THE RULERS OF THE HOUSES

Before I begin, I’d like to give you your keys to looking at astrological elements. These graphics will help you to better figure out what you’re looking at- and I will help walk you through the where. We talked about this in July’s astrology lesson, about minor aspects, which won’t really be shown here- and we won’t be going through those. This month, we’re just going to focus on the guts- looking at planetary rulers of the houses and next month, we’ll talk about where they live and how that plays out. For now, here are your keys- this should help you figure out what is where.

These are definitely not all of the symbols you’ll see- but, these are sort of the starter pack.

Getting to this month’s lesson, before I begin, I want to talk about why we should not be looking at any one aspect or planet in a natal chart. There’s good reason- you have got to read the chart as a whole. While during our lessons we look at pieces at a time- that’s just so you learn what things are and what they do. Ultimately, you should be able to look at the entire tapestry and see the bigger picture. Let me show you why we do this, first, though- but, as we go through this, do not worry about the whole chart. You’re going to focus on those rulers, first, to learn how to spot ‘em and what they mean in Dustin’s chart.

I want you to find Dustin’s sun here, using the above key. Yep! You found it. It’s in Cancer, and it is in the 7th house.

What do you know about Cancer? Well, it’s the 4th sign of the zodiac, and the biggest thing about Cancer- is home. Cancers are domestic and nurturing; they thrive best when the homelife’s stable. Traditions tend to be important to them.

Breaking the sign down: It’s a cardinal sign.

Cardinal signs are Aries, Cancer, Libra, and...of course, Capricorn. The cardinal houses are the 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th. Here’s where you get into the first problem in looking at a chart merely by one thing or another: if we look at Dustin’s houses alone- there isn’t exactly a Cardinal emphasis shown house-wise.

It’s also a water sign- ruled by the Moon. Just about anyone familiar with the zodiac even on a basic level would never ever dream of saying that a Cancer’s like an Aries, Libra or a Capricorn: and here you figure out why- because while there may be some common generalities there owing to them all being Cardinal signs: water signs tend to be more emotional and the Moon rules emotion. I put it like this deliberately because well, who isn’t emotional? It tends to come down to how we process and how we express. However, to assume Dustin’s the stereotypical security loving Cancer….not a good assumption at all. Do you see where the moon is up there?

Of course, he digs security- again, who doesn’t? But, when you get into this, first you can see that his Sun’s in the 8th. This tends to denote someone who’s got a serious drive towards changing things, and usually, this does tie back to that need for security because he’s always moving forward, always looking for the next thing to help further improve his life.

….okay, so it still circles back to secure, stable. Except, let’s look at that Cancer ruler- the Moon. His moon happens to be in Gemini, and it’s also in the 7th house. The short and sweet of that? Someone who is always in the moment, easily adapts, changeable, and gets kinda bored with routine, kinda quicklike. The aspects at play? Well, first, there’s a conjunct Venus- he’s a softie. Most of us knew this. That opposition Neptune- he may have a tendency towards the rose-colored glasses when it comes to those he cares about.

...don’t even get me started on ALL THAT MERCURY because I could be here a while, but basically- I look at this, and I can see: this is not a Cancer-Cancer. Of course, there are quite a few telling things right from the jump, but you drill down the data, it just gets deeper and much more interesting.

Moving on- that’s just my little introduction: there’s so much more to astrology than simply these sun signs, than simply these generalizations.

So, let’s talk about the Planets, the Signs, and The Houses a bit- and if you will refer to the blog post: you’ll find I have put together some handy little graphics to help you understand the symbols you’ll see. There are quite a few more, but- these will get you started.

When we look at these planets- we are talking about what we DO.
When we look at the signs- those would be HOW you do.

Get into the houses- well, this is where we do.

So, ultimately you have “What?” “How?” “Where?” and, much of the in between can be why.

That said, we’re going to look first at the house rulers.

Now, the ruling planet of any given house is going to be the ruler of the sign on that cusp. The sign on the cusp- well, this is going to show what part of Dustin’s life the key lessons brought about by that particular sign are learned. The ruling planet, well, it takes those lessons into another house, so to speak. Each sign’s got a ruling planet- and, I’ve got that outlined in the blog, too. We’re using Dustin’s chart here as the example, so let’s get to it.

First/Ascendant: Scorpio. Scorpio is either going to be Mars or Pluto.

Now, when we’re looking at the first house the thing you have to understand is that this is also going to be the chart’s ruler: in his case, we have either Mars or Pluto, so we look at Mars and Pluto- well, you find Mars in the 7th, Pluto in the 11th. Depending on which you go with- which differs depending on the astrologer and how they do things: this means that his first house ruler’s in either one of those houses. This indicates his more dominant motivations, the things he really puts most of his focus on. 7th house is partnerships, and it tends to be seen as many on the surface level as where we find marital prospects: but it’s more than that. First off, it’s all kinds of partnerships- but also? This is where we find details about open enemies as well. I’ll get into that a bit more when I go into that house, specifically. The 11th house, well that’s friendships. Again, more to it than that: but, here’s what you’ve got: motivations are found within partnerships and friendships. You look at the condition of that 1st house, to figure out exactly how he handles the perceptions of others TOWARDS him, in respect to those things, as well as how he deals with getting these things started.

So, if we go with the first house ruler being in the 7th, with Mars- how he feels about himself is very much reflected by the way he relates to his partner or best friend. He wants to be able to use them as a sounding board- and he hopes they’ll do the same of him. It can be something he depends on, and so, if we DO look at it from a love perspective- marriage: it’s important to him that his partner is his very best friend.

Go with the first house ruler being in the 11th, with Pluto- though he’s not entirely close-minded, he wants to surround himself with people who tend to be like minded. He deeply cares about the welfare of others, and he’s very keen on fairness. This also can often denote someone who’s very outgoing and very social.

Neither of those things actually goes into the impact those planets bring along for the ride, entirely- but you get the general idea.

Second house- Sagittarius, ruled by Jupiter.

3rd, Capricorn, ruled by Saturn- except...what’s this? Look here. Oh, I have a graphic for that, too. It looks like...hmmm. What’s up with that? This is called an interception, and it’s what happens when you’ve got a house that’s completely contained within a sign: in this case, Aquarius eats that 3rd house. This means that you’ve got Saturn, or Saturn and Uranus. Fun! When one sign’s intercepted, by the way- so’s the opposite one.

An intercepted sign tends to mean there’s a block somewhere- you look at the qualities of the sign and recognize that it’s not being expressed as much as perhaps it ought to be: so essentially, to go from one, you need to go through the other. The repressed sign- well, that’s the thing that wants to come out, and it will come out. I won’t go into this a great deal at this point but you read these in pairs and with the Leo/Aquarius thing going here- well, Aquarius wants to act out, to be different, to be a rebel and tends to lend Leo this understanding of other people. Leo, on the other hand, is like “This is why you’re rebelling, and this is how you need to be you.” Otherwise, you just end up with one of those contrarian dorks that rebels against pretty much anything just to do it. Well, when you have that interception: that can happen if we aren’t getting enough notice. Because Cancer’s on the cusp of that Leo interception what can often occur, also: loads of people lean on him for emotional support and nurturing- but they don’t really give him the attention he’s after. Figuring out how to balance the interception out requires looking at either his Sun or Uranus placement and taking a look at the opposite house.

Anyway, I can go more into this when I talk specifically about interceptions- I need to move on here for now.

Another thing to note- you see those empty houses? I get asked about this so much. That doesn’t mean Dustin’s got nothing going on here. You look at the ruler, you get the message of that house. So, his 2nd, 3rd, and 4th are empty, sure- but that doesn’t mean they’re not saying anything.

That second house ruler Jupiter tells us that he is generous and kind- money doesn’t matter to him so much: except when you get into the other aspects there in terms of how it creates stability for himself and his family. BUT, his attitude about money is that “You can’t take it with you”- but more than that, he’s not afraid to take some risks with it in order to invest in a more stable long-term future. This is where it gets kinda funny because in his line of work- well, the paranormal one, anyway, he travels a great deal. With Jupiter here? Well, making money in something that makes for traveling- for lecturing or teaching and expanding people’s minds tends to be a thing. Traveling around the country and the world to investigate the paranormal, I would say, certainly falls under this purview: but, he also does motivational lectures in his ministry, which does as well. 

His third house ruler being Saturn- and pulling away from that interception: he is incredibly mindful of the things he says. He won’t say something that is hurtful unless he feels it’s absolutely necessary, and even when what he’s got to say is positive and uplifting, he weighs what he’ll say carefully for maximum impact. Now, you may see him around and think he’s quite the chatterbox, but actually: he’s not. At times, he’ll come across as being very quiet and this is because he’s observing his surroundings and the people to make sure that he is choosing his words carefully. This particular placement can also indicate a learning disability like dyslexia or possibly ADHD- something that made study difficult when he was younger.

Now, I thought given the rest of his chart, his 4th house ruler was quite interesting. That Aquarius- well, we’re looking at both Saturn and Uranus- really, depending on whether you’re using modern or traditional astrology. With Uranus- there is very much this part of him that isn’t about tradition. As I mentioned with that interception thing, he changes things up quite a bit. This can indicate that when he was young, things were not stable in some way or perhaps that he moved a lot- but, it can also indicate pain in the family life for some reason. He’s also not apt to consider a place home but rather, people: or his partner, and his curiosity makes for a desire to keep life interesting, always. True originality through and through, though.

Going into Saturn- it’d be...well, the opposite of that, kinda. Here is where we get into why the whole chart is key because the other planets and aspects sort of blend all that changeability into the stability: which is a good thing when balanced, but when not, can be so chaotic and unsure. He wants to have a strong home life- his family means everything to him. He hasn’t had it easy in terms of stability, and the struggles he’s endured may have caused so much stress in his home life that things become pretty dark- but, working through those strengthened his feelings quite a bit- and helped further strengthen his character. Those struggles, however, may have revealed some things that were difficult to face: and if they weren’t resolved, likely continue to manifest in small ways or bubble up beneath the surface. Resentment- but, if they were worked, though, strengthened the home base even more and helped him to not feel restricted but rather finding freedom in love. For him, that’s the key: that love and family not be something that holds him back but rather lifts him up, bolsters him and allows him the freedom not just to explore, but to grow, as well.

….so as you can see, empty house means nothing. They still speak and they can say quite a lot. That’s not even getting into aspects and other parts of the chart that come into play!

The 5th here is Aries- ruled by Mars, the 6th is Taurus, ruled by Venus

7th is also Taurus, ruled by Venus- and yes, this is a thing, too, and I will get into this in September when we go into all of this more deeply. I seriously almost wrote a book about Dustin with all of this and had to go through and edit for brevity. Two lessons out of one’s not bad, though!

8th is Gemini, and the ruler is Mercury.

9th, oh lookie there, that’s the other side of that 3rd house coin: his outlet, then, the thing to use to fuel rebellion? Philosophy. In a nutshell, anyway- his belief systems keep him grounded, keep him stable and balanced. He finds a lot of peace in his belief in God and in his faith- which, would explain why he has an active ministry and does tend to be a pillar of light and strength for those around him. Without this- well, he might be a rambunctious sort of rebel, lashing out at everything and quite the contrarian. To some degree, he still does- however, I believe Dustin understands on some level that, well, Jesus was also a rebel. He’s of that very same stripe: his truth and his faith, reflected in how he bucks off some of the more restrictive and judgmental aspects we sometimes see in all of that: and instead, embraces differences, and simply loves.

10th- Virgo, Mercury

11th Libra Venus

Annnnd 12th, Scorpio- again, Pluto or Mars.

Phew.

That was quite a lot of information- but, let’s go on a bit more. So, you’ve eyeballed the rising, the Midheaven and all that. You’ve plowed through the houses, scratching your head furiously over the interceptions. You made sure you were looking at which house’s ruler was whe- oh wait, we didn’t go into that, did we?

I started that with that first house- and that’s where we leave off, and where we’ll pick back up with September’s lesson: The Rulers in the other houses and what that means, fully.

Take a look at your own chart, now, and figure out what your house rulers are and we’ll start from there next time.

Note: I did have a video burp there and had to edit things in- but, also, as I am talking about this, I say I wonder if the Facebook announcements I get on my desktop showed in my video. They do. I apologize- I didn’t realize what all on my screen it grabs, but it did.