Postmodern Astrology: Part 5: Planets and Time

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Xeno

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Planets are not just celestial bodies revolving around the Sun.
They are cosmic chronometers, setting temporal cycles that influence everything within the Solar System, including you and me.


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Astrologer
In classical astrology, planets are endowed with special qualities that affect fate. Mars - the god of war, Venus - the goddess of love…

Skeptic
Mythology again!

Author
Allow me to disagree with both of you. Postmodern Astrology considers planets not as deities, but as objects that define specific temporal cycles in the Solar System.

Mythological Baggage vs. Objective Reality

Classical astrology often portrays planets as deities, manifestations of gods, or higher intelligent entities. For example, the aforementioned: Mars is associated with the god of war, Venus with the goddess of love, and so on. This approach is essentially a form of religion and lacks the characteristics of an objectively rational theory.

It’s based on belief and subjective interpretations, not on empirical evidence. The names of the planets are conditional. In reality, they are simply massive cosmic bodies moving along predictable orbits around the Sun.

Postmodern astrology shifts the emphasis from mythology to measurable phenomena. It views planets as objects that define specific temporal cycles in the Solar System.

The influence of these temporal cycles on people is considered within the context of the existence of human beings as a social/biological species with a limited life span (see chapter 4, the model of human perception).

Planetary Cycles: How to Measure the Time of Space

Our perception of time on Earth is based on two main cycles: the day (rotation of the Earth) and the year (revolution around the Sun).
In astrology, we use the zodiac, a 360-degree circle that reflects the path of the Sun. Dividing the zodiac, we conventionally take the degree as a day as the basic unit of time.

Let's define the main elements of planetary cycles:

Unit of Time
This is the time it takes for each planet to travel 1 degree.

Planning Horizon
The time it takes for a planet to travel half the cycle (180 degrees) or the maximum distance from its original position, which can be compared to the foreseeable planning time for matters related to that planet.

Full Cycle
The time it takes for a planet to complete a full revolution around the zodiac, reflecting the completion of all processes associated with its influence.

Planetary Rhythms and Human Life: Establishing Connections

Of course, we could have simplified it by presenting the planets as eternal sources of cyclicity, but we take into account the interconnectedness of phenomena. The different durations of planetary cycles are probably related to certain aspects of human experience. Guided by the principle of Occam's razor – seeking the simplest and most logical explanation – we will focus on the most obvious correspondences (see figure).
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Earth/Sun
Unit of time ~ 1 day, planning horizon ~ 6 months, full cycle ~ 1 year.
The rotation of the Earth or the annual cycle - sets the most obvious cycle in human life, which corresponds to the most conscious planning (goal-setting) for living and surviving. That is, a direct correlation with consciousness/awareness/conscientiousness itself.

Moon
Unit of time ~ 2 hours, planning horizon ~ 2 weeks, full cycle ~ 1 month.

***It sets the monthly cycle, is a luminary (reflection) and is closely related to the daily day/night cycle. Perhaps this sounds too philosophical, but we can say that the Moon correlates with the reflection of consciousness or the subconscious.
Its rapid movement reflects the variability of our emotional background, influencing daily life at the level of feelings and intuition.

Mercury
Unit of time ~ from a few hours to several days (given geocentricity), planning horizon ~ 44 days, full cycle ~ 88 days.

*** Being the fastest planet, Mercury is associated with the rapid processing of information, making decisions in the short term, and events that develop over a short period of time. This may include receiving and transmitting information, travel, making deals, meetings, and everyday affairs.

Venus
Unit of time ~ 1-7 days, planning horizon ~ 4 months, full cycle ~ 8 months.

*** It has a cycle slightly shorter than the Earth's, but much longer than the Moon's and Mercury's. It will correlate with the planning of less important for survival (but complex enough) matters inscribed in the annual cycle.
This can include issues of forming relationships and partnerships, the search for pleasure and self-expression.
*** It will be correct to say that it is connected with a sense of aesthetic perception and any desires. After all, our life is one continuous process of achieving desires. If Earth/Sun is primarily the desire to directly live/survive, then Venus will correlate more with more pleasant desires. To exaggerate, people want satisfaction in food, love, money, recognition...

Possible roles and actions: if in a personal context, Venus turns out to be predominant - this may cause a tendency to professions and actions related to self-expression and the achievement of material goods, as well as with what pleases/interests people.

Mars
Unit of time ~ 2 days, planning horizon ~ 1 year, full cycle ~ 2 years.

*** Mars's cycle, relatively close to the Earth's, but longer, corresponds to actions aimed at survival in the medium term. This can manifest itself as protecting one's interests and boundaries, which requires effort over several months or a year. Such actions often have a social aspect, for example, participating in competitions or conflicts.

Possible roles and actions: a temporary member of any group/gang, cooperation. Training skills important for survival (physical, weapons). Choosing professions such as surgeon, military, coach, working with machines/mechanisms, active entrepreneurship.

Jupiter
Unit of time ~ 12 days, planning horizon ~ 6 years, full cycle ~ 12 years.

*** Jupiter, undoubtedly, correlates with long-term plans that provoke a person's social activity. This may manifest itself as a plan to expand one's influence (business, career) or a thorough education (higher education and more).

Possible roles and actions: teacher/student, leader/follower, etc. in the context of life. Events associated with Jupiter's cycle, as a rule, although they imply long-term planning, do not cover the entire life as a whole.

Saturn
Unit of time ~ 25 days, planning horizon ~ 15 years, full cycle ~ 30 years.

*** Saturn is associated with large-scale, long-term goals. Events associated with Saturn's cycle often mark important milestones in life, a change in career path, the formation of a solid foundation for the future, which implies long-term planning on the scale of a significant part of life.
*** As the last clearly visible planet - it can correlate with the framework and boundaries of opportunities. Which under certain conditions gives conservatism and commitment to principles.

Possible roles and actions: founder/patriarch/permanent leader, building a house/family as well as a career in a multi-story hierarchical system.

Uranus
Unit of time ~ 70 days, planning horizon ~ 42 years, full cycle ~ 84 years.

*** Uranus, discernible with the naked eye only under certain conditions, can be associated with actions that are on the verge of awareness, such as overcoming one's own boundaries or committing acts that are unpredictable even for oneself.
*** On the other hand, a time cycle lasting approximately a human life - correlates not only with the longest-term planning, but also with such concepts as a life's work. Working with which leads to significant shifts in worldview and life direction.

Possible roles and actions: founder/creator, scientist/researcher, participant/supporter of revolutionary trends in anything. Practitioner of lucid dreaming and mental techniques, yoga/meditation.

Neptune
Unit of time ~ 138 days, planning horizon ~ 82 years, full cycle ~ 165 years.

*** Being invisible to the human eye and having such a long cycle, Neptune correlates with things beyond a person's ability to study and comprehend them. This is something that is difficult to call rational.
*** Neptune correlates with the collective unconscious, with elusive but global processes influencing trends in society. Events associated with Neptune's cycle often blur boundaries and are felt more at the collective than at the individual level, encompassing entire generations.

Possible roles and actions: participant in religious/mystical/spiritual movements. Decision-making at the level of intuition. Working with unconscious dreams, divination/mantics.

Pluto
Unit of time ~ 207 days, planning horizon ~ 124 years, full cycle ~ 248 years.

*** Pluto is associated with processes peculiar to Neptune, but differs due to the peculiarities of its orbit, which is more an ellipse than a circle. Which in certain periods gives more noticeable shifts in the world compared to the influence of Neptune's time cycle.

"Postmodern Astrology: Decoding the Universe" by Ruslan D. is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
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Luminaries: Sun and Moon

As the brightest and most significant celestial objects for Earth, they are both a filter and a trigger for all other planetary cycles. Special attention should be paid to the time and coordinates of the new moons (visible conjunction of luminaries) and full moons.

Concepts of Classical Astrology: Strength, Rulership, Exaltation, Receptions…

From the point of view of Postmodern Astrology, the concepts of power, rulership, domicile, and receptions are elements of a mythological picture of the world. Within this system of beliefs, planets were endowed with personal qualities and preferences, like gods who feel better in certain signs of the zodiac or friends with certain planets.

Ouch, that hurt... Are you saying that all my usual interpretations were wrong?

As you may have already noticed, the symbolic descriptions of planets in classical and Postmodern astrology have much in common. Therefore, it is more correct to say - your interpretations were partially inaccurate, and there is nothing wrong with that. After all, a person is complex in and of themselves, and it is simply impossible to predict their behavior 100% by definition.

Thus, we can create a rational and justified basis for astrological interpretations, seeing a certain similarity with the ancient interpretations of planets, which suggests that historically people have always noticed the connection between time cycles and realities, they just lacked knowledge about the world/cosmos.

Skeptic
Let’s assume that the time cycles of the planets are real. But how exactly do they influence each other?

Astrologer
In astrology, there is a concept of aspects for this!

Author
That's right. And this is the topic of our next chapter.
 
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