As with stars, there are significant differences between Chinese and Western planets. Of course they are the same ones. And in both systems they are located in one of twelve houses on a chart, but that is where the similarity ends. Their usage and associations vary greatly.

In Chinese astrology the planets, for all practical purposes, are treated as if they were stars. Mars is even called the Fire Star. In the Western system, by way of contrast, the Sun and Moon are treated as planets.

 In keeping with a tendency to group things by fives, the Chinese use five planets, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Saturn and Venus. Western astrology also uses Neptune, Pluto and Uranus, which are not factors in Chinese astrology.

And, the planets do not figure so prominently as in Western astrology. They are only several of 30 to over 100 plotted stars. Moreover, their meaning is influenced by the placement of stars, and it can even be reversed by certain ones located in the same house (palace in Chinese terms).

To complicate matters further, characteristics associated with the planets differ. Venus, for example, means something entirely different to a Chinese astrologer than to a Western one. For the former it is very masculine, totally at variance with the Western concept of Venus, the goddess of love. Also, in Chinese astrology Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus and Mercury are associated, respectively, with the elements, Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. There is no similar association between Western planets and tbe elements, Earth, Fire, Water and Air.