Rulers of the Horoscope

by Alan Oken

This book for intermediate to advanced astrologers explains complex but crucial aspects of the science, such as dispositorship and rulership, that concern planetary influences affecting humankind for good or ill. It includes an overview of planetary compatibility and the horoscopes of famous people.

Genres: Astrology, Occult

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[DeanJean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oken's explanation of the rulers in the 12 houses was what I was looking for. The book is worth a read for this last section alone. I felt that the rest of it was too precise, almost to the point of tediousness.

The first section deals with planets, their strengths and debilitations in the various signs. There's some theories, like Mercury not performing well in Libra (but it's an air sign!!) which were very curious to me. He doesn't explain his justifications, which I found baffling, but...*shrugs*. Oken uses both the traditional and modern sign rulers. His flexibility may rankle some people.

The second section deals with the chart rulers and their aspects to each other. This I quite enjoyed.

On overall, I could foresee this as a keeper, for any serious astrology student looking to grasp both the intuitive and logical parts of chart interpretation.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The focus of this book is house dispositorships: if the planet that rules one house is in this other house, what is the significance of that combination? This is a technique that comes from traditional astrology, and I'm delighted that another book has been written about it, aimed toward students of modern astrology. However, I am too much a traditional astrologer myself to fully enjoy it; Oken's use of the modern rulerships (using Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto as the rulers of Aquarius, Pisces, and Scorpio respectively—he also flirts with the idea of Pluto as a co-ruler of Aries) resulted in my arguing with the book more than getting anything useful out of it. I recommend this book for modern astrologers, but would warn traditional astrologers that it may be too frustrating to be worth the reading time.

[Jeremy Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book which covers something of a lost art. Well worth your time, although not easy to find in the UK. Alan Oken is a true master of his craft.

[Richard Gustafsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly interesting, very much course literature and not the easiest but I have learned a lot already.