If you were born during the daytime (the Sun is above the ascendant-descendant line in your birth chart), then the Sun is your most important luminary and sect light. In modern astrology, your Sun sign is one of the most important placements, but from a traditional astrology perspective, it depends on the time of day you were born whether the Sun is actually the most important.⁣⁣ Both the Sun and Moon are luminaries and it really depends on the sect (day or night) of your chart which one is more important. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto don’t rule planets.

Please note that we use traditional rulership for this. Of course this can be slightly nuanced by the sign and house placement of your chart ruler (which will further influence strength or dominance), but in most cases you can say that your ruling planet will have a strong influence on your chart and your life. And a person with Aries or Scorpio on the ascendant will have strong feautures that correspond with the planet Mars.

Taking all of these things into consideration, it may be clear why the ruling planet of your ascendant plays such an important role in your chart! In general, you can say that when you are, for example, a Taurus or Libra rising, that Venus is dominant and important in your birth chart as she rules your ascendant. In addition, the ruling planet of your ascendant represents your physical body and overall health. It is the planet that represents “you” in the chart. The ascendant ruler is your helmsman, or captain, which determines how you reach your final destination. If you think of your birth chart as a ship, the ascendant represents the helm of the ship and the direction you are heading. The sign on your ascendant will tell you something about your unique path in life, but the ruling planet of the ascendant decides how you walk that path. While this is certainly true, the ruling planet of your ascendant may be even more important. Many modern astrologers place a lot of emphasis on the ascendant as an important point of the chart. Here’s a few quick ways to check which placements and planets are particularly strong or dominant in your own birth chart: Your ruling planet has the strongest influence in your life This has everything to do with the difference between essential and accidental dignity. In fact, there is a big difference between a planet that is strong versus a planet that is dominant. You might often hear people mention they have a “strong Mercury” or a “dominant Mars”, but what does that really mean and how do you know whether a planet is strong or dominant in your chart? While there are different schools of thought that may offer different perspectives on this question, in traditional astrology there are actually easy ways to determine the strong or dominant placements in your chart.

Degrees birth chart