How to find connections with "Ruling Planets": Astrology Lesson 14.0

Every sign has a "ruling planet". Every house has to have a sign at the beginning (astrologers call the beginning of a house the "Cusp"). These two facts make it possible to find connections between houses and tell even more about the person whose chart you interpreting. But first, we have to know:

Ruling Planet		The Sign it Rules

The Sun		LEO

The Moon		CANCER

Mercury		GEMINI
Mercury		VIRGO

Venus		LIBRA
Venus		TAURUS

Mars		ARIES
Jupiter		SAGITTARIUS
Saturn		CAPRICORN
Uranus		AQUARIUS
Neptune		PISCES
Pluto		SCORPIO

Here's how this works.

Look at the sign at the beginning of any house. Then, find which house has the "Ruling Planet" of that sign. Those two houses will be connected in some way.

For instance, let's say that you are looking at a chart that has the sign of Aries at the beginning of the Second House, the house of money, and Mars, the ruling planet of Aries is in the Third House. The 3rd house rules communications and short journeys. Perhaps this could indicate money from writing or traveling. Of course, the 10th house shows the actual career, but something like this could mean that there could be an increase in income if communications were used more in the career. For instance, even if you've a plumber, you could write a book on plumbing.

It can work in the other direction too. Perhaps it means that this person spends a lot of money on books or travel. It could show that they spend freely on phone calls. You have to examine the rest of the horoscope before coming to any conclusions. But this method does put you on the right track. Let's look at some examples.

Lewis Carroll, the creator of "Alice in Wonderland", had Sagittarius on the cusp (beginning) of his First House (self). The ruling planet is Jupiter and it is placed in his Third House (communications). Not bad for a writer. Jupiter is also in the sign of Aquarius, which rules everything strange and bizarre. I think that his writing can put in that category without too much of a stretch.

Salvadore Dali had the sign Cancer on the cusp of his first house. The ruler, the Moon, was right at the top, increasing the chance that he would come before the public. He also had the sign Sagittarius on the cusp of his Sixth House (work) and the ruler, Jupiter, in House Ten (career and public image) showing that his work would also tend to come before the public. It did, and still is.

Rev. Jim Baker has Aries on the cusp (beginning) of the money house (house number 2). Mars, the ruler, is in the First House showing that the drive to make money is of extra importance to him. But look at the sign Mars is in. Pisces. On the negative side, Pisces is deception and "self-undoing", and "places of restriction". That includes prison, of course.

Now don't go thinking that all people with the Sun in Pisces will be this way. Pisces has positive traits too. Besides, Baker is a Capricorn Sun-Sign. Remember to always consider the whole chart before jumping to conclusions.

Mars is also opposite Neptune, the ruling planet of Pisces. There is an old rule that states "If a planet is afflicted by its own ruler (the planet that rules the sign it is in) its troubles are increased." In other words, an "afflicting" aspect can be trouble enough, but there is even more trouble if the affliction is from the ruler of the sign that planet happens to be in. Jim Baker has this in spades. So let's add it all up. We have Mars, ruler of the money house, in a sign that tends towards self-undoing, and Neptune opposite, which increases this. Neptune is the ruler of the sign Mars is in, which can make things even worse. Mars is also in the last degree of Pisces. There is a fixed star there called "Scheat" that has a Saturn-like effect, and Saturn brings difficulties to the surface. Do we begin to notice a trend here? A exaggerated drive for money, confusion, deception, self-undoing, prison. All this indicated several different ways.

This method doesn't always give the most useful information. For instance, if the ruler of the house number six (work) is found to be in the second house, don't think it a revelation that "This person gets money from work!". But a good portion of the time, the connections provide good clues.