by Morgan Drake Eckstein

Created on: July 10, 2008   Last Updated: July 11, 2008

"The Rulership Book" by Rex E. Bills is not properly a book, at least not in the sense that one would sit down and actually read it cover to cover; but it is a book that should be on the bookshelf of every serious astrology student. Consisting of a set of rulership lists for the planets, signs and houses, The Rulership Book is more like a telephone book than anything else. Yet just like a telephone book, it has its uses.

Astrologers from the beginning of the history of their profession have believed that the planets, and their energies, as they travel across the heavens affect events and matters here on earth. Certain planets rules specific things; this assumption is carried further to include the zodiac signs and houses.

For instance, it is felt that each part of the human body is ruled by one of the zodiac signs. The head is ruled by Aries; the neck by Taurus; the arms by Gemini; the chest by Cancer; the heart by Leo; the stomach by Virgo; the intestines by Libra; the sex organs by Scorpio; the thighs by Sagittarius; the knees by Capricorn; the lower legs by Aquarius; and the feet by Pisces. This is how many astrology works depict human beings, such as the many pictures of the Zodiacal Man that graced the works of the Middle Ages.

So if one is concerned with the likelihood that someone would injure their arm, one would look at an astrology chart for that person and see what planets are located in the sign of Gemini. Mars and Neptune could indicate possible injuries from accidents or terrorist attacks, for instance.

But what if one instead was interested in the morbid possibility that one could suffer a stroke or contract mad cow disease from eating tainted beef, and then suffer a loss of their mental facilities? Is it Aries for the head or Leo for the heart? And is it Taurus for beef?

It would be nice if one had a roomful of astrologers that one could ask, or perhaps a library of books, but many do not have time to discuss the matter with others or dig though countless books. That is where The Rulership Book comes in. Opening it up, I see that my guesses for most of the stuff are correct, but I learn that strokes are ruled by Uranus and that poisonous animals and plants are ruled by Pluto. The information gives me a place to start.

In The Book of Rulerships, Rex E. Bills researched and compiled the opinions that various astrologers had put forth about the rulerships of various phenomenona and events. There are many major cities listed, so it is occasionally a time saver where looking at geographical questions. It is organized both in an alphabetic list, and under planet, sign and house.

I feel that every astrology student should have a copy, along with those who are interested in active occultism (magic). It has proven time and time again to be a useful reference book. And while you can not read it like a book, it is fun to occasionally leaf though it (much like some writers like to leaf though dictionaries); just today, I stumbled across the fact that quack doctors are ruled by Neptune, rather than Mercury.

Rex E. Bills. "The Rulership Book: A Directory of Astrological Correspondences." American Federation of Astrologers (1971).

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