Why Your Personal Planets are So Important
By Rick DiClemente
In astrology, the “personal” planets are defined as Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars. Again, to emphasize that your birth chart is made up of much more than your “Sun sign.” Since most of us know so much about the Sun signs, lets discuss Mercury through Mars – they are often ignored.
These planets make up much of your personality and can vary widely. Since Mercury and Venus orbit closer to the Sun than the Earth, they can only reside in a few signs per Sun sign. In other words, all Cancers that have ever lived have their Mercury in neighboring signs or Cancer itself, i.e., Gemini, Cancer or Leo. Likewise with Venus which has a wider orbit of 5 signs, she can only reside in the same sign as the Sun sign or in the neighboring 2 signs. Therefore, anyone born under the sign of Capricorn would have their Venus sign be in Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius or Pisces.
Basically, since the Sun represents our very core of our expression; much of our personality, what do these other planets rule or represent?
The planets are energies; the sign in which they are found colors their nature further MOON – Although the Moon is not technically a “planet,” she sure is astrologically. She’s probably the most complex of all 11 planets (including Chiron and Pluto.) Representing the feminine, she rules such a wide range of topics such as Goddess, women’s issues, family, home, nest, upbringing, birthing, property, land, tradition, personal habits, one’s comfort zone and on and on.
The Moon is clearly the second most important (besides the Sun) planet in your chart. It has a lot to do with your emotional nature and frequently hints at the nature of you and your nurturing parent. Sometimes that someone can be the father or a grandparent, but most times is the Mother figure. Not only does she represent the mother; the Moon often gives us clues about our past lives.
It is of utmost importance that the Moon be well placed and not stressfully aspected. I can’t go into what makes up a healthy Moon here however, a subject that could require a volume to itself. A well placed Moon usually indicates that the native is rather easy to deal with. Things come and go. On the other hand, it is a safe bet that the people you know with the highest degree of uneasiness in general have “troubled” Moons; many times called “high maintenance.” As I said, the Moon requires great analysis and is very complex. Usually its basis is simple, the child wasn’t allowed to be – to simply be him or herself. If the parent struggles within, usually, but not always, the child follows suit.
