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Rulerships
The concept of "rulerships", refers to the "natural" affinities or similarities between the various planetary functions (actions, urges), the signs (attitudes, styles), and the houses (stages of development). For example, Mars and Aries are said to rule the first house, because the emergent phase represented by the first house is consistent with the explosive, energetic, pushy function of Mars and the fiery, forceful dynamic attitude of Aries.
But of course, in a birth chart, the signs and planets never align perfectly with the houses that they rule, so inconsistencies and paradoxes abound in every birth chart, and the challenge of interpretation is to try to understand how these conflicts in symbology relate to the struggles and adjustments that every person has to make in living their life and resolving the contradictions inherent in their unique circumstances of life.
The Actions of the Planets
The ten moving heavenly bodies symbolize ten essential urges, functions, or rays of self that must be activated, exercised and radiated in order to achieve a balanced, harmonious and satisfying expression of the Whole Self within the constraints of space, time and gravity. The planets supply the action words, the verbs, in sentences that describe the purpose and meaning of a person's material life. The house placement of each planet tells us where that function can be expressed most effectively.
The Moon--"I adapt, I respond, I survive"
Rulerships: The Fourth House, The Cancer Attitude.
The Moon symbolizes the primal urge to do whatever it takes to survive, moment-by-moment, The Moon's function is the most instinctive and immediate of any of the planets. No thought precedes the Lunar reaction to the needs of the moment. Of course, instinctive responses to immediate circumstances may not be entirely consistent with our longer-term interests, so the Lunar function must be educated and tempered as we mature.
Mercury--"I explore, I learn, I understand"
Rulerships: The Third and Sixth Houses, The Gemini and Virgo Attitudes.
Mercury represents the urge to understand how things work, how to distinguish cause from effect, and how to use this information for practical purposes. It also represents the function of making connections and establishing communication links. Mercury discovers (Third House) and assimilates (Sixth House) new information.
Venus--"I attract, I receive, I enjoy"
Rulerships: The Second and Seventh Houses, The Taurus and Libra Attitudes.
The attractive function that Venus symbolizes is the ability to draw to ourselves the materials, situations and circumstances that provide the opportunity to fulfill our life's purpose. Venus also represents the ability to enjoy and be satisfied by the material and emotional resources we acquire.
The Sun--"I act, I express, I create"
Rulerships: The Fifth House, The Leo Attitude.
The Sun symbolizes the creative function, the urge to express one's own unique vision. It represents the act of focusing and directing spiritual power (Fire) on a personal scale. It is both the Ego and the Will, in the best sense of these words.
Mars--"I start, I push, I insist"
Rulerships: The First and Eighth Houses, The Aries and Scorpio Attitudes.
Mars represents the ability to make things happen by single-minded application of the force of will. Once the Martian function is brought to bear on a situation, something will happen, whether for better or worse. Force is not always the right tool for the job, but when it is, Mars delivers.
Jupiter--"I aspire, I imagine, I transcend"
Rulerships: The Ninth House, The Sagittarius Attitude.
Jupiter, is the transgressor of boundaries. It's function is to expand, to explore, to experience, to grow, to go beyond the known and conventional, to discover novelty and surprise. Without the active, expansive function of Jupiter, stagnation would ensue. A severely conflicted Jupiter usually connotes frustration, and possibly explosive anger. The house placements and aspects between Jupiter and Saturn are telling in terms of how easy or difficult the process of growth may feel as it is being lived. The two functions are opposites, yet both are essential and must be reconciled and integrated as "the course of a lifetime runs". Neither Jupiter nor Saturn gets to have the last word. Expansion and consolidation phases occur in every cycle of growth, and both are necessary to build a well-balanced, healthy organism, or personality. Every successful driver must learn the proper and timely use of both the accelerator and the brake. Jovian action lubricates social interactions and brings mental and spiritual connections into awareness and conscious use.
Saturn--"I focus, I define, I stabilize"
Rulerships: The Tenth House, The Capricorn Attitude.
Saturn represents the function of limitation--to restrict, to focus, to constrain, to delineate, to define the boundary of identity. In some ways, Saturn is more relevant than the Sun in terms of defining the essential features of our personality. The Sun is our source and center, but Saturn is our circumference, the dividing line between Self and Not-Self. There is much that is optional about how we draw that line, but to leave it un-drawn is not an option. Without it there is no personality, no identity, no Self.
In traditional astrology, Saturn has a bad reputation, and it is undeniably true that as a subjective experience, limitation and constraint is more likely to be experienced as unpleasant than pleasant. In the natal chart, the house occupied by Saturn will probably not be felt to be the happiest or easiest stage of our unfoldment. Nevertheless, delineating the boundaries of the self is an absolutely essential function, and when it is compromised, the personality becomes dysfunctional or, in extreme cases, disintegrates into madness. So, in spite of its bad reputation and sometimes unpleasant operation, it does behoove us to make friends with Saturn, so to speak, and learn to appreciate the essential function that it represents. Saturn is to the personality as the skeleton is to the body.
Uranus--"I awaken, I excite, I revolutionize"
Rulerships: The Eleventh House, The Aquarius Attitude.
Jupiter and Uranus are located on either side of Saturn, and they both are somewhat antithetical to the urge for solid stability that Saturn represents. Whereas Jupiter wants to jump over Saturn's wall, Uranus wants to knock it down, or better yet, blow it up. So far as Uranus is concerned, patience is not a virtue, and stability is a synonym for stagnation. The house position of Uranus shows the area of life where we are destined to revolutionize ourself, to transcend our previous definition of our own identity and take our first steps toward a trans-personal selfhood.
Neptune--"I release, I dissolve, I forgive"
Rulerships: The Twelfth House, The Pisces Attitude.
If the function of Uranus is to awaken and excite, the function of Neptune is to soothe, to comfort, to heal, to forgive, to release and resolve the conflicts and struggles of material life. Neptune and Pisces rule the twilfth house, the completion of the cycle, the distillation of experience, the disolution of unused structures and release of unnecessary resistance. The house position of Neptune in the natal chart indicates the area of life where these tender mercies are most needed to complete the work of the lifetime. The house(s) with Pisces on the cusp, and other natal planets in Pisces are further clues.
Pluto--"I resurrect, I transfigure, I re-form"
Rulerships: The Eighth House, The Scorpio Attitude.
Pluto represents the death, transfiguration, and resurrection of the ego.
It is helpful to bear in mind that over the thousands of years of astrology's development, Saturn was the end of the story. The outer planets were unknown to the ancients. Since the discovery of Uranus in 1781, astrologers have begun to use the trans-Saturnian planets to symbolize the trans-personal dimensions of human experience. Since this historical period is so brief in relation to the length of the cycles represented, it should be no surprise that we still have much to learn.
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