Home›Roman Deities›Planetary FaceBrowse ByPlanetary FaceThis page groups deities by the planet astrologers link them to, an association traditions such as Hermeticism and Renaissance astrology used to assign specific gods to specific celestial bodies. Wikipedia's article on decans explains the underlying grid comes from an older system: "The decans are 36 groups of stars used in ancient Egyptian astronomy to conveniently divide the 360 degree ecliptic into 36 parts of 10 degrees each," and each ten degree face was later assigned a ruling planet. Browsing this way lets a visitor see which deities across different mythologies share the same planetary association.FactsLearn MorePlanetary FaceSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsOverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedThe gods of Roman public and household religion, a tradition defined more by correct performance of rite and by divine function than by narrative. Rome's major gods were progressively identified with Greek ones and much of the myth attached to them is Greek; the archaic priesthoods, the festival calendar and figures such as Janus and Vesta are where the native religion is clearest. 2AttestationEra of AttestationWell-attestedAttested from the sixth century BCE in inscriptions and in the archaic festival calendar; the public cult ended with the imperial legislation of 391 to 392 CE. 2Veneration TodayWell-attestedThe public cult was ended by law in late antiquity; no continuous worship survives. 2DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedDeities 1Learn MoreThe gods of Rome This group holds the deities of ancient Roman religion. Roman worship began with native Italic and household gods and a strong sense of divine functions and rites, and over time identified its major gods with those of Greece, adopting much of Greek myth in the process. The browser will find the Capitoline triad of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, along with Mars, Venus, Neptune, Mercury and the rest of the Olympian equivalents, as well as distinctively Roman figures such as Janus, the two-faced god of doorways and beginnings, and Vesta of the hearth. The entries note the Greek counterpart of each syncretised god.Planetary FaceFilter Results12 entriesA Rival System's AttributionAllModern astrology: rules Aquarius, displacing or sharing with Saturn. The essential-dignity table this atlas records is the traditional one, in which Aquarius is ruled by Saturn and Uranus rules nothing (1)Modern astrology: rules Pisces, displacing or sharing with Jupiter. The essential-dignity table this atlas records is the traditional one, in which Pisces is ruled by Jupiter and Neptune rules nothing (1)Modern astrology: rules Scorpio, displacing or sharing with Mars. The essential-dignity table this atlas records is the traditional one, in which Scorpio is ruled by Mars and Pluto rules nothing (1)Associated ColorAllAmber (1)Black, Brown and Grey (1)Blue, and Crimson (1)Gold (1)Green and Red-Orange (1)Indigo, and Violet (1)Orange and Yellow-Green (1)Purple (1)Red, and Blue-Green (1)Rose (1)Silver and White (1)Yellow (1)Astronomical DefinitionAllA centaur-class minor planet, showing traits of both an asteroid and a comet, on an unstable orbit crossing between Saturn and Uranus (1)Attributed Author / CompilerAllCharles Kowal, who found it on 1 November 1977 at Palomar Observatory (1)Clyde Tombaugh, who found it on 18 February 1930 at the Lowell Observatory (1)Johann Galle and Heinrich d Arrest, who found it on 23 September 1846 within a degree of the position predicted by Urbain Le Verrier; John Couch Adams had reached the prediction independently (1)William Herschel, who found it on 13 March 1781 and at first took it for a comet (1)LanguageAllLatin (7)Meaning in the Attesting SourceAllBoth heating and humidifying, and because the heating power is the greater he produces fertilising winds (1)By turns drying and absorptive of moisture, and humidifying, because it stands next above the sphere of the Moon (1)Chiefly humidifying, because it is close to the earth and to the moist exhalations from it (1)Chiefly to cool and, moderately, to dry, being furthest removed both from the heat of the Sun and from the moist exhalations about the earth (1)Chiefly to dry and to burn, in keeping with his fiery colour and by reason of his nearness to the Sun (1)Heating and, to a certain degree, drying (1)Marks the old wound that becomes the source of a gift for healing others (1)Rules Aquarius among the modern planets and signifies sudden change, rebellion and the shock of insight that breaks an outworn pattern. (1)Rules Pisces among the modern planets and signifies the dissolving of boundaries, imagination and compassion, with illusion and escapism as its shadow. (1)Rules Scorpio among the modern planets and signifies death, transformation and the compulsive power that surfaces when what is hidden is finally faced. (1)Signifies committed partnership and the terms of the marriage bond (1)Warming moderately, because of her nearness to the Sun, but chiefly humidifying, like the Moon, because of the amount of her own light (1)Mythic AssociationAllNamed for the Roman queen of the gods, guardian of marriage and women (1)Ouranos, the primordial Greek sky god, husband of Gaia the earth and father of the Titans, overthrown and castrated by his son Cronus (1)The Roman god of the sea, equivalent to the Greek Poseidon, associated with earthquakes, horses, and the deep ocean (1)The wise centaur who tutored Achilles, Jason and Asclepius; unlike other centaurs he was immortal, but a wound from a poisoned arrow that would not heal led him to trade his immortality for release from pain (1)Note on the DiscoveryAllDiscovered by William Herschel in 1781, the first planet found by telescope (1)Discovered in 1977, a small comet-like body orbiting between Saturn and Uranus (1)Discovered on 18 February 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, after a systematic photographic search for a hypothesized ninth planet (1)Located in 1846 by mathematical prediction before it was observed (1)One of the four major asteroids in modern asteroid astrology (1)Origin of the NameAllThe Latin name Luna renders the Greek Selene, identified in Mesopotamian astronomy with the moon god Sin (1)The Latin name renders the Greek Aphrodite, which renders the Babylonian planet-goddess Ishtar (1)The Latin name renders the Greek Ares, which renders the Babylonian planet-god Nergal (1)The Latin name renders the Greek Hermes, which renders the Babylonian planet-god Nabu (1)The Latin name renders the Greek Kronos, which renders the Babylonian planet-god Ninurta (1)The Latin name renders the Greek Zeus, which renders the Babylonian planet-god Marduk (1)The Latin name Sol renders the Greek Helios, identified in Mesopotamian astronomy with the sun god Shamash (1)Origin Period End YearAll300 BCE (7)200 (7)1900 (2)1980 (1)1990 (1)2000 (1)Origin Period Start YearAll1000 BCE (7)100 BCE (7)1781 (1)1804 (1)1846 (1)1930 (1)1977 (1)Place of OriginAllDiscovered in Europe (Britain); adopted into Western astrology. (1)Discovered in Europe (Germany); adopted into Western astrology. (1)Discovered in Europe (Germany); used in modern Western astrology. (1)Discovered in the United States; adopted into Western astrology. (1)Discovered in the United States; used in modern Western astrology. (1)Mesopotamia (7)Standing as a Comparative CategoryAllLargely abandoned as a comparative category (2)BrowseCompareChironPlanetary Face1 entryJunoPlanetary Face1 entryJupiterPlanetary Face1 entryMarsPlanetary Face1 entryMercuryPlanetary Face1 entryMoonPlanetary Face1 entryNeptunePlanetary Face1 entryPlutoPlanetary Face1 entrySaturnPlanetary Face1 entrySunPlanetary Face1 entryUranusPlanetary Face1 entryVenusPlanetary Face1 entrySources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 12. The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 4th editiontier 1Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth and Esther Eidinow (eds.), Oxford University Press, 2012s.v. religion, RomanView the SourceDivinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.