"I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man... And he had in his right hand seven stars... and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength... The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches." (Revelation 1:12-21)
The hexagram image above presents a different arrangement of the planets, showing the sun at the center surrounded by the other six 'planets'. This figure lacks only the earth below the moon, and the zodiac above Saturn, at the top, to be identical to the arrangement presented in the image of the astronomer above. The red line on the image at the right follows the order of descent named above: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury and the Moon. Note that the "outer planets" are above or beyond the sun, while the "inner" ones are below it.
This configuration of seven stars and candlesticks should remind you of the Menorah, used in the Jewish Festival of Lights. Recall that there is also a version of the menorah that features nine candles, which conceptually adds the earth to the "inner side" and the zodiac to the "outer" side.
The Moon, represents the Gate of Cancer, called the Gate of Birth because that is the last sphere before the earth in the descent; the Moon rules Cancer. Saturn represents the Gate of Capricorn, called the Gate of Death because it is the last sphere on the ascent, Saturn rules Capricorn. These represent the lower and upper limits, so to speak, of the seven planetary spheres, just as the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn represent the upper and lower limits of the suns position over the earth during the year. You will note that the hex figure resembles the earth with the poles and tropics.
I ask you to consider the symbolism in the Rolling Stones album cover from 1969. The first thing that we notice is the moon on Jagger's conical hat, and the phallic tower behind him. The moon and the cone are symbols of the feminine in nature (which appears to suit Mick), while the obelisk or tower is symbolic of the male force.
Next we see Saturn pictured above and to the left; giving us the inner and outer limits of the planetary spheres. Subtracting those two from seven, leaves the five guys in the center, symbolizing the sun and the other four planets. Surrounding the central picture is clouds, symbolizing the heavens, zodiac etc, while on the back cover of the album, we see the four elements, earth, air, fire and water depicted, symbolizing the earth plane. Opening the album reveals a labyrinth, like in the cathedrals, symbol of the soul's journey.
The line connecting the Moon and Saturn is not an axis mundi, but an axis of the whole planetary system. These two are conceptually seperate from the other five, those being the sun at the center surrounded by Mars, Jupiter, Mercury and Venus. The sun and those four planets are represented in Ancient Greece by images of the sun in his chariot being pulled across the sky by four horses. This would be the five rings in the Olympic emblem as well.
Perhaps the best known depiction of four horses is the one in Revelation 6 in the Bible. In Chapter six, we see the opening of the seven seals, which reminds us not only of the planets, but also of Kundalini yoga, which uses allegories of ascending similar to those surrounding the Tree of Life. At one level both of these refer to the body and the spine. The 24 elders in the Revelation are the 24 cranial nerves that form the spinal colomn.
Recall that the order of the four planets affiliated with the four horses are Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Mercury in that order. We have already seen that the Moon rules Cancer and that Saturn rules Capricorn; the sun rules Leo, the lion being the universal symbol for the sun. Jupiter rules Sagittarius, Mars rules Scorpio, Venus rules Libra, and Mercury rules Virgo. As you can see, we are working backwards through the zodiac signs, just as we move backwards through the planets.
As far as symbols that might be affiliated with these planets, we know that Mars is the war god, so a sword would work for that, and Libra is symbolized by scales which symbolize the equinox that occurs in Libra. Jupiter was the King of the Gods, so a crown would be appropriate, and Mercury holds a cadeusus, symbol of the medical profession.
Now let us take a close look at Chapter 6 of the KJV of the Revelation.
6:2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.A horse-man with a bow, given a crown. Sagittarius is a horse/man and is ruled by Jupiter, "king" of the Roman gods.
6:4 And there went out another horse [that was] red: and [power] was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. Red, given a sword to take peace from the earth. Mars is the god of war, and rules Scorpio; and while it does not say Scorpio here, it does say power (in italics). Now take a look at Chapter 9:
9:2 And he opened the bottomless pit;
9:3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
6:5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. This is clearly Libra.
6:8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. This is Virgo ruled by Mercury who was seen as the guide of the spirits or souls as they made the trip from the "upper" spheres to the earthly plane.