Planets – Essence and Function

The humans in ancient times worshipped planetary forces as gods. With that they showed their reverence of a cosmic intelligence and sanctified the laws that underly all existence.

The planets can become symbols for the possibilities of spiritual development and for heightening your awareness. When we become familiar with those energies that are represented by them, we support the process of development of our consciousness. As soon as we succeed in that, we will not anymore spellboundly stare at positive or negative aspects of the planets. Instead, we will understand the pattern of our own life, embedded in a much bigger cosmic pattern.

We are part of the whole and will view our destiny or the chances in our life not so personally, but we will see astrology as a star gate that opens a new dimension and puts us on the road to cosmic life.
In order to understand the network of planetary relationships in the horoscope, it is helpful to familiarize yourself step by step with the effective forces. It would be best to begin with the personality of each planet.

• The Sun as the king among the planets represents a man’s self and vitality, his status and willpower.
• The Moon is the queen among the planets and stands for mind and emotions as well as the mother’s higher femininity and energy.
• Mars as the general among the planets is a source of insatiable energy and will to live and thus rules our initiatives, endeavours and conflicts in life.
• Mercury is seen as the prince among the planets and is the significator for analytical intelligence, the ability to learn, and it also stands for children and trade.
• As the priest among the planets and as the embodiment of divine grace and spiritual tendencies, Jupiter represents all presents we get in life.
• Venus is seen as the goddess of love, of luxury and of the pleasing sides of life. It gives us passion, love, wealth and a sense for the beautiful in life.
• Saturn as the servant among the planets cares for perseverance, discipline and simplicity and conveys the transitoriness of material existence.
• The two moon nodes Rahu and Ketu are the most difficult influences in the life of a man. While Rahu covers our consciousness materially, the suffering caused by Ketu inspires our spiritual growth.

But please remember: since happiness and suffering are never separable and since both belong to a full and active life, the so-called hostile planets are not simply bad and the good planets are not simply good. The so-called negative planets can possibly contribute more to your development by the suffering they cause than the so-called positive planets.

Nevertheless, everyone of us pursues to avoid suffering wherever possible and to invest much energy in finding joy. Very much suffering, disease and misfortune can prevent a man from using his life for self-knowledge and knowledge of God, so it is beneficial from a higher spiritual point of view to avoid unnecessary suffering and to strive for a life of contentment and happiness.