Welcome back to the second part of the essay series with the working title “Inner Work with the Planets”.
(Yep, I know, as far as series titles go, this one is pretty lame. I’m working on it, ok? 😉 )
In the first part, we took a quick tour of Hermeticism and its colourful history, and I also explained what I mean by “inner work” in the first place.
In this second installment, we’ll get down to the nitty-gritty… namely the planets, and their role in Hermetic thought – and in inner work.
Since Hermeticism originated in ancient Greek, or potentially before that, when I’m talking about “planets” in this series, I usually mean the seven classical “planets”: Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
(I’m not going to go into arguments here about whether the moon and sun are planets, btw – this is a class on inner work and not a science class. It’s also plain and simple: In different areas, the same terms can mean different things. This is one of those cases, where “planets” in modern astronomy means something different from “planets” in Hermeticism. And nope, I don’t care if anybody thinks there can only ever be one “true” use of a word… 😉 )
But what exactly is a planet in Hermetic thought? Are we talking solely about the planets which you can admire on the night sky? Or is there something else behind this term?
In order to answer this question, we’ll need to take a step back and dive into the Hermetic view of the cosmos first…
The Hermetic cosmos is a creation of the Source. Everything which exists is a creative expression of this first being, The One. Although “being” really isn’t the right term here for the source of everything, which existed even before it thought itself into existence.
Be that as it may (and having to make do with human words), The One expressed itself into various other things and beings. To cut a long creation story short, He* created the cosmos with everything in it, including us humans, but also loads of other beings.
(* feel free to insert your pronoun of choice here, btw – I seriously don’t care, and The One can’t be captured in human pronouns anyway…)
Those other created beings include e.g. the animals and other creatures on earth, but also the elements, and loads of spirits and other non-corporeal beings.
Once the creation process was done and over with, the material expression of the creative Source ended up being earth, i.e. the place we inhabit, and the rest of the tangible universe, i.e. the planets, fixed stars etc surrounding us. The non-material expression… well, this is where it gets interesting.
If, by any chance, you should have seen the movie “Shrek”, then you know that ogres have layers, just like onions. Well, it turns out the universe has layers just like onions, too… (and nope. they don’t stink! 😉 )
The layers of the universe are arranged around the earth, with one layer on top of each other. (It really is a bit like an onion!)
Close around the earth, and wrapped right around its own layers, is the sphere of the Moon, the innermost planet. Around the Moon’s layer wraps Mercury’s, then the sphere of Venus. The Sun comes next, and then, in outward order, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
So Saturn is the outermost sphere, and afterwards the universe drops off into nothingness? Well, not quite. 🙂
If you look up at the night sky on a clear evening, you’ll see loads of stars. As they are further out than the planets (yep, our forebears weren’t as dumb as some discussions about the meaning of “planet” might make you think!), they inhabit the next layer, the eigth sphere of the fixed stars.
Above the fixed stars, there is a ninth sphere even closer to The One. And after that, there is only pure Source.
Alas, while this is a striking image, and also somewhat easy to imagine (note that I did say “somewhat”), it’s also misleading.
Think about it: If The One is the source of all there is, there can be nothing outside of it. I.e. material earth, safely nested into the center of our cosmic onion, cannot be outside of the Source – it must be permeated by it, and so must be all the other layers.
I.e. the image we created of a cosmic onion, with layers moving outwards in space, can’t be true – the outermost sphere, the sphere of The One, must be everywhere, but on a higher “level” than the rest. What does this mean for the rest of the Hermetic universe?
Take a look around you, at your close surroundings. What you see is the material sphere. Right “above” it, but in the same place, is the sphere of the Moon. It permeates the same space, but on a different level. On the next level, but again occupying the same space, is the sphere of Mercury. And so on, all the way up to the eigth and ninth sphere, and then the Source.
They are all in the very same spot as you right now, but on the next level up, and up, and up.
If imagining this twists your brain cells into little brezels, then you are most decidedly not alone! Let’s thus, just for the sake of our sanity, stick with the onion image above and pretend that the planetary layers expand outwards from earth in space – just as the “real” planets do.
But then what is the difference between, say, the sphere of Jupiter and the planet Jupiter which you can currently spot in the sky at night in all its shining glory?
Well, the material world didn’t just come last in creation. It also takes its liveliness, its spirit, from elsewhere. In the case of the planets, this can be taken quite literally, as each planet has its own planetary spirit.
These planetary spirits, or daimones, (not to be confused with the modern notion of a “demon”, btw!) rule the planetary spheres and all that is associated with them.
So what does all of this have to do with us humans?
After the first human was created by the Source, he existed in the highest spheres, i.e. way above the material level. This primordial human then descended down the spheres, all the way down to material earth – of his own accord, btw, and with the full consent of The One.
(This part of the Hermetic creation story has often been interpreted in analogy to the Christian original sin. But while there are some striking correspondences, there are also some striking differences. Leaving Christian cultural biases aside and taking the Hermetica by their own words, humanity’s descent to earth seems to be a Creative expression first and foremost, both of humans and of the Source, with the fall from grace being a distant second thought – if relevant at all.)
Anyway, during his descent through the planetary spheres, the first human, which used to be an equal to the planetary spirits, if not their superior, loses some of his own power and submits to the forces of the planetary spheres.
Or, in other words: As humans in material incarnation on earth, like it or not, we are under the influence of the planets.
In practical terms, and according to Hermetic thought, this influence shows in each person’s birth horoscope. The astrological chart at the moment of your birth represents certain “burdens” and limits which the planets have bestowed upon you (it also represents certain favours and opportunities, but we’ll get to that in due time).
But there is another facet to this: We are not just ruled by the planets, or rather by their spirits, but during the soul’s descent to earth, it moves through all the spheres, from the fixed stars through the sphere of Saturn, the sphere of Jupiter, and so on, down through the Lunar sphere, until it reaches the material plane.
During this journey, through each of the spheres, the human soul picks up certain traits: Saturnian vices (or virtues) first, then vices or virtues ruled by Jupiter, and so on – until, at the end, there is a complex human soul ready for incarnation, with all its particular character traits and aspects, the good, the bad, and also the ugly.
At this point, you might be inclined to think that this is all nice and well, but why bother?
I mean, it’s nice to know it’s not your fault that you’re a somewhat aggressive driver – you simply picked up some negative traits from Mars while passing his sphere, right? And the fact that you’re better at spending money than at keeping it… hey, that’s Jupiter for you all over, and since you collected this habit during your descent through his sphere, you’re just stuck with it, right?
Fortunately, the Hermetic story doesn’t stop there. 😉
So far, we’ve looked at what happens to a soul before incarnation, i.e. before the birth of a human. But what happens afterwards, after his or her death?
Well, according to Hermetic teachings, that depends.
The details vary a bit from text to text, but the gist is that if you’re wasting your life attached to material pursuits, you’ll get another chance at living it. And another. And another, for as long as you need to get your act together.
Of course, if you fail spectacularly, your next incarnation will be, shall we say, a bit less pleasant than the previous one. And even if not, if you just lead an “average” life with its average bad actions, you’ll get plenty of chance to do better – until, finally, you actually do better.
On the other hand, if you lead a virtous life, in reverence to the Divine, and attempt to gain self-knowledge, then after your death you will be able to rise up again towards the Source of all that is.
And this ascent, you guessed it, will lead your soul straight through the seven planetary spheres again.
In each sphere, the ascending soul needs to deal with the same planetary vices and virtues as before. Only this time, its task is to leave the vices behind and take on the virtues it hasn’t taken on before.
(After passing the sphere of Mars, for example, and processing whatever is ruled by him, you’d then finally have gotten rid of your aggressive driving habit. A bit late, maybe, but better late than never!)
At this point, as a smart reader you might already be able to guess how the planets could help with your inner work, with “self improvement”… But Hermeticism got there before us. 😉
In Hermetic teachings, one of the biggest responsibilities (and probably also one of the biggest challenges) of us humans is self-knowledge. This journey towards self-knowledge has two aspects:
Getting to know and understand who you truly are, and which kind of layers you have painted onto your true core, is its obvious side.
But stopping there would be rather pointless. Thus the second aspect of self-knowledge is inner work – to improve your current human personality. (Your soul can’t be “improved”, of course, as it is always perfect.)
To put it into Hermetic terms: In order to achieve self-knowledge, you will first need to clearly perceive all the planetary aspects you have layered over the true You, over your soul – and then you will need to let go of the vices you have picked up, and adopt the virtues instead.
Or, in yet other words: Self-knowledge is the ascent through the planetary spheres.
Of course, knowing yourself that deeply and doing all that inner work is, well, work. And you might be tempted to just put that off a little longer until, say, you’re dead anyway – tackle the hard stuff later, and enjoy life now. 😉
The Hermetica were clearly aware of this temptation, and their answer to it is simple: Sure, you can do that. But without a certain amount of self-knowledge, you won’t even be able to attempt the ascent after death.
Thus, in Hermetic thought, one of the main human tasks during our lives on earth is not just to gain clear knowledge of one’s own personality and one’s underlying soul, but also to anticipate the ascent through the planetary spheres and to let go of vices and virtues according to each sphere. (Well, as much as these things are possible for us as humans.)
Now, this isn’t a course in Hermetic religion, but in inner work. Whether the Hermetic texts are right in that you need to do a certain amount of inner work in this life in order to get a chance to rise up towards the Source of all after your death, is anyone’s guess. (In fact, whether they are right about anything is anyone’s guess.)
But whether you “believe” in Hermeticism or not, whether you think these texts are “true” in a spiritual sense or not:
Hermeticism has laid out a timeless path of self-knowledge and self “improvement” for us – and this path is well worth following.
How exactly the planets influence our lives, what their specific vices and virtues are, and why an “ascent” through the planetary spheres in particular is such a worthwhile course of inner work… well, we’ll get to all that in the next few installments. 🙂
See you in about two weeks* – and as usual, I’d love to read your thoughts, notes and questions in the comment section below.
* As noted last time, I’m still playing around with my publishing schedule (or non-schedule). I anticipate the next installment to go up in about two weeks, but don’t want to make any promises at the current point. If you don’t want to miss the next installment, prepare to check back again in about a fortnight – or to sign up for email notifications as soon as I get the notification system set up…
And for those of you who got curious and want to read the relevant source material in the Hermetica, the following texts are particularly good fits for our topic: Corpus Hermeticum (CH) I (especially sections 13-15, and 22-26, although you should read the full text in order to understand the background) and CH XIII.
Also worth a read are sections 27-29 and 40-41 of the Kore Kosmou. Note that although the Kore Kosmou is usually classified as a Hermetic text, I think there are some issues with this (most notably the fact that it is explained from the perspective of Isis, and that Hermes Trismegistus doesn’t even appear in this text, but instead the deity Hermes plays an important role).
Still, there is considerable overlap between the Kore Kosmou and the other Hermetica (albeit also some considerable differences), and the passages I’ve noted shine a light on the descent process from a different angle and are thus worth taking into account.
Image: Nick Fewings on Unsplash
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