More on Dane Rudhyar's Interpretation of the Planets - The meanings
of the planets in the four levels of consciousness
Having
considered what the four basic reference levels mean, let us return to the
planets for a moment to briefly mention some of their meanings in the four
levels.
So, at the biological
level Rudhyar considers the planets it is worth examining are the planets up to
Saturn. He believes that the Sun's biological energy (its energy body so to
speak) does not reach the extra-solar planets.
He cites as
evidence for this that the solar wind has been measured by scientists as not
exceeding Saturn's orbit.
· At this level, then, the Sun expresses concepts
such as the biological father, male fertility, and vitality.
·
The Moon expresses the biological mother,
female fertility, and menstrual cycles.
·
Mercury the nervous system, Venus the genitals as the focus of the sperm
or ovum, while Mars the male ability to penetrate the form and in this
sense the power of the seed entering the soil, the power of the sperm that
fertilizes, the muscle power that performs work.
·
Jupiter expresses the metabolism and the systems generally associated with the
development of the body, while Saturn expresses the structure and
skeleton of the body.
On the social
level the meanings of the planets selectively as extracted from his
treatise are as follows:
· Saturn is the father, as the head of the family, the bearer of the law of
society in the microcosm of the home.
· Moon is the mother-foster, the one who raises the child, the mediator
between the father/law of society and child, but also the mediator between the
social frame of reference carried by the father and the biological needs of the
child. Thus, she helps in the transformation of the child's psyche so that from
the biological level of basic needs the child can progressively enter the
social level, from where the father or society will then take over the child
for further education.
· The Sun is the character of the individual as
"impressed" by society. The concept of "imprinting" refers
to the primary teachings we receive as children, which are
"imprinted" in our subconscious minds without being evaluated or judged.
Rudhyar believes that the attribution of personality traits (George is a good
kid, a good student), of labels is very much done through the mechanics of the
name we are given. That is, the name accompanies desirable character qualities
that society/parents would like us to have. Subconsciously there is always a
tendency within us to express these qualities to achieve acceptance. To point
out for the student, however, that in previous chapters we have illustrated
this process of giving "face" to the Moon's function. The two are not
necessarily contradictory, as in essence what they tell us is that the Sun is
"born" from the Moon, in the same way that the mother symbolically
and mythologically "gives birth" to her son-hero.
· The planets Mars and Venus and Jupiter
and Saturn function as dipoles. Venus, in addition to emotional
relationships, is our sense of values, the attitude we hold towards the ideals
of the group we live in. Mars is the power to change the facts when
Venus judges that we don't like those ideals and the given situation we live
in.
· Jupiter is the making of interpersonal and social relationships. The concept of
organizing people, delegating tasks, collective action and work leading to
group development.
· Saturn is the hierarchy. The laws that stand as a boundary to Jupiter and
cannot be broken. The leader who allows Jupiter's collective work initiatives
as long as the laws of the group are not violated. Jupiter on the other hand
constantly challenges Saturn and tries to go beyond his limits by expanding the
group.
· On the social level, Venus and Jupiter
are considered favorable planets because they promote the cohesion and growth
of the group, while Mars and Saturn are malefic because they bring changes and
restrictions to the group's functioning.
· Mercury is an auxiliary planet both in the functioning of Jupiter's
organization and in finding hierarchies and structures for the group.
·
The outer planets at this level only function
collectively. They influence concepts such as education, fashion, public
opinion, but they do not operate on an individual level.
At the individual
level, the meanings of the planets are as follows:
· The Sun gives the individual's desire to stand
out, to form his own group in which he will be the leader - king, his own
world.
· The Moon gives the desires of others, the
factor that the Sun prefers to ignore because it does not understand it. It is
the subconscious and the repulsions.
·
Mercury is a helper planet to the Sun and helps it express its identity.
·
Mars is the individual's attempt to stand out, while Venus expresses the now
personal value system.
· Jupiter is the pride the individual feels in his or her successes. The bravo or
motivation that he or she needs to develop individually.
The
traditional meanings of the planets here may be changing. Mars is considered a
rather favorable planet as it promotes individuality while Jupiter can be
considered a malefic because it can bring conceit.
· Saturn is the outer aspect of life that the individual considers his own. His
possessions, his outer appearance, the boundary that distinguishes what is his
own in relation to others.
· Uranus on this level expresses individual intelligence. Through this, the
individual can stand out from others and also bring about changes that change
the whole society.
·
Neptune expresses a sense of uniqueness that comes from metaphysical
inspirations. The individual has metaphysical experiences that progressively -
if he understands that they only happen to him - give him a sense that he is
not like others.
· Pluto expresses a sense of uniqueness that arises from experience. The person
goes through difficulties that steel his character and make him learn to act
without unnecessary sentimentality. Through these difficulties he acquires a
sense of uniqueness.
At the transpersonal level
many of the above interpretations of the planets change orientation again.
· At this level the Sun is the Hero/Son
mystically marrying the Mother/Soul. More prosaically perhaps the man serving
society or the ideal woman. Rudhyar says that if a man is to move from the
individual to the super-individual level, women often appear in his life with
the characteristics of the transcendental woman who helps him or Lilith who is
called upon to test him and see if he is ready to give. In the ancient days of
matriarchy this union was also symbolized in part by the sacrifice of the king,
who was allowed to be king for one year. Of course, this sacrifice had a
biological meaning, but it also had the meaning that the king/ego was
sacrificed on the altar of Nature (capitalized as a transcendent
entity/goddess).
· According to Rudhyar at this level a big role is now
played by the Moon. The Moon is a symbol of the Other, the Whole, to
which we are called to open ourselves.
· Mercury is a bridge used so that the
transcendental knowledge of the collective can descend into the brain and
become thought and action.
· Venus grounds our Soul in practical
beauty, healing, and compassion. She is the compassionate princess who attends
to the sick, the creator of charity and attracts universal love and grounds it
at the level of society.
· Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn
are mainly obstacles on this level. Mars is indiscipline that needs to be
restrained, Jupiter is conceit that prevents surrender to the Whole, and Saturn
is insistence on rules without content, empty formalities.
·
The transcendence of these planets is done according
to Rudhyar with the outer planets. Though in classical astrology
Uranus is considered the upper octave of Mercury and Neptune of Venus, here
Rudhyar corresponds things a little differently. He connects the planets
through the zodiac signs that used to rule as traditional and recently as newly
discovered.
· Thus, Uranus is called upon to transcend
Saturn, bringing out the emptiness of formal forms and through non-conformism
tries to convey the message that only forms that have substance should remain.
· Neptune is called upon to overcome Jupiter,
diffusing conceit and giving compassion, so that Jupiter understands that the
work must be done for the whole and not for personal exaltation.
· Pluto subdues Mars. Through harsh
conditions and trials, he teaches him to be disciplined in duty and to promote
strength as an agent of protection and service to the whole.
