Rahu and Ketu are the only planets to contain two complete circles. They manifest their nature without any effort or evolution required. The Sun, Moon and the two nodes Rahu and Ketu are not literally planets. In fact only the five real planets have crosses and represent effort. We evolve by coming to grips with these realities.

The evolution towards a deeper understanding of life is nailed to the inescapable realities which Saturn generates: death, old age, decay and misery. ♄ Saturn’s glyph is a cross to which the right side of the circle is affixed and bound. He encourages it and rewards it and provides the systems of religion, philosophy, and law which do the same. The right side of the circle represents evolution towards a deeper understanding of life. ♃ Jupiter’s glyph is a cross supporting the right side of a half circle. He is the passion and ambition which prods you to going off in your own unique direction with your own angle on life. This symbolizes that Mars is your energy. ♂ Mars’ glyph is a circle with an arrow (a distorted cross) at an odd angle towards the top of the circle. She gives you a physical body replete with fascinating senses through which you can truly experience the wonderful manifest world in your life. ♀ Venus’ glyph is like Mercury’s, without the half circle at the top. This glyph encapsulates in a single symbol the fact that Mercury is your intelligence, which creates the ability to communicate as well as understand. It shows that he alone can truly facilitate the evolution towards the higher self. The half circle at the top is unique to Mercury. The cross at the bottom shows that Mercury facilitates the effort for the true self to become a real manifestation in the material world.

☿ Mercury’s glyph is a circle with a cross at the bottom and a half circle at the top. The Moon (emotions) allows evolution in both directions – towards the true self and away from it. Why? The Moon is your emotional self, a tricky reflection that creates and satisfies feelings of incompleteness which arise from our interest in a world of dualities. Instead the left side of the circle has folded over or reflected to the right so that there are two half circles linked together on the right, making the characteristic crescent moon shape. It is the only glyph without a complete circle in it. ☽ The Moon’s glyph looks a lot like the moon, which is handy. The center of life is your identity – the core of your conscious awareness. The dot in the middle of the circle is symbolic of the fact that the Sun is the center of all things in life.

☉ The Sun’s glyph is a circle with a dot in the middle. Only Mars has the energy to transform the cross of effort into the arrow of ambition. The arrow is simply a blurred cross, distorted due to the energy of the arrow’s movement. The exact type of half-circle used in a specific glyph reveals a lot about it’s exact symbolism for that planet. The half-circle is symbolic of evolution and development. There are two secondary symbols used in the glyphs: the half-circle and the arrow. “We all have our crosses to bear.” The specific location of the cross on the circle reveals a lot about the meaning of a planets glyph. Life is a cyclic process of the original self transforming into a material being and then returning to a truer understanding of itself. The top of the circle is your original self, the bottom of the circle is your material identity. Glyphs for the PlanetsĮach planet’s glyph is made of the same primary symbols: a circle and a cross. The essential meaning of every planet and sign is encoded into these fascinating symbols. I am a huge fan of the glyphs developed in the West to represent the signs and planets.

Ancient zodiac glyphs