Let's talk about the Planets, babbbyyyyyy

Hi! I know...I dropped off the face of the Earth there for a second, but its all good. I just had to regroup and figure out how to spin all the plates of Three Moods at once while running the rest of my life too. I kinda sorta got it laid out, I think. We shall see. I know I left off saying we were going to deep dive into the signs, HOWEVER...I realized in order to do that it would be better to do a quick little lesson on the planets first! I mean its hard to make heads or tells of the signs and what they are ruled by if you don't have a clue about the planets. And we will deep dive into all the planets at some point as well. This is just a quick little "did you know" intro into them all. I do mean quick but this post is long, so you may wanna go grab some water or tea first. Go, go...I can wait.

So first, we will talk the BIG THREE. That's right. The big three. The meat and potatoes of your personal astrology. The sun, the moon and the Ascendant.

Your Sun sign is the primary astrological sign that influenced the sun at the moment of your birth. So this is a sign that is most prominently influencing you. It is you at your absolute core. This is your ego, your level of confidence, where your focus is. Wherever the sun is in your chart - that particular sign and house - that is what you are all about. This will tell you how and where are you shine. As you discover more about your sun sign - you discover more about yourself and what your your main concerns actually are. For example, my sun sign is Sagittarius. We are absolutely know it alls. We love to learn, we see the big picture, we love to travel and explore. We want to know the meaning of life. This is who we are and what we do.  If you know me, you know I am THE epitome of Sagittarius (I mean a huge chunk of my birth chart is in Sag, so its actually true). I mean, here I am educating you on all the things I have learned astrology, so...yeah.

The second part of your big three is gonna be your moon sign. This is your inner nature. Your emotional self. This is your feelings, what makes you warm and fuzzy (or cold and clammy if you will), what you nurture, your instincts, it all comes from your moon sign. The moon is mysterious and it is going to represent what you need, what feeds you, your feelings, how sensitive you are, how intuitive you are, your instincts, your emotional security, your subconscious, memory, imagination, all of that is going to be wrapped up in your moon sign. Where its placed is going to tell you all of this. Mine, funny enough, is in Cancer.  The crybaby of the zodiac. When I tell you I don't like feelings...I do NOT like feelings. I have a dear friend that once described a cancer like the crab that represents it. It goes at everything sideways and pokes at it because it isn't sure if it wants to deal with it or not, and if it gets you in its grip, it ain't ever letting go. That's absolutely how I approach dealing with feelings or emotions. I don't wanna and I ain't gonna. I will just hide in my big comfy shell and ain't nobody gonna know I am home. When I tell you it drives my mother C.R.A.Z.Y....

Coming in to round out the big three is your ascendant, also known as your rising sign. This is the astrological sign on the eastern horizon when you were born so this is going to signify like your how you come off to the world. Your first impression, Your social personality, the social mask you may wear. Your rising sign represents the energy you are giving to the world. This may also allude to your physical appearance to some extent and maybe even your awakening consciousness. So continuing to use myself as the example - if I have been told once I have been told a million times that I am intimidating. I never understood it. How my little 5'2" pint sized self could ever be intimidating to anyone I will never understand (I'm like T-rex because I have no arms or legs I swear....just a big ole body and a loud mouth). I thought maybe it was because I have RBF. I have extremely high exciting energy (again raging fire sign here), but I can also be very in your face about things I love (not me! As I sit here shoving all the astrology knowledge I have down your throat). I am SUPER protective and territorial about those I care about and am a fierce protector. Mess with someone I love and the FAAFO comes out LARGE AND IN CHARGE. Despite the fact that I have actually never thrown a punch in my life, because apparently my words are sharper than any knife and do a job well done. Then I start learning all the astrology and come to find out - ARIES RISING YA'LL. ARIES...FREAKING...RISING. Nowwww it all makes sense.

Your big three is going to be the foundational blue print of your personality based on your personal birth chart. Now of course remember these are just basic definitions and can be affected by aspects and all the things, but we aren't there yet. So this is a pretty well rounded way to get to know yourself. But let's dig a little deeper into the rest of the planets shall we? 

In addition to the Sun and moon, your inner planets also consist of Mercury, Venus and Mars. These planets change often because it doesn’t take as long to travel through the signs, so they vary for most people. The Sun stays in a sign just under a month. The moon takes about 2 ½ days to move through a sign. Mercury is in a sign between 14 and 30 days. Venus stays in a sign for about 2 to 3 weeks unless its retrograding, which it can stay in a sign up to five months. Mars stays in each sign for about two months, except when it retrogrades every two years. So these are the inner planets and can change easily for people born even a day or two apart, and for moon signs, even an hour or two could make a difference.

Mercury is your communication planet. Whenever you go to talk or write or do any kind of thinking, listening to someone, communicating of any kind - you’re using your Mercury. Mercury is going to be responsible for how you talk, the way you connect mentally, how do you listen? How do you exchange ideas? How do you learn? How rational you are and you’re wit. Mercury is also the planet of transportation, short journeys, and commuting...it also governs trade and commerce.  This is why whenever Mercury goes retrograde and everyone loses their minds, it always seems to affect travel, plans, technology, and communication. So Gemini is ruled by Mercury. My late Grams was a Gemini. She LOVED communication. She helped write one liners for movies, she sent cards for every single holiday and post cards were huge for her. She loved to write letters. She loved to talk on the phone. Now remember that polarities thing we discussed in the last blog post? Sagittarius is polar opposite for Gemini. Guess what I am not good with? Communicating. That may also have to do with some moon placements. My Mercury is in my 9th house and in Sagittarius. Now if you give me a topic I have researched and I have learned about, I can talk all day long no problems. (Shocker right?). However, if you tell me I need to sit in a room with someone and just conversate, I got about 30-45 minutes before I am ready to move on to the next thing and I just don't want to talk anymore. You can forget picking a phone up and talking. My little wandering fire sign can't sit still that long. It used to drive Grams crazy. It drives my mother crazy too in fact. LOL. 

Now lets move into Venus. Venus is your feminine planet. This planet  is all about romance and relationships. This is going to be how you love, who you love and how do you need to be loved. Any kind of matters of the heart are going to be dealt with by the planet of Venus. Venus is also about attracting. It deals with aesthetics and appreciation for the finer things in life. So art music, beauty, luxury, it’s all Venus. Venus is the kind, caring, beautiful planet. So how you attract a partner, your idea of romance, how you draw abundance, what feels luxurious to you, how you flirt - all of this is going to be found within your Venus. So Venus is the soft, romantic, beautiful nurturing, side of the zodiac. So we established that my raging fire sign has a cancer moon and that means I don't love feelings or emotions. Well you know what sign does? Libra. Which is ruled by Venus. Makes sense. So you can imagine how well I am with most Libra stuff. It gives me the ick. Okay, so maybe not the full ick. I mean my Venus is in Libra after all...yeah you read that right. "So Courtney, your Venus is in Libra? Your planet of love is in the sign of love? You must be a HUGE romantic!". So yeah, I love me a good chick flick with all the feel good stuff. I love reading me some steamy smut with a good love story. I want every guy to get the girl at the end of the movie. But in real life? Well, my Venus is square my Moon (which means my Libra Venus does NOT like my Cancer Moon and vice versa. We will get into aspects like this later) so get that mushy gushy shit out of here because my cancer moon comes in like a wrecking ball and won't be allowing that. Thanks. You want more proof that I am God's most favorite joke? My mother is a Scorpio, but every other single placement is Libra. I am the child that can't handle being smothered, and my mother is exactly the opposite. My mother talked to her mother every single day of her life and she wants me on her hip well into my 30's. I know this about her and I love her so I try on occasion to let her hover. However, she also knows that she birthed the worlds largest free spirit and her best bet is to just let me roam. I'm like an outside dog. Just let me go do my thing, I will come home at dinner time. (Yes, I just compared myself to a dog. I know. I know) Also...did I mention my daughter? The Cancer/Libra/Libra? When I TELL YOU I AM GOD'S FAVORITE JOKE. Again, I was no hover mother with my kids. I also didn't have to be. I got a play by play of everything my daughter ever did without even asking. I don't mind. Again, my Venus is in Libra so I love to mother. I am the mother hen. When I tell you I did nothing better in this life than mother...I made all the homemade cookies well into their college years, I went to all the games and practices and performances, I volunteered for everything, I still buy groceries for them to come get to this day, I still call them and let them know when I am cooking their favorites so they can just come grab and go and not cook. I mother so hard ya'll. I just don't hover mother. It may be three or four days between conversations with my Pisces son. Let's just be real. I am basically a walking talking sour patch kid. You never know what to expect and you just roll with it and you can't help but love the damn things. It confuses me too, don't worry.

Mars....ah Mars. The "WISH A M'FER WOULD". Mars is your testosterone planet. This is where everything gets done. Your determination, drive, passion - every bit of that is going to be found within Mars. Mars will tell you how you go after what you want, how you argue, whether you’re a fast or slow person, how determined and driven you are, your sexual energy and what your sex drive is even like. It’s going to tell you how competitive you are, your willpower, every bit of that is going to fall under your Mars placement. Mars is your aggressive planet. Mars is all about desire and action, so it’s going to be heightened or lessened depending on where your Mars is placed. (Are we understanding where the whole men are from Mars and women are from Venus thing yet?) So, yeah, my Mars is also in Libra. If you want to get into it, my Mars is also sextile my sun, so my Mars may be in the lovey harmonious Libra, but its fueled by my passionate fiery Sag sun. Take that information and do with it what you may. My Venus and my Mars are both in Libra - and one is fighting with my emotional moon, while the other is besties with my passionate sun. When I tell you, some days I don't even understand myself.....

Now to talk about the outer planets. your outer planets consist of Jupiter to Pluto. Jupiter is considered an outer planet because it takes around 12 to 13 months to move through the signs. Saturn takes approximately 2 1/2 to 3 years. 

Jupiter is known as your luck, planet everything that Jupiter touches is considered blessed. (Just saying, Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter so that is absolute proof that Sag is the best sign ever. Just kidding. Kind of. Obviously I am biased. Don't unfriend me please). Contrary to a popular childhood rhyme, Jupiter is not the planet where boys go to get more stupider. That's Mars. Sorry. Just kidding. Back to Jupiter - this is the planet that gives you the confidence to believe in yourself. It amplifies everything. Jupiter is the planet of joy, freedom, adventure, and it sees the big picture. This is going to show you your faith, and its where you take chances and seize opportunities. This planet will help you grow. Jupiter tells you whether you whether or not you feel lucky. How likely you are to be optimistic, how adventurous you are. Even what is your perspective like? Do you think big or small? If you want to see where your opportunities are, find your Jupiter. My Jupiter is in Sagittarius. I think that means that I am just the luckiest person on the planet. Not really, I think it just means that I am the quintessential Sagittarius and I do tend to seize opportunities around me anytime they present themselves. My Jupiter also has aspects with my Mercury and Venus - and when I  tell you I love to network. Also, I have always been told I'm lucky, but I also got mauled by a dog on the beach in Florida and had a uterus that thought I was pregnant when I wasn't and I walked around in dilating contracting labor for over a year...so...again....I guess the term "lucky" is subjective? 

Saturn has always been a personal favorite of mine, and turns out, Saturn is your karma planet. Saturn has a reputation as the taskmaster of the zodiac. It's where you find the hard facts and lessons you don’t want to seem to learn. Wherever you have Saturn in your chart, its time to man up and get to work because you have some lessons coming there. Saturn is about structure, challenges, and our fears as well as being the planet in our chart that governs work and discipline. Saturn is cold and calculating and he is going to get what's his. However, that’s just the one side of Saturn. Saturn's feminine side is the wise old crone. She may no longer be a beauty, but she doesn’t care because she is past all of that. She is going to tell you what she knows. Saturn is all about wisdom, facing the truth, and doing what you said you would. Saturn teaches you your lessons in this lifetime. So if you want to know what you fear, what makes you sad, where your limits are, what's your ambition like, Saturn is here to not only tell you, but to show you as well. I almost don't want to say this, but my Saturn is in Scorpio. Yeah...my karma planet is in the sign of the taboo, the dark and twisty, the things nobody wants to talk about. I have this joke that because my karma planet and my planet of darkness are in the house of the dark and twisty, that I could walk into hell and the demons would bow and the devil cry.  In all reality, I feel like its basically my give a damn's busted and I just wake up every day thinking "oh okay, this is what we are doing now? Cool. Let's roll with it and see where we end up". That's also probably because my Scorpio Saturn and my Cancer Moon are like frenemies. They get along pretty well, but there is that little something that could really make a mess of things if we aren't careful. Maybe that's why you should be scared if I cry when I'm mad...hmm.....interesting.....I'm telling once we learn aspects and you can read the full language of your chart is is EYE OPENING....

Next we will go into the rest of the outer planets - also known as generational planets. These are where it gets super interesting and exciting! I love reading about generational planets! These are also considered your outer planets, but these three last between 14 and 30 years therefore, these planets, shape entire generations of people. For example, Pluto in Leo generation - from 1939 to 1957. These are the baby boomers…the “me” generation. Leo is the sign of ego, it's the life of the party and embodies leadership. This generation, when they came of age, they gave us rock and roll and peaceful protests and some historical leaders who were not short on charisma. Pluto is the planet of death and conspiracy theories as well, so when you think death, conspiracy theories and add it to Leo which is a fire sign that rules being the center of attention and leadership -think about some of the assassinations that shaped history during that time - President Kennedy, Malcolm X, and Dr. Marting Luther King, Jr. Are you seeing the connection? Is it not sooo interesting? (The Sag nature is coming out...I know...)

Uranus....wherever you have this in your chart you want to break free, you’re gonna do things your way. This is where you need a shake up and it is going to happen. Freedom is a key word for Uranus. You don’t want to be fenced in, so wherever you have this in your chart you’re striving for independence. Uranus destroys traditions, it breaks down authority, and as a result, Uranus is the planet of modernization - he drags it in kicking and screaming and shocks you out of the past and into your future. Surprisingly it’s also associated with anarchy and unpredictability. Uranus is the ruler of chaos, and wherever this is in your chart, you’re quite possibly inclined to be something of a loose canon and you will most definitely experience some unrest. For example as a generational planet - Look at the younger generation right now. It's just coming to age - they were born from 1995 to 2003, when Uranus was in Aquarius. Uranus rules Aquarius. Aquarius is a humanitarian sign. Think about that for a second. The planet of rebellion is mixed with a humanitarian sign and look at what is going on in the world today. These kids are more daring than anyone has been about getting their point across when it comes to social injustice. These kids don't play. The social climate is changing and that generation is showing up to not only fight for themselves, they are here to fight for everyone else too.

Neptune is the inspirational planet. It’s your dreamy planet and the planet of soulmates. Wherever  you find Neptune in your chart is the area that you romanticize life. Similarly, Neptune is about deception. So think of it like this - life is about extremes. Opposites. Duality. So at one end of the spectrum its about mystics, fantasy and the Divine at the other end its deception. Its a whole smoke and mirrors show. Like Hollywood.  So one end can be where someone is finding enlightenment through drugs or alcohol, someone on the other end is achieving the same thing through more traditional methods, like meditation. Where you find Neptune in your chart can be where you’re a visionary or even a martyr but it can also be where you just dissolve into nothingness. Neptune is what inspires you and how you inspire others. As a generational planet - you want to look at the sign and house it is in. September 1943-October 1956. Neptune was in Libra. What did these guys do when they came of age? They were the generation of Love and Peace. They idealized love, harmony and the human relationship.  Let's look at my chart - Neptune in Sagittarius. November 1970-January 1984.  This group idealized the whole dawning of a New Age. Spiritual redemption through religious or spiritual commitments. The number of people my age I am witnessing going through spiritual awakenings recently has been on the rise lately and I am here for it. It's also not a coincidence.

Pluto is the lord of the underworld. It is not a planet to be trifled with. Pluto is a fantastic magician that’s responsible for any transformation that affects our lives. It’s going to represent birth, death and the rebirth cycle.  Pluto will transform by annihilation. It's going to break everything down for you to rebuild. Pluto in your chart shows where you can change your world. Sometimes it’s subtle, but its power can slam you against the wall. Think of Pluto as the declutterer of the zodiac. It gets rid of all the bullshit. Pluto represents where you’re in control or where you want to be, where you’re obsessive, where your power struggles are. It’s your dark side, your shadow self - Pluto is the skeletons in your closet. As a generational planet, Pluto don’t play. It may forgive, but it won’t forget. So I am going to use my generation here. I was born in November of 1983. Pluto is in Scorpio from 1983-1995. The shortest amount of time that Pluto has spent in any sign. The planet of darkness in Scorpio - the sign of the dark and twisty and taboo? This should be fun, am I right? The generation born with hope but not afraid of a little Scorpio revenge when necessary.  We were born into a world of out dated ideas ready to be reformed. As teenagers, we witnessed terrorist attacks on live TV, we went through wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. We entered the workforce during the Great Recession when the structure of financial security from the past was pretty much done. But Mars rules Scorpio - so when you put that drive in that dark mindset, courage is all you got. You have no real choice except to buckle up your bootstraps baby and start kicking down walls and kicking ass where needed. We think about all of the stuff that has come from people in this generation. Nobody stays silent. If there is something going on - a cover up, a scandal, an injustice - Pluto in Scorpio has what it takes to blow it wide open and expose it for what it is. Pluto in Scorpio brought about the generation responsible for social media - where nothing stays private or hidden in the dark. But then look at GenZ, the next generation behind us - Pluto is in Sagittarius. Where they throw restraint to the wind, This is a fire sign ya’ll. This generation MASTERED saying what everyone is thinking with zero F’s given. Think about the fact that the Pluto in the sign of big picture, and travel is now the generation that wants to live the nomad life and see the world…and also pioneered cancel culture. Pluto in Scorpio may have shown the man behind the curtain for what he was, but Pluto in Sagittarius said, ummm, we are done sir, and we, are NEVER, ever getting back together.

I know, I got long winded. That's my bad, but I just get soooo excited explaining planets. So go look at your birth chart, and tell me what you learn! It's so fascinating! We are going to start our deep dive in to the individual signs soon so you can really start associating things together! Are you starting to understand a little more? Am I confusing you even worse? Don't worry it will start clicking soon I promise!

Until next time my little moodies, Love Light & Selenite! 

~Courtney