Cycles of the Planets
A monthly column devised by astrologer Polly Wallace exclusively for readers of Inside Time as a follow on to ‘Wheel of the Year’. In this new series the focus is the planets themselves - providing a set of profiles that showcase each planet in turn
The Solar System and the Sun
As it endlessly circles the Sun, our Earth is nothing like as isolated as it may at first seem to be. For it is a member of the Solar System, a whole family of planets connected to one another by their pathways around the Sun - and each one intensely individual, if not totally strange, in its own way!
Long ago our ancestors thought they'd sussed out the sky. They believed their eyes - and this showed them Sun, Moon and five bright planets circling around the Earth in a fairly orderly way. In their view, that was it - the beginning and the end of the universe, all visible from their own doorstep.
How things change! A major breakthrough came during the 16th century when Nicolaus Copernicus, a Polish astronomer, upset the applecart with the news that the Sun doesn't go round us - no, we go round the Sun. The idea did not catch on - a century later, people were still being burned at the stake for daring to promote the outrageous suggestion that the Earth was not, in fact, centre of the universe! Since that time, successive waves of scientific discovery have transformed the tidy sky of the ancient world into a busy zone. Planets, some visible and others way beyond our sight, are now known to have their own entourages of moons, satellites and rings. Some of the gaps between these planets reveal bands of smaller objects - asteroids, centaurs, planetoids, dwarf planets and, as from just a couple of months ago, exoplanets. In fact, our big old sky is teeming!
But however complicated the universe, and however much advanced technology and space probes can inform us about the detail - still nothing beats the evidence of our own eyes. And this reminds us that nothing in space is more fascinating than the planets, those beautiful and endlessly mysterious jewels of the sky.
Over the next 12 months, we'll take a closer look at these planets, one by one. For each planet there will be an outline of the astronomy, mythology and astrology that makes it an individual and unique member of the Solar System. I hope to show how a combination of factual knowledge with imaginative concepts can give us a sense of connection with the sky - and I'll be offering ideas for how we can bring this added awareness into our daily lives.
So let's start with the Sun – the heart of the Solar System
Astronomically, the Sun is the centre of the Solar System and all the planets revolve around it.
It is by far the largest object in the Solar System and contains more than 99.8% of the total mass of the Solar System. Nowadays we know that the Sun is, in fact, a star - and it dominates our sky simply because it is so much closer to us than any other star. This huge globe of incandescent gas is so much bigger than the Earth that it could easily contain over a million bodies the size of our planet.
Although it looks to us like a solid disc, the Sun is filled with turbulent activity that shows up on its surface as sunspots, solar prominences and solar flares. Solar prominences are flame-like clouds of glowing gas that surge up and down from the Sun's surface. Flares are violent releases of energy that can emit as much energy as several billion one-megaton hydrogen bombs. This ferocious energy leaves the Sun in various forms - visible light, x-rays, radio waves & high-speed atomic particles.
The Sun's strong gravitational pull holds the Earth and the other planets in orbit around itself. The Sun is the source of light, heat and energy for us here on Earth. It also keeps us organised - the Sun's daily cycle creates our pattern of day and night; its annual cycle gives us our year and also the rhythm of the seasons. Without the Sun, life as we know it would never have evolved on Earth. Little wonder then that ancient people revered the Sun as a powerful God!
Mythology
Most ancient cultures have their Sun gods - vibrant characters who are powerful and brave, with outstanding skills and great wisdom. Temples and shrines were built to honour these icons. Their reputations have been kept alive through myths and stories, legends and fairy tales - plus a vast range of inspiring works of art.
Sun gods mirrored the behaviour of the Sun in the sky. Just as the Sun disappears every night into the darkness of the underworld, so his god travels nightly into the unknown perils of the dark. In ancient Egypt the Sun was the god Ra who was born in the morning, carried across the sky in a boat, ferried down into the invisible realm of the underworld - to make a triumphant re-appearance with the next sunrise.
For the ancient Greeks the Sun was the god Apollo, riding across the sky in his chariot of fire. Like Ra, Apollo's daily cycle was a mission to survive. This journey by the Sun god was also seen as symbolic of the natural cycle of birth, life and death - and re-birth. It formed the basis of stories that explained life and also inspired people to emulate the god's great courage.
Apollo, Sun god of the western world, was a handsome, strong, youthful god with impressive golden hair and a great physique. He stood for everything that was manly, courageous and honourable. He was especially protective of Leto, his mother, and from the moment he was born, he fought off any danger that threatened her.
Pictures and statues of Apollo often show him holding a lyre, symbol of his role as god of music. He was also the god of prophecy and, from his centre at the Delphic Oracle, was frequently called on to sort out disputes. Perhaps the archetype of Apollo is still alive in our world today? Certainly we still have a few young blond heroes - even if they're more likely to be kicking footballs than slaying dragons!
Astrology - Glyph
In astrology the Sun rules the sign of Leo the lion, king of all animals. This is a fire sign - filled with vitality and enthusiasm. It is also a fixed sign - with the courage to stand up for itself and the motivation to inspire others.
For astrologers, the Sun is of central importance. The signs of the zodiac were devised to record the Sun's annual journey. And the natal chart or horoscope is orientated according to the Sun's daily pattern of rising and setting.
In the natal chart the position of the Sun holds a wealth of themes about ourselves and our lives. The Sun's zodiac sign describes our fundamental character, our sense of identity and how this is shaped. The house position of the Sun indicates the area of life where we can best tune in to our personal goals and our central purpose. The Sun's aspects, the connections it makes to other planets, then add detail to this profile of our character and its potential.
Like the life-giving Sun in the sky, the astrological Sun is the inner spark of our individual power. Its position at the time of our birth describes how each one of us can best develop and express our unique potential. It also gives clues to our personal journey in which, like the Sun himself, we may be required to undergo rites of passage, often far away from the safety of our comfort zone, in order to become ourselves more fully.
Most of us know our Sun sign - the sign of the zodiac that the Sun was travelling through on the day we were born. It's interesting to think about this - and to see how an awareness of our astrological Sun sign adds to our self-knowledge. And how about the hero inside yourself that M People sang about? For it may well be that an understanding of your own astrological Sun can bring you a whole lot closer to finding the key to your life.
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