The Astrology Center of America, 207 Victory Lane, Bel Air, MD 21014
Tel: 410-638-7761; Toll-free (orders only): 800-475-2272
Home Author Index Title Index Subject Index Vedic Books Tarot E-Mail:



Astrological Rulership Books


What, exactly, is Saturn said to rule, what are the keywords for the 11th house, what does the sign Taurus concern herself with, and how do these modern concepts compare to those of the medieval era? These books are essential for all advanced studies of astrology.

Indicates a book on our Top Ten list. If you would like to find more books like it, click on the star.

bills

THE RULERSHIP BOOK: A Directory of Astrological Correspondences - Rex E. Bills, $23.95

Contents:

Foreword
1. An alphabetical listing
2. A listing by planets
3. A listing by houses

Appendix:
Special listings:
Principle bones in the body, Vertebrae
Principle muscles of the body
Principle arteries of the body
Principle veins of the body
Chart of an organization
Flavors, Forms

Bibliography.

Comment: Classic, exhaustive listing of astrological rulerships, organized by alphabet, by sign, by planet, by house & by anatomy. Includes rulerships for Uranus, Neptune & Pluto. Be sure to read the foreword closely. In it, Bills gives valuable hints on how to adjust rulerships for specific situations. On the back of the book, it says, This volume is the result of a research project that drew together the thoughts of many others into a reference book, assuming the role of a dictionary to astrologers, but vastly more complete. It is the only place where all rulerships have been brought together & put in a good workable order [true, c. 1971]. It is organized in such a way that one can use the book for quick & easy reference, and it eleminates the need to search through various other volumes.

This is an essential reference, the bibliography is an excellent list of the better astrology books published in the first two-thirds of the 20th century.

AFA, 428 pages, paper.


lehman

THE BOOK OF RULERSHIPS: Keywords from Classical Astrology - J. Lee Lehman, $18.95
Contents: Introduction: The basis for rulerships; Key to abbreviations; Alphabetical listing of rulerships; Planetary rulerships; Sign rulerships; House rulerships; Glossary of medical terms; References.

Comment: Contrast this book with Rex Bill's: Here are the ancient astrological rulerships of al-Biruni, Claude Dariot, William Lilly, Nicholas Culpepper, John Gadbury, Partridge, Ptolemy, Ramesey & Saunders. Sorted by alphabet, planet, sign & house, with a glossary of 17th century medical terminology & their modern equivalents. Exhaustive, with many entries that Bills lacks, and multiple entries for the same item, each with its original source (eg, Lilly, Gadbury, Dariot, etc.). Notes on agreements & disagreements among the various sources & the implications that can be drawn from them. An essential reference.

Whitford Press, 351 pages, paper.


ESSENTIAL DIGNITIES - J. Lee Lehman, $14.95
Contents: Introduction; 1. Two unsung revolutions in astrology; 2. Using traditional rulerships; 3. The origin of rulerships: A botanical interlude; 4. Modern "rulerships": Do they work?; 5. The meaning of each of the essential dignities; 6. Terms: A statistical interlude; 7. Detriments, falls & peregrines; 8. Conclusions. Appendices: A. Terms statistical tables; B. Rulership tables; C. Peregrine degrees of the planets. Index.

Comment: Perhaps you've never thought why the sun rules Leo, or why Saturn falls in Cancer, or whether Mars or Pluto really rules Scorpio, but Lehman has. Among other highlights, compares al-Biruni's rulerships to Rex Bills's & in the Botanical Interlude, Lehman (who holds a Ph.D. in botany) sorts the plants in Culpeper's Herbal first by taxonomic group, then by rulership with the common (English) name and then gives two subsets of Jupiter-ruled plants, the second with medicinal uses of Jupiter ruled plants. In this book Lehman also explores various ancient & nonstandard rulerships.

Whitford Press, 250 pages, paper.



LADDER OF THE PLANETS - Frances Sakoian and Louis Acker, $7.50

Contents:

The astrological mandala of sign rulerships
The traditional seven planets and the ladder
The second rung of the ladder of the planets
The third rung of the ladder of the planets
The fourth rung of the ladder of the planets
The fifth rung of the ladder of the planets
The sixth rung of the ladder of the planets

Comment:

By "ladder" and "rungs" (above), the authors mean the rulers of the signs of the zodiac. This is a brief book on rulerships.

The book starts with an extended essay on the three modern rulers, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. The authors hold that instead of Uranus ruling just one sign, Aquarius, that it is the sub-ruler of both of Saturn's signs, Aquarius as well as Capricorn.

The same argument is made for Neptune. That it rules Sagittarius as well as Pisces. They note that as of the date of this book (1974), Neptune was in Sagittarius.

And that Pluto rules both Scorpio and Aries. There are also notes about the signs of exaltation of these three. Uranus is exalted in Scorpio, Neptune is exalted in Cancer, and Pluto is exalted in Leo. This essay takes up pages 5 - 20.

The remaining pages give a brief overview of the traditional rulerships. The first rung is Sun and Moon, Leo and Cancer. The second is Mercury, with Gemini and Virgo. The third is Venus, with Taurus and Libra. The fourth is Mars, with Aries and Scorpio. The fifth is Jupiter, with Sagittarius and Pisces, and the sixth and last is Saturn, with Capricorn and Aquarius.

At the time of writing, Pluto in Scorpio was still ten years off. Here is Sakoian and Acker's preview:

In 1984 Pluto enters Scorpio and is in its own sign until the year two thousand [sic]. During that time the whole human race will be confronted with Pluto's harsh lesson of regenerate or die; there will be no escaping it. Time is running out for humanity. Fundamental changes must and will take place. Pluto as ruler of Scorpio has juridiction over the use and distribution of collective resources. During Pluto's transit of Scorpio, humanity will be forced to learn the lessons of nonattachment to privileged, private ownership that does not respect the well-being of the rest of humanity. (pg. 19)
I don't miss the 1980's, but, gosh, don't you miss the '90's? And don't you wish we could stop writing such blunders? I sure do.

If this is the only book on your order, it will ship at reduced rates.

CSA Printing and Bindery, 27 pages.


Read the book? Want to tell the world? How many stars (1-5) would you give this book?



The Astrology Center of America

207 Victory Lane, Bel Air, MD 21014
Tel: 410-638-7761; Toll-free (orders only): 800-475-2272

Home Author Index Title Index Subject Index Vedic Books Tarot E-Mail:


Established 1993, The Astrology Center of America is owned & operated by David Roell.
This entire site (AstroAmerica.com) is copyright 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 by William R. Roell.
All rights reserved.