Understanding Planetary Rulership: An Introduction to Domicile in Hellenistic Astrology
Hi everyone, welcome to the first video in my series on planetary dignities, a core concept in Hellenistic astrology. These talks are part of the Twin Cities Astrology Meetup, which I co-host each month with astrologer Nicole Coenan. Over the next several months, I’ll be walking through the different types of dignity—both essential and accidental—and how they can help us better understand the planets in our charts. Each month, I’ll focus on a new type of dignity, breaking it down in a straightforward way and offering examples and exercises to help you apply these ideas to your own chart.
In this first video, I introduce the concept of dignity itself, explain the different types, and then focus on domicile. Domicile, also known as planetary rulership, is when a planet is in the sign it rules, like a planet being at home. When a planet is in its own sign, it’s strong, comfortable, and has special power to influence the topics associated with that sign. We’ll explore how each planet “rules” certain areas of life based on the houses and signs in your chart. Using examples like Martin Luther King Jr.’s birth chart, I explain how transits to a planet in domicile can ripple out and affect multiple areas of your life.
You’ll find the full transcript of the session below, along with a link to the video. If you have questions, feel free to leave a comment—I always enjoy hearing from you! Thanks for joining me, and I hope you find this series helpful as we dive into these techniques together.
Transcript (modified)
Introduction
Hi, this is Cathy Gnatek. I'm a professional astrologer from the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Each month, I host the Twin Cities Astrology Meetup with astrologer Nicole Conan.
We have just begun a series on the Hellenistic concept of planetary dignities. That sounds a little complicated, but basically, there are different methods to understand the power of different planets in your birth chart.
This is a great technique if you're a beginner to astrology and want to learn more about the planets in your birth chart—this is a great first step. It’s also wonderful for people who practice modern astrology and want to learn a little bit about some of the more complex techniques in Hellenistic astrology that help deepen our understanding of planets for our clients.
When I work with these techniques and have people come in for readings, it really helps me not only understand the planets in their chart but also the areas of their life that are ruled by those planets. We're going to get into that in this very first session so you’ll understand what I mean.
It really deepens the meaning of a reading. For example, if you know the planet that rules your seventh house of partnership, you can look for that planet in the person's birth chart and understand that it’s responsible for everything that has to do with relationships. So whenever there's a transit to that planet, it could affect seventh-house topics.
Again, we’ll get into that in the upcoming video. I love these techniques! So, each month over the next 10 months, I'll take a different dignity and take 20 or 30 minutes to explain it.
I also offer exercises at the end of each video or presentation—questions you can use to work with these techniques in your birth chart or with clients' charts to really help you apply what you learn.
Feel free, if you have questions after doing the exercises, to drop a comment in the comments section. I love to answer questions and help teach astrology to people—this is just my joy in life.
If you enjoy the video, like and subscribe. It helps people find my content. Without further ado, here we go!
Introduction to Planetary Rulership, An Example
I'm going to share a screen from the presentation from yesterday. These are the slides.
As I was saying at the beginning of the meetup, Nicole and I have both studied Hellenistic astrology. I also weave in traditional and all kinds of other systems, but it’s the grounding for our astrological practice.
One of the reasons we like it is because it’s so complex. There’s so much that you can learn. Once you get past the basics of houses, signs, aspects, and things like that, you can really get grounded in the strength of planets in your chart and what each planet is responsible for—what topic area of your life each planet is responsible for.
This can be a way to add nuance and complexity to your interpretation of your birth chart. But also, when transits hit, you're going to know something about the topic area of your life that will be affected.
So, when a transit hits one of your birth planets—one of the inner planets like the Sun, Moon, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, or Saturn (though Jupiter and Saturn aren’t necessarily inner planets)—these are the seven basic planets responsible for ruling the different signs in Hellenistic astrology.
When a transit hits one of those planets, you can look and see what houses that planet rules and where that planet falls. That’s going to tell you a little bit about the topic area of your life that might be affected by that big transit.
I’ll give you an example using the planet Pluto. Usually, it’s the big outer planets that carry the biggest impact when they hit our inner planets.
Say Pluto is going to be hitting your Moon three times over a period of two years. Pluto moves really slowly. (see image below). You can understand the area of transformation your life may take because Pluto—the God of the Underworld—is associated with transformation in our lives.
By looking at the house your Moon is in, you can understand what will be affected. Say your Moon is in the third house—then something around how you communicate may transform. You might have transformations in your relationships with siblings. These are some of the third-house topics.
Then, you would also look at the sign ruled by the Moon, which is Cancer. Wherever Cancer is in your chart, that house is going to be transformed as well—the topics of that house.
For example, if the Moon rules the ninth house, you might have transformations around higher education, philosophy, religion, or international travel.
One more thing I would say is that when Pluto hits a planet like the Moon, you can also look at the topics of the Moon itself to understand where the shakeup might be. Things around your emotions, relationships with your mother, or your body—those things can change as well.
So, you see the depth that you can add when you understand this.
The Concept of “Dignity” in Hellenistic Astrology
That’s just kind of the big picture of what we’re going to talk about today, which is planetary rulership. Planetary rulership is just one of many types of what Hellenistic astrologers call "dignity" in your chart. These are things that can affect the power of a planet in your chart or help you interpret its meaning.
There are two types of dignity. This first part is really big picture, so don’t worry about knowing everything on the slides that are coming up—this is just giving you the framework for the next eight discussions we’re going to have around dignity.
The two types are essential dignity and accidental dignity. Essential dignity refers to the inherent strength or weakness of a planet based on its position in the Zodiac. It’s determined by how well that planet aligns with the natural qualities of a given sign.
For example, Mars rules Scorpio. When Mars is in Scorpio, it’s super happy because it’s in its own sign. That’s going to add some essential dignity to that planet.
But there's another idea too, which is that Mars is what's called exalted in Capricorn. There's something very natural about Mars energy—about that yang, “I want to accomplish something, I’m going to push myself forward”—that vibes with the energy of that Earth sign, Capricorn. And that gives it dignity.
You can even think symbolically: why would Mars do well in a sign like Capricorn? Well, Capricorn is an Earth sign with cardinal energy. It likes to start things, and it’s about ambition. You can see the resonance between Mars and ambition.
So that’s, in part, where we get or derive this idea of exaltation. We'll talk about exaltation in the next class.
For now, we're talking about planetary rulership. I just wanted to give you a sense of what essential dignity means through some examples.
The other types of essential dignity that we’re going to talk about are listed here. We’re going to focus on rulership, exaltation, exile, and fall. We’ll cover those in the next four classes.
But there are also other types of dignity: triplicity, whether a planet is in its term or bounds, and whether it’s in its own face or decan.
If you know anything about decans, I’m doing a YouTube series called Decan Walk, where I talk at length about the meaning of decans. You can always check that out.
If you're interested in taking a deeper dive into these other essential dignities that we’re not covering today, you at least have them listed here. You can play around with them, learn, and bring questions to us. But it would just be too much to cover all of these today.
You can see that the power of a planet is strongest, for example, when it’s in its own domicile. When it’s exalted, the power is a little different, and so on. There are gradations of how much these dignities offer strength to a planet, with decanic or term dignity being the weakest forms of dignity for a planet.
So, that’s essential dignity—it has to do with the innate sense of power of the planet, whether it feels “happy” in that sign.
Then there’s something called accidental dignity. Accidental dignity refers to the strength or weakness of a planet based on its position in a specific chart, rather than its inherent compatibility with the sign.
This depends on factors like what house it’s placed in, what aspects other planets make to it, and its condition in the chart.
House placement, for example, is something you’ve heard me talk about before if you’ve been here. Whenever you have a planet in the first, fourth, seventh, or tenth house, that’s called the kentron.
Participant: “Kentron?”
Response: Yes, kentron. It’s a Greek term. A kentron was a tool used in ancient Greece to prod an animal—like a horse or camel—to get it moving.
The idea is that planets in these houses have this superpower to get things moving. By contrast, planets in succeeding or cadent houses have less power. We’ll talk about that when we teach this part of the series.
After we talk about the four forms of essential dignity—fingers crossed, because I sometimes change my mind—we’ll hopefully move on to accidental dignity for each class after that.
We’ll also talk about planetary sect, aspects (which we’ve already touched on), and joy. You can never learn too much about aspects. It’s always helpful to remind yourself of the meaning of the different types of aspects that affect a planet.
For example, the two benefic planets are Venus and Jupiter. The two malefic, or challenging, planets are Mars and Saturn.
If you have your Sun and Jupiter is in a nice trine to it—an overcoming superior trine, where Jupiter has more power—that really helps your Sun in your chart. Your Sun gains power from that.
Similarly, if Venus is in a positive aspect to a planet in your chart, that really helps that planet.
But if Mars or Saturn is in an overcoming square—squares are difficult aspects—it can really challenge that planet in your chart. This is foundational in astrology and helps you understand your chart much more deeply.
The last thing we’ll probably talk about is joy. Certain planets have extra power depending on what house they fall in. For example, the Moon has its joy in the third house, the Sun has its joy in the ninth house, and so on.
This introduces some of the more interesting ideas in Hellenistic astrology—ideas we don’t hear about as much in modern astrology.
So that’s kind of the big picture.
Planetary Dignity, Part 1: “Domicile” or “Rulership”
Now I’m going to introduce you to the idea of planetary rulership.
This image on the left is the Thema Mundi, a hypothetical chart of the world that Hellenistic astrologers used, where Cancer was the rising sign.
The Thema Mundi was used as a way to understand the basic structure of the relationships between the planets. It’s also the source of the meanings of the aspects—oppositions, trines, and squares—and the relationships between the signs.
The chart begins with Cancer rising, which reflects the Moon's rulership over the sign and its connection to the nurturing and life-giving qualities of Earth.
The Thema Mundi illustrates the natural order of planetary rulerships, with each planet ruling a sign based on its proximity to the Sun and Moon.
These two luminaries—the Sun and Moon—are the things that light our way. They’re the root of everything in astrology. The Sun lights the path during the day, and the Moon lights the path during the night.
It also explains the logic behind the aspects—oppositions, trines, squares—and the relationships between the signs.
You can see here, really simply, that the first planet is Mercury, which is the planet closest to the Earth. It’s also the closest to the Sun.
And then, if you look at the sky, there’s an order to these planets. Mercury is the closest. Then we have Venus. If you’re looking up at the sky in connection to the Earth, then we have Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.
We’re going to use the Thema Mundi, which identifies the planets that rule the different signs, as the basis for learning rulership or domicile.
Nicole: “Okay, I have one point to that.”
Response: Yes, do you want me to go back?
Nicole: “Sure.”
Nicole: Okay, so one other thing to keep in mind when we’re talking about proximity to the Sun and the Moon, and why the planets are where they are—what houses they go to—is that Mercury doesn’t get any more than 28 degrees away from the Sun.
So, when you’re looking at it, Mercury can’t go any farther than Gemini or Virgo if the Sun is in Leo. It can’t get any farther away. Venus, on the other hand, is 48 degrees away from the Sun. If the Sun is in Leo, Venus can’t get any farther than Taurus or Libra.
Then, you start to get a little bit of a broader range. Mars can actually be anywhere in your chart.
Cathy: “The other three planets, yeah.”
Nicole: The other three planets—Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn—are farther out. It starts to look more like the solar system. Mars is the next planet out, followed by Jupiter, and then Saturn. This gives you an idea of why they’re placed where they are in that order.
Cathy: By the way, on my website, I did a class on the inferior planets, Mercury and Venus, and their orbits. It can be helpful to understand that idea. Because of how the Earth is positioned in the solar system, we never see Mercury and Venus move more than those degrees. They always reach a retrograde and become either the Morning Star or the Evening Star.
For a deeper dive on those ideas and their orbits, you can check that out.
Cathy: So today, we’re going to learn about rulership.
When a planet is in a sign that it rules, it’s comfortable with that energy. It’s part of the nature of that sign to have that energy.
Deriving the Meaning of a Sign by Understanding what Planet rules the Sign, its Elemental Nature (Earth, Air, Fire, or Water), and its Modality (Cardinal, Fixed, or Mutable)
Not only can you learn what planets rule which signs to help you understand transits, but knowing the planet that rules a sign can also help you understand the sign itself.
If you know the planet that rules a sign, what element it is (Earth, Air, Fire, or Water), and what mode it is (Cardinal, Fixed, or Mutable), then you don’t need anyone else to tell you the meaning of that sign—you can figure it out yourself.
For example, let’s take Capricorn. It’s a Cardinal Earth sign ruled by Saturn. Saturn represents limitations, boundaries, and hard work that pays off over time. Earth is about building things in the real world, and Cardinal energy likes to start things.
So, Capricorn is a sign that’s about achieving things in the real world and doing the hard work it takes to get there. Do you see? You can derive the meanings of a sign just by knowing those three things.
Participant: “I get a little confused about what energy is imparted. So, is it the sign that imparts the energy, or is it the planet?”
Cathy: That’s a great question! The sign has a quality to it, and the planet moving into the sign is affected by that quality.
So, the sign has the energy or the way of being, and the planets are like the actors on the stage.
The houses, then, are the areas of life—they’re like the themes or settings for what’s happening.
For example, Venus in Capricorn is like the Queen Goddess moving into the area of hard work and achievement.
Participant: “like Queen Elizabeth?”
Cathy: Exactly! You can think of these as stories you tell yourself.
This isn’t about going into the meaning of each sign right now, but it’s helpful to know that you can derive a lot of these ideas yourself. If you ever forget something, you can play with the symbology of the modalities.
For example, ask yourself:
Does the sign start things (Cardinal)?
Does it like to stay fixed (Fixed)?
Or does it prefer to be flexible and adaptable (Mutable)?
Then, look at the ruler of the sign. That planet’s energy adds to your understanding of the sign, along with the element (Earth, Air, Fire, or Water).
Participant: “Okay, so clarifying question. I’ve been thinking about this concept of acting and theater. So, what I heard you say is that the house is the stage?”
Cathy: Yes, exactly! The house is the setting.
Participant: “And the planet would be the actor?”
Cathy: Yes.
Participant: “And the sign would be the director?”
Cathy: Hmm, that’s an interesting way to think about it. I’d say the sign feels more like the environment rather than the director.
For example, New York City might be the sign. The house would be like the restaurant or the home—it’s the specific setting for the story, like family or career.
Participant: “Got it.”
Cathy: By the way, there’s a branch of astrology where people act out charts—it’s called astrology theater. It’s a creative way to learn astrology. I’m not sure who does it, but it’s really cool.
Nicole and I have talked about doing exercises like that, where we “enter” the chart and interact with it. It’s a way to learn astrology that’s not just intellectual but also experiential.
Participant: “The fire belongs to the sign. Is that right?”
Cathy: Yeah, exactly. That’s the element of the sign. It’s the element of the sign, not the planet. Right. But it is the element of the sign—the element of the sign.
Participant: “So it’s like where the sign is in the sky or where the Moon is in the sky? I’m sorry, I got that wrong.
Cathy: I mean, I think the element is just part of the sign. It’s part of the sign. The element is part of the sign, the mode is part of the sign, and the planet that rules the sign helps you understand the sign as well.
Nicole: I also add in whether it’s, again, a receptive sign. Oh, there’s so much more. I usually add all of that in too. For example, is it a receptive-energy sign? Or is it a sign with outward energy?
Cathy: Earth and Water are feminine, while Air and Fire are masculine.
Hellenistic vs. Modern Astrology Understanding of “Rulership” of Signs
Participant: “Just out of curiosity, I know that sometimes there are actually two different planets that rule a sign…”
Nicole: Well, not in this system.
That’s what traditional rulership is about—there’s only going to be one ruler. Modern astrology has kind of added in some of those outer planets, saying, “Oh, this is kind of like that.” For example, Uranus is said to rule Aquarius.
Honestly, if I were to decide, I would say Uranus probably feels more like Gemini.
But in traditional rulership, we set aside those seven planets. When you’re looking at the Thema Mundi, you’ll understand why it just works better using traditional rulerships.
If you want to, you’re welcome to go, “Oh, there’s also a modern rulership for that.” But once you get to know this system, you’ll probably toss that idea out.
Cathy: One of the reasons modern rulerships don’t work is that transiting planets like Uranus aren’t going to affect Aquarius in the same way. Modern astrologers don’t typically use that idea. It’s just part of being able to use a system consistently.
To me, I’m sort of…what’s the word? Ecumenical? I’ll go with whatever works when I’ve tested it, but if you’re working within a system, it’s best to stay inside that system as you’re learning it.
Cathy: Now, we’ll move on to the example exercise.
So, we have all the planets that rule the different signs.
Rulership Example: Martin Luther King’s Chart
Now, we’re going to move on to the example exercise.
This is just an example of rulership. I gave one earlier, but I’ll go back and give another so you can understand it better.
You can figure out which planet is responsible for each topic in your life by looking at the planet that rules the sign on the cusp of the house.
For example, in Martin Luther King Jr.’s chart, Venus is in his 11th house in Pisces. Venus is responsible for first-house topics because Venus rules Taurus, which is on the cusp of his first house. Venus also rules sixth-house topics because Libra is on the cusp of his sixth house.
We’ll put up a chart in a second showing the topics of each of the 12 houses, as not everyone has them memorized.
The first house relates to self, body, character, and appearance.
The sixth house relates to work, health, illness, injuries, subordinates, and people who work for you.
But there’s more. I also think of the sixth house as relating to powerlessness.
In astrology, everything is archetypal—it’s symbolic. That means it opens up and can have multiple meanings. Don’t get caught up in the limited descriptions I’m giving you right now—these are just to help you get started.
When Martin Luther King Jr. experiences transits to his Venus—meaning planets in the sky are interacting with his Venus—you can see how these topics are affected.
For example, if Uranus hits his Venus, he might feel a strong urge to break free in relationships because Venus is connected to relationships.
But Uranus hitting Venus for Martin Luther King Jr. would also affect his first house (self and appearance) because Venus rules Taurus, which is on the cusp of his first house. He might start dressing differently because Uranus, the Great Awakener, is shaking up his chart ruler, Venus.
Or, Uranus hitting Venus might affect his sixth house (work and health). For example, he might suddenly experience an accident or an unexpected health event. Uranus often brings sudden, tower-like energy that shakes us up.
So, Venus transits don’t just affect relationships—they also affect the topics of the houses Venus rules.
Overview of House Topics
Exercise
Now we’ll practice with the idea of the strength of planets that are in their own “domicile,” that is they “rule” the sign they are in. I’ll hand out a worksheet with the exercise, and you can play with it. We’ll take about 15 minutes so we have time for a couple of people to volunteer their charts at the end.
You can also take this home and email me or Nicole if you have questions as you work on it.
Here are the exercise options for today:
Option 1:
If you’re just getting your feet wet with this topic, we’ll provide a blank Thema Mundi chart. You can fill it in by writing the names of the signs next to their symbols. For example, Cancer, Leo, and so on. Then, place the Sun, Moon, Mercury, etc., into their signs. Writing the symbols repeatedly will help you become familiar with them and their meanings.
One tip: the symbols themselves have meaning. For example:
The Moon looks like the Moon.
The Sun looks like the Sun.
Mercury is Hermes, the God with wings on his feet, and the symbol includes his little hat.
Venus is the symbol for woman.
Mars represents masculine, outward energy.
Jupiter relates to Zeus, and its symbol reflects that.
Saturn looks like a scythe, tying it to death and the Grim Reaper.
Playing with these symbols can help you connect to their meanings.
Option Two:
You can identify which planet rules each of your first, fourth, seventh, and tenth houses. These are the most important houses—the tent poles of your life:
The first house is "me"—your self, identity, and body.
The seventh house is about your partner or business relationships.
The fourth house represents home and family.
The tenth house is about career and public reputation.
By understanding which planet rules each of these houses, you can start to see how transits affect these key areas of your life.
For example, if Venus rules your tenth house of career and you really get to know what Venus represents in your chart, then anytime a planet—especially an outer planet—transits your Venus, you’ll begin to understand, on a deep level, how that transit might affect your career trajectory.
This exercise is designed to help you integrate some of these ideas.
Option Three:
You can go a little deeper and try to blend multiple layers of information. Start by identifying one planet in your chart—let’s use Mars as an example. Then, look at the signs Mars rules: Scorpio and Aries.
Next, locate the houses in your chart where those signs (Scorpio and Aries) fall. Finally, find where Mars itself is placed in your chart.
Now, try to get a feel for how these three areas of life might be connected.
Every time a transit hits Mars in your chart, it could potentially affect all three areas of your life. The only exception is if Mars is in one of its own signs (Scorpio or Aries), in which case it would affect only two areas.
Here’s an example:
Let’s say Mars is in Cancer, and Pluto is transiting Mars. If you’re a Cancer rising, this transit will affect your:
First house (because Mars is in Cancer, your rising sign).
Tenth house (because Mars rules Aries, which is on the cusp of your tenth house).
Fifth house (because Mars rules Scorpio, which is on the cusp of your fifth house).
A big transit to Mars, like this one, could influence:
Who you are as a person (first house).
Your career (tenth house).
How you express yourself, your creativity, or even your children (fifth house).
It might affect all three areas at once, or it could focus on just one or two.
Here’s a personal example:
Jupiter rules my 2nd and 5th houses. When Uranus transited my Jupiter, a major event involving my kids (5th house topic) happened—it was like an explosion of activity.
At first, I didn’t think it affected my second house, but then I realized it probably did because the second house relates to self-worth and values.
So, you can start to play with these ideas and see how transits to one planet could ripple across multiple areas of life. This is a little more advanced, but it’s a great way to deepen your understanding of astrology.
Cathy: Does this make sense to everyone?
Group: “Yes!”
Response: Awesome! I’ll go back to this slide and hand out the worksheet. This will help you remember the connections if you’re wondering about them later.
Closing
That’s the end of the video. I hope you enjoyed it! If you did, please like and subscribe, and feel free to leave a comment or a question.
We’ll see you next month with the video on exaltation. Thanks!