THE STELLAR PERSPECTIVERuling Planets
The factors at a judgment moment
Ruling planets are identified for a specified inquiry or judgment time and location. A commonly used basic set comprises the ascendant star lord, ascendant sign lord, Moon star lord, Moon sign lord and weekday lord.
| Factor | Description |
|---|---|
| Ascendant star lord | Nakshatra lord of the actual ascendant at the selected moment |
| Ascendant sign lord | Sign ruler of that ascendant |
| Moon star lord | Nakshatra lord of the Moon |
| Moon sign lord | Sign ruler of the Moon |
| Day lord | Weekday ruler under the adopted day convention |
Conventions and extensions
Some methods add the ascendant sub-lord or Moon sub-lord. A sunrise-to-sunrise astrological day and the civil calendar weekday can differ before sunrise. The adopted convention should remain visible, along with any node-representation and retrogression filtering rules.
The actual ascendant used for ruling planets should be distinguished from the number-selected ascendant of a horary chart. Both are associated with the inquiry, but they are not automatically the same position.
Comparison with event significators
Planets common to the ruling-planet set and an independently constructed event-significator list receive attention in the adopted method. A repeated planet may fill several roles; repetition records those roles rather than a measured increase in probability.
Question validity
Some horary approaches compare the ascendant, Moon and ruling planets before judging the question. Such conventions are part of the method; a missing connection is not evidence that a person is dishonest or that an answer has been divinely prohibited.