I remember when I started to attempt interpretations about the Birth Charts of people around me, one of the biggest difficulties was the great confusion in my mind because of the huge amount of information and notions that overwhelmed me. My eyes did not know what to watch first; they did bounce from a Planet to another Planet in the Chart and I was not able to complete an interpretation about something because immediately something else did catch my attention, again and again. I did try to do everything at the same time, every single interpretation, but I did get too many information and all fragmented, so the only result was to find myself disoriented and confused.
It was a paradox: I had the right knowledge of symbolisms to do the correct interpretations, but I was overwhelmed because I did not know where to start.
That’s happened because I did not have a method and so I did not have an idea about what were the priorities. Every time the same pattern: I started to analyze the Sun, then my attention was caught, I don’t know, by Venus because it was in Detriment, and while I was elaborating what that means, I noticed Saturn in Domicile in the 7th House, then I was like: – Wait… I neither finished with the Sun! But… this Saturn seems important… mmmmhhh… where the Hell I have to start?! –
The point is that many experts teach you everything about the meanings of the Signs, Planets, etc., about the “what”, but they often forget to give you a practical method to make an interpretation of a Natal Chart, a logical path to follow during readings.
So I’m here today to show you the method to follow when you start analyzing your own Birth Chart, which are the priorities elements to analyze and where to focus your attention first to define your main psychological traits.
So, one of the first things to do when you start the analysis of your Natal Chart, it’s identifying and studying your own Planet Rulers, 2 particular Planets in the Chart that you can consider as your 2 main Planets which define your main and more influencer psychological characteristics.
Pay attention, the Planet Rulers don’t have to be confused with the so-called “Master of the Chart”, even if they could be a candidate to be it.
Well, after you located and made the basic analysis of your Sun (Zodiac Sign), your Moon and your Ascendant (Rising Sign), the next thing to do is locating your Planet Rulers.
Identifying the 2 Planet Rulers is pretty simple: They are the Planet Lord of your Zodiac Sign (Sun Sign) and the Planet Lord of your Ascendant Sign (1st House).
How to recognize them?
Well, each one of the 12 Zodiac Signs is ruled by at least a Planet of the Solar System and it’s the Planet that gives to them their specific psychological traits. In fact, to truly understand the profile of a Zodiac Sign, it’s very important for studying and understanding its own Planet Lord first. We could say that the Zodiac Signs are like the “emanations” of the Planets, which are the real source of the primordial forces and consequently of their psychological expressions.
So each Planet finds its natural home in those Zodiac Signs (in other words in a specific sector of the Ecliptic) which better express their own specific forces, and it makes those Signs their own domain; because of that, we say that a Planet is the “Lord” of a Zodiac Sign.
That’s why when a Planet is in a Zodiac Sign ruled by itself, it is defined in its “Domicile”, namely in a place of the Ecliptic that expresses forces in tuning to its own. So the Domiciles of the Planets are not casually or arbitrarily assigned, they follow precise cosmological laws like: The Law of Duality, the Alchemical Laws of Attributes, the orbital distances and the orbital motions.
I premise that today I will talk about the 7 Traditional Planets in particular, because they are more connected with the individual sphere of the human psyche. I will talk about the Generational Planets (Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto) related to this topic in some future work.
So, I will show you how is structured the Astrological System and how it is perfectly harmonized with the Cosmic Order.
Everything in Universe is dual, this is one of the fundamental cosmological laws, it means that everything is formed by two opposite poles that interacting each other creating the harmony of the Monade. The Astrological System is the maximum expression of the laws of the Everything, so it is based on dualism too.
We have the 2 main Planets of the entire System, the Sun and the Moon, that represent the sources of the two primordial polar forces: The Active Principle, the Sun, and the Passive Principle, the Moon. That’s why those particular Planets are called: the Luminaries; speaking alchemically, they are the origin of the 2 fundamental Attributes for Life: – the Heat [Sun] and the Humid [Moon] – They are the Energy [Sun] and the Form [Moon] – They are the Great Masculine Principle [Sun] and the Great Feminine Principle [Moon] – They are the Lord of the Day/Manifested Plane [Sun] and the Lord of the Night/Not-manifested Plane [Moon].
Their primordial and fundamental role of universal poles is pretty clear if we remember that even in the Bible, Genesis 1:16, we find: <<And God maketh the two great luminaries, the great luminary for the rule of the day, and the small luminary for the rule of the night —and the stars—>>
All the other 5 Planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, take from the 2 Luminaries their polar forces to mix and redistribute them in different proportions and forms [Zodiac Signs/Seasons]. So, the Planets are like vehicles for the 2 Primordial Principles and that’s why they have a dual nature, one diurnal and the other one nocturnal, in perfect harmony with the Law of Duality.
In fact, in the Zodiac Wheel, we can see that the 2 Luminaries find their natural Domiciles in the 2 Zodiac Signs that domain the moment of the year when the Heat and the Humid are at their maximum: Leo, the reign of the Sun, and Cancer, the reign of the Moon (about our July and August).
But there is even more. There is a particular point between those 2 Signs that divides the Zodiac into 2 equal Hemicycles that represent the 2 different sides of the World: the Diurnal Hemicycle dominated by the Sun and the Nocturnal Hemicycle dominated by the Moon.
The astronomical point between Cancer and Leo, namely about July 21st, is one of the most sacred moments of the year: The Heliacal Rising of Sirius, the most important Star of the sky; In fact, that sacred moment was celebrated all around the world by the ancient cultures, from the Lughnasadh of the Celtics to the New Year of the ancient Egyptians.
That particular point of the Ecliptic is the point where the Sun and the Moon encounter each other under the sacred blessing of Sopdet (ancient name of Sirius) to equally sharing the domain of the World:
Leo, Virgo, Scorpius, Sagittarius, and Capricornus form the Diurnal part of the Zodiac, the Day of the World, while Cancer, Gemini, Taurus, Aries, Pisces, and Aquarius form the Nocturnal part of the Zodiac, the Night of the World.
All the other Planets, that are not Luminaries but agents of them, can be Diurnal or Nocturnal: They will be Diurnal when they are placed in the side of the Zodiac mastered by the Sun, and they will be Nocturnal when they are placed in the side of the Zodiac mastered by the Moon.
But, which are the diurnal and nocturnal Domiciles of them?
Simple: the remaining 5 Planets find their Domiciles according to their respective speed of orbital motion and orbital distance from the Sun, that is always the center of the Astrological System.
The nearest Planet to the Sun and the fastest after the Moon is Mercury, so it finds its Diurnal Domicile in Virgo, next to the one of the Sun [Leo] and it finds its Nocturnal Domicile in Gemini, next to the one of the Moon [Cancer].
After Mercury, the fastest and nearest Planet to the Sun is Venus, so it finds its Diurnal Domicile in Libra and its Nocturnal Domicile in Taurus.
After Venus, Mars is the fastest and nearest to the Sun, so it finds its Diurnal Domicile in Scorpius and its Nocturnal Domicile in Aries.
After Mars, we find Jupiter, so it finds its Diurnal Domicile in Sagittarius and the Nocturnal one in Pisces, next to the ones of Mars.
At last, after Jupiter, we find Saturn, the Personal Planet more distant from the Sun and the Moon and also the slowest, so it finds its Diurnal Domicile in Capricornus and its Nocturnal Domicile in Aquarius.
Everything is perfectly dual, holographic and symmetric, in harmony with the cosmic laws, to make the miracles of the ONE.
Well, we’ve just obtained all the 12 Zodiac Signs with their respective Planet Lords, so now it’s easy identifying on your Birth Chart the first of your Planet Rulers, the Ruler of your Zodiac Sign. So, for example, if your Sun is in Taurus, your Zodiac Sign is Taurus and you have to look for Venus, the Lord of Taurus and consequently your first Planet Ruler.
You have to analyze accurately this Planet, proceeding to the interpretation the same way as always: Observe in which Zodiac Sign Venus is and if it has some Dignities or Debilities, observe in which Element it is, and if it has some harmonious or disharmonious Aspect with some other Planet. You need to focus particularly on eventual Aspects that involve the Sun and pay attention to the level of compatibility between the Sun Sign and the Venus Sign. Lastly, is also important looking at the Astrological House where Venus is placed to understand better in which sides of life your essential psychological traits express themselves more.
So, in the previous example, Venus will be one of the fundamental Planets of the person examined, the one that will give his fundamental psychological shade of being a Taurus.
But it isn’t yet over. As I said at the beginning, we have to individuate the other Planet Ruler of the psyche, namely, the Ruler of the 1st Astrological House: The Ascendant.
Many amateurs and beginners (and profane astrologers) believe that the Planet Ruler of the 1st House is always, and for all of us, Mars. This happens because of the misconception of assimilating the 12 Astrological Houses and the 12 Zodiac Signs, so, they wrongly believe that because the 1st House is equal to Aries, Mars, the Lord of Aries, is even the Lord of the Ascendant (Just a quick reminder of the fact that the 1st House, the Ascendant and the Rising Sign are synonyms to identify the same concept).
Unfortunately, that common belief is not correct, because the assimilation between the Astrological Houses and Zodiac Signs is part of an oversimplification of Astrology began during late ‘700 and pushed in the ‘900 that brought this Ancient Art on a progressive vulgarisation. Before those centuries, no one of ancient master astrologers, from Claudius Ptolemy to William Lilly, talked about this assimilation between Houses and Signs, they talked of co-significance at most, and it doesn’t mean “equal”.
However, the point is that the Ruler of the Ascendant [1st House] is not Mars always, but it is totally individual, and this is perfectly logical if you remember that the House System speaks about the most individual e personal part of the human psyche.
Because of that, the process to find the Planet Ruler of the Ascendant is the same as the one we used to find the Ruler of the Sun Sign: You have to look for the Planet Lord of the Zodiac Sign where the exact Ascendant Point is (AC Point). Example: If your Ascendant is Gemini, the Planet Ruler of the 1st Astrological House will be Mercury, the Lord of your Rising Sign Gemini.
The absolute point of reference we have to use to understand which Zodiac Sign we have to consider as Ascendant is the Cusp of the 1st House, the exact AC Point, because this is the one and the only core of the 1st Astrological House. To more info about the concept of House Core and Astrological Houses read even here.
So, once again, when you have identified your Planet Ruler of the Ascendant, the method is the same; Analysing its global situation (Element, Aspects, Dignities, etc.) to understand how it expresses itself inside your own personality and consequently which main psychological tendencies will guide your own life.
In fact, I have to say that between the 2 Planet Ruler, the Ruler of the Ascendant is the most important, the one that has more influence inside your psyche and so in your life in general.
This happens because we need to remember that the 1st Astrological House is the House of the Life itself, it’s the main vital impulse, the inner life strength of the individual, the origin of the Divine Sparkle which lies within all of us; because it is the East Point of our own heaven, the holy place where our god Sun births.
That’s why the 1st Astrological House was called by the ancient masters: “Horoscopiōn”, from which derives the word “Horoscope”, that already suggests to us an idea: “The Scope of Horus”, in other words, the project that the Divinity has for the individual. The Ascendant is the fingerprint of God in our existence; the kind of divine seed that He sends in the Universe and that we are called to make it germinate and flourish.
That’s why the Planet Ruler of the Ascendant is extremely important in the Natal Chart; it can be considered as the Aster Guide of our own existence, because it represents the primordial inner impulses that will always manifest in your own personality and consequently the ones that forge your own reality with more strength. Because of that, in addition to the deep analysis of this Planet in your own Birth Chart, I recommend a particular attention when it is involved in Transits.
Closing, once you identified your own Planet Rulers, it is also important and useful analyzing how they interact each other; you need above all to look if they have some Aspects that bind them, and how this influences each other.
Of course, it is even possible having one and only Planet Ruler, namely when the Sun Sign and the Rising Sign are the same. Example: If you are a Sagittarius with Sagittarius Ascendant, your only one Planet Ruler will be Jupiter. Furthermore, this condition would make Jupiter extremely powerful in your Birth Chart and so in your personality; that would make it even an optimum candidate to be the “Master of the Chart”. But that’s a more complex analysis which needs more developed and refined interpretation’ skills.
It’s another story for another day.
