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 November! I will have limited spaces, as I will be away for part of it, so book now to reacquaint yourself with your magic and destiny (no big deal).
Saturn and the Sun: Summary
According to the rulership scheme, the Sun and Saturn are opposites. While the Sun rules the domain of Leo, sign of the king, the heat of the summer, the light of the long days, Saturn finds its preferred home in the contrary sign, Aquarius. Aquarius is the exile, the visionary who does the toilsome work of changing the world on the edge of the known. The Sun just is; Saturn requires you to work for it. While the Sun is hot, warming those who come near, Saturn is extreme coldness conducive to death. As you can imagine, most texts do not see much harmony between our bright, central luminary and the brooding stranger at the edge of our visible solar system.
Austin Coppock uses the story of Surya and Shani, the two Hindu deities syncretized with the Sun and Saturn, respectively, to illuminate the complicated relationship between these two. In this mythology, Surya is the father of Shani, who bore him after copulating with his absent wife’s shadow. Surya is strong, bright and energetic so disowns his sickly, pessimistic child. His son spends his lonely youth practicing austerities, reciting mantras and mediating, eventually leading him to develop a host of supernatural powers. One of these allows him to bring anyone to task for any evil karma they may have accrued, so he begins with his father. Here we see many Solar and Saturnian themes coalesce. On the one side, we see the Sun as a strong, powerful leader who also may exclude whatever doesn’t hold the same shine that he naturally possesses. Saturn, on the other hand, as an exiled misanthrope who achieve greatness through prolonged effort, though not without developing ire along the way. But the key for Sun-Saturn people, is learning that just because you have every right to give back exactly what you got, there is wisdom in rising above.
Another helpful analogy to understand the Sun and Saturn is that of the king and the prime minister. While the king has a hand in leading, he is not the one crafting the laws or enforcing them; he is the figurehead, the emanation of the divine who’s words and image lead the people, just like the Sun. The prime minister, on the other hand, has a much more behind-the-scenes, administrative job. He makes heavy decisions on behalf of its countries and actually makes policy, making him a Saturn analogue. This relationship also speaks to the sometimes uneven power between the two. A prime minister’s role is easier when he is in alignment with the shiny, magnetic king. The king, on the other, often has his spirits hampered, his visions quashed, by the practical vision of the one who actually implements the grand idea. Similarly, in astrology, the Sun is said to be harmed more by its proximity to Saturn rather than materially harming the Greater Malefic.
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