Liz Greene and Howard Sasportas’s The Inner Planets: Building Blocks of Personal Reality (Newburyport, MA: Red Wheel/Weiser, 1993) is the fourth–and final–book in a series of lectures from the Centre of Psychological Astrology. While the first two books focused on thematic elements (the Puer Aeternus, encounters with the sublime, depression, aggression, alchemical metaphors, etc.), the latter two books emphasize the importance of particular astrological bodies. In the case of this text, Mercury, Venus, and Mars receive extensive treatment.
While Venus and Mars receive significant coverage in the first two books of the series, The Inner Planets is the first book to take Mercury seriously, and I’m so glad they did. My own chart is dominated by both Mercury and Venus (my Sun is in Gemini, Moon in Virgo, and ascending is in Libra, Mercury in Gemini, and Venus in Taurus), so this book spoke to me on a deeper level than some of the others in the series. Moreover, I find Mercury and Venus to be the most interesting of the planets.
In Greene and Sasportas’s view, Mercury not only rules communication but the very act of thought. The world is an amorphous blur, and Mercury assembles it into a coherent picture that we can make sense of. It tends to be scattered, but it assembles.
Venus, on the other hand, is responsible not only for love and beauty, but what we value. If Venus is in Capricorn, we are like to find ourselves grounded by patience and hard work; while Venus in Sagittarius points to a person valuing philosophy and travel. Of course, we can’t make sense of a single planet on its own, we must also look to its aspects.
Mars is the third planet extensively covered in this book, and it resembles both aggression and sexuality. Greene and Sasportas are charitable to Mars. Mars was traditionally characterized as the lesser malefic, the authors make a really important part: we need Mars to exert ourselves in the world. Without it, we would not act at all. We all have Mars in our charts, and it’s important that we neither repress it nor give too much weight.
A good rule of thumb for understanding these three planets might be: Mercury shapes, Venus blends, and Mars separates. Venus brings us together with others, while Mars allows us to find our own individuality.
Greene and Sasportas, in my view, are at their best when they discuss the mythological characteristics associated with any of the planets. Readers might be inclined to look for simple answers of what a planet means in order to understand themselves and others, but Greene and Sasportas emphasize the plurality of mythological signifiers that give life to the planets. Mercury is not only the god of writers, but also thieves, diplomats, and merchants. Only by understanding the underlying archetypes can we understand the planets.
I find both Greene and Sasportas to be likeable characters. Greene, in particular, has a personality that is present throughout the text. She drifts into mythopoesis, has a voice like a hammer, and is comfortable with her own boundaries. Sasportas, on the other hand, strikes me as a wise, old understanding mystic who simply cares about others. May he rest in peace.
The Inner Planets is, in summary, a wonderful primer for those looking to dip their toes into more serious psychological astrology. There is plenty of chart analysis, although these segments are probably the least interesting part of the entire text. The book is at its best when dealing with archetypes, and these sections are widespread.
