Introduction to Astrology

Mind and the Ruling Planet

When we wish to study the character, disposition and temperament of anyone we must first realize that the mind is the keystone of the arch of the human personality. But character, disposition and temperament do not depend so much upon the quality of mind, whether it be keen, sharp, and alert or slow and plodding, as upon what channels it takes for its expression. Intellects of the first magnitude are sometimes put to perverted use to the detriment of the community and the individual who thus misuses his divine heritage, while a slow and very inferior mind may minister to many in lowly but loving meekness and reap sheaves of soul-growth thereby. Thus it is not sufficient to determine the quality of the mentality; we must also ascertain what is the channel of its expression. To judge that or any other matter thoroughly really involves consideration of the horoscope as a whole, separately and apart from its bearing upon all other matters. But in a general way the character and disposition may be learned fro the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Ascendant and the ruling planets.

It has become the custom of many astrologers to take the lord of the rising sign as the ruler of the horoscope. That is correct in Medical Astrology because the Ascendant represents the body, but when we want to judge the character which is the combination of all the forces focused through the horoscopical wheel of life the matter is different. Then we must find what planet has the most dominant influence in the life and that is then the life ruler regardless of whether or not it is the ruler of the Ascendant. To find that planet look first to the lord of the Ascendant. If he is elevated, essentially dignified or angular and strongly aspected, remember, it matters not whether the aspects are good or bad as long as they are close and plentiful (for if it were only the good aspects that made the ruler then there would be only good people in the world. But we know that there are people of all shades of character and therefore it is necessary to select the ruler according to the aspects, regardless of whether they are good or bad), and above all, if the aspects are close, then the lord of the Ascendant is also the ruling planet, for he will exercise the most potent influence in the life.

On the other hand if another planet is more highly elevated than the ruler of the Ascendant, if it is exalted, essentially dignified or placed in an angle and its aspects re more plentiful or closer than the aspects of the lord of the Ascendant, the judge that that planet will be the ruler of the horoscope and exercise a dominant influence in the life regardless of the fact that it is not the ruler of the rising sign.
But if there are two planets running neck-and-neck in the race for rulership, so to speak, with no strongly marked difference in favor of one or the other so that it is difficult to make a choice, do not utterly discard one and choose the other, for then they will both be very active in the life and must be classed as co-rulers.

THE INFLUENCE OF RULING PLANETS
WELL ASPECTED
THE SUN AS RULING PLANET

When the vital, courageous and ambitious well aspected Sun is ruler, it gives dignity to the whole nature, a lofty price that would not stoop to do anything small, mean or degrading, a fine and noble courage that may show itself on occasion as much by disdainfully ignoring the attacks of an adversary whom he considers too far beneath his notice as by a fight to the death for a principle. There is an intense craving for recognition and leadership which will make it very difficult for him to occupy a subordinate position; also an intense warm-hearted, affectionate and demonstrative nature.

VENUS AS RULING PLANET

When the refined, luxurious and musical well aspected Venus is ruler of the horoscope it gives tender, loving, even amorous nature which craves love as we all desire air, for love is the very life breath of such people. They are extremely fond of children and usually have many pets which serve as avenues for their expression of love. They are also pleasure-loving and fond of social intercourse, neat and artistic in their ideas and in the decoration of their homes. They love jewelry and anything else that adds beauty to the life; they are luxurious in all their tastes, very amiable and much beloved by all; their greatest faults is an inordinate love of ease and an aversion to soiling their hands.

MERCURY AS RULING PLANET

When Mercury the planet of reason, expression and dexterity is the well aspected life ruler it gives a keen, quick-witted mind which craves knowledge as a thirsty man craves water and absorbs it as readily, a mind that solves, apparently without effort, the most intricate problems. Thus there is ability in the various branches of mental endeavor, science and literature, but these people are also very apt and forceful orators and have an extraordinary dexterity so that they can usually turn their hands to anything. They are fond of traveling and very successful as salesmen and agents.

THE MOON AS RULING PLANET

When the romantic, imaginative and restless well aspected Moon is the life ruler, the people born under its influence are indeed rolling stones and far fields always look greenest to them. Therefore they have an overwhelming desire for travel and change which generally does not permit them to stay in one place longer than necessary to earn the money which will enable them to go to the next. They have a most vivid and fanciful imagination and a romantic nature entirely foreign to any practical endeavor; listless, restless and unstable as the tide that comes and goes, flotsam and jetsam upon the sea of life. They are generally mediumistic, though usually unconsciously so, but are otherwise quite harmless through utterly irresponsible and untrustworthy where anything requiring an effort is concerned.

SATURN AS RULING PLANET

When the serious, sagacious and profound well aspected Saturn is life ruler, the people born under its influence are of a profoundly thoughtful, serious nature. They have a keen sense of responsibility and are full of forethought, hence trustworthy and reliable advisors; they are systematic, orderly, and have good executive ability, frugal in their tastes, thrifty and saving; just to a degree, but their justice is cruel, hard and untempered but the slightest degree of mercy. They are chaste, sober and exemplary in their lives but they have neither mercy nor pity for those who are unable to overcome faults or habits or who otherwise become delinquent to the laws of society. They care little or nothing for pleasure or the society of others and generally keep their own counsel and company; they are highly respected, esteemed and trusted in the community but neither care for nor merit the LOVE of their fellow men.

JUPITER AS RULING PLANET

When the jovial, genial and generous well aspected Jupiter is life ruler, the people born under his influence are ensouled by a great desire for honor, respect and esteem in their community. Therefore they aspire to be pillars in the church, legal lights, or to fill an honored position in the pulpit; failing this they enter by preference one of the progressions as lawyer or doctor. They are cordial, genial people with a jovial smile and a hearty handshake that make one glad to meet them wherever the go, so they are always welcome. They are law-abiding and just but inclined to temper their justice with mercy; and while they themselves live lives beyond reproach they are kind, forgiving and lenient to those of a weaker morality whose lives are smirched by sin and crime, hence they are philanthropic and always ready to give to charity and benevolent work. They are not only respected and esteemed but beloved in the community where they reside.

MARS AS THE RULING PLANET

When the enthusiastic, energetic, constructive and militant Mars is the well aspected life ruler, the people born under the influence of this dynamic rays are eager for the fray and battle of life. They are ensouled with an ardent desire to conquer the world. To them it does not so much matter what they do so long as it affords an adequate outlet for the constructive energy which, figuratively speaking, threatens to burst them unless released. The bigger and more difficult the undertaking, the more they exult; hence they become the pioneers and pathfinders of civilization, the engineers and contractors who build our cities and the highways and byways that connect them, who develop the resources of the world and turn them over to others to use. They are extremely impatient of restraint and will brook no interference with their plans or methods. These people govern others and bend them to their will by the whiplash of sheer force for they have neither tact nor diplomacy but win by the merit of might. They earn money easily and spend it as lavishly and foolishly. They are extremely extravagant and when reverses come they are down and out for the time being but they never stay down, the indomitable inner force soon accomplishes rehabilitation and with it the old reckless ways of living reassert themselves. They are generally foolhardy to a degree, hence liable to accidents and a violent end.

URANUS AS RULING PLANET

When the original, romantic and eccentric well aspected Uranus is life ruler the character is idealistic, unconventional and utopian. These people are generally out of patience with the conventional ways of living and determined in their efforts and endeavors to break the shackles of society and live a bohemian life. They are full of fads and given to usually beliefs, too advanced for the majority. At the same time they are pioneers of a new age in which many of the ideas we now consider utopian will be modified so that they will be held by all. These people are also the inventors of the world, in touch with the higher worlds where ideas merge from the Divine Mind to impinge upon the minds of those who are sufficiently sensitive to grasp them and bring them to birth for the use of humanity. The Uranians are very headstrong and always ready with an argument to defend their ideas and secure a convert to their cults; odd in dress, in food, in ideas, they are a class apart.

NEPTUNE AS RULING PLANET

When the occult and mystical well aspected Neptune is life ruler we have a person of a most peculiar power whose chief mark is a strange expression of the eye which must be seem to be appreciated. It is as if he looked right through and through whatever is before him, but it is not necessary to discuss this type for there are so few that they are very seldom encountered by the average astrologer and only an occultist can know and judge another occultist.

THE INFLUENCE OF THE
AFFLICTED RULING PLANETS

When the life rulers are afflicted by the conjunction, parallel, square, or opposition from the other planets, especially from the malefics-- Saturn, Mars, Uranus and Neptune--they affect the life in an inimical manner which may be outlined as follows:

THE SUN AS RULING PLANET

When the cowardly and arrogant afflicted Sun is life ruler, people born under his debilitating influence are egotistical in the extreme, full of swagger, self-importance and arrogance. If they obtain authority over anyone whom they think they can overawe they will rule such dependent with a rod of iron, trample upon his tenderest feelings without a twinge of conscience or compunction, but if they themselves come under the authority of another these spineless weaklings will then cringe, creep and cater to the slightest whim of their master though they hate him with an intense hatred that is only kept in check by their fear. They whine and wheedle at the faintest frown though ready to spring and devour him if only they dared. It is the signature of one of the most despicable characters in the gamut.

VENUS AS RULING PLANET

When the slovenly, slothful and lazy afflicted Venus is ruler of the horoscope the persons are sensual and profligate, untidy and slatternly, of depraved, perverted tastes and utterly disreputable in their conduct; they are social parasites. They use loud and obscene language and are fond of music of a clanging, jarring nature. They love revelry and debauch, their affection expresses itself in coarse lusts, unbridled passion, free love and moral perversion. They revel in spangles and tinsel, loud, clashing colors and cheap imitations of beauty and worth.

MERCURY AS RULING PLANET

When the untruthful, dishonest and clumsy afflicted Mercury is life ruler the people under his influence are either entirely mentally unsound so that they must be confined for their own good in proper institutions, or they are so cunning that they are able to hide their mental bias and prey upon society as thieves, pick-pockets, defaulters and criminals of similar nature. They are notoriously untruthful and prefer misleading others to telling the truth, even where it is of no benefit to them. They are either dull of comprehension or of such consummate cunning that they seem to be driven by a resistless force to get the nest of some unsuspecting person. They excel as confidence men, badgers and in similar unsavory occupations, They are thoroughly unreliable and dishonest in all their dealings; neurotic and perverted, scabs on society. These people are also inveterate talkers and always ready to criticize, slander or ruin the reputation of others. They are a menace to society in all their activities.

THE MOON AS RULING PLANET

When the changeable and visionary afflicted Moon is life ruler it makes the persons extremely restless and averse to labor of any kind, fidgety and always on the move; if they cannot travel from one city to another, they move from one house to another and from one situation to another as often as possible and they infuse the same restlessness into whosoever they come in contact with. If the afflictions are very severe the mind suffers and their mental phases coincide with the changes of the orb of night.

SATURN AS RULING PLANET

When the morbid, melancholy and malicious afflicted Saturn is life ruler he robs life of all joy and brightness so that these people become recluses and melancholy misanthropes; so miserly and avaricious that they will starve themselves and forego the comforts of life even when they have ample means to satisfy them. They are cruel, hard and suspicious of the acts and motives of others and if they take up work as a detective they become human ferrets, blood-hounds who will hound their prey to death and gloat over his misery. If anyone frustrates such people they will hold spite forever and aim to get even, if it takes a lifetime. But the end of these people is always bad, sometime or other they overreach and fall into the trap they have set for others. They usually die an ignoble death and the world gives a sigh of relief when they pass out.

JUPITER AS RULING PLANET

When the indolent, bombastic and egotistical afflicted Jupiter is the life ruler the person is often a parasite on the social tree, a gambler, confidence man and speculator, sporty, fond of display and ostentation; he wears loud clothing, paste diamonds and cheap jewelry. He is usually met with in pool rooms, on race tracks and in similar places; playing poker or playing the ponies are among his favorite means of earning a living; he is very loud and egotistical anxious to attract attention no matter how; he often figures in court proceedings on account of shady transactions or immoral conduct or unpaid bills, for he is an adept at obtaining credit for everything he wants and never pays the price of his expensive tastes if there is any way of avoiding a settlement of his debts. Among the laboring class he usually figures as a demagogue and agitator, inciting to strikes and riots, but he is always ready to sell out a striking union to the employers. We find them among the typical Italian padrones, as keepers of sweat-shops, and in similar occupations.

MARS AS RULING PLANET

When the arrogant, egotistical and foolhardy afflicted Mars is life ruler the person is an egotist of the first water, bound to attain to his wishes by force or destruction if other means fail; in fact he prefers to bulldoze others to do his will rather than to have them submit without a struggle. He is a first-rate slave driver, section boss on the railway, in a construction camp and similar places, a liar, braggart, bouncer, or pugilist, a daredevil wiling to risk his life and the lives of others at any moment and in any undertaking.

URANUS AS RULING PLANET

When the stubborn, erratic and independent afflicted Uranus if life ruler the mentality is usually so obsessed in one direction or another that such people become fanatics and generally also there is an excessive sensuality and perverted taste. They are always ready and anxious for an argument as a means of airing their ideas but they are so hypnotized by their own particular fad that they are never convinced and can never see when the argument goes against them. They always espouse the most radical and unconventional ideas.

NEPTUNE AS RULING PLANET

When the mediumistic, neurotic and self-indulgent afflicted Neptune is life ruler, the persons are of a dreamy, neurotic and negative nature, apt to become the medium of disembodied spirits or even obsessed by them. They are likely to evolve psychic powers of a low grade such as involuntary clairvoyance, crystal gazing, etc., and if they are unable to develop these faculties they often simulate mediumship and other psychic gifts for the purpose of duping or defrauding others. They have a strong faculty of imitation and easily become adepts at deception.

Click Here For A Free Astrology Horoscope Interpretation