The Planets: Jupiter an introduction to understanding the symbolism of the planets in astrology

When I was a kid, I learned a mnemonic to remember the order of the planets in the solar system relative to the position of the Sun as the center of the universe. It was, “My Very Educated Mother Just Showed Us Nine Planets,” and when my kids were in school, they learned, “My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nine Pancakes.”

These were helpful at the time, but when I studied traditional astrology, I learned there’s a different celestial scheme and the hierarchy of planets is based on their apparent motion from Earth. As the swiftest body, first comes the Moon, then Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and finally, Saturn, as the slowest planet. We don’t get served pancakes in this one, because in the ancient world, the outer limit was Saturn. (No pancakes for you! Saturn is the planet of “no,” lol.) The Sun, as the most important star, is in the center. In Hellenistic astrology, the focus is on the seven traditional planets of the Chaldean order. Trans-Saturnian planets (Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto) hadn’t yet been discovered.

The Sun and Moon, sometimes called the lights or the luminaries, were considered the king and queen of the heavens. The remaining five bodies were the royal members of their court. Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, located above the Sun, are the superior planets because they move more slowly than the Sun-king, and their cycles are more enduring and prolonged. Moon, Mercury, and Venus are below the Sun, and they are the inferior planets because they move more quickly, and their effects are more transitory.

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