Let's take an ordinary clock-face and rotate it counterclockwise fifteen degrees: The top of the clock, "noon," now lies midway between twelve and one, and the bottom of the clock, "six," now lies midway between six and seven. Our new "noon" will represent the Mid-Summer Solstice (ca. June 22), and our new "six" will be the Mid-Winter Solstice (ca. December 22). Mid-Spring Equinox (ca. March 21) lies at the left, midway between nine and ten, and Mid-Fall Equinox (ca. September 23) lies at the right, midway between three and four. Now the clock numbers are in the correct positions for the order of the months:
(Mid-Summer Solstice)
One: ca. June 22 - July 22
Two: ca. July 23 - August 23,
Three: ca. August 24 - September 23
(Mid-Fall Equinox)
Four: ca. September 24 - October 23
Five: ca. October 24 - November 22
Six: ca. November 23 - December 21
(Mid-Winter Solstice)
Seven: ca. December 22 - January 21
Eight: ca. January 22 - February 19
Nine: ca. February 20 - March 21
(Mid-Spring Equinox)
Ten: ca. March 22 - April 20
Eleven: ca. April 21 - May 21
Twelve: ca. May 22 - June 22
(and back to Mid-Summer Solstice)
Now, the traditional colors and planets for the signs of the Zodiac are:
Red: ARIES, ruled by Mars[The simple colors (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet) denote the "Male" signs, and the compound colors (Red-Orange, Orange-Yellow, Yellow-Green, Green-Blue, Blue-Violet, Violet-Red) denote the "Female" signs.]
Red-Orange: TAURUS, ruled by Venus
Orange: GEMINI, ruled by Mercury
Orange-Yellow: CANCER, ruled by the Moon
Yellow: LEO, ruled by the Sun
Yellow-Green: VIRGO, ruled by Mercury
Green: LIBRA, ruled by Venus
Green-Blue: SCORPIO, ruled by Mars
Blue: SAGITTARIUS, ruled by Jupiter
Blue-Violet: CAPRICORN, ruled by Saturn
Violet: AQUARIUS, ruled by Saturn
Violet-Red: PISCES, ruled by Jupiter
The traditional pattern establishes a Primordial "Ladder of the Planets," with the two brightest Luminaries, Moon in CANCER and Sun in LEO, at the top, flanking the Mid-Summer Solstice, the lightest day of the Year; followed by all the (then-known) planets in order out from the Sun, each ruling two signs (one "Male" and one "Female"), down to the darkest --- Saturn (in CAPRICORN and AQUARIUS) --- at the bottom, flanking the Mid-Winter Solstice, the darkest day of the Year:
* * * * * * * Mid-Summer Solstice * * * * * * *This gives us a spectrum of Nine points, from Brightest to Darkest, which may be equated with the Nine Chakras, thus:[Or.-Yell.] CANCER (Moon)(Sun) LEO [Yellow]
[Orange] GEMINI (Mercury) VIRGO [Yel.-Green]
[Red-Or.] TAURUS (Venus) LIBRA [Green]
Mid-Spring Equinox (Earth) Mid-Fall Equinox
[ Red ] ARIES ( Mars ) SCORPIO [Green-Blue]
[Vi.-Red] PISCES (Jupiter) SAGITTARIUS [Blue]
[Violet] AQUARIUS (Saturn) CAPRICORN [Bl.-Violet]
* * * * * * * Mid-Winter Equinox * * * * * * *
CROWN: Mid-Summer SolsticeBecause the Earth's axis gyroscopically wobbles as it traverses the Heavens, the entire zodiac regresses through all twelve signs in a complete cycle of 25,920 years, so that in every Age of 2160 years the calendar begins (traditionally at Mid-Spring Equinox) with the zodiac sign before the one in the last Age. This is called the Precession of the Equinoxes. We are now completing the Age of Pisces --- when the Mid-Spring Equinox showed the first degree of the Constellation Pisces at Dawn --- and moving into the Age of Aquarius, when the Mid-Spring Equinox shows the last degree of the Constellation Aquarius at Dawn. Thus, all those born in the month prior to Mid-Spring Equinox would now be Aquarians, not Pisceans; and so forth around the Wheel.
THIRD EYE: Moon & Sun
THROAT: Mercury
HEART: Venus
SOLAR PLEXUS: Earth
NAVEL: Mars
SEX: Jupiter
BASE: Saturn
FEET: Mid-Winter Solstice
The Ladder of the Planets given above shows the Mid-Spring equinox between ARIES and TAURUS; it is at 0 degrees Taurus, the end of the Age of Taurus and beginning of the Age of Aries. This would date to about 2320 B.C.E. However, because of its deep resonance with the chakras, I don't believe the pattern was meant to be tied to the precession of the equinoxes, but rather is a kind of spiritual psychology of our subtle anatomy as it relates to systemic and planetary (not stellar) rhythms, and as such is permanent. I call this pattern the Primordial Tradition.
However, there are a few problems with the system as given above: one is the (re-)discovery of the outer planets Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and possibly a trans-Plutonian planet we will call Proserpina. (I believe there may be one more planet still further out, which I will call Isis; and a "Moon" or final "skin" or outer boundary of the Solar System, which serves as a repository for all the System records.)
Astrologers have tentatively assigned Uranus to AQUARIUS and Neptune to PISCES, thus beginning a logical progress: down the waning months, from LEO through CAPRICORN, with the inner planets through Saturn; then up the waxing months, from AQUARIUS to CANCER, with the planets beyond Saturn.
However, almost everyone balks at the next logical step, assigning Pluto to ARIES; most feel it rules SCORPIO, thus beginning a kind of double helix return up through the chakras.
Furthermore, after much meditation, I now believe that we should also include the Asteroids in the planetary system; they do follow Bode's Law in their placement between Mars and Jupiter, as if they were a primeval planet or planetary mass. I call this Asteroidal consciousness Bacchus, the Seed-Planter: the Asteroids are space-seeds.
I now believe we should stipulate a perfect double-helix of the planets, thus:
* * * * * * * Mid-Summer Solstice * * * * * * *In this system, Earth and Pluto share a point at the center, and do not rule any specific signs. North Node may be a substitute for the planet Proserpina; South Node may stand in for Isis, and the "Moon" would be the outermost veil of the Solar System. Thus, we have a downward or Manifestation spiral: Sun - Mercury - Venus - (Earth) - Mars - Asteroids/Bacchus - Jupiter, linking all the simple-colored or "Male" Signs; and an upward or Ascension spiral: Saturn - Uranus - Neptune - (Pluto) - North Node/Proserpina - South Node/Isis - "Moon," linking all the compound-colored or "Female" Signs; so that the twelve signs are seen as a projection of a beautifully interwoven God and Goddess. Jupiter and Saturn --- the two giants --- are the "anchors," the male and female polarities of our Base chakra, and the system perfectly preserves the resonance of planetary octaves as inverse reflections across the equinoctial midline. Additionally, the "new" colors of the planets --- Blue for Bacchus, Violet for Jupiter, Indigo for Saturn, Magenta for Uranus, Green-Blue for Neptune, and Black for Pluto --- strike me as intuitively correct.[Or.-Yel.] CANCER ("Moon") (Sun) LEO [Yellow]
[Orange] GEMINI (Mercury) (South Node) VIRGO[Yel.-Green]
[Red-Or.] TAURUS (North Node) (Venus) LIBRA [Green]
Mid-Spring Equinox (Earth & Pluto) Mid-Fall Equinox
[ Red ] ARIES ( Mars ) (Neptune) SCORPIO [Green-Blue]
[Vi.-Red] PISCES (Uranus) (Bacchus) SAGITTARIUS [Blue]
[Violet] AQUARIUS (Jupiter) (Saturn) CAPRICORN [Bl.-Violet]
* * * * * * * Mid-Winter Solstice * * * * * * *
In order, then, we now have the following Primordial Calendar system:
(Mid-Summer Solstice)Now, our revised Nine-Chakra Planetary System looks like this:One: LEO (Yellow), ca. June 22 - July 22, ruled by the SUN
Two: VIRGO (Yellow-Green), ca. July 23 - August 23, ruled by ISIS/SOUTH NODE
Three: LIBRA (Green), ca. August 24 - September 23, ruled by VENUS
(Mid-Fall Equinox)
Four: SCORPIO (Green-Blue), ca. September 24 - October 23, ruled by NEPTUNE
Five: SAGITTARIUS (Blue), ca. October 24 - November 22, ruled by BACCHUS
Six: CAPRICORN (Blue-Violet), ca. November 23 - December 21, ruled by SATURN
(Mid-Winter Solstice)
Seven: AQUARIUS (Violet), ca. December 22 - January 21, ruled by JUPITER
Eight: PISCES (Violet-Red), ca. January 22 - February 19, ruled by URANUS
Nine: ARIES (Red), ca. February 20 - March 21, ruled by MARS
(Mid-Spring Equinox)
Ten: TAURUS (Red-Orange), ca. March 22 - April 20, ruled by PROSERPINA/NORTH NODE
Eleven: GEMINI (Orange), ca. April 21 - May 21, ruled by MERCURY
Twelve: CANCER (Orange-Yellow), ca. May 22 - June 22, ruled by the "MOON"
(and back to Mid-Summer Solstice)
CROWN: Mid-Summer SolsticeNow, with this system, we can establish Planetary Symbols that actually make sense, as an ideographic mapping of their locations in the Solar Anatomy.
THIRD EYE: "Moon" & Sun
THROAT: Mercury & Isis
HEART: Proserpina & Venus
SOLAR PLEXUS: Earth & Pluto
NAVEL: Mars & Neptune
SEX: Uranus & Bacchus
BASE: Jupiter & Saturn
FEET: Mid-Winter Solstice
A Cross marks the Center point, the Solar Plexus; a Circle atop the Cross gives us the male Heart Center --- Venus; an upward Crescent atop the Circle gives us the male Throat Center, Mercury. Inversely, a Circle below the Cross gives us the male Navel Center --- Mars; and a downward Crescent below the Circle would give us the male Sex Center --- Bacchus.
In the Base center, the male Jupiter's traditional sigil is a Cross surmounted by the left half of a Circle; female Saturn's is a Cross above the right half of a Circle; these Cross-and-Arcs are 180-degree rotations of each other. In the Head center we could also posit a Cross surmounted by the right half of a Circle for the female "Moon," and --- another 180-degree rotation --- a Cross above the left half of a Circle for the male Sun. In the Solar Plexus center, the male Earth would be a Cross surmounting a Circle, with the top half of a second (larger, concentric) Circle between Cross and Circle; the female Pluto's sigil is the 180-degree rotation of the same. Thus, the male/female signs are rotations of each other at head, base, and solar-plexus.
In the Navel center, the female Neptune's symbol, like Mars', is a Cross surmounting a Circle, but the Cross now sprouts additional posts up from the ends of its crosspiece, forming a trident, or an E on its back atop a Circle; in the Heart center, the female Proserpina's would be the inverse.
In the Sex center, the female Uranus' sigil, like Bacchus', is also a Cross surmounting a Circle, but Bacchus' Crescent horns beneath have now become extensions of Neptune's side-posts, so that Uranus' symbol resembles an H with a vertical center line atop a Circle. In the Throat center, as Mercury's is the inverse of Bacchus', so the female Isis' would be the inverse of Uranus'.
For an in-depth examination of the Nine Chakras, see The Nine-Chakra System.