Domicile (astrology) - Rulership of Houses

Rulership of Houses

Many modern astrologers assign what is called a 'natural' rulership of each house of the horoscope to a different planet, in the same way as the zodiac signs are said to have rulers. Traditionally, however, rulership of houses was understood to apply only in the individual birth-chart, in what is called an 'accidental' rulership. In this case, co-rulership of a house in the 'native's' horoscope is shared by planets that rule the sign on the cusp and any sign intercepted within the house and planets occupying that house. There are several different scenarios that one can use to determine rulership of a house:-

• If by chance the first house cusp is, say, 0 degrees Aries 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 0 degrees Taurus and the third house cusp is 5 degrees Gemini then the house will have Venus as its primary ruler and Mercury as its secondary ruler.

• If, as an example, the fourth house cusp as 27 degrees Libra on it and the fifth house cusp has 8 degrees Sagittarius then the house will be intercepted. It will have Venus as its primary ruler, but in addition to Venus, Pluto, Mars, and Jupiter will be secondary rulers.

When a person attempts to determine the rulership of a house, the more planets or bodies that rule that house will reveal its complexity. Generally, the sign on the cusp will be the outward representation of the rulership, but 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.

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 Scorpio then the native must will be initially presented with many Libran qualities, but must work through those very intense issues of sex, death and regeneration before he will be able to enjoy the benefits of Jupiter, which will be the last and ultimate state the native must work through before he has fully experienced all of the aspects of that house.