the planets & the north node
Your chart is a symbolic map of your contract with life - your briefing instructions from the gods in their planetary guises. The planets represent different kinds of intelligence, different parts of the psyche.
When we feed each part of ourselves, as represented by the planets, we bloom as individuals.
Caroline Casey
The planets in your chart are like parts of yourself, and the different ways that you connect to the energy of the universe. I like to think about it like parts therapy models, like IFS or something similar. After reading the descriptions/keywords below, think about these different aspects of your multifaceted self.
When do you notice certain planets wanting to express more in your life? Are there any that you’d like to explore and develop more?
The planets represent purpose, intellect, intuition, magnetism, passion and action, expansion, alignment, authenticity, dreams, personal power and your soul’s potential. Each planet has its unique and personal part to play in your co-creative journey, and when we combine the signs and houses, we have a guide for our journey that both focuses and massively expands!
Explore your planets below, and combine these aspects of yourself with the signs and houses to paint an inspirational picture of your highest potential.
Pick just a few of the concepts + keywords that stick out to you right now, work with them until you've gotten comfortable with embodying your version. And then come back for more inspiration!
If you’d like to explore the signs, your chart further and co-create with the universe, join me in the Cosmic Alignment astrology + manifestation membership. It has everything you need to begin living the magic of your chart - in real time!
Here’s a quick video going through how to find each of the planets and what they represent.
The Sun
What: self-actualization, future goals, life purpose, inner design, life meaning, essence, to be, to create, willpower, life force
How: Sun sign
Where: house keywords
Most of us are familiar with our sun signs. Oftentimes, when we read the descriptions, it gives us a run down of who we are. And then I leave the article frustrated and confused because I don't feel like my sun.
Here's the thing, the sun is who you are. But instead of treating it as our current identity, we can look at it as a beautiful seed of potential. Like a seed of our future goals, life purpose and self-actualization. It's the main potential of our authentic self, unfolding over the course of life.
Oprah talked about the acorn, and how it has no idea that it is going to be this ginormous, masterpiece of a tree. Every oak tree is different, and depending on how it's nourished or what kind environment it's placed in, they will definitely grow differently.
The sun is your acorn. What kind of oak tree do you wish to grow? What kind of oak tree do you have the potential to be? The sky’s the limit, especially when we align with our true nature instead of going against it.
Similar to the solar system, in astrology, the other planets serve as satellites for the sun in your chart. They're like ambassadors for different components of our manifestation potential, of our connection to the cosmos. The sun is the center, the will, the vitality - your essence.
The Moon
What: intuition, nurturing, safety, comfort, wisdom of the body and soul, ancestral lineage and tradition
How: Moon sign
Where: house keywords
The moon is such a beautiful and magical symbol of your feelings, your inner world, the knowing that you have inside (even if you can't make sense of it), your intuition and your past. It's pretty freaking complex, at times confusing, non linear and incredibly subconscious.
There are multiple layers to inner knowing... and to the past. We can think of the past as when we were infants, young children, and everything that has happened up to this point. It goes in the moon's storehouse, in your storehouse and oftentimes, is stored in your body. The moon is so close, so intimate, that we literally feel it in our bodies. Those physical sensations you feel, how might those be connected to emotions that are trying to get your attention? The intuition that is trying to get your attention?
And then we think about how feelings and emotions have been considered inconvenient. Many of us may have been taught that they're messy. But they are gold. Your intuition is gold. And both lie in the moon in your chart.
Want to know what's even crazier? In those emotions and those intuitive hits.... that inner knowing... lies your ancestral wisdom. The moon also represents the past in that generational / lineage / ancient kind of way. You have an ancient wisdom in your body that communicates to you through your intuition.
Mercury
What: making sense of the world, thought, the mind, intellect, language, logic, concepts, ideas, intentions, manifestation
How: Mercury sign
Where: house keywords
Many of us know Mercury as the planet of communication, which it is, amongst a lot of other things. But I think many of us don't realize the manifestation powers that lie in our Mercury placements.
The whole chart is a manifestation map actually, but Mercury is where we hold the incredibly magical powers of intention and invocation. Remember those sayings like - thoughts become things? You speak your reality into existence? What you focus on becomes your reality? (I'm definitely paraphrasing some of them, but you know what I'm talking about).
Consider magical spells, when you cast them through voice, or the incantations. It's all in the power of your voice, the power of your thoughts and the power of your intention (and of course some magic).
Mercury, by sign and house, is an inspirational guide to how we naturally learn and take in information, what we like to learn about and how we like to communicate. And - what we like to communicate about. Another great example of - there’s nothing to learn, just a whole lot of stuff to unlearn.
Venus
What: love, desire, pleasure, joy, creativity, aesthetics, style, friendships, relationships, money, attraction, magnetism, self-worth, abundance
How: Venus sign
Where: house keywords
All of the planets operate as satellites for your sun, your purpose and life goals, your seed of potential. What Venus satellites for us is our worthiness. Venus is the guardian of our self-worth and the guardian of our desires.
Our desires are a major part of our destiny. In fact, your desires are destined for you. When you experience one, it opens the path for many more desires. Each unfolding into the next. There's plenty for everyone - there's so much abundance. Everyone wants different things, everyone is here to live a different destiny.
Our desires are also what strengthens our magnets. Think of your style, appearance, what you indulge yourself in, what gives you joy, what you find pleasurable, what you do for fun, where you look for romance, what friends you hang out with, where you shop - all of the good stuff in life - as your beehive. What kind of honey are you making? Is it attracting the kind of experiences, situations, money or people that you want?
And think about when you take care of yourself or do the things you love to do. What kind of state does that put you in? One of delicious pleasure, love, happiness, fulfillment and all kinds of good things. Radiating out your true essence, so that the right pursuer or experience can find you. You attract in what you want because what you want can find you.
Mars
What: directed energy, passions, ability to act based on desires, taking action, initiative, assertion, drive, competition, the desire to "become"
How: Mars sign
Where: house keywords
Mars and Venus are the two satellites of passion in our charts. Both operate on desires, however they operate very differently. Some of us have Mars in one sign and Venus in another, or you may have both in one sign. The key is to know how to guard your self-worth and attract in (Venus), while simultaneously honoring how you most naturally go after the things that you want (Mars).
Mars is our primal energy, how we move forward and how we "become" what it is that we desire to be. We set our goals on a desire and we move towards it in our most natural way. Have you ever tried to do something or execute something like someone else? Did it work? Mars says you have your own way of moving toward what you want, and when you do, it flows.
Mars has a lot to do with how you engage in conflict, how you assert yourself on the environment and the will to challenge and conquer. Have you ever noticed when your energy falls flat? When it just seems to go on forever? When you're super effective in action or under pressure?
Jupiter
What: expansion, philosophy, growth, wisdom, knowledge, exploration, meaning, the bigger picture, optimism, opportunity, luck
How: Jupiter sign
Where: house keywords
Jupiter's here to push us to expand beyond our current reality, have us reach for those higher heights, take leaps of faith and lean into optimism. It's like that expansiveness when we've gone and just tried it, and we learned so much afterwards that the results didn't even matter. Those moments when we realize we just gotta seize the opportunity and trust that everything will work out for the best.
So I think before getting hardcore into the spiritual realm, I understood taking leaps of faith or optimism as this purely mindset thing... which it is. But it requires a great deal of trust and ... faith. A belief that things will be ok, no matter what. That there's a larger order, perhaps even a divine order to what is playing out. That cosmic opportunities show up to encourage us to expand and grow, in potentially unimaginable ways.
That belief then leads to the optimistic mindset, the trust, the desire to quest, to be curious, to learn the universal laws that govern all of creation. That mindset is abundance. Opportunities are here as lucky chances we take, we must risk something to gain something. They are here as potential for growth. And this would invite faith in a universal or cosmic intelligence that wants you to grow. That's Jupiter.
It's your beliefs or mindset that shows you the opportunities that are right in front of you.
Saturn
What: authentic alignment, tests, spiritual development, limits, boundaries, definition, grounding, maturity, experience, responsibility, self-preservation, crystallization, reality checks
How: Saturn sign
Where: house keywords
To be fair, if you go into historical astrology, Saturn is kind of.... scary. But modern times call for modern interpretations. And I have grown to love and respect Saturn in a major way. This planet is like - STOP PLAYING BY OTHER PEOPLE'S RULES... but lends that helpful advice in a different way than other planets. When we don't listen to ourselves or align with ourselves, we get consequences. Cause we aren't playing by our own rules, boundaries, structures and all of the other Saturn words.
We get real about ourselves. We start creating structure in our lives that supports the vision that we have. We set boundaries with others and with what we are willing to be responsible for. No planet is here to support you living a life out of alignment, and in fact, Saturn will bring in the reality checks when you don't.
Now what makes Saturn so tricky.... is that where you have Saturn by sign and house is exactly where you might be insecure, more prone to listening to an external authority. This is exactly where we are most likely to mistakenly take on societal, familial or social limitations. We self-impose these rules on our lives. There's your life's work, your spiritual development - your Saturn sign and house, and becoming your own authority.
Uranus
What: sudden change, disruptions, authenticity, intuition, individuality, rebellion, liberation, eccentricity, innovation, breaking boundaries
How: By being authentically ourselves, regardless of external expectations
Where: house keywords
Uranus' invitation is one of unconventionality, individuality or breaking free from the past in radical ways. Uranus says "be free", and oftentimes the message of freedom means disrupting the status quo.
Some of us are super plugged into the unique and extreme energy of Uranus all the time (depends on your Cosmic Co-creation Map / birth chart). Think inventors, innovators, really out there artists or musicians, Steve Jobs, Dennis Rodman, activists that start a radical movement, old school Bjork. Some of us have a more mellow relationship to Uranus, but we all have it in us to liberate ourselves and unleash our authenticity. We all have it within us to be original, genius, strike out on a new path and revolutionize our lives.
How do we work with Uranus then? Uranus is like lightning, or electric currents, and we're the conduits for it. We get sudden insights, new ideas - we want to cut away the old. We see where the energy needs to be discharged, or surrender to the energy that shows up (can be in very surprising ways).
We lean into authenticity, discovery and change. We flip tables. We also don't listen when others say we're crazy or unrealistic. We follow our intuition and trust the creative power within us to evolve.
Neptune
What: dreams, visions, inspiration, unconditional love, the universe, spirituality, imagination, compassion
How: By connecting to the universe and our soul, and washing away what no longer has meaning
Where: house keywords
Neptune is the cosmic super energy of universal love, divine inspiration and visions. We all have Neptune in our charts, an inner mystic. We are all able to tune into the divine or the universe in our own ways.
What would it mean to follow a mystical way of life for you? One that inspires a sense of mystery, awe and fascination?
You know those points in life when you're so connected to reverence, to a sense of inspiration or your dreams? That's Neptune in your chart. The visions you have for your life, the ones that give you a sense of healing, wholeness and peace - that's also Neptune in your chart. Neptune is where you connect to infinite possibilities, by tuning into the magic of your spirit. The confines of ordinary reality are no match for what you can dream into existence.
With Neptune, we connect to our spirit and from there, we trust that inner pull toward the dreams that offer real meaning. We allow our true intentions to fantasize the most bangin reality.
We also connect to our dreams and visions with trust, because Neptune shows us that reality is a fantasy. Fantasy can also be reality. And ultimately that reality is an illusion.
Pluto
What: hidden power, death, rebirth, transformation, change, purification, elimination of what's unnecessary, metamorphosis, renewal, regeneration, control, evolution, awareness of deep security fears
How: through your fears, through irreversible internal change
Where: house keywords
Pluto is about our power, power to change, power to rebirth ourselves, power to recreate our reality and the power to know just what we're made of. Coming face to face with our fears, navigating through them and allowing ourselves to be in the process is one that changes us forever. No matter how big or small.
I gotta admit, Pluto is one of my favorite planets. This is the planet of death, birth and transformation... but we throw those words around so much that they don't really seem to mean anything anymore. In this process, we discover our hidden super powers.
Your hidden power lies in the themes of the house that Pluto lives in in your chart. There's wealth there, inner riches that we have access to once we do the deep dive and transformational work that Pluto asks for.
It's where you have the opportunity to do the caterpillar's metamorphosis, and become a beautiful and powerful butterfly. Where we look our fear of the unknown in the face and clear old patterns for new growth. We birth something new.
North Node
What: happiness, success, abundance, fulfillment, freedom from habits of the past, potential, evolution, growth, increase, advancement
How: North Node sign
Where: house keywords
When exploring your North Node and what it means for your potential and evolution, like everything else in your cosmic manifestation map, it doesn't operate on its own. More than most of the planets in your chart, there is a link to what we're familiar with and how those are gifts to utilize in evolving beyond what we know.
If we use some traditional keywords for the North Node, they'd include success, abundance or freedom. But, that's from your soul's point of view, not from the external world's perspective. So how do we know when we're feeding the North Node vs doing something that we're not meant to do? It's all so uncomfortable, unfamiliar and strange?
Well, we experiment with the themes of the sign and house and look for signs of personal fulfillment, of deep happiness and an expansion of your connection to the universe and/or your soul. The wonderful thing about the unfamiliar and strange qualities of North Node actions is that they lead us to freedom from the past, breaking cycles, evolution and our innate potential to grow. If it feels awkward, or if we're hesitant, there's a chance that it's there for us to find fulfillment.
That’s the overview of the planets + north node! Make sure to check out your chart houses and signs of your planets too. The descriptions here are just a sample of all of the awesome that’s available in the astrology + manifestation membership - Cosmic Alignment. If you’re ready to learn more and co-create with the planets, join me to get your dance with the universe going!