Understanding the planets is the key to understanding astrology. Though signs get a lot of attention in our current culture, they really get their power and attributes from the planets that rule them, fuel them, shape them. I wrote my series on Embodying the Planets to help people bring that information into their bodies through ritual activities and what I saw as the most important attributes of each planet.
If you don’t know the basic attributes of the 7 visible planets, start there:
But here’s the thing: in charts and in our lives, planets rarely show up by themselves. A rose, for example, may be of the nature of Venus for its color, smell and association with love buts its thorns are of the nature of Mars. You may have a really sweet Cancer Moon, natally or by transit, but if it’s opposed by Saturn, you can’t get the nurturing, protecting qualities of Luna without the scarcity and struggle of Saturn.
Again and again in client consults, I find that by solely talking about the planetary combinations in someone’s chart, you can get to the heart of the foundational dynamics of their heart. And if you start looking around, you see planetary duos, specifically between two planets, show up all over astrology. Lots, or calculated points of fate, are determined via the relationship between two planets in your chart. Signs are defined by both their domicile and exaltation rulers. All fixed stars are assigned a planetary duo that reflects their nature.
By beginning to understand what it means when two planets come together, you see the relationships between them and the common ways they manifest in our mixed-up, varied lives.
In our charts, a planet is considered in combination with another when they are in the same sign, in opposing signs, or in mutual reception (a swapping of rulerships, i.e. when the Moon is in Leo and the Sun is in Cancer. Terms, exaltations and decans count here too).
So today, I begin a series exploring these planetary combinations in part because I find them so interesting. This work is heavily inspired by Austin Coppock’s “36 Dramas: Essential Planetary Relationships” Lecture from NORWAC 2022, so please check that out if you want to learn more! Going beyond his wonderful starting point, I will also include information on the decans, each of which have two planetary rulers when you consider both the Chaldean and Triplicity system, as their dynamics do a great job demonstrating what the planetary combinations look like in action. We will also be examining the fixed stars that share the same nature as this planetary combination to further our understanding.
Other uses for these combinations:
understanding mixed planetary correspondences
determining which herbs may help you if they have more than one ruler
connecting with your holy guardian angel (who is classically of the nature of two planets)
seeing your chart more clearly
attuning yourself to both planetary days and hours
P.S. If you want help understanding your own planetary combinations, my books are open for March! Book now to reacquaint yourself with your magic and destiny (no big deal).
Jupiter and Mars: Summary
Mars and Jupiter are both warm planets. Though Mars is hot to an uncomfortable degree, Jupiter’s warmth is cozy enough to bathe in. Accordingly, Jupiter tempers Mars’s excessive heat while Mars’s fire springs Jupiter into more pointed action. When the planet of war and the plant of wisdom come together, you get the classic archetype of the Crusader, one who fights on behalf of a cause, which may or may not be noble. But more generally, you also get a formula for success when you combine the warm benefic and malefic. Mars has the shrewd strategy and self-driven desire to achieve no matter what while Jupiter has the luck, resourcing, and personal connection to provide victory to Mars’s goals, as well as the moral code that extends Mars’s desires beyond his own skull.
Across all traditional texts I’ve read, there’s an emphasis the prosperity of this combination: The Yavanajataka tells us this combination creates “a prosperous hero or the lord of a city (nagaresvara); a glorious person with a wealth of auspiciousness”1 while Valens adds “those considered worthy of honor and status”.2 There seems to be a theme of powerful friends who help elevate you, as Firmicus calls Mars-Jupiter natives “holders of glorious powers among the most important peoples”.3 Valens also calls them “ friends of the great or of kings…receivers of stipends” and “those making a career in public affairs or in campaigns,” the latter of which can only be successful if he has popular support.4 On his own, Mars is often self-centered and a misunderstood outsider, so this combination is not without its ruthlessness. The Yavanajataka also believes this combination yields “a harsh man who is fond of weapons” but Jupiter provides relational and institutional support. This combination, thus, can lead to the elevation of irascible and self-centered men through both their social connection and their force of will.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Recent Bedroom to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.