Hey, you! Do you know which planet dominates your chart? I jest, of course (I’m a Sagittarius, so I’m full of zany quips and half-baked humor).
You can learn more about yourself by finding out which planet is the one that shines — or should I say, rules you?
As you know, planets, like people, have personalities. But today, I want to introduce to you the star of the frontrunner in your personal map of the solar system.
Your dominant planet represents the planet you are most like. Just like the character you might be most drawn to in a book or movie, your dominant planet can influence your disposition, relationship styles, and even appearance. You can determine your dominant planet by counting the number of aspects, dignities, and house placements of all the bodies in your chart.
All the planets are important to your astrological chart, but only one dominates it. It’s not always the planet that you’d expect. Do you know yours?
What Is a Dominant Planet in a Birth Chart?
Not to be confused with your chart ruler, which is the ruling planet of your Ascendant sign, your dominant planet usually can’t be seen at first glance.
Your dominant planet is the most heavily weighted body in your chart. It is determined by the strength of the planets by their dignities, house placements, conjunction with the important angles, the rulership of the personal planets, and the number of aspects to other planets.
You can see the number of points allocated for each planet from the Sun to Saturn displayed on the table.
Below is Beyonce’s dominant planet table. She has the most points in Venus, with an astounding rate of 33.9%, making her the embodiment of beauty and charm: a Venusian.
Considering there are seven possible dominant planets under this method, it can be said that a dominant above 15% makes a planet especially potent.
How To Find Your Dominant Planet in Astrology
Just head over to Astro-Seek to get your dominant planet. Ideally, you should input your accurate birth time as well so all the important points can be accounted for.
Astro-Seek’s dominant planet calculator uses a point system to determine the strength of the signs, houses, and angles in your chart. It also adds more points for the number of aspects the planet makes with others and for the rulers of your Big Three.
Traditional vs. Modern Method
When you’ve generated your chart, make sure to click on ‘switch to Traditional’ in the upper right corner of the table.
As discussed in our signature sign article, your dominant planet results may vary depending on the method you use.
When looking at dominant planets, it’s important to use the Traditional Method because the modern way includes slower-moving planets, which are generational and tend to be less influential.
The Traditional Method of calculating dominant planets only considers the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.
Planetary Dignities
In astrology, there is something we call planetary dignities. This is to say that there are certain signs that feel more comfortable being on specific planets.
A sign is said to be in domicile when it is on the planet of its rulership. A planet can also be exalted when it’s in specific signs.
There are also the fall and delimitated dignities, ill-dignified, therefore, much less influential.
When a planet is well-dignified, meaning to say domiciled or exalted, you can feel its effects more strongly compared to those that aren’t, hence the extra points.
Angular House Placements
Planets that are positioned in the angular houses of the 1st (Ascendant), 4th (Imum Coeli), 7th (Descendant), and 10th (Midheaven) are given extra points.
Angular or cardinal houses are considered more forceful and therefore put more strength on the weight of the planet in it.
These houses are special because they are named points in space and function like planets in the way they’re able to make aspects with orbs and asteroids alike as well as with fellow angular points.
For this reason, we add points to the planets that make contact with these angular houses.
What Does Your Dominant Planet Mean?
Knowing your dominant planet can give you insight into what drives your behavior and how you approach life. It is the planet that influences most of our decisions, actions, and reactions.
By understanding its influence on us, we can use it to help us understand ourselves better and make meaningful changes in our lives.
Sun Dominant
Archetype: The Hero
You’re the one that turns heads. You exude confidence and charisma, and people are drawn towards you, kind of like having your own gravitational pull. Perhaps it’s your childlike curiosity or your penchant for always enjoying life.
You have a commanding presence, a magnetic personality, and an impeccable sense of style. Solarians’ high levels of confidence often lead people to look up to them as leaders, and they can be quite successful in business and performing arts careers.
Romance is a huge deal for you, but it can sometimes translate into drama. Your sense of self-importance may get you into trouble. You could be a bit vain and arrogant and think highly of yourself.
Perhaps that’s why you are so charismatic because people like bringing you down a notch or two.
Moon Dominant
Archetype: The Caregiver, The Magician (Neptune)
You are considered a Lunarian if you seem to always know what’s up before anybody else does… that’s just your strong intuition! It’s hard to read you because you come off as mysterious.
Thanks to your extraordinary intuition and sensitivity, your secret weapon is your psychic abilities. Compassion is your natural way of being. Animals may be naturally drawn to you.
You are a naturally compassionate person who can tune into the needs of others. Your abundance of sensitivity makes you empathetic and intuitive as well.
You have an easy time understanding why people behave the way they do and can offer a sympathetic ear when there’s something wrong in a friend’s life.
With a strong psychic presence, you may also be able to see spirit guides or angels living in other dimensions.
Mercury Dominant
Archetype: The Jester
Social and witty, Mercurians can sell you sand at the beach. They can hold up any conversation due to their infinite thirst for knowledge. Ruled by the planet of intelligence, their minds are as quick and agile as the messenger god.
If you have Mercury as your dominant planet, you are a natural-born communicator. Mercurians are the life of the party. They are witty, gregarious, and have a great sense of humor. They love to talk and have an endless supply of questions. Pranksters at heart, Mercurians can sometimes be manipulative or fickle.
Sometimes you come off as fidgety due to the sheer number of things going on in your head. You are exceptionally clever, but sometimes it’s hard for others to keep up with all your ideas floating around in there!
Venus Dominant
Archetype: The Lover
Venusians are a class apart. You have exquisite taste and a predilection for beauty and the arts. Your charm, grace, and elegance are not just skin deep; they reflect your inner reality as well. You have an innate sensitivity to pleasures sustained by material things.
You are in love with the idea of love. Venusians cannot stand in the face of the ugliest truth of all: injustice, and they make excellent mediators due to their pleasant demeanor.
If Venus is your dominant planet, you have an extraordinary gift for bringing out the finest qualities in everyone you come into contact with. Venus grants you immense allure and the ability to see and create beauty wherever you go.
It has been said that Venusians need to be adored by those around them in order to feel secure. These people are charming, good-looking, and beautiful. They have very refined tastes and high standards.
In love, they can be demanding, needy and possessive; they feel the need to be loved by their friends and family members, as well as prospective romantic partners.
Mars Dominant
Archetype: The Warrior
Passionate and competitive, Martians understand that life is a competition and they are going to get ahead. If Mars is your dominant planet, you are fire personified: courageous and wild.
People find that sensual about you. But you are also childish and innocent in many ways. You are prepared to fight tooth and nail for your loved ones and your convictions.
This is the planet of action and excitement. The Martian has a strong personality and is always ready to take on new challenges.
Martians are natural athletes with a high sex drive. You are straightforward and logical but also ambitious and impatient. You tend to be temperamental and aren’t afraid to speak your mind when you feel insulted or threatened.
Although you are strong-willed, you respect those who challenge your ideas in the name of fairness and equality.
While your assertion and independence typically get you what you want, you can sometimes be impulsive and argumentative. You have so much energy you need an outlet to channel your creative expressions, such as sports and entrepreneurship.
Jupiter Dominant
Archetype: The Sage
Jupiterians are the ultimate eternal optimists who never let the sun go down on their thirst for knowledge. If Jupiter is your dominant planet, you seek to understand the world not only through study and broadening your horizons but also through experience. As you grow older, you become more of a wise sage.
Jupiter is the planet of expansion and growth. This planet bestows upon your luck and hope. You gain wisdom through your life experiences, which often serve as a stepping stone for other people.
Your sense of humor is a reprieve for many people because your philosophy is to ride through life joyfully, despite hardships. Your love and charm are as big as your curiosity and kindness for the world.
People can always count on you to tell the truth. Like Mercury, Jupiter is the planet of knowledge but focuses on the philosophical level. However, you may sometimes be overindulgent and pretentious when it comes to your beliefs.
Saturn Dominant
Archetype: The Ruler
No one can play the long game better than Saturnians. If your dominant planet is Saturn, your discipline is unmatched, and you have full confidence that time is on your side. You are fiercely independent, to the point where your self-reliance can turn into self-sufficiency.
With Saturn as your dominant planet, you have the ability to see life in a realistic light. You are entirely practical and prefer structure in life, which allows you to be successful in long-term plans and provide stability for others. You are hardworking and serious about achieving your goals.
You abide by the saying, “failing to plan is planning to fail.” Reliable and consistent, people lean on you because you seemingly have a way of getting through the most difficult times, making you focused and tenacious.
Sensitive to criticism from others and cautious about new people in your life, you can be close-minded and hold onto past grudges for way too long.
To Summarise
Your dominant planet is the bull in your china shop. It’s like, “Hi, I’m here! What up?” If the world is like a buffet table, then your dominant planet is the biggest thing that knocks everything else over.
Though we all have ten planets in our natal chart, not all of them are equal. There are some planets that stand out and have a bigger influence on who we are compared to others. The Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn can all be dominant in a chart.
I hope you enjoyed learning about your dominant planets and what they mean for your chart.
Knowing which one is dominant in our chart can be very insightful in determining how we will grow and develop throughout our lives, as well as to better understand ourselves and our place in the world.
