Introduction to planetary type
As you might or might not know yet, the birth chart is composed of different elements. We all have 12 houses (areas of life), 12 zodiac signs (modalities of expression) and 10 planets (parts of our psyche). It's a bit of a simplification to put it this way, but one that honours reasonably enough the mechanism of it all.
As I have been teaching Astrology for the last year, as I was creating my class, I had to sit down and think about how to break down in a somewhat systematic way how to identify traits and temperaments in the birth chart.
If you're a practicing Astrologer, you know how much of this work is intuitive and involves quickly linking and synthesizing a myriad of info. But when you have to teach other people how to do what you do, everything changes. Now we must give a recipe that has some consistency.
Why are planetary types important?
One of my biggest takeaways from giving students my "method" was to realize how much emphasis I put on planetary types - aka, what is someone's go-to in terms of patterns and traits. Are you someone whose knee-jerk reaction is to ... seek power? Seek to disappear? Seek to avoid? Seek to react?
And not only your knee-jerk reactions but also, what is your overall view of the world? Do you tend to embody and see the world as a place of power plays? Or a place of compassion? Or a place of freedom?
This is where the theory of the planetary types enters. Your dominant planetary type(s) will tell you a lot about your main strengths, blocks, and overall pattern(s).
Now there are two ways to go about it - one that will be your instinctive reaction, and one that is counter-intuitive but the one I preach.
Two approaches to planetary types
1st approach
You can either say: Well, how do I know which one is my dominant type, give me a test I can take to assess which one is mine? (instinctive approach)
Or you can say: Well, let me read all the planetary types and see which one I relate to the most?
Note: You can have one very distinctive personality type, you can have 2/3 that truly stand out, or you can relate a bit to all, but none truly sticks out.
2nd approach
The second approach is a bit counterproductive, but it's actually one I find very valuable in terms of 1/ developing trust in yourself 2/ growing faith in Astrology. If you're intrigued by this process, I do recommend looking into taking my Astrology class as we dive deep in all of these concepts and teach you how to determine yourself your dominant type + give you the result (approach #1).
In an upcoming series of posts, I will be covering in-depth all the planetary types and diving into:
- The main traits of each planetary types
- The main struggles of each planetary types
- Self-care to help heal any imbalance
- The types of careers that are associated with each planetary types
- A list of recommended books that are tailored to the personality type
Blog Posts:
Mercurial planetary type / Mercury dominant
Venusian planetary type / Venus dominant
Solar planetary type / Sun dominant
Lunar planetary type / Moon dominant