Personalizing Taoist Cosmology: Natal Planets and the Five Agents of Change
AUTHOR’S NOTE: In a previous post I explored the Taoist “Five Agents of Change” (Wu Xing) as encompassed by the twin cycles of creation and destruction in the order Wood-Fire-Earth-Metal-Water. I decided to take the Minor Arcana cards associated with the five personal planets (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars) of my natal horoscope and pin them to the cyclical diagrams to see what they might reveal about my character from that perspective. (I didn’t use the four classical elements of Empedocles for this, but rather the “agents of change,” the trigrams associated with those agencies and the principles of “yin” and “yang.”) I also included the two social planets Jupiter and Saturn because all seven form the complete system of “humours and temperaments” (the original personality profile) of traditional Western astrology; I placed Jupiter on the white “yang” node and Saturn on the black “yin” node of the taiji symbol at the center of the diagrams.
My natal placements and correspondences are:
Sun in the 1st Decan of Cancer (2 of Cups; Venus in Cancer): Agency Fire; Trigram Li
Moon in the 1st Decan of Capricorn (2 of Disks; Jupiter in Capricorn): Agency Water; Trigram K’an
Mercury in the 1st Decan of Cancer (2 of Cups; Venus in Cancer): Agency Metal; Trigram Ch’ien
Venus in the 1st Decan of Cancer (2 of Cups; Venus in Cancer): Agency Earth; Trigram K’un
Mars in the 2nd Decan of Virgo (9 of Disks; Venus in Virgo): Agency Wood; Trigram Sun
Jupiter in the 3rd Decan of Sagittarius (10 of Wands; Saturn in Sagittarius): Principle Yang; Trigram Li
Saturn in the 2nd Decan of Leo (6 of Wands; Jupiter in Leo): Principle Yin; Trigram K’un
The pattern looks like this:
Rather than applying the “adjusted” trigrams from my study of the Major Arcana, I decided to stay with the basic arrangement of the Wu Xing: the agency of Wood relates to Sun (Wind/Wood); Fire to Li (Fire); Earth to K’un (Earth); Metal to Ch’ien (Heaven); and Water to K’an (Water). However, I deferred to the more “astrological” approach of my previous work for the planetary qualities. This straightforward blueprint seems to work best for the Minor Arcana even though their decanic associations from the Chaldean zodiac are of a fundamental nature that in many cases varies from the Wu Xing.
Although they represent different “agents of change,” the Sun, Mercury and Venus are all tightly conjunct in Cancer, so they are jointly reflected in the 2 of Cups in the 1st Decan of that sign. The keynote for this card is “Love.” Since I’ve never been a notorious Lothario (except perhaps in my mind), I’m taking this to mean “love in the abstract,” or Universal Love (although I’m not particularly enamored of my fellow humans-at-large either). Maybe “Love” in this context simply means “magnetic attraction.”
The Moon is the quintessential “Water” planet of the trigram K’an (in astrology all orbiting bodies are called “planets”), but it is in its detriment in Capricorn in my horoscope and so its status is more accurately represented by the 2 of Disks (“Change”) and the trigram Mountain (Earth). This is a tough-minded place for the Moon since it must do all of its learning through hard-earned experience As an icon of changeability it does not often fare well in the sign of stalwart resistance to change. Furthermore, it is “under siege” from the Sun, Mercury and Venus since it is diametrically opposite them in the chart. Most of the time, expressing emotions with fluid sensitivity is a challenge for me; “reserved” might well be my middle name.
Mars falls into the agency of Wood in accordance with my model, and it is in the 2nd Decan of Virgo, with the keynote “Gain.” Mars is quite important in my horoscope: it is the most elevated planet in the sky and it is “peregrine,” making no major Ptolemaic aspects (conjunction, opposition, square, trine or sextile) to any other planet, so it is free to “wander” (the meaning of peregrine is “wanderer”). As you might suppose, I’ve always been an iconoclastic maverick in my approach to life, and the combined effect of the Tower and the 9 of Disks brings to mind the aphorism “You can’t make omelets without breaking eggs.” But Mars forms a pair of solid quintile (72-degree) aspects with Mercury and Venus, which is considered to be a highly-creative artistic influence. Early in life I expressed the Venus side of this combination as a graphic artist, but later on I tapped into Mercury for its writing prowess and turned that into a lucrative career. Mars is well-placed in the agency that promotes germination, and in Virgo it will see that initiative all the way through to the harvest.
Jupiter is associated with Fire and is therefore a “yang” planet, while Saturn exemplifies Earth and is consequently of a “yin” nature. Interestingly, in my “astro-tarot” horoscope Jupiter’s placement is tied to a Saturn card (“Oppression;” Saturn in Sagittarius) and Saturn’s position involves a Jupiter card (“Victory;” Jupiter in Leo). They are in a trine relationship astrologically since both are in Fires signs, cancelling out any mutual discomfort, so they are perfectly happy working together. These are the two “social” planets, and their cooperation lends me both Mutable cordiality and Fixed backbone in dealing with other people. In addition, Fire cards at the heart of the pattern imply ambition, optimism and creativity.
In this array the most interesting factors are the importance of Mars, the “besieged” condition of the Moon and the unexpectedly supportive relationship between Jupiter and Saturn. But I didn’t come up with any startling revelations by examining it. In a pragmatic rather than psychological sense — because the natal horoscope presents a “mirror” of the individuality — I’m wondering whether this visual layout could be useful in the “astral mirroring” practice of “Guarding of the One Meditation,” which is intended to put one in touch with the qi of each “agent of change” for the purpose of increasing bodily health and longevity. (To be honest, though, given my birth chart I would be profoundly delighted if it produced only spiritual harmony and stability.)
To do this, I would acquire as sharp and clear a mental “snapshot” of the seven-card array as possible and hold it in my mind’s eye as I contemplate each of the “agencies” and their resident cards in turn, following the astral path laid out by the meditation with the images serving as prompts or “signposts” for the imagination. My experience with astral pathworking on the Tree of Life using the Major Arcana should be instructive in this regard.
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on May 17, 2024.
