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Stars and Deities

Updated: Jun 6, 2022



The wandering stars, or planets as we know them today (planetes asteres), make up one of the pillars of astrological studies. The word planet has its root in Planen, or "to make wander." However, at first the planets were named according to their physical appearance and only around the 4th century BCE were they associated with gods, probably through the influence of the Mesopotamians who had deities with similar meanings.


In many ancient texts, the planets were not just called by the names of the deities as we do today when referring to Mars, for example, but rather being referred to as "the star of" a god. For example, "The Star of Hermes (Mercury)" or "The star of Kronos (Saturn)".


I particularly see much beauty in the ancient definitions and find them noteworthy: Mercury or Hermes, the messenger of the gods, was the Twinkling One (Stilbön), Venus or Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty and relationship, the Light Bringer (Phosphorus), Mars or Ares, the god of war, the Fiery One (Pyroeis), Jupiter or Zeus, the Radiant One (Phaetön) and Saturn, or Kronos, the lord of time, the Shining One (Phainon). The luminaries Sun and Moon have apparently always been directly associated with the divine figures Helios and Selene, respectively.


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