To determine the ruler of your chart, you have to locate your ascendant. I’ve circled the “ascendant” on the sample chart. You can click the image to enlarge.
In this case, the chart shows a Scorpio ascendant, aka “Scorpio rising”.
To determine the “chart ruler” or the “ruling planet” check the sign on the ascendant. The planet that rules that sign is your chart ruler.
Aries rising or ascendant = Mars ruled chart
Taurus rising or ascendant = Venus ruled chart
If you don’t know what planet rules what sign you can refresh your memory here: cheat sheet.
Most astrologers feel the ruling planet is enhanced in the chart. Play close attention to the transits both to and from your ruling planet.
For example, if you have a Mars ruled chart, the position of Mars in the sky (and the affairs of the house in your chart where it’s transiting) will be particularly important to you. Same for transits to your natal Mars.
Cancer risings (moon-ruled charts) are sensitive to the moon’s moving through the signs and houses in their chart. This is worth noting. Capricorn risings and Aquarius rising do well to mind Saturn, etc.
When I say, “mind the ruling planet” I mean in every way, shape and form. For example, if the chart ruler is under duress in the chart, this gives information. If the chart ruler is well placed and well-aspected this gives different information.
Familiarize yourself with your ruling planet in front of any other priority you might have, even if you are initially less than interested or affectionate towards the planet and what it represents. This is because to deny the ruling planet and it’s expression is to deny yourself the same.
What planet rules your chart?
“If you do the eye thing at people, Scorpio.”
This is why I relate to my Border Collie. Border collies get in trouble when in a group of dogs because of their stare. I don’t think they know they’re doing it either.
Scorpio ascendant, natal Mars and Pluto in the 10th part of a t-square.
Cancer rising, so ruled by moon in 3rd house/Virgo (about to be conjuncted by transiting Saturn once it goes direct.) Eh. My moon has some sort of natal aspects to Mercury and Saturn – not quite oppositions. The symbol looks like a picnic table?
Oh, and the moon is sextile my Ascendant, that’s a symbol I can recognize. 😉
picnic table aspect = inconjunct (what I call it) or Quincunx which I think is more in vogue these days but they are the same thing..
Hey Crackers, I wanted to tell you (sorry, I’ve lost the link to the other blog where I noticed, because I was reading on my cell phone), but I really like the way you write/express yourself.
I tried to read a book called Quincunx once, it was an unholy mess.
Thank you, Jessica. That’s very kind!
jessica that sounds delicious.
kashmiri – mmmm. Guess we have similar taste. 🙂
Oh, forgot to thank you for answering my question, Elsa. Thank you!
Thanks hitchiker & Elsa for the clarification– my Merc (Virgo chart ruler) is 3rd H Scorpio. I guess I should really be talking about transformation. I actually do believe in the process of refinement through big and little transformations. Too bad once I go through something and have processed it, I’m on to the next thing and don’t have much to say anymore. But maybe a little discipline would work. God knows with a bunch of Virgo I just need direction/ a goal from somebody. I should find that. Thanks for the spark!!
Taurus rising here, so I my chart is Venus ruled. I’ve always wondered how the chart ruler is figured out… now I have stuff to look up!
Now this is interesting! Virgo rising, so Mercury is my ruling planet.
Mercury lives in the 12th, which is (if I’m not mistaken) inner or spiritual life. And it clicks.
Ok. so I’ve been reading all these information, and it’s very interesting. I’m Pisces, Scorpio rising, Scorpio Moon. So, my chart ruler is Mars. Too bad it’s located in my 8th house (in gemini), I guess that’s not so good. Aspects: Mars trine Pluto, sextile Jupiter and MC, opossition Neptune. I also have Uranus and Moon conjuct my Asc. but that’s another story.
Ena – Mars in the 8th is a strong placement because the 8th is the house Mars rules. (and welcome)
I’m scorpio rising so that means I am mars ruled. Mars is conjunct pluto and the sun (warrior), squares the moon (temper temper) and sextiles neptune which I take to mean lets me express my spirituality/creativity.
My best friend always calls me a warrior. I feel at my best when I get alot of physical exercise (both indoor and out!) which is not great now with sports injuries and no man…
I never knew to look out for Mars transits. I will definitely do that now.
Bella, also realize that you will be other people’s mars transits, LOL
Yay! Could someone have a big sex mars transit in my vicinity? 🙂
Mercury ruled chart. Pisces Mercury in 9th Conjuncts my MC, no other aspects. Timing is lucky, things just coordinate at the right time and place.
What if your chart-ruling-planet is retrograde?
Taurus rising here (also Taurus sun) so I’m Venus ruled x2. With Venus in my second house – a house it rules – I love to own beautiful things – waaaay too many of them (that garage sale will this summer if I can let go). Venus is in Gemini so I’m a social butterfly but I don’t get too close to people. Venus conjunct Uranus just emphasizes that and gives me a quirkiness that it took me years to learn to celebrate. When I was a kid I was just “different”. Venus opposite Jupiter/sextile Mars makes me very buoyant. I just don’t/can’t stay down very long. I’m like a cork, the harder you push me down the higher/faster I pop back up. This comes naturally to me and it earns me a lot of derision for being “Suzy sunshine”, but having a tendency towards happiness at your core is a great thing.
Jupiter rules my chart. Sag rising at 22 degrees with Saturn sitting right on top at 22 degrees, and Uranus also conjunct at 25 degrees. Sometimes I look in the mirror and ask “Who am I?” Haha.
It’s Mars. I’m Aries rising. Plus Mars is conjunct the Sun, so any big transit is a double whammy. All three outer planets made major transits to this conjunction since I was 19-20 (Pluto in Scorpio, Uranus and neptune in Aquarius), and to say they were intense is a big underestimation of what happened.
I won’t have any outer planet transits to Sun/Mars for quite a while, but I need a break! (The next one is a Uranus in Aries trine.)
Mars (Scorpio rising/Neptune conj. asc. venus scorpio). I’ve never “watched” mars.
I guess I’ll definately be keeping my eye on Mars (Scorpio rising) as my chart ruler, as well as my Sun (Aries) ruler. Thanks for this Elsa! Those of us that are new to Astrology really appreciate when you address these basics!
Interesting, gemini asc. j(upiters in 1st house gemini) so mercury is the chart leader, but natally my mercury lands in capricorn, could this be why I’m very very concerned with being on time and practical aspects of life when the rest of my chart is air and fire signs? (lots of leo & aquarius)
YaY I’m Jupiter (Rx) ruled LUCKY me! =)
However, its conjunct to Neptune and sextiles both Saturn AND Pluto (double whammy!)
So I guess Big Ol’ Jup in the pic allows me to be the “horse of a different color” that I am! w/ respect to the confusing relationships I have around me saying otherwise.. **raspberry**
Especially now with Jup in Pisces I feel very fortunate to have learned so much from this site and be divinely “in touch” with myself 😉
P.S. Elsa thanks for re-posting your Demystifying series, they’re really great!!!
So interesting… Sagittarius rising (con. Neptune) with Jupiter conjunct Mercury in 8th house Leo. Maybe mom was right — she’s always said I should be “haranguing the masses.” Thanks, mom.
I’m loving re-reading these and all the comments!
elsa what if you do not know your ascendant?
mercury in the 12th like Kris. I noticed a lot of pithy observations get expressed in my writing, and I’m always amazed that it’s well received and the PC crowd doesn’t come after me.
In person it’s different, I have to be very careful as people take it the wrong way. Usually when I go back over what I said, I can see why…I’m unintentionally insensitive. I didn’t process all the ramifications before I spoke. A bit like a Sag…it’s honest, but the truth can be a bit painful sometimes.
When it’s intentional, it can be devastating. I also have mercury in gemini. Now I’m going to have to check my afflictions, because I’m sure they’re there.
Mercury! I strongly associate with my gemini rising. I’m an aries sun with a 11th house aries stellium including mercury which is conjunct chiron and my north node and opposite uranus and jupiter. Sudden bursts of inspirations and realizations are frequent, though sometimes just that; sudden bursts. They very easily fly away if i don’t catch hold and hold tight. I also can get too carried away with an idea and forget the content. But,for the most part, I wear the light bulb that hovers over my head pretty well.
Leo rising, so SUN! Whoot!
oh yeah, forgot. mercury trine neptune as well.
This is why I pay very close attention whenever you mention Saturn 😀
“So many transits, so little time” 😉
scorpio rising,pluto sextile ascendant …neptune sextile pluto ..moon trine mars ..venus trine mars….I never knew my chart ruler/s thank you so much for reposting this i,m learning Elsa i,m learnig
Virgo rising = Mercury
Mercury is in Libra in my 2nd House conjunct Uranus and the Sun.
Timing is everything! I cannot be late…there is nothing I hate more. It’s impolite and just shows bad manners.(Libra) If there is some uncontrollable circumstance which causes me to be late, like the time the subway broke down for an hour – I hate every second, feel utterly stressed and am totally worried and can only focus my attention on the time! No, that’s not too Virgo…
At least the focus on the time distracted me from my claustrophobia. Which reminds me, I came close to having panic attacks twice in public due to my claustrophobia but I “mentally” talked myself out of it by thinking of the horror of how it would make me look to everyone there! Worried about how I would look, the perfect description of Virgo and Libra.
My chart ruler is the moon. So does that mean I need to keep an ephemeris handy?
Mars/Pluto. But I have Saturn in the first house. I do not understand under all this heavy stuff I can feel so bubbly sometimes!
Another point to clear up, the rising sign spans 30 degree’s, the asc is the precise degree and minute of longitude of the rising sign which intersects the true horizon.
yes, this is a great reread! cap rising, saturn in exact opposition… saturn is my chart ruler…everywhich way i look in my chart takes me back to saturn.
“a transit to the ruling planet of the chart is as important as a transit to the Sun in a chart.”
for me that’s Venus, who disposes of two other planets, plus she’s in Taurus so there’s NO way to not notice when she gets transited. It’s like a quadruple whammy.
And I sure am feeling that Venus-Saturn-Pluto crunch right now 🙁
Elsa
thank you for the cheat sheet on chart rulers. i am pisces, libra asc. so i am venusian- love it! my question- can this be applied to the solar return chart. i am sag rising this year if so and therefore jupiter is the chart ruler? it sounds as tho if this were correct that i have a double whammy of jupiter influence this year as i am a pisces…does anyone know if this applies to sr charts as well?
meredith, yes I would say that Jupiter rules your SR chart.:)
thanks elsa! so should i be reading my asc sag and pisces horoscopes in lieu of the libra one? i also notice that my mars is at 0 degrees leo in 10th house. i have read that this is auspicious? should mars going direct this week have any bearing? sr chart goes into effect 3/16
thank you!
Elsa, thanks so much for this series. I seem to learn best this way. And seeing how this works in everyone’s posts is amazing.
What great timing to read today about the solar return chart, which I never knew about before. My birthday’s tomorrow. I checked astro.com, and my sr chart shows Aquarius for the ascendant. What I’ve read today about this gives me hope for this year with the challenges I’m facing… and I’m so grateful that I didn’t file the suit we talked about last year. It would probably come to fruition now, which would have been a disaster with this sr chart! Wow. From the vantage point I have now, too, I can see this in real life. You are so good at this, it blows my mind.
good lord, I’m looking at the sr chart again. This means I have that Pluto-Venus/Uranus-Saturn t-sqr PLUS Pluto conj Moon in the sr chart. Talk about freaking ominous. This doesn’t look good.
Oh that’s just lovely, my sun is in Leo, my moon Cap and I’m an Aquarius rising so, Uranus. The calm planet of crazy, rebellious surprises. Which also happens to be natally opposing my chiron.
This means the upcoming cross is probably going to be all kinds of doozy for me. Saturn and Mars are conjunct each other in cancer which aretrine my Jupiter in my first house. In pisces. Oh right. And my capricorn moon is opposite my mars. Well. Awesomsauce.
With Uranus to rule them all Uranus to find them Uranus to bring them all and in the cross, surprise them!
😉
*fastens seatbelt*
*checks emergency doors*
I didn’t mean mars I meant venus! Saturn and venus! Moon opposite venus! Wait. Is that better even?
*sigh*
My chart ruler Mercury had his return yesterday. Sometimes I forget how poorly placed my chart ruler is but then something happens and *wham* I can’t help but remember! In detriment in Pisces at the apex of a t-square with Saturn and Neptune and quincunx the moon. The only thing he really does have in his favor is that he is accidentally dignified by house, being in the 6th.
Usually I think I have it all together but times like these remind me of how much duress some of my planets are under. Nothing to do with that but go with the flow. He is in Pisces after all.
Wow lot’s of posts here. I guess I have Neptune as my chart ruler, which I know of course is in my 8th in Scorpio. But I didn’t realize about my Jupiter in Leo in the 6th. Hmmm, not sure how to integrate that….
Mercury is my chart ruler.It’s 28’57 degrees Scorpio in my 5th house (Koch/Equal,it moves to 6th in Placidus) I read it in both the 5th and 6th houses because it’s so close to the cusp(00’15 Sag) and I “feel” both houses. It’s also part of a scorpio sun-mars-mercury stellium. I hate having Mercury as my chart ruler.It doesn’t make me any smarter and it makes me nervous.