Proposed inside Mercury's orbit to explain Mercury's perihelion precession; ruled out by observation and by general relativity. It survives as the forge planet of Theosophical and Uranian astrology
Timing
Day of week
Tuesday alt
Note
No traditional day—given the Mars day by the forge tradition, not by the planetary week
Qualities
Nature
Hot forging
Temperament
Choleric
Gender
Masculine
Sect
Diurnal
Quality
Malefic forging
Speed
Hypothetical
Domains
The forgeVolcanic fireMetalworkCraftAlchemyLatent powerEruptionIndustrySubterranean fireTransmutation through heatEndurance
Vulcan is the smith: the fire that is deliberately held and struck rather than merely burned. The hypothetical planet never existed, but the figure did, and it is reached for where stone is born of eruption - pumice carries it beside Pluto. In occult work it stands for the heat that transforms material, and for the endurance that shaping costs.
Occult Notes
Vulcan is unobserved and has no traditional herb rulership, so its herb list is empty by design—putting a herb there would invent an attribution that no source makes. It holds no rulership and its day is borrowed from Mars.
☥ Deities
Tradition · Roman
Alternate Names
VolcanusVulcanus
Gender Expression
Masculine
Titles
Lord of FireThe SmithKeeper of the ForgeThe Fire That Is BoundLord of the Volcano
Domain
FireThe forgeMetalworkVolcanoesDestruction by fireCraftTransformation
Smiths craftspeople those working with heat or risk
Symbols
HammerAnvilTongsFireVolcano
Mythology Summary
Vulcanus is the Roman god of fire - the fire of the hearth and the smithy, the fire under the earth, and the fire that gets out of hand - and his festival, the Volcanalia of 23 August, was kept at the height of the dry season, when the city's fires were most likely. His oldest shrine, the Volcanal, stood in the Comitium, and at the Volcanalia living creatures were thrown into the fire in place of human lives. The forge, the hammer, the lame smith and the marriage to Venus are Greek stories about Hephaestus, who was identified with him.
Modern Practice
Vulcan is called on before any work with fire, metal or heat, and at the end of a season of making. His practice is the bound fire: the forge lit deliberately, the metal worked, the flame put out.