Internal Planetary Systems
creator unknown, please contact to claim authorship
The beginning of Internal Planetary Systems
I created Internal Planetary Systems when I recognized the impeccably aligned parallels between the archetypes and planets of astrology, and the Internal Family Systems therapy model. Astrology is not only, in my opinion, the original parts work, but it also relates beautifully to several other healing techniques including archetypal psychology, and narrative therapy. Archetypal psychology seeks to create self-understanding through explorations of internal archetypes and how they express themselves. And the narrative model challenges standard myths and constructs, seeking to empower the individual in relating to their experience through authoring their own reality with self-compassion and aligned values. Internal Planetary Systems integrates the ancient archetypes of the zodiac, the narratives and myths they enact and pass down through generations, and the parts that articulate different characteristics both empowered and disempowered.
creator unknown, please contact to claim authorship
What is Internal Planetary Systems?
Internal Planetary Systems is inspired by Internal Family Systems and is designed to create space for compassionate self-actualization, using the planets in our astrological birth charts, as our internal parts. The planets describe the condition of our parts on several levels.
First, the planet itself represents an archetype, it is a character that is playing a role on a stage (the house) set with particular scenery (the zodiacal sign). To use another metaphor, The planet is a character or creature, living in a certain landscape (the house) with certain environmental qualities (the sign). Venus, for example, is the goddess of love, beauty, relationships, values, and justice. Internally she represents our romantic expression, our creativity, feminine divinity, pleasure, values, and relational body.
Mars represents our martial faculties; it is the warrior within, or for more gentle folks, the hill we would die on. Mars embodies our desires, our efforts and passions, it is our willingness to bleed for a cause and our determination. It is our vital energetic force, the power that lives within our body, motivates us, and provokes us to action. For the rest of the planets, you’ll have to take my course or do your own exploration.
Second, the location of the planet, the house it is in at the moment of the native’s birth, describes the stage where it enacts its role. The location of the planet indicates the part of the native’s life that experiences a concentration of that particular energy. Themes of this location will be magnified and illuminated. Perhaps the native has several planets in one house, this is called a stellium when it is 3 or more, there they will notice a focus of meaning-making and purposeful growth. The lessons for the native and that particular part of themselves will be most evident in that area of their life.
1st House: the self, identity, the body, style, presentation to the public
2nd House: resources, values, worth
3rd House: the neighborhood, siblings, communication style, ideas
etc. …for all 12 houses
Third, the condition of the planet, the sign where it resides, gives us insight into the resources it has access to and the ways this part expresses itself. The zodiac sign that the planet, the part, resides in at the moment of the native’s birth, is like the scenery on the stage where it plays its part. Some signs offer much support to a particular planet while other signs are recognized as a challenging landscape for that planet to navigate. Of course, challenging realities often make for resilient and resourceful people. Some even say demanding dynamics build character.
creator unknown, please contact to claim authorship
And finally, there is a simple, yet highly effective technique that I use to describe the age we first integrated the part embodied by each planet. It is called the pinball method and it makes operative the degree of the planet. The age we began learning crucial lessons about that planet is illuminated by the degree. We are invited to reflect, meditate, and or journal on the year that corresponds to the degree of each planet to gain awareness of how our relationship to that planet began. Much like Richard Schwartz’s technique recognizes the various ages of each part, the planets are located at certain degrees within each sign of the zodiac and this degree speaks to the age. For a planet located at the 9th degree, the tool becomes, a meditation on the 9th year of life and what that year taught us about the qualities, characteristics, and behaviors of that planet. This allows us the potential to integrate the lessons of each planet by the time we experience our Saturn return, a time defined by lessons of discipline, maturity, intentionally set boundaries, and commitments. The Saturn return occurs by the 29th year, and the degrees, 0 to 29, of each sign ensure we have at least met each planet before our 30th solar return.
How does Internal Planetary Systems work?
Archetypes help us to organize and categorize the characteristics, patterns, and relationships that shape our world. By deepening our relationships to the archetypes and the planets, we can understand the nuances of these cycles and significations. The myths and stories that are embedded in our culture, ourselves, and our ancestry, form who we are and how we relate to the world and the identities we are embodying. Archetypes articulate and embody the “metaphors we live by” (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980).
creator unknown, please contact to claim authorship
Intentionally cultivating relationships with the planets externally, supports an internal process of relationship building with our complex, internal parts. Exploring the archetypes and the nuanced narratives and themes they portray reinforces the compassion we can offer ourselves as we navigate self-actualization. Even the astronomical cycles, as simple and familiar as the full moon, can offer us immediate relief as we acknowledge a pattern of disturbed sleep on a monthly basis. This knowledge can inform and mobilize our self-awareness and self-care practices affording us a solid foundation on which to heal and transform.
The native is invited to recognize and reflect on each of the planets in their chart, their placements in both house and sign. The degree of each planet offers coordinates to the year that is punctuated by the first integration of that planet and its archetypal significance. Special attention is paid to the planet ruling the chart as I believe it may be best related to as the highest self. The native takes particular inspiration from the constellation on the horizon at the moment of their birth; this is the rising sign or ascendant. The celestial body that governs the rising sign, therefore becomes something of a muse for the native throughout their life. A Sagittarius rising, for example, is ruled by Jupiter and is invited to embrace empowering expressions of the God of Thunder. By asking ourselves, “what would [insert ruling planet here] do?” we can pray to the solar system, offer reverence to our patron god, connect with the archetype that stretches across time and space, and offer ourselves faith and compassion in an uncertain world. It is well-studied that faith offers peace in disturbing times, making astrology a particularly powerful tool of connection and transformation.
“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”
As we practice reflecting and relating to the zodiac and our internal parts, we learn to sustain connection and recognize patterns internally and externally. By watching the orbits of the planets in the sky, we can prepare to meet challenging moments with mindful awareness and celebrate ease and prosperity with reverence and gratitude. We can witness and honor the depths and complexities of the people we are in orbit with, by offering understanding to their expressions of the archetypes they are called to learn from. The lessons we can learn from history become undeniably clear, calling for the presence of mind, body, and spirit in our current time/space so we may transcend historical patterns, learning from the past.
Why is Internal Planetary Systems valuable?
“The meaning of life is to give life meaning.”
creator unknown, please contact to claim authorship
Astrology is a meaning-making system. It articulates thematic areas of transformation, reinforces ancient archetypal narratives, and embodies celestial cycles. By developing awareness and understanding of each of the planets in our chart, how they thrive, and where they are challenged, we can recognize the multitudes within while connecting to the cosmos. We can increase capacity for self-acceptance through an intentional approach to the diverse and complex parts of ourselves. As we cultivate a deeper relationship with the different elements of our internal world, we can connect more purposefully with the time/space we are born into.
Actively participating in the zodiacal journey of the planets in our solar system through observation and self-reflection offers opportunities to live with a sense of wonder and purpose that is fortifying and dynamic. Transformation and healing become as playful as it is purposeful when we connect to our internal world with compassion and a sense of belonging in time and space. This presence, connection, and transformation is what Internal Planetary Systems offers us.