PLANETS IN ASTROLOGY Hey guys! It’s Evelyn and Jing again and we hope you enjoyed reading our column in the last issue. If you are still hanging around, we hope that you are learning something new! Today, we will be talking about the significance of planets in astrology, and what it means for you.
KEY VOCABULARY: Home in: In astrology, a planet’s home is the zodiac sign over which it has rulership. For example, the reason why we associate Leos with the Sun, or Aries with Mars is because those are their home signs. It is a generally beneficial for the signs to be in their home planet, as this is said to be their most comfortable place. Fall in: An astrological fall is the sign positioned directly opposite a planet’s sign of exaltation; it is considered to be its fall. As the exaltation is a place of awareness and is relatively beneficial for the planet, the fall is a position of weakness. Exalt in: The exaltation is a place of awareness, whereas the fall is a position of weakness concerning the function of the planet. The sign position is directly opposite a planet’s sign of exaltation and is considered to be its fall. Each of the seven traditional planets has its exaltation in one zodiac sign. When a sign is exalt in a planet, it is usually said that it is the most beneficial place. Detriment in: A planet is said to be in detriment, or exile, when it is positioned in the zodiac sign opposite the sign it rules (e.g Sun rules Leo, opposite of Leo is Aquarius, thus Aquarius is in detriment in the sun). When a celestial body is in detriment it is said to be not comfortable in that sign and tends to operate with the least strength.
Sun Most of what you know about astrology revolves around our ‘sun’ sign. Popular astrology trends you’ve probably heard of before such as “The most social sign is…”, or “The most hated sign is…”. Although this type of astrology is fun to look at, it is often extremely inaccurate as it is based on one aspect of your chart- your sun sign, not looking at it as a whole. It is completely irrational to say that “The most hated sign is,” for example, “Aquarius”, because although it might be true for some Aquarians (sending love to our favourite Aquarians out there!!), it is not accurate for the whole population of approximately 498,900,000 people that were just coincidentally born in January - February. Thus, this is why we look at all the signs, houses, degrees and planetary aspects as a whole to determine one’s personality. The Sun Exalt in: Aries Detriment in: Aquarius Fall in: Libra Home in: Leo Represents: Our identity, our ego, and what we strive to be
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Moon Cancer is ruled by the Moon in astrology, which is representative of feminine and motherly energy. Our personal needs, our habits and emotions, as well and our unconscious are all represented by the Moon. Some moon placements, however, are in detriment. Capricorn is the sign that is in detriment to Cancer, which might cause problems for persons born under this sign in some areas. Although persons born under the sign of Capricorn are often high achievers, those born under the sign of Capricorn may present as cold or uptight due to their past, and may have trouble expressing thoughts and feelings. However, this may not be applicable to all Capricorn moons. For example, Evelyn has her moon in Capricorn and although some lunar Capricornians are high achievers, she finds herself being a very low achiever with weeks of maths set work and other homework left unfinished The fall placement can also be recognized as a “hard” placement. The Moon in its fall is Scorpio, and people with this placement can sometimes find it hard to socialise. They also are very overshadowed by those around them and have a hard time expressing feelings. However, one placement cannot define your entire personality, so do not stress if you find yourself with “harder” placements. The Moon Exalt in: Taurus Detriment in: Capricorn Fall in: Scorpio Home in: Cancer Represents: Emotions, instincts, habits and moods
