Exaltation

Think of being an honoured guest at someone else's home: everyone wants to hear from you, you are given the best seat, and you rise to the occasion. You are not at home, but you are at your best. That is a planet in exaltation.

Where domicile is about being yourself, exaltation is about being elevated: a planet in exaltation shows its finest, most admired qualities.

Every planet's exaltation

• The Sun is exalted in Aries.
• The Moon in Taurus.
• Mercury in Virgo, which is also its home.
• Venus in Pisces.
• Mars in Capricorn.
• Jupiter in Cancer.
• Saturn in Libra.

Notice that no planet is exalted in Gemini, Leo, Scorpio, Sagittarius or Aquarius in the traditional scheme.

The exaltation degrees

Here is a less-known detail. Traditional astrology names an exact degree where each planet is most exalted: the Sun at 19 Aries, the Moon at 3 Taurus, Mercury at 15 Virgo, Venus at 27 Pisces, Mars at 28 Capricorn, Jupiter at 15 Cancer and Saturn at 21 Libra. Their origin is old and debated. One theory traces them to Babylonian sky-watching, where certain positions of the planets were treated as especially significant. Many modern astrologers use the whole sign, but the degrees are still used in traditional work.

Which of your planets are strong?

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