The planets: an overview

In astrology, the planets are the actors in your chart. Each one stands for a basic drive or function of the psyche: how you think, love, push forward, set limits or change. The sign it sits in shows its style, and the house shows the area of life where it plays out.

Astrologers use the word "planet" loosely. It includes the Sun and Moon, which are technically a star and a moon but behave like planets in a chart. In total the app covers ten of them, from the Sun to Pluto.

Four families

The core: Sun and Moon. The Sun is your core identity and vitality. The Moon is your inner emotional life, habits and need for security.

The personal planets: Mercury, Venus and Mars. They move quickly and describe everyday life: communication and learning (Mercury), affection and values (Venus), energy and desire (Mars).

The social planets: Jupiter and Saturn. They link you to the wider world. Jupiter stands for growth, optimism and meaning; Saturn for structure, responsibility and limits.

The generational planets: Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. They move so slowly that they shape whole generations. They describe deep change, imagination and transformation. Their house placement is usually more personal than their sign.

Speed matters

The faster a planet moves, the more it describes you personally. The Moon changes sign in about two and a half days, while Pluto takes more than a decade to cross a single sign. That is why people born within the same few years usually share the signs of the generational planets, while people born just a few days apart can already have different Moon signs.

How to read a planet

Ask three questions: what does it represent, in which sign does it act, and in which house does it work? Then look at the aspects it makes to other planets, which show how it cooperates or clashes with them.

The articles that follow introduce each planet in turn. When you open your natal chart page, you can match them to the symbols on your own wheel and the positions table.

A planet is never "good" or "bad". Every one of them has a mature way of expressing itself and a stressed way, and your own experience tells you which you are living.