The Dictionary of Symbols
The planets constitute a particular order within the cosmos. It is the
business of the science of astronomy to study them from a naturalistic and
mathematical point of view, upon the basis of the system which Copernicus
established with his De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium of 1543, according to
which the sun is the centre around which are set the orbits of the planets: Mercury, the nearest, followed by Venus, Earth, Mars, the Asteroids, Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus, Neptune (and Pluto). But astrology and traditional symbolism owe their
inspiration not to the Copernican system but to that which had been accepted by
the Ancients. Since the validity of the symbolism here depends exclusively upon
a process of catasterism (that is, the projection of a given mental order into the
celestial order, or the interpretation of a ‘series’ capable of explaining phenomena
in the psychological and spiritual world) it is unnecessary for us to examine the
complex question of how far the Ptolemaic system (in part confirmed by the
Theory of Relativity) can be reconciled with the Copernican. At the same time,
the fact of there being seven planets responds to the idea of the seven planetary
heavens, which in turn tallies with that of the seven Directions or areas in space
(which in turn, when transposed into terms of time, becomes the origin of the
seven days of the week). The relationship of the planets to the seven points in
space is as follows: Sun—the zenith, Moon—the nadir, Mercury—the centre,
Venus—the West, Mars—the South, Jupiter—the East, and Saturn—the North
(54). The order in which astrology places the planets—counting the Sun and the
Moon also as planets—is as follows, taking the Earth as the centre and then
proceeding from the nearest to the farthest: Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun,
Mars, Jupiter, Saturn (Uranus and Neptune, although these two are not generally
counted). The sex of these entities is clearly established so far as Venus, Mars,
Jupiter and Saturn are concerned. Mercury appears as both masculine and androgynous. The Sun and the Moon have interchanged their sex through the ages,
according to the culture of the period. The mystic basis of the planetary myth is
to be sought in the generalization of Varro to the effect that the planets are
celestial bodies and, at the same time, generators of life (7). Each of these generating powers has a characteristic sphere of action, which is its ‘heaven’, and the
influence of this ‘heaven’ spreads out through the interpenetrating zones of space.
Planetary symbolism reaches its highest degree of complexity in its relationship
to the Zodiac; whereas the Zodiac symbolizes the grades and phases of a given
cycle of creation, the planetary ‘series’ expresses rather the pattern of the moral
world. The theory of ‘correspondences’, applied to the planets, educes a complex system wherein each planet is seen as a particular ‘mode’ endowed with a
specific characteristic, and related to one particular Sense, or a metal, a perfume,
or a plant, for example. It is more important, however, to grasp the connexion of
each planet with a given virtue or tendency: thus, the Sun is related to the will and
to activity, the Moon to imagination and the world of forms, Mars to action and
destruction, Mercury to intuition and movement, Jupiter to good judgement and
direction, Venus to love and relationships, Saturn to endurance and reserve. However, the fundamental tendencies of these qualities are sometimes negative and
sometimes positive. Ely Star suggests the following arrangement, in accordance
with the principles of evolution and spiritualization: Sun—potential good, Moon—
potential evil, Mercury—duality and, consequently, free will, Venus—objective
good, Mars—objective evil, Jupiter—subjective good, Saturn—subjective evil.
The planets are thus divided into two zones, one luminous and the other dark,
both of them necessary to the cycle of existence; these zones correspond to the
clear and dark sections respectively of the Chinese symbol of universal flux—the
Yang-Yin (54). Mertens-Stienon has studied the planetary powers in their theogonic
aspect, proceeding from the outside inward, so that the most distant becomes the
oldest and the most ‘primitive’ of the gods: Uranus engenders Saturn (celestial
space creates time), and the reign of Saturn is succeeded by the constructive order
of Jupiter; next comes the offspring of Jupiter—Mars (the active principle),
Venus (the passive) and Mercury (the neutral) (40). From the symbolic point of
view, this evolutive series draws the inquirer inwards, concentrating itself within
the human spirit, since the spirit is the microcosm which reflects the macrocosmic
universe. The importance of the planetary archetypes is apparent in the persistent influence of Graeco-Roman mythology, for it was the classic myths that
most clearly and forcibly expressed their inner meaning; as Jean Seznec (53) has
shown, these myths continued in popularity throughout the Christian culture of
the Middle Ages and the Renaissance unopposed by the Church, since it perceived their symbolic and psychological truth. Waldemar Fenn maintains that
there are certain prehistoric engravings which contain groups of four and of three
component elements and that these drawings correspond to planetary configurations. The popular art of the Nordic races, of course, keeps to this division of the spheres—essential from the psychological viewpoint—into two groups: an inner
group of three factors and an outer one of four. Given the equation of the planets
with the seven Directions of Space (as we have previously outlined), then the
inner group (disposed along the vertical axis) would comprise the series of SunMercury-Moon, while the outer, equivalent to the cardinal points, relates to
Venus-Mars-Jupiter-Saturn. This suggests that, as components of the human
spirit, the three central ingredients have more importance and greater influence
than the outer four, since the latter concern the square and the symbolism of
situation and limitation (as with the tetramorphs), whereas the former constitute
the very psychic dynamism of the ternary order, comprehending the active, the
passive and the neuter.
