will.

Karma

Outcome and results of our actions

How are the planets related to karma?

The planets are the administrators of karma (fate), while they also have the power to mirror the human condition of ignorance or wandering in the realm of samsara (fortune).

What do the planets resemble symbolically, as a whole?

Anything from the concrete, more objective to the more psychological and energetic.

Do planets cause things to happen? Why or why not?

No. Planets are signs. In an attempt to make astrology more rational, the 'causal' approach became more popular, but at the roots ancient astrology appears to have been a science of omens and signs, not planetary causes.

How are planets considered in modern astrology?

As psychological dimensions and potentiality.

To what extent was ancient astrology psychological?

The word "psyche" means "soul" . Ancient astrologers were interested in the liberation of the soul from material illusion.

What creates the great circle of the zodiac?

The Sun’s yearly cycle.

What breaks the great circle into 12 parts?

The Moon’s monthly cycle.

Keywords associated with the Sun.

Soul, spirit, intelligence, beauty, motion, action, reputation, Kings and rules, the ordinance of the Gods, the father

Keywords associated with the Moon.

Marriage, body, fortune, life, city, possessions, expenses, mother, changeability

Why are the keyword lists not exhaustive or incomplete?

They are brief sketches of the significations of planets to meditate on. It was assumed that the beginning astrologer had philosophical knowledge.

Why is the Moon associated with changeability?

Because of the waxing and waning phases

Why is the Sun associated with constancy?

The Sun is the most constant of the wandering stars.

What represents the ego in a chart?

The whole chart represents the ego.

What planet speaks to the storyline of the individual?

The Sun

What planet speaks to the circumstances, the stage or the setting of life?

The Moon

What planet or planets represent the native?

The ruler of the first house and any planets in the first house.

What is the Celestial Spheres Model?

The model is an attempt to explain heavenly motion and is related to the idea of all the stars and planets being embedded in rotating spheres.

What is the most basic categorization of a planet?

Planetary sect status

What is the difference between an empirical model and a metaphysical model?

Empirical model: describes material causality.

Metaphysical model: conceptual device which helps us to understand a certain dimension of reality that is not limited to the material dimension.

What is Robert Schmidt’s analogy for a planet’s agenda in relation to a given topic?

Legislation

According to this analogy, what is the effect of a planet that does not belong to the sect in favor?

Legislation is harder to pass when your party is not in power, which leads to compromised legislative results.

What does sect status tell us about a planet?

Sect tells us whether it is easy or not for planets to do what they want to do.

What is Porhyry’s explanation of the assignment of sects?

Diurnal planets have fewer visible phases in their cycle and hence less change, whereas nocturnal planets have more visible phases and hence more change. Therefore, diurnal planets are more like the Sun whereas nocturnal planets are more like the Moon.

Why didn’t Porphyry include Mercury in this rationale?

A lot of Mercury's phases are invisible, so that Mercury does not appear to change as much as the other nocturnal planets. Mercury demonstrates an appearance of both changeability and unchangeability.

How do we determine a birth chart’s sect status when the Sun is in the first house?

If the Sun is within 15° of rising, it can be considered as a daytime chart. This is not a strict rule!

How do we determine a birth chart’s sect status when the Sun is in the seventh house?

If the Sun is within 15° of setting, it can be considered as a daytime chart. This is not a strict rule!

What do the words “benefic” and “malefic” mean in Greek?

“Good doer” and “bad doer. ”

What do "greater" and "lesser" refer to when we say that Jupiter is the greater benefic and Venus is the lesser benefic?

“Greater” and “lesser” refer to the planets' movements. Jupiter is slow and heavy, while Venus is fast and fleeting.

What kind of qualities do the benefits relate to as opposed to the benefics?

Life-giving qualities as opposed to life-destroying qualities.

How does Ptolemy explain the placements of Mars and Saturn in their sects?

As compensations for their excessive qualities. Mars' excessive heat is cooled by the nighttime sect and Saturn's excessive coldness is warmed by the daytime sect.

What are the sextile and trine benefic aspects?

In the Thema Mundi, the signs that contain the luminaries, are both sextile and trine to the signs of the benefics, Venus and Jupiter.