Constellations - Rulerships & Exaltations visually

[Jim Eshelman]

This diagram shows the oldest ancient model of attributing planets to rule the signs. Begin with Sun and Moon association with Leo and Cancer at the bottom and move bilaterally through Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn.

[Jim Eshelman]

This diagram shows the modern model of attributing planets to rule the signs, at least among Siderealists. (One pair swaps in the most common attribution by Tropicalists.) It is a replica of the prior diagram except for additions for Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, continuing around the circle counter-clockwise from Cancer-Leo.

[Jim Eshelman]

A separate pattern of planetary attributions to the constellations is titled Exaltations. These, of Babylonian rather than Graeco-Egyptian origin, seem random. The astronomical history of these was discovered by Cyril Fagan, although the practical relevance is simply that, like the Rulerships given above, Exaltations show which planets have natures resembling those of the matched constellations.

Here are the exaltations of Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn.

[By Jove]

Do you consider outer planet exaltations founded or too sketchy to be certain?

[Jim Eshelman]

Do you consider outer planet exaltations founded or too sketchy to be certain?

They're all speculative. That is, they're all things that somebody (me or sombody else) made up.

And there is no need for them. So it seems excessively dogmatic to assign them (though I'll speak of them in casual conversation).

[By Jove]

I kind of get that. I mean, if we're going to to assign outer planets as rulers to certain signs, why not assign exaltations too? I sometimes wondered why even assign outer planets as rulers.

Maybe it's just me being obsessive-compulsive, but it seems weird to assign outer planets rulerships but no exaltations. It feels like doing something only 50%. It "itches".

[Jim Eshelman]

Aquarius and Pisces, in particular, were not accurately described by Saturn and Jupiter. (You could make the symbols fit, but it really wasn't that good.) Attributing Uranus and Neptune was really necessary to describe them accurately.

We don't have that problem with any remaining signs, though. For example, Scorpio and Gemini don't need additional planets to describe them. It would only serve formalism.