Healing the Solar System Within

Long before the invention of the telescope, our ancestors observed the nightly motions of the Two Lights and Five Wanderers: the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. They extrapolated from this fundamental pattern, a Universe of correspondences. Our Solar System, they suggested, exists within us as well as outside us.

Our days of the week are named after these seven “Gods” of the ancients: Monday for the Moon, Sunday for the Sun, Friday for Freya (Venus), etc. The Greeks postulated a universe ofFive Elements or essences: Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Kosmos, the Fifth Essence, or “Quintessence”. Earth relates to the Solid state. Water relates to the Liquid state. Air relates to the Gaseous state.5

Kosmos is the space in which these three elements exist. Fire is the energy which drives the transformation of Earth, Water and Air into one another – much as the process of digestion transforms the materials within the body. The Five Elements relate not only to the world outside our skin (the Solar System), but to design principles at work inside our bodies and even within our psyche – the Solar System Within.

The ancient Pythagoreans denoted the five elements via the symbols H Y G E A – from which we get our English word hygiene. The Pentagram was considered sacred to their Goddess Hygeia, patroness of health, cleanliness and sanitation. She was the daughter of Aesclepius, their God of Medicine and Healing. The 5-pointed star appears on many flags and in many important places.

Traditional Chinese Medicine is also modeled after the Elements and the visible planets: Yang, Yin and Wu Xing or Five Phases: Earth, Water, Fire, Metal and Wood. As in the Greek and Indian systems, these phases or elements correspond to the heavenly bodies. The Chinese names for the planets are, to this day, Earth Star (Saturn), Wood Star (Jupiter), Fire Star (Mars) and so on.

Only a passing distinction is made, in these traditional systems, between body and mind, Inner and Outer. That which exists outside, exists inside. Each is a reflection of the other.

The ancient Hindus used the same basic system of Elements. Ayurveda, the traditional Indian system of healing, is nothing more than the Pancha Maha Tattwas (Five Great Elements) applied to Medicine. Ayurveda deals with 3 metabolic forces, called Doshas (“those which go wrong”).

The Three Doshas are the same Five Elements, combined as they function within the body. Kapha(“that which sticks”) is Earth and Water. Pitta (“that which burns”) is Water and Fire. Vata (“that which blows”) is Air and Akasha or space.

According to Ayurveda, disease is present when there is an imbalance of the Three Doshas. Health is harmony of the Doshas.

The Planets and the Chakras

In Kriya Yoga, the five planets correspond to the five chakras below the head. They are arranged in the same order as they appear in the Solar System: Mercury in the throat, Venus at the Heart, Mars in the abdomen. Jupiter is in the lower abdomen and Saturn at the base of the spine. Adding the Two Lights – the Sun in the forehead and Moon at the rear of the head – the ancients had a complete visible Solar System.

If we limit ourselves to the five planets (and not the Sun and Moon) the middle chakra is the third one: Mars, the “Fire Star” in Chinese. Fire is the principle which transforms the other elements into one another: solids, liquids and gases. It is the principle of Metabolism. It runs the body. The physical world runs on Fire. The body is active during the day time, when the Sun is shining. The Sun is exalted in Aries, the Cardinal Fire sign ruled by Mars. Fire promotes vitality and governs the world of athletics, ambition and worldly success – which are the traditional concerns of Men.

Fire is Fundamental

In the Vedic rites, Fire is the primary symbol of Divinity. He is Agni, the being who conveys the ritual offerings to the Gods. The first prayer in the Rig Veda, one of the most ancient religious texts, is to Agni. The first word in the Veda, is Agni:

From Agni, we get our English words “ignition” and “igneous” – and the names Ignatius, Ignacio, etc. In the body, Fire is the digestive process, which takes the products of nutrition to the mind and organs. The manifest world is experienced when the pranas move predominantly through Pingala Nadi, the Solar Channel which moves towards the right. In the mind, Fire manifests as Tejas (“luster”) – our ability to grasp and digest concepts and experience. Fire governs the retina in the eye, pigmentation in the skin.

When too much Fire appears in the chart, the native can suffer from fevers, inflammation, accidents and problems relating to the blood and liver. The personality can be overly enthusiastic, aggressive and impatient and one can have problems with anger management. When Fire is deficient, individuals lack warmth and muscular strength. They have a slow metabolism and suffer from problems of congestion and stagnation. They lack motivation and clearly defined goals. They are prone to depression and victimization by others.

When balanced, Fire brings the basic zest for of life. It is Ra, the Creator God of the Egyptians. It is Kudanlini Shakti. It is the seven-headed Dragon which gets tamed by the hero. The evolution of the soul, is the balancing of Fire. As the planets move through the Solar System, the energies move through the chakras. It is the principle of Fire which purifies the soul and brings ultimate illumination.

aturn. They extrapolated from this fundamental pattern, a Universe of correspondences. Our Solar System, they suggested, exists within us as well as outside us.

Our days of the week are named after these seven “Gods” of the ancients: Monday for the Moon, Sunday for the Sun, Friday for Freya (Venus), etc. The Greeks postulated a universe ofFive Elements or essences: Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Kosmos, the Fifth Essence, or “Quintessence”. Earth relates to the Solid state. Water relates to the Liquid state. Air relates to the Gaseous state.

Kosmos is the space in which these three elements exist. Fire is the energy which drives the transformation of Earth, Water and Air into one another – much as the process of digestion transforms the materials within the body. The Five Elements relate not only to the world outside our skin (the Solar System), but to design principles at work inside our bodies and even within our psyche – the Solar System Within.

The ancient Pythagoreans denoted the five elements via the symbols H Y G E A – from which we get our English word hygiene. The Pentagram was considered sacred to their Goddess Hygeia, patroness of health, cleanliness and sanitation. She was the daughter of Aesclepius, their God of Medicine and Healing. The 5-pointed star appears on many flags and in many important places.

Traditional Chinese Medicine is also modeled after the Elements and the visible planets: Yang, Yin and Wu Xing or Five Phases: Earth, Water, Fire, Metal and Wood. As in the Greek and Indian systems, these phases or elements correspond to the heavenly bodies. The Chinese names for the planets are, to this day, Earth Star (Saturn), Wood Star (Jupiter), Fire Star (Mars) and so on.

Only a passing distinction is made, in these traditional systems, between body and mind, Inner and Outer. That which exists outside, exists inside. Each is a reflection of the other.

The ancient Hindus used the same basic system of Elements. Ayurveda, the traditional Indian system of healing, is nothing more than the Pancha Maha Tattwas (Five Great Elements) applied to Medicine. Ayurveda deals with 3 metabolic forces, called Doshas (“those which go wrong”).

The Three Doshas are the same Five Elements, combined as they function within the body. Kapha(“that which sticks”) is Earth and Water. Pitta (“that which burns”) is Water and Fire. Vata (“that which blows”) is Air and Akasha or space.

According to Ayurveda, disease is present when there is an imbalance of the Three Doshas. Health is harmony of the Doshas.

The Planets and the Chakras

In Kriya Yoga, the five planets correspond to the five chakras below the head. They are arranged in the same order as they appear in the Solar System: Mercury in the throat, Venus at the Heart, Mars in the abdomen. Jupiter is in the lower abdomen and Saturn at the base of the spine. Adding the Two Lights – the Sun in the forehead and Moon at the rear of the head – the ancients had a complete visible Solar System.

If we limit ourselves to the five planets (and not the Sun and Moon) the middle chakra is the third one: Mars, the “Fire Star” in Chinese. Fire is the principle which transforms the other elements into one another: solids, liquids and gases. It is the principle of Metabolism. It runs the body. The physical world runs on Fire. The body is active during the day time, when the Sun is shining. The Sun is exalted in Aries, the Cardinal Fire sign ruled by Mars. Fire promotes vitality and governs the world of athletics, ambition and worldly success – which are the traditional concerns of Men.

Fire is Fundamental

In the Vedic rites, Fire is the primary symbol of Divinity. He is Agni, the being who conveys the ritual offerings to the Gods. The first prayer in the Rig Veda, one of the most ancient religious texts, is to Agni. The first word in the Veda, is Agni:

From Agni, we get our English words “ignition” and “igneous” – and the names Ignatius, Ignacio, etc. In the body, Fire is the digestive process, which takes the products of nutrition to the mind and organs. The manifest world is experienced when the pranas move predominantly through Pingala Nadi, the Solar Channel which moves towards the right. In the mind, Fire manifests as Tejas (“luster”) – our ability to grasp and digest concepts and experience. Fire governs the retina in the eye, pigmentation in the skin.

When too much Fire appears in the chart, the native can suffer from fevers, inflammation, accidents and problems relating to the blood and liver. The personality can be overly enthusiastic, aggressive and impatient and one can have problems with anger management. When Fire is deficient, individuals lack warmth and muscular strength. They have a slow metabolism and suffer from problems of congestion and stagnation. They lack motivation and clearly defined goals. They are prone to depression and victimization by others.

When balanced, Fire brings the basic zest for of life. It is Ra, the Creator God of the Egyptians. It is Kudanlini Shakti. It is the seven-headed Dragon which gets tamed by the hero. The evolution of the soul, is the balancing of Fire. As the planets move through the Solar System, the energies move through the chakras. It is the principle of Fire which purifies the soul and brings ultimate illumination.