Hi Carol Ann,
I’m so glad you wrote, rulership is so very interesting, even now I continue to
learn new things about it.
Were to begin with rulership?
Make sure you are using a wheel that has the cusps marked with equally spaced lines. There are wheel models that have visually equal houses, the actual number of degrees per house can vary. This is the easiest wheel to use. Visually it is the best to work with, and although the number of degree per house may vary, it is a true representative of the horoscope.
Rulership is really one of the coolest things, and once you get a handle on it it can really change the way you view a horoscope.
First, it is important to see the Sign that rules the cusp of each house and if there is an intercepted sign (a second sign completely within a house, the sign does not appear upon either cusp of the house) to identify that sign, and it’s ruler as a co-ruler. Now the sign on a cusp has a ruler, right? Let’s say in an example chart that Venus rules the 2nd and 7th house. It’s not just about the location of a planet, it is also important to identify the ruling planet/s/ of a house.
In the second house, in our example, Mercury is actually in Gemini, so it is a final dispositor, which suggests it is one of the more influential planets in the horoscope. The cusp has Taurus as a sign, and we know that it is ruled by Venus.
However, here is what is cool about this....
If one sees that Venus rules the 2nd, than we know that all the attributes of Venus influence the second house. Think about Venus, it suggests emphasis on relationships, things that are beautiful and wonderful, art and music. Now the 2nd house is about personal resources, so we now know that for this person, relationships, art, having a refined perspective are apart of his skill bank. And if Venus rules the 7th, well the 7th is about relationships, so this suggests that relationships should be highly emphasized in his life. The 7th house is more then likely to be one of the key houses in the horoscope. This is further verified when we see that there is a Western emphasis in the horoscope, and look we have Libra, the natural sign of the 7th (as is the case of all the house in our example chart) in the 7th!
Now lets look at some of the other things this suggests.
Looking a bit more at the example chart, we see that Venus is conjunct the Sun, now that makes me pause! Ideas of idealism being important in this persons life jumps to my attention. Also We see that Venus is disposed by Mercury, again showing how important Mercury is to the horoscope and that it will have a strong relationship with Venus, and Venus is in the 3rd house (Mercury’s home base is also important to the analysis). Altogether, I would begin to surmise that the characteristics of Venus are very important to this life, but that Mercury, [communication, ideas, and intellectualism] must also be a part of the formula. Libra ruling relationships (7th), also has something of a Mercury element in the sense that Libra suggests IDEAS, thoughts, like justice and balance within relationships.
I am getting a bit adrift here, but taking a quick glance at the example horoscope I would also wonder about the Neptune sq Uranus aspect. It suggests identification with the metaphysical, but I also have to wonder if it suggest possible unusual, intense, sudden (Uranus), deceptions or misunderstandings (Neptune) about other people (7th house). Which could complicate a driving need to establish positive relationships (Western emphasis). I would need to look at the rest of the horoscope the see if that idea has any support, and if so, I would want to try to form some sort of question to ask the client about how they, if they, successfully relate to other people. But the other thing to note is that Neptune is so highly aspected and often does suggest idealism. I would wonder if the person has some idealistic/unrealistic concepts about relationships.
Another example, Saturn RULES the 10th, we see the Saturn sq Pluto aspect, so we know that the 10th house is under a great deal of developmental tension. Saturn is often representative of the paternal figure, so we can see that more than likely there was a problem, a big issue with the father relationship. This is of course further suggested by the retrograde status of Saturn. But dang, Saturn sq Pluto, that’s pretty harsh. This would suggest to me a control issue, an individual that may have a need to feel they have control, but are caught up in issues about control streaming from the past real or imagined relationship with the father.
Of course in this horoscope the 4th is ruled by the Moon, which is also under developmental tension. Sesq. Pluto, and Semi-sq Saturn. Saturn having a hard aspect to both houses representing the parents. Interesting. Actually rulers of both parental houses are in hard aspect to each other. So we have a strong suggestion that the parents had a stressful relationship.
Along that same line, we see that the 2nd house, ruled by Venus, ...that Venus is inconjunct Saturn. Bringing that Saturn issue into the house that represents self worth and personal resources. That kind of developmental tension must suggest one that has feelings of doubt regarding self worth.
Are you beginning to see how house rulership is so very vital to analysis?
It helps tie together so many different things, when we look at the ruler and see if it has a hard aspect to one of the outer planets, we know if it is under developmental tension. This tension suggests so much about that house, it’s theme and the needs the individual is more than likely to focuse on.
Okay, I have another project to do, need to send you these notes, hope they help. Hope you are well, really hope that 2010 is an excellent year for you.
Joseph
AstrologybyJoseph@mac.com
