One of my favorite astrology teachers, Alan Oken, often says:

What does that mean? Well in astrology we are always talking about energy and how energy flows. From looking at the basics of your horoscope - your Sun, Moon and Rising Sign, then next thing to study if you really want to understand how the energy of your horoscope is playing out in your life, is your 'ruling planet'.

First of all, let's look at this term 'rulership' as it is used astrologically. Rulership is a very old term from the days back when the king or 'ruler' was the custodian of his land and his people. We can't really relate to this in our modern era where we see the effects of malevolent 'rulership', dictators, war and power games every day in the news, but this is not what is meant in the astrological sense. It is not something or someone that has power over us, but rather something that supports us in our growth- much like a loving gardener who knows exactly what conditions are necessary not only for the plants to survive but to thrive and reach their highest potential. So in this sense the 'ruler' is more like a guardian or custodian.


Always remember, in  determining your chart ruler, to look for the planet ruling your Rising Sign.Here are the conventional planetary rulers for each of the twelve zodiac signs:

Aries is ruled by Mars

Taurus is ruled by Venus

Gemini is ruled by Mercury

Cancer is ruled by the Moon

Leo is ruled by the Sun

Virgo is ruled by Mercury

Libra is ruled by Venus

Scorpio is ruled by Mars and Pluto

Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter

Capricorn is ruled by Saturn

Aquarius is ruled by Saturn and Uranus

Pisces is ruled by Jupiter and Neptune

You can see that some signs are ruled by more than one planet, and some planets rule more than one sign. They will have different expressions as their energy is colored by the quality of the sign. For example while Mercury always relates to our mental processes, language and communication, his expression is different in airy Gemini than it is in earthy Virgo.

Once you know your chart ruler you can see the 'story of your life' in your chart by looking where it is in terms of sign and house position, and any aspects to other planets. This is something you can keep returning to as the story of your life unfolds, and you become accustomed to using your horoscope as a compass and guide in your life (Of course when I say horoscope I mean your actual natal chart which is symbolic of your energy mandala, not the so-called 'horoscopes' that appear in the press)!

You will have a wealth of information at your fingertips, before you even take into account another layer - what your Soul ruler is! In Soul Astrology we consider the conventional ruler to be the 'personality' ruler, and we also have a 'Soul' ruler. Once we know both we can see the higher and lower expressions of our Rising Sign. Next week we'll look at the Soul rulers for each of the twelve signs but in the meantime if you'd like to go deeper into this fascinating subject, I recommend Alan Oken's excellent book on the subject: "Rulers of The Horoscope: finding your way through the labyrinth".

See you next time, and in the meantime...
happy exploring!

Best Wishes,

Ruth