chart rulers and such

Some texting with a friend a few days ago (she was noting all the venus action in her chart- sun and moon) led to the topic of chart rulers. It's pretty easy to figure out- it's the planetary ruler of your ascendant. my friend's ascendant is cancer, so her chart ruler is the moon.


Brief rundown of the others signs and their rulers:
Aries-Mars
Taurus-Venus
Gemini-Mercury
Cancer-Moon
Leo-Sun
Virgo-Mercury
Libra-Venus
Scorpio-Pluto and Mars
Sagittarius-Jupiter
Capricorn-Saturn
Aquarius-Uranus and Saturn
Pisces-Neptune and Jupiter.

This adds another dimension to your chart, to see a driving force behind your whole chart. Someone with a Pisces rising, Neptune ruled chart is going to be led by a vision, which may or may not be rooted in reality, but will inspire them for good or ill. Jupiter flavor can come in as well, perhaps making this vision seem larger than life, which can be intimidating or inspiring, depending. Someone with a Mercury ruled chart is going to be ruled by busyness- thinking, overthinking, doing, overdoing- but will they allow themselves to move forward?

Uranus rising has a deep need for personal expression in this life. It goes down deep and if they feel blocked or oppressed an especially wild side may come out. Mars is energy, striving, a FORCE to be reckoned with. Pluto takes this Mars energy but hides it down deep for safekeeping. Saturn is steady, methodical, but need a release so the pressure won't burst them, they almost need to give themselves permission to have fun (they deserve it!). Jupiter wants to expand, travel, and generally open up to the world and potential experiences. The sun rising is bright and their presence will ALWAYS be felt. And Venus... Venus expects harmony and beauty but at what cost? They may need to figure out less obvious ways to reach their objectives...


Back to my friend, and fellow moon ruled charts: The moon is characterized by an ebbing and flowing, feelings running DEEP and emotions coming on strong and leaving just as quickly. The moon ruled chart then makes me want to see where the MOON in her chart falls, since we know that the moon has a strong influence. Her moon is in Venusian Libra, in the fourth- which is the moon's natural house. a-ha! More evidence of a very lunar lady. :) However, Libra is a very mental sign, rational thought always at least tries to break through, no matter what the rest of the chart looks like. So, she has a bit of a balance (another thing Libra rules), balancing act, between the emotional and the mental aspects of her personality. I think of stillness, anything that allows for serenity, no matter how fleeting, is going to be very beneficial for someone with these placements, as it will allow for their overworked mental and emotional faculties to rest for a few moments, which can allow for fresh air to roll in... New insights. :)


(For more information, could google "___ chart ruler meaning." An Alan Oken site may come up first, as it did with mine, and he goes into much more detail than i will about chart rulers- great read. (As an aside- his books are fascinating).

As he points out, some signs have more than one ruler. Scorpio has Mars and Pluto, Aquarius has Saturn and Uranus, and Pisces has both Jupiter and Neptune. Some signs have multiple rulers because the planets simply hadn't been discovered yet! Can you see how this may be true for the Scorpios, Aquarians, and Pisces you know? How Scorpio has the drive of Mars, Aquarius fights the restriction of Saturn, Pisces has the same need for expansion as Jupiter.)


Anyway, I digress. What planet rules your chart, and how do you see it? I want to follow up this post sometime in the future by talking about planets that fall in the first house, and how that can affect things... but, first things first. :)