Last modified: 2019-08-06 by rob raeside
Keywords: astronomy | astrology | alchemy | planet |
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| symbol | “planet” | alchem. ass. | symb. origin/mnem. |
|---|---|---|---|
| ♁ | Earth | ||
| ☾ | Moon | silver (Ag) | crescent |
| ☿ | Mercury | mercury (Hg) | Hermes’ staff |
| ♀ | Venus | copper (Cu) | handheld mirror |
| ☉ | Sun | gold (Au) | Sun disc |
| ♂ | Mars | iron (Fe) | shield and spear |
| ♃ | Jupiter | tin (Sn) | |
| ♄ | Saturn | lead (Pb) | sickle |
| ♅ | Uranus | ||
| ♆ | Neptune | trident | |
| ♇ | Pluto | "P"+"L" monogram |
The traditional astrological symbol for Mars is also used as the
scientific symbol for male, in the same way that the astrological symbol
for Venus, a circle with a cross below it, is used scientifically for
female. All the planets (plus the sun and moon) have similar
representations.
James Dignan, 19 Jul 2004
The Mars symbol is
basically a shield and spear (Mars/Ares was the god of war.) Each of the
“planets” (that included the sun and moon in those days) was
also associated with a metal in medieval alchemy
Albert Kirsch, 19 Jul 2004
The symbol used for Pluto is a combination
of the letters "P" and "L", representing both the planet and Percival
Lowell, the Astronomer who predicted its discovery and spent much of his
career searching for it in the early years of the 20th century (it was
discovered 14 years after his death).
James Dignan, 14 Jul 2005
The symbol of Pluto is monogram "PL". These are not only the first two letters of the planet’s name, but also the initials of Percival Lowell (1855-1916), the U.S. astronomer whose calculations of 1905 had predicted the discovery of Pluto, which took place in 1930 at the Flagstaff observatory, Arizona, USA, whose founder was Lowell himself. (These connections of Lowell and Pluto had originally produced the suggestions that the planet should be named Lowell, but eventually a name was chosen which gets along with other planets’ names, but also contains a hidden reminder of the man who predicted the planet’s existence.)
There is also an alternative symbol of Pluto
"
",
used much more in astrology than in astronomy, consisting
of a big semi-circle, set on the top of a vertical
line with a cross at its bottom end, which partly
surrounds a small circle set above it. I was not able
to find any explanations of that symbol. All I can say
about it is that it vaguely resembles the human figure
and is composed of the same elements as the earliest
planets’ symbols: circle, semi-circle and cross. These
elements and their combinations are the subject of
various esoteric teachings, what explains why such a
combination was created for Pluto as well.
Tomislav Todorovic and Mladen Mijatov, 11 Jan 2006