THE RULER OF YOUR ASCENDANT

The sun just started to blaze over the Anza-Borrego desert where I live. I am writing
these words in haste since I need to pack my bags and head for the Palm Springs
airport in four hours. From there, I have to make my way up to San Francisco and
points north to teach one of my Apprenticeship Programs. Michelle and I just arrived
here in the desert a week ago, so it hurts to leave home again so soon. We live
part of the time in New Orleans and we just completed the endless, three-day
cross-country drive to get here from there. When I close my eyes, Im still
hallucinating the white lines of the highway stretching out before me.

When I get back from this teaching trip, Ill only have about ten days at home
again before leaving to teach seminars in Beijing and Shanghai. When I get back
from Asia, I will once more only have about ten days at home before I leave to
teach the southern California edition of my Apprenticeship Program. That one is
easierjust a 90 minute drive and a five-day trip.

Does this sound like an insane way to live?
As I read over my words, that assessment sounds pretty accurate. But I am used to
it. I have been living this way for last the three decades. Anyone who looked at my
life from outside would see these same behavioral patterns consistently and
prominently: traveling, teaching, and writing.

And of course doing astrological readings: talking.
Teaching, writing, and talking: what astrological house are we spotlighting? Most
astrologers would say, correctly, the 3rd house. Some would astutely add the 9th
house for its link to education and publishing.

Traveling: what house carries that symbolism? Most astrologers would say, correctly,
the 9th. And some, if they had much practical experience, would mention the 3rd
house too.

Let me clarify that last point. In some of the older books, the 3rd House was related
to short journeys, while the 9th referred to long journeys. In my experience, its
not the length of the journey that counts, but rather how exotic or familiar it is. The
first time I went to China, it felt like a 9th House experience. This month, Ill make my
fourth trip. I will see familiar faces and places. I will hug old friends and catch up
with their lives. The trip feels a bit more like commuting. Thats the 3rd house
travel signature. It doesnt have the questing feeling of the 9th house.

So, still using myself as an example, anyone looking at me from the outside would
see a vivid 3rd/9th house fingerprint on my daily life. And, no surprise, both of
those houses are activated in my natal chart. I have Pluto in the 9th and a
Mars/Mercury conjunction on the cusp of the 3rd. But here is the critical linkand
the actual point of this essay: two of those planets, Pluto and Mars, are the rulers
of my chart. And that is what I want to explore here.

When I was born, Scorpio was rising. Go to an astrology conference and ask which
planet rules Scorpio and you may start a fistfight. Classically, the answer is Mars.
Modern astrologers favor Pluto. People argue vehemently on both sides of the
question. To me, that is silly. Both rulerships are valid. Mars and Pluto each have an
affinity with Scorpio, and that is what rulership is about.

And astrologers, since time immemorial, have recognized that the planet which rules
the ascendant plays a dramatically underscored role in a persons life. Thats why it
came to be called the ruler of the chart.

But why exactly?
To answer that, we need to think some deeper thoughts about the nature of the
ascendant. That is a big subject, but one elemental observation is that the ascendant
represents a persons style of manifestation. Heres what I mean: You meet someone
at a party, they say how are you? You say, Fine thanks, hows about you? They
say, Fine thanks. And you instantly like themor dislike them! Something of their
core nature shone through that superficial social behavior. We can learn a lot about
someone by how they say, Fine, thanks. Energy comes through every human
gesture.

I always think of the ascendant as the stained glass through which the light of the
psyche is shining. It translates the deeper n-dimensional layers of the psyche into the
3D world of social behavior. The ascendant is how you act in the world.

And that is the key to understanding why the planet that rules the ascendant is so
important. Like the ascendant itself, the ruler of the ascendant is behaviorally
activated. We see it very clearly in the existential and social behavior of a person.
The astrological birth chart holds many clues about profoundly intimate, even
hidden, elements of a persons experience and character. The ruler of the
ascendant may carry such deeper meaning as well. But it always carries that simple
signature of the ascendant itself: visible behavior.

So, off I go to yet another airport, to teach yet another class. Thats what my life
looks like. Is that what I am? Yes, sureand I am grateful for it. But I am not that
simple. And neither are you.

There is a planet that rules your ascendant too. Its in a sign and a house and it
makes aspects. Have a look at it from the point of view we have explored here. Do
that and you will, to paraphrase the words of the great Scots poet, Robert Burns,
see yourself as others see you.