What a great question. Hard for me to know personally, since my chart ruler is the Moon. But this could be why I like all the Moon sign transits… I can’t really name a bad one for me. I even find something to like when the Moon’s in Capricorn, because it’s in my 7th and I’m a Libra. This is so on a different par than a Saturn transit though, it’s hard to judge. I will say that every time the Moon crosses my NN in Scorpio, I’m in a terrible, uneasy mood. I can’t figure out why, but I know because I’ve been journaling it.

Sure would like to hear from some Scorpio Risings about Pluto transits.

Word Angela. I am a Scorpio rising.

In my natal chart I have Pluto sextile my Ascendant but right now I have Neptune square Neptune, Neptune opposition Jupiter, Uranus opposition Sun and Uranus opposition Pluto.

Bartender. Make it a double.

As Sadge rising is hard to tell how my ruler could to harm me in some way. When Jup receives hard, very hard aspects (mainly if venus is hard aspected too) I can be unprotected and the very hard double T square on my moon shows all his toxicity. That was the case when Pluto -12Th squared Jup 9 house I literally collapsed. On the other hand a friend of mine haves a heavy saturn transit on 12th - He is fine and received instantaneously without guarantees or forms a loan that solved his life, when a dependant recognized him. He have a strong saturn in libra rising.

That’s a good question, Elsa, I have a tenth house Aquarian sun opposite natal Uranus, so I suppose that would make my ruling planet Uranus, though I have Taurus on the ascendant. But I’m not monied, not even well off, so Venus, though it sits close to my midheaven isn’t even in the running.

Recently Uranus finished harassing my moon, and though we came close, I didn’t lose the house (not yet anyway). So maybe we don’t fare as badly as someone else who doesn’t have a certain planet as their chart’s ruler when it makes an important transit in their chart.

Can anyone give me a hint as to how to know the Chart Ruler?

mercury moves so fast…
but i’m usually pretty in tune with it.
though the rest of the world doesn’t seem to like it when i reorient my focus during mercury retrograde.

and i usually can use hard mercury aspects to get around to difficult communication. though maybe i could do such things at other points a little easier if i didn’t have two hard aspects to my natal mercury…

Thanks Satori

well, i have a needs-work kind of theory about how people have it wrong about saturn and jupiter transits to begin with. saturn, for me, usually starts off with some kind of less-than-desirable or scary experience but moves on to be “beneficial”, whereas jupiter seems to be the opposite. my opportunities come via saturn. then again, i might have learned to work with that kind of slow energy because i initially grew up in a very saturn-like household & have a sun-saturn trine.

my chart ruler is venus, and i don’t usually even notice venus transits - if so, it tends to be pretty vague or emotionally based or neutral. if a planet transits my venus, though, it tends not to be missed. hard aspects are very much noticeable. saturn conjunct my venus when i was a teenager essentially changed my entire life, and other planets aspecting my venus before then and since are plenty obvious.

“Can anyone give me a hint as to how to know the Chart Ruler?”

“your rising sign determines the chart ruler.”

Yes and no.

“The Ruling Planet is usually the designated planetary ruler of the Ascendant, but can be another strong planet (such as the Sun-ruler, Moon-ruler, most elevated etc) if the ascendant-ruler is weak by sign or aspect.”

Beth– so how would you determine a secondary chart-ruler?

well, of course i pay attention to sun/moon rulers as well.

but i sure know uranus transits can smash things up like crazy. calling that good, or bad is a little hard to gauge. though i will say i’m growing the instincts to get out of the way over time, which i guess maybe i could thank my moon for? or maybe it’s just easy to see the liberation in the mess which validates it for me….
old school rulership-wise, well saturn transits hurt and i’m getting better about learning how to work with them, but i’ve a saturn/uranus square natally so i tend to see the two energies in conflict.

so, all my ruling planets are in hard aspect to something (in the case of mars, a square’s the _only_ aspect.) but in my case i think that means i’ve been forced to get really in tune with them because otherwise i end up hurt. so it seems like six of one, half a dozen of the other, as far as the original question goes….

I’d have a hard time backing the statement that all transits of a chart ruler are beneficial, because so much depends on the condition of the rulers in the natal chart in the first place! I’d put it like this: all transits of a chart ruler have an enhanced effect, and will trigger the potential in the natal chart by a higher factor than if it were a transit of, say, the fifth-strongest planet in the chart.

Other planets can affect you fairly strongly if they are tightly bound with your natal chart rulers or are “strengthened by sign,” I’ve discovered. For instance, one of my chart rulers is the Moon (Cancer AC) and it’s in Capricorn in my 6th. My natal Saturn opposes it almost exactly. I feel Saturn transits very keenly most of the time, even though that’s the only Saturn/Capricorn energy in my chart. Saturn transits trigger Capricorn (my ruler Moon and my noticeable daily routine) and my natal Saturn (which puts stress on said Moon.) It’s annoying when it’s Saturn, that’s for sure.

I also have so many Aquarian planets, such a strong Uranus placement, and such a heavy 11th house that Uranus transits get me, too, even though it’s also not a “ruler.” I like those, though…Uranus transits are wild!

If you keep records and pay attention, you can get a decent feel for which planets affect you most. It may or may not be one of your official chart rulers, as Beth pointed out. Yeah, it’s pretty complicated, but so are people, lol!