Soul Evolution Astrology – What the New Planets Mean For YOU

If you are interested in astrology chances are many of you may have felt confused over the past few years. Suddenly we’re told some planets aren’t really planets any more. Objects we were told were asteroids get elevated to planetary status. New planets are discovered only they may not be ‘real’ planets either – terms like ‘dwarf planet’ and ‘planetoid’ get thrown around along with names like Charon, Sedna, Eris Haumea and Makemake. What’s going on up there?!

The discovery of a new planet has always coincided with a big jump forward for us on a soul and evolution level. As the planetary energy is ‘felt’ and the boundaries of our social system extend, so does our knowledge and progress. We can see this played out in history. For thousands of years we thought the solar system ended with Saturn as we can only see as far as Saturn without the aid of a telescope and for thousands of years, progress was slow. Along comes the telescope and we discover first Uranus in 1781, then Neptune in 1846 and finally Pluto in 1930. If we look at the accelerated progress that took place during this period compared to the thousands of years when the thought the solar system ended at Saturn, you can see what I mean!

Just as people once thought Saturn marked the outer limits of the solar system, for over 60 years we thought the same thing about Pluto. What changed? Well, Pluto entered the sign of the explorer – Sagittarius in 1995. Sagittarius loves to push boundaries and what’s more is all about higher learning. Just prior to this, the Hubble telescope was repaired to correct irregularities in its mirror. The stage was now set for us to be able to peer further afield than we had ever done before. In 1996, Pluto was re-classified as a ‘dwarf planet’ which drew howls of rage from many who seemed to like the idea of Pluto remaining a planet. It is worth noting however that Pluto rules transformation and certainly this qualifies as that! So, whatever we choose to call him doesn’t worry Pluto. Pluto has in fact been revealed to be a binary system – what we thought of as one of Pluto’s moons is in fact another dwarf planet – Charon, and these two planets are locked into orbit with each other.

What the Hubble revealed to us was something called the Kuiper Belt where Pluto resides. It is like the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter but is thought to be 200 times more massive than that! In this belt we have discovered the ‘new’ planets – Eris, Haumea, Makemake and Sedna. Of course, they have always been there – just as Uranus, Neptune and Pluto have always been there. It is their discovery that enables the soul energy they emit to become available to us all on a collective level. The fact that so many planets have been discovered at once suggests we are in for a phase of accelerated growth and evolutionary change which will we need if we are to overcome the problems we are currently facing on a planetary scale.

What excites me though is the choice of names for the new planets with the exception of Eris, shows a shift away from traditional Greek and Roman mythological figures towards those of indigenous cultures who worshipped the earth and goddess. Makemake is the god of the mysterious Easter Island whose people lived so close to the sea and their tiny island. Sedna is the Inuit Goddess of the Sea while Haumea is the Hawaiian one. These deities are therefore linked and through this we can see not only what their rulership will be – global warming, indigenous cultures, the oceans, but also how their energies are going to aid us in overcoming and understanding the challenges we face in these areas.

Even the choice of Eris – the Greek Goddess of strife and discord, shows a shift away towards honouring the divine feminine as before she was named there was a distinct bias towards the masculine when naming planets! And it is also worth pointing out that the discoverer of Eris, Mike Brown (who also discovered Makemake, Haumea and Sedna), wanted to name her Xena and her moon, Gabrielle! The other event which also showed a shift towards the creative feminine was the re-classification of Ceres, previously considered an asteroid, now elevated to dwarf-planet status.

As our understanding expands, so our evolution expands. And don’t forget, as we have discovered ‘new’ planets, some signs who previous shared a ruling planet got their own. Aquarius used to be ruled by Saturn but Uranus seemed more fitting once we understood what it represented. Pisces originally shared Jupiter with Sagittarius but was given Neptune as it represented a higher, more spiritual aspect of soul learning. Scorpio received Pluto. We presently have Gemini and Virgo jointly ruled by Mercury and Taurus and Libra ruled by Venus. It may be as we see the energies of these planets in action that they will be assigned to one of these signs and we will see them featured in our horoscopes. Astrology is always evolving, along with us and our understanding of our universe.