![]() ![]() On the right side of this engraving, from Renaissance Italy you can see the planetary spheres starting with Saturn below the fixed stars (constellations), in order to the Moon. Typically, the order starts with either the slowest planet, Saturn, or the fastest planet, the Moon. This order is sometimes called the Chaldean order of the planets. At death, the soul would ascend from the Earth upwards through the spheres of the Moon, Mercury, and so forth, tested at each sphere and shedding some worldly attribute (possibly influencing the Christian conception of the seven deadly sins according to some scholars). The soul would take on different physical and spiritual qualities along the way, in parallel to fetal development. At birth the soul would descend from the fixed stars, then through the sphere of Saturn and the rest of the planets to the Moon, and then to Earth. This order was conceived as spheres around the Earth which were the domains of each planet. ![]() The 7 planets of ancient astrology are typically ordered in terms of apparent speed. Uranus is not a planet in the traditional astrological sense, but it’s still damn cool. In this way they can be distinguished from traditional astrological planets. For this reason, some modern-day traditionalist astrologers who like to use these modern astronomical planets have taken to calling them “the invisible planets”, or simply “the modern planets”. These so-called planets are not stars in the ancient sense (and thus are not wandering stars) because they are not visible glowing heavenly bodies. The astrological planets didn’t include the modern astronomical outer planets Uranus and Neptune, nor the dwarf planets like Pluto and Eris. They include the Sun and the Moon, though the Sun and Moon were given special status among them as the Lights or Luminaries. the path of the Sun) moving from west to east. These seven glowing lights are seen to wander in a regular path along the ecliptic (i.e. For instance, in ancient astrology, the “planets” are the seven wandering stars. The term “planet” causes more confusion than any other, Not only does ‘planet’ have a different meaning nowadays, but modern astrologers have tended to use the term in the astronomical rather than the astrological sense. Sure the Sun is a star, but in astrology, the Moon is also a star and a big one. Therefore, ancient astrology distinguishes the “fixed” stars from the “wandering” stars. ![]() For instance, in ancient astrology, a ‘star’ is basically a glowing heavenly body so it included not only the stars in the modern astronomical sense (defined by their composition) but also the planets and the Moon. It helps to think of the ancient astrological terms as being based more on visual considerations while their modern astronomical equivalents are based on physical considerations. It is also behind many false assumptions made by critics. This re-defining of terminology has been a source of confusion. Modern astronomy developed over the last few centuries and has taken the same terminology used by ancient astrologers/astronomers but often with a change in technical meaning and application. The terminology of ancient astrology is sometimes confusing because ancient astrologers were also the first astronomers. Have you ever wondered what the planets mean (signify) in astrology? In this article, we will explore the meanings of the planets and how to read their symbols, as well as how to avoid a few pitfalls along the way. In the last article of this series, Lesson Zero, I introduced the history of astrology and the reasons for studying ancient astrology. Contrasting the Two Pairs of Benefics and Malefics. ![]()
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