You’ll find that tracking your ascendant ruling planet in real-time as it interacts with your natal chart will correlate with events and changes in your life. These could be changes in what you’re interested in, challenges you face, opportunities that come up in your life, or new inner desires. These shifts can manifest in various ways, big and small, and can influence many different parts of your life – relationships or friendships, career, personal style, family life, etc.
As a general rule, astrology transits can be psychological, literal, or both. Sometimes they mirror shifts that we feel occurring inwardly which we may then express outwardly in the world. Other times, transits are reflective of physical changes to our body, visible changes in our environment, or literal events that unfold in our lives and in the lives of those around us.
Just tracking this one planet alone and how it interacts with your natal chart can seriously level up your understanding of astrology and give you both short and long-term guidance. It’s a wonderful way to begin to flow with the planets rather than working against the energies you’re most likely feeling.
The ascendant ruler guides your life journey
Your Ascendant Ruler is arguably one of the most important planets to track and pay attention to. Think of this planet as a lifelong guide. (Ancient astrologers sure did.)
Imagine this scene for me if you will:
You step out of your house, ready to head out into the world for the day. You close and lock your front door, then upon turning around to face the yard and street, you notice someone standing behind you extending their hand toward you. That person behind you is your ascendant ruler. (I’d love to describe them to you, but, in my opinion, they look a lot different based on which planet they are.)
I like to imagine all of the Aries risings out there (Mars is their ascendant ruler) with some sort of warrior greeting them at the door every morning!
Maybe the Taurus risings (Venus is their ascendant ruler) are walking down the street following a well-dressed designer, guitar-wielding musician, or artist with paint-splattered overalls.
Gemini rising (Mercury is their ascendant ruler) might open the door to a chatty curious bookworm. This imagery can help you get into the vibe of your ascendant ruler so have fun playing with it.
Who is your planetary guide?
I’ve included a list of the traditional and modern rulers here for your reference in discovering who your planetary guide is. If you don’t know what I mean by traditional vs. modern ruler- I’ll make a long story short.
Traditional rulers were used when astrologers only worked with the seven visible planets (the ones they could see).
With the advent of new technology and galaxy-gazing scientists, humans ‘discovered’ Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. So, astrologers worked those planets into the system of rulership.
If your ascendant sign has both a traditional & modern ruler, it’s up to you to decide whether you use only one or both of those planets as your guide. If it sounds daunting or confusing to make this decision, keep in mind that there are many successful and insightful astrologers out there using only traditional rulers, only modern rulers, or both.
- Aries – Mars
- Taurus – Venus
- Gemini – Mercury
- Cancer – The Moon
- Leo – The Sun
- Virgo – Mercury
- Libra – Venus
- Scorpio – Mars (traditional), Pluto (Modern)
- Sagittarius – Jupiter
- Capricorn – Saturn
- Aquarius – Saturn (traditional), Uranus (Modern)
- Pisces – Jupiter (traditional), Neptune (Modern)
Now when I’m having a good day, I take the hand of that planetary guide and I happily allow them to show me the direction we’re heading in that day, week, month, or year – you catch my drift. But when I’m having a bad day, I dramatically smack their hand off to the side only to run out into the yard and off in the complete opposite direction that they were about to lead me in.
Not today la luna!
We’ve all been there. And this is what I meant in the section above where I mentioned working against the planetary energies instead of with them. Unfortunately, all this does is make life feel more difficult, frustrating, and stagnant than it should. But, hey, that’s life. Sometimes we just don’t have the inner capacity or mental resources to follow our inner guide.
Anyway, now you have a good (and slightly amusing) mental image of your planetary guide. Let’s talk about how to best allow them to take the lead.
How do I track my ascendant ruler?
There are a few ways to check in with your planetary guide as they sojourn through the cosmos:
- Tracking the zodiac sign that your ascendant ruler is traveling through. (The characteristics, ideals, style, and overall vibe of that zodiac sign might become more prominent in your behavior.) For example, you might become more courageous, direct, and impulsive while your ascendant ruler moves through the sign of Aries.
- Tracking the aspects that your ascendant ruler is making to other planets. (The archetypes of those planets might become more prevalent in your life or you might notice that the functions and processes represented by those planets elevate in importance during the period of that transit.) For instance, while your ascendant ruler makes an aspect to Saturn you might notice that you begin consciously working to integrate the archetype of the master or you notice an inner urge to be more responsible, mature, or disciplined.
- Tracking the house that your ascendant ruler is traveling through. To track this you’ll need to overlay the chart of the transiting planets with your natal chart. When your transiting ascendant ruler moves to a new house of your astrological birth chart, the activities of that house could come to the forefront of your mind and your life. Like when your ascendant ruler moves through the 4th house of your natal chart, you might be more engaged in activities around your home and with your family.
Why should I track my ascendant ruler?
So this is how we really begin to use this planet as the guide it was described as by ancient astrologers. A common term used to describe the ascendant ruler is the helm. The helm resides at the front of a ship and this is the area from which the boat is steered. So not only is this planet guiding you based on where it’s placed in your natal chart, but it’s also literally guiding your life as it transits around your natal chart in real-time. How cool is that!
Honestly, when we understand certain concepts in astrology, we sorta have a leg up in life compared with the people who don’t know these magical secrets.
Let’s say that you know in advance that your ascendant ruler is getting ready to enter the sign of Sagittarius. So you begin to actively think about how you can embody the energy of Sagittarius more in your life for that period. Perhaps you begin consciously working to feel more enthusiastic, inspired, and spontaneous.
OR
Maybe you realize that you’ve been feeling more upbeat and adventurous for about a week or so.. You’re not sure why, so you check one of your handy dandy astrology apps only to note that your ascendant ruler has entered the sign of the archer, and BOOM. Instant validation and reassurance. Thanks, astrology!
Perhaps your ascendant ruler is getting ready to make a conjunction with Venus. So you think “Hmm.. my planetary guide might be getting ready to ask me how I can be more Venusian in my day-to-day life. Maybe I will sign up for that art class that my bestie was telling me about.”
And somewhere in the sky… your planetary guide smiled down upon you. (At least, that’s how I like to imagine it happening.)
And all of this is good and fine – but try not to get too obsessive (lookin’ at you Scorpio) and be mindful not to expect the worst! (ahem* cough* Capricorn* cough* cough*)
So, I hope these examples have illustrated for you a simple, but effective way to begin to use your astrological knowledge that is practical and grounded. At the very least, using this technique will deepen your understanding of transits and you’ll probably have many good laughs at just how accurate predictive astrology can be.
