The planets are the wanderers.  They bring the meaning of the sign(s) and house(s) they rule in the natural chart to the rest of the chart.  In your chart, the sign on the cusp of a house determines which planet rules that house.  In many charts there is a sign that does not fall on any of the cusps.  The sign preceding it is on the cusp of one house and the sign following it is on the cusp of the next house.  This is called an intercepted sign. The ruler of this sign is co-ruler of the house.  If you have an intercepted sign, the opposite sign will also be intercepted.  On our charts an intercepted sign will show up as one of the element colors making up the circle and degree marks totally between two cusps and not touching either one.

      Why do we care which is the ruling planet?  This is where the circle starts for that planet.  This is its home.  It is moving counter clockwise (usually) in the direction of the opposition and will return to its home. Where in the journey around the circle is the ruling planet of the house you are interested in? Is it in a sign that is square to its home? Do you find yourself having to make choices between the house it rules and the opposite side of the see-saw? Should you be choosing to head toward the culmination point instead of falling back to the home house? If the square is on the other side of the circle, should you be choosing in favor of the new beginning instead of clinging to the culmination point?

      Our computer delineation simply looks at the sign on the cusp.  Determines the ruling planet of that sign.  Finds that planet and inserts "is dependent upon" for the positive delineation and "is hampered by" for the negative delineation and then inserts the meaning of the sign and house the ruling planet is in.  The meaning of the house you are interested in is dependent on the actions taken in the area of your life (house) the ruling planet is in.  This is its current place on the circle of growth.

      For an exercise, you might also look at where the planet is in relation to its natural place.  Where on the circle is it in relation to the house(s) it rules in the natural chart?  The theory is that at some point the circle started here: the planet's natural home, with the natural sign here also.  The house the planet rules in relationship to the planet's natal chart place is just a subcircle of the larger circle of the sign's natural place and the planet's position.

      If you are still having trouble understanding what you should be doing in different areas of the circle, equate the circle to the seasons of the year.  In the beginning of spring, great effort is required to get from seed to seedling. The rest of the spring is devoted to keeping them healthy.  In the beginning of summer, great effort is required to nurture the little plants to maturity and the bearing of fruit.  In the beginning of fall, great effort is required to harvest the fruit for the coming winter.  In the beginning of winter, great effort is required to allocate and ration the food store so that you have enough to eat throughout the winter, but also to have enough left over to plant in the spring.  This is the circle of agriculture.  Fail in any one of the four quadrants and it is going to be a long hungry winter, with little or nothing to start spring.   In the next cycle, you will have to work harder. Complete all four quadrants of the circle well and it will be an easy winter with more left over to start the next growing cycle than you had last time.  You could look at it as a spiral.  Do well and you spiral upward.  Keep making the same mistakes and spiral downward.  Always going in a circle.  It is always easier to get where you are going when you have directions. Just learn to read the road map of your life.

      The Cardinal signs and Angular houses are equated with the expenditure of great amounts of energy.  The Fixed signs and Succedent houses are equated with less energy more consistently applied to maintain and progress until the next season.  The Mutable signs and Cadent houses are equated with the lesser energy required to pick up the tools of one season and prepare for the great amount of energy required in the beginning of the next season (Cardinal sign, Angular house).   It is also the 12th house of the next season.

      By this point, a single story should have emerged.  The more times and the more ways you go around the circle, the more consistent the story. You can see this in the computer delineation (reading) of the chart.  It starts to get repetitive because it can't see the nuances of the chart.   But, let's go around a few more times. We've only scratched the surface of planets and aspects. We still have another table to look at.

      Planets start at the conjunction. When you see, in the aspect table, that two planets are forming an aspect, just remember that the circle started at the conjunction and is going toward the opposition, then back to the conjunction with a variation.   This happens every month with the moon and the sun.  One month, the conjunction will be in Aries.  The next month, the conjunction will be in Taurus.  This continues, in order, throughout the year.  Every month the Moon will do another circle but from a different sign perspective.  The Moon's motion in relation to the Sun is a subcircle of the Sun's motion through the year.  However, the Moon, as it makes these circles in relation to the Sun, is still in relationship to all of the circles in your chart and its own circle.  The astrology chart is extremely complex even though we just keep repeating the same rules.  It has to be complex; just look at how complex your life is.  The fact that your whole life can be condensed into one picture is almost beyond belief.  The fact that astrology works is what you're here to find out.  Just remember to keep it simple at first or you'll get lost in the complexity.  The complex will come after you have mastered the simple.

      If you are going around your chart house by house, find the ruling planet(s) and look at their condition by aspect to the other planets and where in the circle of its conjunction to each of them is it now.  What house(s) does the other planet rule, and where is it in relation to the houses it rules?  What is on the other side of the see-saw of each planet?   What is the nature of each planet and how do they combine?  In effect just keep applying the same rules as deeply as you want to go.

      If you are going around your chart planet by planet, you just need to be aware of what house(s) the planet rules, and what aspects it makes to other planets.  What house(s) do they rule?  It's still the same rules just from a different perspective.  The same story will emerge from either direction.

      One last word about aspects.  Aspects are strongest when they are exact.  Since nothing in nature happens suddenly,  there is a build up on the way to exact and a fading away when it is past exact.  This build up and fading away is called the orb of influence.  In Natal astrology, an orb of 8 to 10 degrees (depending on the strength of the planet) is commonly accepted.  Aspects out of orb are usually ignored as too weak to be noticed.  We do not fully agree with this position.  Yes, an aspect in orb will be noticed.  However, if you take the time to notice, an aspect out of orb can be noticed and effectively used.  If you have ever watched a golf game you may have noticed the golfer dropping a few blades of grass.  They are checking for the direction and strength of the wind.  If the wind is strong, everybody notices (aspect in orb).  If the wind is weak, the spectators may not notice.  The golfer still knows that just because it is weak (aspect out of orb) doesn't mean it is not a factor to be considered .  We are giving you everything you need to decide for yourself.