The Obliquity Of The Planets

The obliquity of a planet shows the tilt of its poles in relation to its orbit around our Sun. Our Earth spins on a 23 degree tilt, which is why it has a wobble. This wobble is what causes the Earth to return to its Spring Equinox position slightly before its year prior position in the constellations (precession of the equinoxes). 

A zero or 180 degree obliquity would indicate that a planet has no tilt and spins perpendicular to its orbit, with no wobble. The tilt of a planet tells us a great deal about its nature. A planet that spins in an upright position, with no tilt, is of upright character and has integrity. 

The planets traditionally considered positive and beneficial, Venus and Jupiter, both spin in an upright position. Mercury, symbol of knowledge and reason, has a perfectly upright spinning position.

The planets that are traditionally considered malefic and harmful, Mars and Saturn, do not spin in an upright position, they wobble - showing that their nature is not upstanding. 

The condition of life on Earth is revealed by the fact that it also wobbles, having almost as much obliquity as the malefic planets. This symbolizes to us that there is much suffering on our planet.

Perhaps, if humanity ever forms a harmonious civilization in balance with nature and in tune with the universe, our planet will lose its tilt and spin upright like the benevolent planets.

(Neptune, also considered malefic by astrologers, has the same tilt as Mars and Saturn. Uranus, the rebellious eccentric planet, is the only planet that spins on its side, parallel to its solar orbit.)