posted January 22, 2006 07:08 PM              

You asked:

quote:

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Could someone please tell me what the importance of the chart ruler is? Is that what is used to "sum up" the thematic life experience this time around?...

Also, what bearing does Retrograde have on planets?...

And finally, what's the deal with the Equal House system? How do you really interpret a chart with Jupiter (retrograde) at 23' 19 Taurus in the 1st when then 2nd house cusp is 24' 46 Taurus.

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A "chart ruler" is commonly described as the planet which rules the sign of the Ascendant (self). So if the Aries modifies the Ascendant, Mars is the chart ruler (since Mars rules Aries). Some astrologers place a LOT of focus on the chart ruler, but I prefer to focus on the entire chart in interpretations and see which "keywords" are emphasized in the chart (for more about "keywords" see Step 5 in the link below).

People who have retrograde planets have to work very hard to use the energy of the retrograde planet. This results in them having difficulty expressing the energy of the planet when young, but strongly expressing this retrograde planetary energy later in life. Looking for retrograde planets in a chart can often indicate areas where people feel they "need to work on things".

There are different types of Equal Charts. One type uses the position of the Ascendant or Midheaven as the basis for all the house cusps. So if the Ascendant (or Midheaven) is 23'14 Gemini then every house cusp is 23'14 of the sign.

The second type uses the sign the Midheaven is in and then creates the chart based on 0 degrees of that sign on the first house cusp and so on all around the chart. So if the Ascendant is 23'14 Gemini then the first house cusp is 0 degrees Gemini and the rest of the house cusps are all in 0 degrees. In this system the Ascendant and Midheaven become points on the chart separate from the house cusps.

As to how to interpret planets on the edges of house cusps, some astrologers put planets whithin five degrees of the next house into the next house (Astrodienst does this in its interpretations). So in your example "Jupiter...at 23' 19 Taurus in the 1st when then 2nd house cusp is 24' 46 Taurus" would be interpreted as Jupiter in the 2nd house.

My system is different: I interpret the planet as being in BOTH houses at once. This keeps it simple and just makes sense to me. But that is only my way of handling this difficult astrological problem!

In both houses,

Tim

posted January 23, 2006 02:13 AM              

You were asking about:

quote:

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Ruler of chart is Mars in Leo in the 5th house, trine Asc in Aries, opposite Saturn in Aquarius (retrograde) in the 11th, square Jupiter in Taurus (retrograde) in the 2nd.

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As mentioned, I do not pay attention to the ruler of the chart but instead use "keywords":
- Leo modifying Mars focused in 5th house trine Aries modifying Ascendant

- Leo modifying Mars focused in 5th house opposite Aquarius modifying retrograde Saturn in Aquarius focused in 11th

- Leo modifying Mars focused in 5th house square Taurus modifying retrograde Jupiter focused in the 2nd

So there are three aspects to:
- Leo (self-expression) modifying Mars (being, also action) focused in 5th house (self-expression)

This indicates there is a VERY active self-expression in this person. They may tend to take "dramatic" actions which:
- trine (energy goes easily with) Aries (being, also action) modifying Ascendant (self) - (notice the repeating of "action")

- opposite (energy is over-excited by) Aquarius (friends) modifying retrograde (strong energy) Saturn (duty, also restriction) focused in 11th (friends) - (notice the strong "friends" influeneces)

- square (energy needs to be combined with) Taurus (physical, also values) modifying retrograde (strong energy) Jupiter (expansion, also wisdom) focused in the 2nd (physical, also values) - (notice the strong "values" influences)

So from this we see that "action" is VERY strong, but this action may be checked by friends or other persons around them, which could somehow affect the ability of this person to take action on their values. Because of the retrogrades, overcoming their restrictions (retrograde Saturn) and learning about their values (retrograde Jupiter) would tend to be very important for this person.

Keying in,

Tim