Inner Versus Outer Planets

The planets can be classified into two main groups according to the distance of their orbits from the Sun. Going in order outward from the Sun, there are Mercury, Venus, the Earth-Moon system, and Mars. These are the inner planets. Beyond Mars is a gap filled with asteroids, and then there are the outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Not only are the outer planets set off from the inner by the asteroid belt, most of them also differ greatly from the inner in size and chemical composition. With the likely exception of Pluto, the outer planets are many times larger than the inner, and whereas the inner planets are dense and rocky, the outer are much lighter, being composed of substances that on Earth would be gaseous or liquid.

Perhaps the most important difference from an astrological point of view is in the length of time it takes the various planets to go once around the zodiac. As seen from Earth, the Sun, Mercury, and Venus all complete the circuit in about a year, and Mars takes about two years, whereas the orbital periods of the outer planets range from about twelve years for Jupiter to two-and-a-half centuries for Pluto.

Astrologers usually call the inner planets the “personal planets.” Because they move quickly, their position helps to distinguish one birth chart from another of nearly the same date. Each of these planets is also personal in that its symbolism has to do with the development of the individual ego. Even Venus, the most socially oriented of the group, refers to intimate encounters, which define and clarify the position of the ego in the world.

While both the Sun and Moon are personal planets, each also has a transpersonal side. The Sun says much about an individual’s ego development, but it is also the basic universal energy of which the other planets are particularized reflections. The Moon, in addition to symbolizing perhaps the most personal and intimate parts of one’s life, links the individual to another kind of fundamental energy deeper than the level of ego consciousness.

In contrast to the personal planets, the outer planets relate to the social world and beyond. Jupiter and Saturn describe one’s attitudes toward the collectives of which one is a part, and sometimes say more about one’s social milieu than about one’s personal life. Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto describe one’s attitudes toward the greater universe as a whole and one’s relationship to the transcendent levels of human experience.

Though the outer planets are not “personal,” they can have powerful effects on individuals when they aspect or make midpoints with fast-moving factors like the inner planets, the Ascendant, or the Midheaven. In fact, they are often the major key to those patterns of living with which the individual has the most trouble. This is not because all except Jupiter are considered malefic, but because the greatest problem for most people is the integration of the self into the various aspects of the universe while maintaining a viable individuality.

Even when the outer planets only aspect each other, they may affect the individual. For example, they may signify a period in history like a war, which is bound to affect even those who have no personal planets connected to the outer-planet configuration.

*This excerpt taken from Horoscope Symbols by Robert Hand. For more, get the book here.