From “The Beginning of Wisdom” by Avraham Ibn Ezra (1148 CE). ARHAT Publications, 1998. Translated and annotated by Meira Epstein, with additional annotations by Robert Hand.

 

Powers of the Triplicity Rulers

                In Ibn Ezra’s system, each house has three rulers: the day or night lord, plus a co-ruler. If the chart is a day-time (diurnal) chart, the night lord is the second ruler. In a night (nocturnal) chart, the day lord is the second ruler. The co-ruler planet is always the third ruler. Adjust your reading according to the time of the chart.

 

Fiery houses:     Day ruler: Sun                   Earthy houses: Day ruler: Venus

                Night ruler: Jupiter                                         Night ruler: Moon

Co-ruler: Saturn                                                               Co-Ruler: Mars

Airy houses:       Day ruler: Saturn              Watery houses:  Day ruler: Venus

                                Night ruler: Mercury                                      Night ruler: Mars

                                Co-ruler: Jupiter                                              Co-ruler: Moon

 

First House         First ruler: Life, character, desires, what will befall him/her at the beginning of life

                                Second ruler: Body and strength, middle of life

                                Third (co-) ruler: Mixes with the other two; end of life

Second House   First ruler: Money and possessions in the early years of life

                                Second ruler: Money and possessions in the middle years of life

                                Third (co-) ruler: Money and possessions at the end of life

Third House       First ruler: older siblings, their dignity and state according to their places

                                Second ruler: middle siblings, their dignity and state

                                Third (co-)ruler: little ones

Fourth House    First ruler: Father

                                Second ruler: Land, cities

                                Third (co-) ruler: The end of all matters, prison

Fifth House        First ruler: children and ancestors’ property, children and life

                                Second ruler: Pleasure, delight

                                Third (co-) ruler: Emissaries and embassies

Sixth House        First ruler: Illness and defects, infirmities from evil circumstances, injuries, wounds

                                Second ruler: slaves, servants in general, house servants

                                Third ruler: whether servants are useful or harmful

Seventh House First ruler: opposite gender, spouses

                                Second ruler: wars, contentions

                                Third (co-ruler): Partners, co-mingling and sharing

Eighth House     First ruler: Death

                                Second ruler: Anything ancient, precepts, old things, antiquities, ancient wisdom

                                Third (co-) ruler: Inheritance from the dead

Ninth House      First ruler: Travel; journeys and what befalls

                                Second ruler: Faith, religion

Third (co-) ruler: Wisdom, education, dreams, stars, auguries, and the truth or untruth            of predictions

Tenth House      First ruler:  Mother, work and high rank, promotions, highest dwelling (i.e. career                 position)

                                Second ruler: Status, rank; voice of command, boldness in command

                                Third (co-) ruler: Profession, stability and durability of career

Eleventh House                First ruler: Hopeful thoughts, trust

                                Second ruler: Friends

                                Third (co-) ruler: Whether friends are good or bad, usefulness or profit from these

Twelfth House  First ruler: Grief, enemies

                                Second ruler: Prison, workers

                                Third (co-) ruler: Enemies, beasts and cattle

 

Hellenic astrology was topical, that is, astrologers addressed specific topics in the client’s life. These planetary rulership assignments speak to those topics that would have been of interest to clients in the 12th century.

A note about day and night rulers, and houses

Since Western astrologers don’t generally use these rulerships, I’m including a few notes on how these rulers are used. Let’s say a person was born during the daylight hours, and has a Gemini rising. Use the rulers of the airy houses, listed above, to delineate the condition of his or her first house. For the Cancerian second house, use the three planets of the watery houses, etc., etc. 

If a person is born at night (after sundown), then swap the day and night planets around. Let’s say the person has a Scorpio Ascendant. Mars would be the First ruler, Venus the Second ruler, and the Moon would be the co-ruler.

It is helpful to evaluate the condition of the natal planets before proceeding. Make a little chart that indicates: is the planet in rulership, exaltation, fall or detriment? Does it have good or bad aspects to the other planets? Is it in a comfortable house (accidental dignity)? Is it in a comfortable element or not?

Using the example above, the nocturnal chart with Scorpio rising, let’s say that Mars is in Sagittarius in the first house. Mars is in a good house, because Mars is the natural ruler of the first house. He’s in accidental dignity, and that gives him strength. But he’s in a fire sign, so he’s probably a little too feisty and will tend to be overly impulsive. Following Ibn Ezra’s system, Mars is the First Ruler of the First House, and tells about the client’s “life, character, desires, what will befall him/her at the beginning of life.”  So the reading may go: the client will have a bold, headstrong character, will ardently pursue desires, and will probably have various injuries and illnesses as a child because he is fearless. Of course, various aspects to Mars and other details would add to this delineation, but this is the general idea.

Updating the Rulers       

Some of these descriptions are outdated. For instance, in the third house, Ibn Ezra lists only brothers (I changed it to read “siblings”). One might update these 3d house concerns to:  First Ruler: siblings during childhood; Second Ruler: relationships with siblings and in-laws during middle years; and finally Third Ruler: relationships with siblings and in-laws at the end of life.

The Third (co-) ruler of the Fourth House indicates “the end of all matters, prison.” We might reasonably suspect that this refers to the possibility of confinement or hospitalization at the end of life, if the Third Ruler of the 4th house gives this indication.

The Sixth house refers to slaves. Nobody owns slaves these days, and very few people can afford servants. However, we do own slave-like equipment that performs tasks for us. The Second Ruler could refer to the ease of acquiring equipment, like computers or other gadgets used in one’s trade. The Third Ruler could refer to having ease of use, or problems with that equipment. In other words, the condition of the Third Ruler of the Sixth House might suggest whether a person will want to throw their computer out the window on a regular basis. Or a transit to this Third Ruler might indicate replacements, upgrades, or repair work done on equipment.  The connotation of house servants means that indications of these Rulers should extend to include kitchen appliances. The Sixth house is also associated with pets; an astrologer might infer the type, condition, and longevity of pets from the rulers of the Sixth house.

The Twelfth House might raise a few brows in a modern context: beasts and cattle? However, being a natural watery house, and associated with the Fourth and the Eighth (property and inherited property), the Twelfth house ruled farm property people might own outside a city limits, and the animals and crops that were raised there. This was pretty typical of wealthy people in the Roman Empire, and things hadn’t changed all too much in Ibn Ezra’s time. Some people might have owned vineyards, which may be how Pisces and the 12th house became associated with alcoholic beverages and drunkenness. Or maybe 12th century prisons housed a lot of drunks.

In the 21st century, we could stretch the associations of the 12th house rulers to include contacts and interests a person might have in remote locations. This might include out-of-town businesses, professional contacts, and resources that people have to acquire from distant locations to manufacture things. This might also include contacts and purchases made through the internet.

For instance, I make perfumes with essential oils. These essential oils are made from plants, trees, and flowers grown all over the world, and I get them shipped in from distributors all over the United States. Because this is an agricultural industry, weather around the world can have a huge impact on the cost of these goods. A bad drought in Indonesia can triple the cost of patchouli oil. So I would look to the second and third rulers of my twelfth house, their natal condition, and current transits to determine the relative ease or difficulty of essential oil production, and rising and lowering costs of these goods in the present and future. For instance, if I see a Saturn transit to the third ruler of my twelfth house on the horizon, I should probably stock up on patchouli oil before prices increase, or it becomes difficult to acquire.