if you have looked up your birth chart and wondered why there is a small “R” next to one of your planets, this simply means that planet is going retrograde. planets in “retrograde” mean that they are traveling BACKWARDS instead of forward. if a planet is going backwards, its energies are turned inward on itself, meaning whatever is being expressed is actually being held back, in retrograde. for example - if you have venus retrograde, you’ll have difficulty expressing love or you might have some hang-ups. mercury retrograde, a person does not express him/herself clearly, or has unclear thinking processes. those with mars in retrograde probably do not assert themselves very well, etc.
You are more than just your Sun sign. There are other planets to consider that make up your personality as well. This is the reason why many people complain that “they don’t act like their Sun sign.” Each planet represents a different energy in an individual’s personality.
The placement of a planet in a particular sign of the zodiac as it travels (i.e. “Venus in Pisces,” “Mercury in Virgo,” etc.) shows how these energies are displayed. For example, if a person has “Venus in Pisces,” the planet of love and beauty (Venus) is in the sign of compassion and selflessness (Pisces). Therefore, a person with this placement in his/her chart is a selfless and devoted person in terms of love and romance, and gives all of himself to the relationship.
The inner planets (mercury, venus, mars, jupiter) move at a faster pace therefore, these directly influence an individual’s chart and personality. The energies from these planets are more visible in everyday life. The outer planets (saturn, neptune, uranus, pluto) take longer periods to travel through the zodiac, and so do not have a profound impact on an individual’s chart. (i.e. people of the same generation often have the same saturn placements, and whole generations have the same uranus, neptune, and pluto).
Sun: the spirit, the basic self, who we are when no one is looking. The most basic, broad, inner traits.
Moon: how we express our emotions, our inner self, who we “really are inside,” our mothering and protective instincts, private life, dealings with money.
Ascendant/Rising sign: people’s first impression of you, what you look like physically, how you appear to others, the biggest part of a person’s chart (the ascendant is like the lens through which we view the world), who we want to be viewed as, our ideal self.
Mercury: communication style, mental processes, how we speak to others and the way we think, writing style, whether we are focused or distracted.
Venus: the way we love, flirting style, ways of seduction, areas of romance and relationships, the type of person we are attracted to, our idea of what is “beautiful,” In a female’s chart, Venus represents the type of woman she appears to be to men and what makes her attractive. In a male’s chart, Venus represents the type of woman he is attracted to and what he prefers in a woman.
Mars: aggression, anger, passions, how we express our anger and what gets us excited, a clue to a person’s sex drive. In a male’s chart, mars represents the type of man he appears to women and what women appreciate in him. In a female’s chart, mars represents the type of man she is attracted to and is looking for.
Jupiter: optimism, expansion, luck, good fortune, traveling, how we will get further in life, and what motivates us, higher learning, how we absorb new ideas.
Saturn: karma, discipline, represents challenges that will make us more mature, authority, hard work, experiences we learn from, energy of saturn affects our physical body’s growth.
Uranus: helps bring about change, rebellion, influences any unusual happenings in life, chaos and disruptions in routine or tradition
Neptune: illusions, dreams, religion, anything mystical or mysterious. represents extrasensory perception, deception, deals with problems with drugs and alcohol.
Pluto: this energy is connected to transformation and life challenges, links to anything taboo, secret, and undercover. pluto brings an end to things that are considered old. deals with social and personal power and lack of power.
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