Two times two is four, four times three is twelve. That’s how we understand the planetary spread in regard to the astrological zodiac today. Nine planets divided between twelve signs. But was this always so? Some scientist now believe there where originally twelve planets in our solar system.

Although contemporary systems of both astrology and astronomy work very well, it just doesn’t seem quite symmetrical enough. Especially with so many other past reports of other, more elusive, things floating around in the ether. Admittedly most of theses have been show not to be of any real significance, if indeed they ever really existed in the first place.

Take for example the case of Vulcan, which is now wildly accepted to have been a comet or even several close passing comets rather than a planet as first reported by Lescarbault an amateur astrologer, back in 1859.

The twelve astrological symbols express the ebb and flow of the solar energies life cycle, as it continually moves and changes. This solar tidal movement is the very essence of astrology. This solar tide is altered by each of the heavenly bodies.

The ebb and the flow are split equally between the twelve signs of the zodiac, which are then split again into the four elements earth, air, fire and water.

So what’s my point? Well maybe just as each sign of the zodiac has an opposite twin, to balance out the negative aspect of the sign with positive aspects, the planets could also have originally had a polarized formation? This would express a much more harmonic and logical system, without having to spread the planetary forces between signs. Although I’m not suggesting for a moment than astrology doesn’t work fine as it is. Or that it needs changing, that’s far from my aim. The time scales probably predate our own existence as a species.

Questions do sprout up however like was the asteroid belt originally a planet? Or why is Jupiter so much more massive than any of the other planet? And there now seems to be a theory, which answers all of theses questions.

Dr Tom Van Flandern an astrophysicist has been working on a theory since the seventies, now known as the Multiple Exploded Planet Hypothesis, Multiple EPH for short.

According to this theory in the early days of our solar system the sun through fission spat out planets according to long mathematical equations relating to mass and lots of other things.

The most interesting thing relating to this theory I think is that with each release not one but two planets or rather would-be planet masses would be released. These “twins” as he calls them are released at opposite ends of the sun and over time form planets.

According to the maths, which to tell you the truth I couldn’t begin to understand, there would have been six of these releases from the sun, and there for twelve planets.

So where are they now?

This is where it gets weird, turning planets into moons and comets and asteroids into planets, but most scientists are now beginning to accept that there is defiantly something in it.

So what I’m saying is, that there where twelve planets originally, so where are they now?

Ok lets run through the planets. First Mercury, according to the Multiple EPH theory this was originally a moon of Venus, escaping it’s gravitational pull over millions of years.

The first, or rather last twin planets were in fact Venus and Earth. Both fit into his framework, being the last of the twins. And in good twin spirit they have many similar attributes. They are both similar in mass and composition, both of relatively equal solar distance from the sun and with Mercury originally as a satellite of Venus, both have the same number of moons.

Here comes the real shocker though, the planet ear-pinned as the most likely place for many different unexplained things, Mars. This is claimed to have been a moon, orbiting a long gone planet known as planet V.

And where was this planet? Yep the asteroid belt. In fact the asteroid belt is claimed to be all that’s left of not one but two planets, named V and K. these are the second set of twins.

Next up is Jupiter and Saturn, which don’t exactly look like Siamese counter parts. However Dr Tom Van Flandern claims that Jupiter was not always so massive and also that the rings of Saturn are a relatively recent addition. So there twin-ship could be much more likely than you first think. They’re both gas giants of similar composition; both have numerous moons with the most similar distance from the sun.

However with the vaporised planets of V and K, it still didn’t properly explain the mass of Jupiter, then others looked and came up with an explanation or possible explanation. Between the planets K and Jupiter there seems to have, at an earlier time in the universe, been room for another planet or possibly twins. This is known as planet A, planet B being its possible twin.

This is not the only possible explanation however for explaining both Jupiter’s excessive mass and Saturn’s rings. Planet A could in fact be the original twin to Jupiter and Saturn would then be twined with planet B.

Then we come to the final three of todays recognised, remaining planets, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. There has been much debate for years regarding Pluto, although it is commonly viewed as a planet, for years scientists have been arguing this very dilemma. Many now think that it is too small to be regarded as a planet, and until this multiple (EPH) had claimed that it would more likely be an asteroid or even an escaped moon.

Viewing Pluto as a moon, now escaped from the orbit of Neptune would explain why Uranus and Neptune could be twins. In fact both Pluto and another hotly debated lump of rock, Chiron are considered in the hypothesis as Neptunium moons.

But that’s only ten and there are no planets left? Well another asteroid belt has recently been discovered, sometimes known as the Keplier belt situated on the outskirts of our solar system. This is where the last twins of the twelve lived.

Although the few and far between asteroids can nowhere near explain the existence of one let alone two planets, dew to the much lower effects of the suns gravitational pull out there in the sticks, most of the debris would have quite easily been able to just drift out into the vastness of space, without much to stop it. This also explains why Pluto and Chiron have gone a wondering from their one time anchor, Neptune. So maybe from our perspective the universe as well as our own solar system tries to or maybe has no real chose but to create a balanced system and then as the system develops, it continually strides to keep a balance between the solar ebb and flow of the solar system?