astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...

, a planet's domicile (less commonly home, not to be confused with the astrological

house system The house system is a traditional feature of schools in the United Kingdom. The practice has since spread to Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries. The school is divided into units called "houses" and each student is allocated to on ...

) is the zodiacal sign over which it has rulership. This is a separate concept from the

houses A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

of the horoscope. A planetary ruler is given to each sign, over which the planet is said to have a more powerful influence when positioned therein. The ruling planet associated with a sign is also used as an implied focus of interpretation for the signs on house cusps in a chart. A planet is considered to be in domal dignity when it is positioned in the sign it rules. This is the strongest of the five essential dignities of a

planet A planet is a large, Hydrostatic equilibrium, rounded Astronomical object, astronomical body that is generally required to be in orbit around a star, stellar remnant, or brown dwarf, and is not one itself. The Solar System has eight planets b ...

. Domicile is an archaic term in infrequent, specialist uses today; most astrologers use the simpler term "sign".

Overview

The assignments of the ruling planets appear to be based upon the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined by humans as being in the same celestial sphere, celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the Solar ...

seasons, as the

sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

(Sol) and the

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

, the principal bearers of light and heat, were awarded to

Leo Leo is the Latin word for lion. It most often refers to: * Leo (constellation), a constellation of stars in the night sky * Leo (astrology), an astrological sign of the zodiac * Leo (given name), a given name in several languages, usually mas ...

and

Cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

, respectively, since the

month A month is a unit of time, used with calendars, that is approximately as long as a natural phase cycle of the Moon; the words ''month'' and ''Moon'' are cognates. The traditional concept of months arose with the cycle of Moon phases; such lunar mo ...

s the sun passed through these signs (in ancient times) were the warmest and had the longest days. Conversely,

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 tim ...

, the most distant (and hence the "coldest") of the planets known to ancients, was accorded the rulership of Aquarius and Capricorn, the signs opposite Leo and Cancer, respectively.

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

, being next farthest away, was given the signs on either side of Aquarius and Capricorn (

Pisces Pisces may refer to: *Pisces (astrology), an astrological sign Astronomy *Pisces (constellation), a constellation ** Pisces Overdensity, an overdensity of stars in the Milky Way's halo that is situated in the Pisces constellation ** Pisces II, a ...

and Sagittarius), and

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

, next in order, received the next two (

Aries Aries may refer to: *Aries (astrology), an astrological sign *Aries (constellation), a constellation in the zodiac Arts, entertainment and media * ''Aries'' (album), by Luis Miguel, 1993 * ''Aries'' (EP), by Alice Chater, 2020 * "Aries" (song), ...

and Scorpio). Since Mercury never appears more than one sign from the sun in either direction, it was deemed to rule the two signs on either side of Leo and Cancer (

Virgo Virgo may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Virgo (film), a 1970 Egyptian film * Virgo (character), several Marvel Comics characters * Virgo Asmita, a character in the manga ''Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas'' * ''Virgo'' (album), by Virgo Four, ...

and

Gemini Gemini most often refers to: * Gemini (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac * Gemini (astrology), an astrological sign Gemini may also refer to: Science and technology Space * Gemini in Chinese astronomy, the Gemini constellat ...

), and since

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

can never be found more than two signs from the Sun, it obtained the rulership of

Libra Libra generally refers to: * Libra (constellation), a constellation * Libra (astrology), an astrological sign based on the star constellation Libra may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Libra'' (novel), a 1988 novel by Don DeLillo Musi ...

and

Taurus Taurus is Latin for 'bull' and may refer to: * Taurus (astrology), the astrological sign ** Vṛṣabha, in vedic astrology * Taurus (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac * Taurus (mythology), one of two Greek mythological ch ...

. The discovery of planets outside of the geocentric field of vision in modern times provided a dilemma for astrologers, which most eventually resolved by a consensus declaring

Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It is a gaseous cyan-coloured ice giant. Most of the planet is made of water, ammonia, and methane in a Supercritical fluid, supercritical phase of matter, which astronomy calls "ice" or Volatile ( ...

to be Aquarius' ruling planet while assigning

Neptune Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 t ...

and later,

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...

, considered the higher octave of Mars, was given to Scorpio. Some modern authorities use the concept of "night rulerships" to find room for additional dignities. Uranus was designated the day ruler of Aquarius while Saturn was to be its night ruler. Similarly, Neptune was the day ruler of Pisces, leaving Jupiter as the night ruler, and Pluto was the day ruler of Scorpio with Mars as the night ruler. The use of dual rulerships in a manner such as this was also known as "co-rulership". Some astrologers believed that the new co-rulers were primary rulers of the signs with which they were associated and might have been sole rulers of those signs, and if that was the case, two other planets, one linked to

, and the other to

, may await discovery, thus eliminating the need for dual rulership of a sign. Although the status of Ceres has not been conclusively decided at the moment in astrology, it has been suggested as the ruler of

. For some modern astrologers including many European astrologers, it is the ruling planet of

based upon observation of its role in synastric charts. Significantly, the generation of astrologers who first encountered Ceres in the early 19th century after its discovery, before its demotion to an asteroid in the middle of the 19th century, assigned it rulership of Virgo. For a minority of astrologers, it is the ruling planet of

along with Venus.

Rulership of houses

Some modern astrologers assign what is called "natural" rulership of each

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

of the horoscope to a different

, in the same way as the zodiac signs are said to have rulers. Traditionally, however, the rulership of houses was understood to apply only in the individual birth-chart, in what is called "accidental" rulership. This understanding is followed by most astrologers. In this case, the rulership of a house in the "native's" horoscope is associated with the planets that rule the sign on the cusp of the house and with any planets found on or near the house cusp. The ruling planet guides the expression of the planets occupying that house, similar to the way a planet on the ASC expresses and mediates the expression of planets throughout the chart as they filter through one's personality (symbolized by the ASC and 1st house.) There are several different scenarios that one can use to determine the rulership of a house: *If the first house cusp is, say, 0 degrees

and the second house cusp is 0 degrees Taurus, the house will be ruled solely by Aries. *If, for example, the second house cusp is 25 degrees Taurus and the third house cusp is 22 degrees Gemini then the 2nd house will have Venus as its primary ruler and Mercury as its secondary ruler since the majority of the house falls in Gemini. The closer the beginning of a sign is to a house cusp, the more power its planetary ruler has in that house. Some astrologers do not consider secondary rulers of houses in this type of scenario but only rulers of house cusps which are primary. *If, as an example, the fourth house cusp is 25 degrees Capricorn and the fifth house cusp is 8 degrees Pisces then the house will have Aquarius intercepted. It will have Saturn as its primary ruler, but in addition to Saturn, Uranus, will play a role in the matters of the house though in a more hidden and less obvious way. Neptune will also play a role if any planets are in Pisces between 0-7 degrees. * If a house cusp or angle is at 29 degrees of any sign, the following sign's ruler will be the house's co-ruler. Some apply this rule of shared rulership for angles that are 25-29 degrees of a mutable sign, within 5 degrees of a cardinal solstice or equinox point. When a person attempts to determine the rulership of a house, the more planets or bodies that rule the house, the more complex the matters of that house will be. Especially when aspects to the rulers are considered. Generally, the sign on the cusp will be the outward representation of the rulership. The ruler of the sign inside the house will not be readily apparent but will manifest itself at critical points in a person's life and in deciding life directions. Meaning, the ruler of the sign inside the house imparts its values and shares 'executive decision' making but is not involved in the actions taken or the outward expression of matters of that house. As in the case of intercepted houses, the sign that is in the middle of the house is the sign that the native must transcend before he can progress to the next phase of the house's rulership. Therefore, as in the previous example, if a house is intercepted with the sign of Capricorn then the native must will initially present with many Capricorn qualities and will have to work somewhat behind the scenes to get the Aquarian qualities to express. Ultimately, intercepted Aquarius and Uranus will express itself but be mediated strongly through Capricorn and its ruler, Saturn.

Rulerships of signs

Many modern astrologers still use Mars as a primary ruler of Scorpio with Pluto as a secondary ruler. A distinction must be made between 'ancient', traditional, and modern rulerships, particularly in light of the fact that ancient astrology is not known to have assigned what we commonly think of as sign rulerships. Furthermore, the ancients assigned domal dignity to the north and south

node In general, a node is a localized swelling (a "knot") or a point of intersection (a vertex). Node may refer to: In mathematics * Vertex (graph theory), a vertex in a mathematical graph *Vertex (geometry), a point where two or more curves, lines ...

s of the Moon, although these do not qualify as rulerships since the nodes do not have governance over any signs. Significant disagreement exists within the Western astrological community about some of the signs that are often still said to share rulers which is a problem that is taking time to resolve. Many suggestions have been made, but consensus could take decades, as it did in the cases of Uranus and Neptune.

Dispositors

A dispositor is a delineation of planetary rulership to the signs. For instance, if Mercury is in Libra, its disposition is Venus, if Venus is in turn in Sagittarius, its disposition is Jupiter, and if Jupiter is Cancer its disposition is the Moon. This process continues until there is a final disposition (sign in its rulership) or it circles in a never-ending chain of command.

Usage

Classical astrologers whose methods are rooted in traditional methods do not use any of the outer planets not recognized by the ancients as the rulers of any of the 12 signs, preferring the traditional rulership scheme. On the other hand, most modern, psychologically-oriented astrologers do use the outer planets as ruling planets of those particular three signs listed above. Others also use ancient rulers while using modern planets as the co-ruler of those signs. Other astrologers do not use any of the planets as sign rulers ( Cosmobiologists, Uranian astrologers,

Hamburg School of Astrology The German Hamburg School of Astrology (root school of the international Uranian Astrology offshoot) is a school of astrology based on the teachings of surveyor, astrologer and amateur astronomer Alfred Witte. It is characterized by use of astr ...

, other groups/individuals), preferring to focus more on the

astrological aspect In astrology, an aspect is an angle that Planets in astrology, planets make to each other in the horoscope; as well as to the Ascendant, Midheaven, descendant (astrology), Descendant, Imum coeli, Lower Midheaven, and other points of astrological ...

s and other portions of the

horoscope A horoscope (or other commonly used names for the horoscope in English include natal chart, astrological chart, astro-chart, celestial map, sky-map, star-chart, cosmogram, vitasphere, radical chart, radix, chart wheel or simply chart) is an ast ...

instead that lend themselves more easily to empirical study. Most

astrologers Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions of celesti ...

practicing Vedic astrology (Jyotish) only use the traditional rulership system.

References

{{Reflist

External links

* http://www.astroprofile.com/planets.htm Western astrological signs id:Domisil (astrologi)