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Luminaries and planets

Revised 2026-01-15 · Contributors · How entries are written

Classical astrology uses seven bodies visible to the unaided eye: the Sun and Moon, called the luminaries or lights, and Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto were added following their discovery in 1781, 1846 and 1930 respectively, and are collectively termed the modern or outer planets.

Traditional rulerships

Sun

Leo.

Moon

Cancer.

Mercury

Gemini and Virgo.

Venus

Taurus and Libra.

Mars

Aries and Scorpio.

Jupiter

Sagittarius and Pisces.

Saturn

Capricorn and Aquarius.

The scheme is symmetrical: the two luminaries take one sign each, and the five remaining planets take two, one on either side of the luminaries' pair. This symmetry is the reason the traditional assignment is stable across sources.

Modern rulerships

Uranus

Assigned to Aquarius, displacing Saturn in most modern texts.

Neptune

Assigned to Pisces, displacing Jupiter.

Pluto

Assigned to Scorpio, displacing Mars.

Practitioners differ on whether the modern assignments replace the traditional ones or supplement them. Traditional practice, and the revival of it since the 1990s, retains the classical rulers throughout and uses the outer bodies, if at all, without rulership.

Bodies at the edge of the standard set

Chiron

A centaur discovered in 1977, used by a substantial minority.

The lunar nodes

Not bodies but the points where the Moon's orbit crosses the ecliptic. Used in nearly all traditions, though interpreted very differently between them.

Asteroids

Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta appear in some software. Their use is a stylistic choice rather than a settled convention.