The Sun is the planet of self-expression. It rules vitality, health, creativity, fatherhood, children, and self-empowerment. It is associated with the heart and the spinal column.
The Moon is an influence of the subconscious. It is the planet of instinctive response, emotion, imagination, psychic development, home, family, motherhood, and birth. The stomach, digestive system, and breasts (especially female) are under the Moon’s control. The Sun and Moon are as the father and mother of the planetary influences. The Sun embraces the patriarchal principle, and the Moon is the matriarchal.
Intellect, perception, wisdom, learning, communication, and travel are within the kingdom of Mercury. The respiratory system and the thyroid gland are also within Mercury’sreign.
The ways of love and union are watched over by Venus. In her dominion, romance and the language of romance thrives. Venus is ruler of love, partnership, poetry, beauty, fertility, and the arts. She also rules the lower back, the throat, and the kidneys.
Mars, the warrior planet, takes control over passion, aggression, determination, and initiative. The muscles, the blood, and the reproductive systems are his domain. Similar to the Sun and Moon, Mars and Venus may be viewed as a couple. Mars reflects all that is masculine and Venus is the planet of feminine virtue.
Business, knowledge, and philosophy are under the controlling hand of Jupiter. Religion, education, publication, and good fortune are also within Jupiter’s sphere of influence. The liver and the pituitary gland belong to his kingdom.
Saturn is an influence of containment, restriction, inhibition, intolerance, rigidity, old age, perseverance, and slow change. Not surprisingly, the parts of the body under the hand of Saturn are those associated with slowing down—those that make themselves known with old age. Saturn rules the gall bladder, restriction in the joints, bones, teeth, skin, and the spleen.
With its associations with old age also comes an awareness of death and dying, of that which is unseen and unknown. Therefore, there are connections with Saturn to deep religion and the occult. The twin planets of Uranus and Neptune carry us beyond the reaches of the mundane, beyond what may be considered normal and acceptable.
While in one sense they may be considered to rule the adventurer, in another they could be considered to rule those who have slipped over the edge of reality and beyond the reaches of rational thought and action.
Uranus is the planet of research, science, and development. It takes rulership over science, electronics, journeys in outer space, radio, television, video, and science fiction. It is also associated with the circulation, nervous disorders, and with sexual perversion and deviations.
Neptune is ruler of drugs and poisons, of hospitals, prisons, and other institutions. It is the king of religious and artistic inspiration and, as such, may sometimes flirt with obsession. More than any other planet, Neptune takes dominion over the nerves.
Finally, we approach the kingdom of Pluto—the last of the honored planetary realms. Pluto is associated with beginnings and endings, with death and regeneration.
It is also connected, like Mars, to the reproductive organs. In some ways, it could be considered a marriage of the influences of Mars and Saturn. While its influence has the aggressive, active thrust of Mars, it may be drawn in the direction of the darker pursuits of Saturn.