Pallas

Pallas, the planet of wisdom, creative intelligence, logic, diplomacy and social justice.

The second of the Asteroids, it represents the practical application of intelligence, as well as a creative approch to problem-solving, mediation in a conflict, and the bridge between logical thinking and intuition. It also cautions against uncompromising, absolutist points of view and intellectual presumptuosity.

As an Asteroid discovered in modern times, it does not rule over any Sign, nor does it have a fixed point of exaltation, fall or detriment.

Its glyph represents Pallas Athena’s spear, and may be taken as meaning Spirit presiding over Matter.

That’s right, my pretties, we're not stopping at the “mainstream” planets: we’re including the asteroids too! They’re comparatively obscure in astrology, but some astrologers do include them and, in my opinion, they add  some intersting symbolism which complements that of the “main” planets on the birth chart.

But first, a little history lesson: scientifically, Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta were all, at some point, considered proper planets. Upon discovery, they were classified as such, and made the list alongside Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and fellow newcomer Uranus for over half a century. When more similar bodies started popping up in droves, astronomers decided a reclassification was in order, and the term “asteroid”, which had existed in parallel to designate them (because they were too tiny for 18th Century telescopes to resolve their discs, thus they appeared as “star-like”), was adopted to designate them instead.

This is a testament to just how fluid the term “planet” has historically been, initially including the Sun and the Moon, and even the “Medicean Planets”, aka the four major moons of Jupiter, as Galileo originally called them. Which basically means that yes, Pluto apologists, it’s time to build a bridge and get over it: it's not a planet anymore, but it's still awesome.

Of course, astrology not being a science means it can straight up ignore scientific nomenclature (hence why I find it absurd that astrologers have been debating the Pluto situation too)… as it has been for centuries! I mean, not only does it still include the Luminaries among the planets, but it’s still geocentric in its essence, for crying out loud. So I’ll just be calling the four main Asteroids and Chiron “Planets” in my posts, since they act as such on one’s birth chart.

 

That said, the time stamp on the draft for this post dates back to the 5th of April… and now it’s late September. That's because I took the photo all the way back in March, started editing it, and… left it there. Just like that. It’s partly because I had unnecessarily complicated my life on the spear tip (which I resolved in five minutes square when I rerally got down to it), but mostly because I think I just needed a break from photography in general. After Pallas, I shot nothing and edited nothing for a few months, focussing on creative writing instead, until I felt ready to pick up the camera again.

I should have probably seen that coming, as the shoot itself didn’t go as smooth as others tend to do: I kept shooting take after take after take, trying different set ups, different poses, different anythings, waiting for the Sun to set a bit so the light would change, never quite satisfied with the result. And then I ended up using one of the first takes, right after the warm up shoots, because it was just what I had envisioned. It could have been a five minute shoot, but I didn’t trust myself enough to bring it home and be happy with it.

So yeah, I definitely did need a pause in general, and also from this project specifically, to gain enough clarity to pick it back up with the enthusiasm it deserved.

 

One thing I did not struggle with was pre-production: I built Pallas’ symbolism around the concept of wisdom and practicality, and also envisioned him as a bridge between Mercury and Mars (which I have already conceptualised), acting both as a complement and foil to them. Where Mercury holds a smartphone, a source of raw information, Pallas has a book, which codifies it into wisdom. He also keeps his spear behind himself, as a backup for his plans, whereas Mars will keep it in front because he’s the one who tends to charge first and think never.

I also decided from the start to style Pallas with layers: a leather jacket (leather being often used for armour) on top of a white, soft shirt or t-shirt to represent Pallas’ duality as a tough warrior but also a wise craftswoman.

I luckily had a very nice-looking brass curtain pole I knew I could use for the spear, which I had to carry to and from the location by bus, but you know me, at this point I’m completely out of fucks to give what anybody thinks when I’m out to take photos. Had it not been for my little artistic block, that would have been the only challenge (a piece of cake compared to Saturn’s scythe).

As for the final touches, cyan is the main colour as a nod to Sailor Pallas. Sailor Moon fans who only grew up with the 90s anime might be confused here, but in the manga Palla Palla from the Dead Moon Circus was actually a brainwashed future Sailor Pallas, the Asteroid Senshi being Chibiusa’s own future guardians. So that theme colour will stick for the other three Asteroids as well.

On a more personal level, I find it interesting that, like it or not, I end up learning from what each planet represents when working on this series. If Saturn taught me perseverance in the face of obstacles, and Jupiter inspired me with optimism against overthinking, Pallas gave me the wisdom to acknowledge I needed a break and allow myself to take it. If I want to respect my craft, I can’t just force it.

And now that I let the fire reignite, I have enough enthusiasm to see if I can tackle a couple more photos from this series.

The next one is actually already shot and only needs editing (you’re gonna see an old, familiar face, but if you’ve been following me on Instagram you already know who), so it won’t take long. As for further works, it’s best just not to promise anything timelinewise, but I'll keep an eye open for the possibilities.