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<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nThese categories rank Mars and Saturn as ‘malefic’ (bad) and Venus and Jupiter as ‘benefic’ (good). Back in the day, astrologers were not interested in process. They were interested in getting a reading on fate. If you didn’t go to an astrologer to get your question answered, you might go to someone who would cut open a chicken and read their entrails for you — same price, same credibility.<\/p>\n
Tonight the Sun makes an exact alignment with Saturn in Libra. Yes, some guys in togas thought that Saturn was a ‘malefic’ planet. To me this aspect is about help on the way, and offers us a moment where it’s possible to set ourselves free from the past and experience the benefit of true maturity. Conjunct the Sun in Libra, Saturn is a truly friendly influence — if you honor Saturn. That is, if you work with limits and not against them; if you know that energy needs to be contained and directed; and if you honor the idea that if you take authority over your life, others will not be able to do so for you.<\/p>\n
Today, astrology is psychological in nature (mainly because psychology is such a crucial reference point, even in religion and science, and we cannot get away from it). Modern astrology involves understanding processes in the psyche. In those processes, we honor all the parts of what a person is, and the role that they play in our lives. It is tempting to want to predict the future or ‘read the fate’ of something, and I believe that it’s the job of modern astrologers to get people past those ideas and into a more reflective mode where we get to understand ourselves.<\/p>\n
For those who are new to planetary meanings, I will give you mine on the four planets referenced.<\/p>\n
Mars is the masculine or yang principle, and it’s about what motivates us.<\/strong> It represents a driving force in one’s life, which can be the drive to succeed, one’s sex drive, the impetus to make money, and the desire to build or achieve something. Any force can be turned destructive, either by applying it unconsciously, or by representing a toxic motive. Mars can be turned to violence, violation and warfare. Like a knife it can manifest as a sharp object. But we would never say that a knife is malefic. It’s what you do with it that counts. The question is, what do people do with their motivation? Well, we know it’s not always positive or helpful things; and we also know that the goal of growth is to turn motivation toward what is helpful. But that is an act of will; Mars is involved inherently.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Saturn is where we seek structure and focus.<\/strong> Saturn is a balancing force to Mars; it sets limits, which are crucial in the creation of goals. Saturn represents the most dependable structures in our lives, and in our minds. For example, it represents the buildings we live in, the bones and teeth in our bodies and our mental ability to structure our lives. Saturn in public charts, and in personal charts, represents our relationship to authority. It can represent an external authority that is imposed on us, and as we grow, our ability to take authority over our lives. How we relate to the Saturn principle tells us about our maturity level. Saturn can represent the principle of limitation, which is as often helpful as it is a problem. We depend on limits for many reasons. In our particular society, we need to pay a lot more homage to the concept of a limit.<\/p>\n Jupiter is the principle of expansion and knowledge.<\/strong> Jupiter and his Greek prototype Zeus were rapists (among other things), but we call Jupiter a benefic. Jupiter can bring gifts, ‘luck’ and hint at success — but Jupiter is nothing without Mars and Saturn. You can have all the luck in the world and get nowhere if you lack motivation, structure and discipline. So we can look to Jupiter for where help is available. Jupiter is a place in any chart where it’s possible to expand, stretch, grow and in a sense make a world of your own.<\/p>\n Venus is the feminine or yin principle, and it’s about what we draw to us. <\/strong>It too balances Mars and vice versa. Venus is alluring and attractive; she seeks comfort and balance, and can bestow power that people do not understand, that kind of charisma that influences people deeply. Venus is usually helpful if you follow your values. Venus can have a toxic side as well — for example, Charles Manson has Venus conjunct the Sun in Scorpio. That gives an image of the incredible attractive power he had. Lizzie Borden also had Venus conjunct the Sun. Nobody has her on their goddess altar. Elvis Costello has Venus conjunct the Sun — some people have him on the goddess altar. So too did the poet Emily Dickinson.<\/p>\n So as you can see, these planets are complex, and in reading any chart we have to be specific about where they appear — what house, what sign, what aspects — and what is the question we’re seeking to answer?<\/p>\n Part of why the new planets are not getting much traction in the astrological community is the concept of a ‘malefic’. Many astrologers assume any new discovery is a malefic. One of the first booklets on Neptune noted that a ship sank close to the time of the discovery and that this cannot be good. Now we understand something of the complex nature of how Neptune manifests. It can bring inspiration, or delusion. It can bring creative vision or self-destruction through alcohol.<\/p>\n With the new planets, the logic goes: well, in every centaur myth, the centaur dies. So why do I associate them with growth and transformation? In mythology, Eris loved war and bloodshed. So why do I associate her with marginalized women, and those who are looking to make contact with their drive to independence? In the myths, Pluto made himself invisible and kidnapped people, dragging them to the underworld. So why do we consider him the planet of the drive to evolve and grow?<\/p>\n Much of astrology is context, and much of context is: what time in world history is it? How do we handle ideas? What is the relationship between who we are and what those ideas tell us?<\/p>\n In handling astrological ideas, I suggest using as much observation, balance and creativity as possible. We need to question values handed to us from 3,000 years ago, particularly from a culture that didn’t know the Galactic Center existed. In some ways we are the inheritors of the astrology of empire, but we have to decide what to do with it — just like any inheritance.<\/p>\n Any astrological equation can be worked out for the greater good for all concerned — that’s why we have the chart to look at and the situation to consider. The planets have messages, and the job of astrologers is to interpret those messages in a humane way.<\/p>\n If it was all about getting whacked on the ass by fate, why would we need astrology anyway?<\/p>\n Dear Friend and Reader: Today you may have seen two words appear on Planet Waves that you will rarely if ever see — ‘malefic’ and ‘benefic’. These pertain to descriptions of planets from traditional astrology, that is, astrology that existed before the modern revival (and before the discovery of psychology), and which dates back about … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29321"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29321\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Eric](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.planetwavesweekly.com\/resources\/images\/sign_white.jpg?resize=185%2C45&ssl=1\" "\\"Planet")
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