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TEN is a 10 part visual series created by Adrian Spuria in collaboration with Shotography. It is focused on the exploration of the 10 major
planetary bodies used in astrology.
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Throughout the series, each of the planets is brought to life using various mediums to embody and examine the significations and meanings of the planets through
the lens of astrology.
The project showcases Adrian’s many creative capabilities including styling,
movement direction, choreography, design and art direction.
In astrology, the sun in a natal chart represents our basic character and sense of self identity. It is synonymous with the Divine Masculine and Yang polarity. Symbolising what we are actively trying to be in our rawest form, it is the source fuelling our willpower. Like the solar system, it is the centre of a person’s consciousness, everything is filtered through our sun. If our sun is happy and fulfilled, we can have good faith that all else will fall into place. When our sun is lacking, we can feel inflamed, our egos take over in attempt to forge the missing notch that holds everything in our lives in orbit. When our Suns are nourished, we shine brightly, sharing our shine with those around us, feeling a sense of purpose, destiny and mission within the world.  Though the Sun is central to the chart and solar system, it would merely be a star without the added depth of character detailed by the other planets and their aspects to one another.
The Moon in Astrology relates to our mother, our connection to our bodies and what nourishes us. It is synonymous with the Yin and Divine Feminine polarity inherent within us all. If the Sun is logic and spirit, the Moon is feeling and soul. One without the other is amiss. It represents our needs, both conscious and unconscious to us. We only see one side of the moon while the other side is in unflinching darkness. This darkness is akin to that of the womb - where we were once safe, warm and held. In the natal chart, our Moon’s condition describes the part of us that needs to emulate this comfort in our own unique way. It governs the past, emotions, home, natural cycles of the land and ocean, as well as security in the form of instinct.
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Mercury goes by many names and plays many roles. Also known as Hermes, the messenger of the gods and the psychopomp who guides departed souls to the otherworld. In a chart it rules intelligence, learning, memory and communication in all forms, both verbal and non-verbal. Mercury is the fastest moving planet within our solar system with connections to rapid changeability, adaptability and dexterity, it rules both the hands of the musician as well as the thief, con artist, magician and trickster. Quick witted and quite literally ‘mercurial’ in nature, Mercury has its hands in every form of information including press, internet and all things trade. Acting as a bridge between conscious and subconscious mind, Mercury can chart terrain deep within the body or out the macrocosm.
Venus governs relationships, love and beauty. She is soft, indulgent, harmonious and connective by nature. It’s placement in the natal chart indicates what we find attractive, how we operate within relationships and the characteristics of the relationships we desire. Not only does it govern what we accept but also what we reject in our lives. For us to get to who and what we truly desire we must decline anything not aligned with our ideals. Representing the femininity inherent in every one of us, Venus is our connection to sensuality and our desire to experience deeper connections to both ourselves and others often through pleasure inducing experience. Venus rules art, music, our aesthetic tastes, dance and the underlying pleasure evoked from the heart which connects performer, creator, medium and audience in a way that can only be experienced.
Martial energy is raw, primal and fiery. If Venus is what we are attracted to, Mars is how we get it. Venus by nature seeks connection whereas Mars being the last of the personal planets, seeks to maintain the boundaries between 'you' and ‘I’ at all costs It is brash, competitive and action-oriented, Mars severs and out-strategize all people, places or things which stand in the way of its conquest sometimes using extremes to achieve this. Mars rules all things sex, anger, physicality and competition, 'Make up sex' has mars written all over it. It is the passionate raw, fiery energy that thrusts life into play. Without it, there would be no dynamism or momentum in our lives. Being the lesser malefic in astrology, it rules catastrophes, carnage, warfare, weaponry, fighting, knives, crashes and rapid death. It is both creation and destruction energy, chaos on one level and order on another.
Jupiter or the Sky God governs visions, dreams and the faith necessary to reach them. In the natal chart, it blesses the stairway from what is to what could be with opportunities for growth, wisdom and expansion in hopes we can one day make our heaven our reality. It is the first of the social planets and concerned with community. Its imagery includes both the wealthy benefactor, sharing their material blessings with the world and the humble mystic who teaches wealth is beyond fortune and comes from within. It rules religion, places of worship, travel, teachers, higher learning, children, joy, pleasure, abundance, gratitude, luck, gambling and excess. When we become devoted to Jupiter’s grandeur without meaning, lessons surrounding ‘all that glitters is not gold’ ensue.
Saturn, or The God of Time, governs the structures and boundaries of matter we are contained within. In the natal chart Saturn supports the manifestation of Jupiter’s vision through a path of sustained effort and discipline. It brings lessons and hurdles to understand the landscape that we wish to build our dreams. Without mastery of our tools, ourselves and our environment we cannot create a lasting foundation which contributes to our community. In astrology it is the greater malefic, whose imagery includes the wise elder offering the advice we know is true but is not always easy to hear. Cold, dark and stern, Saturn rules our conscience, science, reality, government, systems, marriage, commitments, wisdom, old age, delayed gratification, time, karma, death, decay and legacy. Saturn’s lessons, though difficult are meant to be overcome with the promise of deep satisfaction. More difficult is the path where the lessons remain unlearnt.
Uranus is the first of the transpersonal planets and is concerned with culture, evolution and revolution. Uranus shatters the walls and boundaries of reality that Saturn represents. Bright and unconventional, Uranus rules sudden change and insight, lightning, surprises, disruption, chaos, upheaval, invention, technology, science, freedom, independence, queerness & queer culture. The Uranian impulse marks the moment which the desire for a more whole self outweighs an old mould of being. Like a flash of lightning, the timing and conditions outside our awareness must be perfect for this to take place, Uranus being the master conductor behind the scenes. 
It symbolises the bringing of truth and clarity through societal advancement and the breaking down of old beliefs, structures and social norms no matter the consequences. It asks of us to accept and integrate the truth of ourselves, one another and the ever-changing landscape of our world.
Neptune is the God of the sea and storms, illusion and disillusionment. Neptune represents confusion, illusion, delusion, distortion, fog, idealism, sorrow, suffering, grief, overwhelm, fantasy, connection, spiritual awakening and unconditional love. It is the foresight and wisdom granted through acknowledgement of the interconnection between everything and everyone. The language of Neptune is felt through the surrendering of the self where it blurs the boundaries of anything it comes into contact with. It rules altered states of consciousness found through intoxicants, trips, meditation, hypnosis and relationships. Its effects can be both magical and transcendent. The gift of connection often comes with the price of grief as what follows connection is disconnection. Neptune’s most painful realisations come from attempting to stay up in the clouds, not accepting what goes up must come down. Pain marks the contrast between fantasy and reality as we struggle to let go of what could have been, fantasies and addiction protecting us from feeling our unmet needs. Through disillusionment Neptune offers us a path forward with a clear mind to fulfilling our authentic needs.
Pluto, Hades or God of the Underworld governs both the individual and collective unconscious. It is the heart of hearts - its symbolism containing love, magnetism, desire, projection, power, control, obsession, psychological & physiological inheritance, ancestry, shadows, complexes, compulsions, pain, grief, addiction, inner demons, the underworld, transformation, ego death, the cycle of life, the taboos of society, the suppression of sex and inner gold. Within our unconscious lies our ‘shadow self.’ Our shadow is made up of the parts of ourselves we’d rather not know as well as the parts of ourselves that are golden and hold our full potential. These parts we often encounter through our projections onto others, whether what is triggered within us is profound desire or disgust. The trick of Pluto is whatever we are most attracted to and repelled by lives within us outside of our awareness. These parts being integrated into our awareness often means acknowledgement of deep, painful truths which catalyse profound change within our lives. Pluto’s compulsions are often in the realm of control mechanisms. Our ego seeks to chain the heart away in fears it will be obliterated by the power the heart holds when it expands to feel the full spectrum of emotion, connecting us to everything and everyone with a beating heart.
