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Classical Astrology How to Build a Dispositor Tree
How to Build a Dispositor Tree
Stephanie Asks:
“What are the ‘rules’ to be used when constructing a dispositor tree? Example: Excluding planets that don’t have anything to do with the problem: Sun in Pisces rules Saturn in Leo which rules Mars in Aquarius which rules Venus in Aries which rules Jupiter in Taurus. The problem is that Jupiter in Taurus rules the Sun in Pisces. Do I need to turn the tree upside down, or what? Or does it make a circle of some kind?”
Lisa Asks:
“I recently purchased your book Astrology: Understanding the Birth Chart, which I have found extremely helpful—it more than fills the huge gaps left by astrological ‘cookbooks.’ I have been pondering over dispositor trees in relation to a friend’s chart. Can you point me in the right direction? As there are no planets in rulership or mutual reception—where does the tree start and end?”
Kevin Answers:
Stephanie and Lisa,
Ok, let’s review how to create a dispositor tree.
1. Rulership
Step 1: Find any planets in their own sign (rulership). Each one of these planets will be the top of its own tree.
It is possible to have multiple trees for a single chart. Taking the example of Liza Minelli’s chart again, we start with the Moon in Cancer (the only planet in Rulership), which goes at the top of the tree. The Moon in Cancer rules all planets in Cancer—in this case, Mars and Saturn, and they get placed in the second tier, reporting directly to the Moon.
Saturn rules any planets in Capricorn or Aquarius, but as Liza has none, this branch of the tree ends here.
Mars rules all planets in Aries and Scorpio. Liza has Mercury in Aries and Venus in Aries, and they get placed on the third tier, reporting directly to Mars.
Mercury rules all planets in Gemini and Virgo. Liza has Uranus in Gemini, and that goes on the fourth tier, reporting directly to Mercury.
Venus rules all planets in Taurus and Libra. Liza has Chiron, Neptune and Jupiter in Libra, and they all go on the fourth tier, reporting directly to Venus.
Jupiter rules all planets in Sagittarius and Pisces. Liza has the Sun in Pisces, which goes on the fifth tier, reporting directly to Jupiter.
The Sun rules all planets in Leo. Liza has Pluto in Leo, which goes on the sixth tier, reporting directly to the Sun.
Liza’s chart has a sole dispositor (her Moon), and all eleven planets appear in the Moon’s tree.
Let’s look at Meryl Streeps Chart now. Meryl has Mercury in Gemini, which goes at the top of its own tree. Mercury in Gemini rules all planets in Gemini and Virgo. Meryl has Mars in Gemini and Saturn in Virgo, and they go on the second tier, reporting directly to Mercury.
Mars rules all planets in Aries and Scorpio; Meryl has none, so this branch ends here.
Saturn rules all planets in Capricorn and Aquarius. Meryl has Jupiter in Aquarius, and that goes on the third tier, reporting to Saturn.
Jupiter rules all planets in Sagittarius and Pisces. Meryl has Chiron in Sagittarius, and that goes on the fourth tier reporting to Jupiter.
This is the end of the Mercury tree in Meryl Streep’s chart. Since we’re still missing a few planets, and there are no other planets in rulership in her chart, we move on to the next step.
2. Mutual Reception
Step 2: Find any planets in mutual reception by rulership. Each pair of planets in mutual reception will be at the top of its own tree.
Meryl Streep’s Moon in Taurus and Venus in Gemini are in mutual reception, so they go to the top of a new tree, with a double-arrow showing that they receive each other.
The Moon rules all planets in Cancer. In addition to Venus, Meryl has Sun and Uranus in Cancer. The Sun and Uranus go on the 2nd tier, reporting directly to the Moon.
The Sun rules all planets in Leo. Meryl has Pluto in Leo, which goes on the third tier, reporting directly to the Sun.
This completes the Moon’s branch—now we go back to the top and look at Venus.
Venus rules all planets in Taurus and Libra. Meryl has Neptune in Libra, which goes on the 2nd tier, reporting directly to Venus.
Between the two trees, we have accounted for all eleven planets.
Most people are fine up to this point—but what happens when you have a chart with no planets in rulership and no planets in mutual reception?
3. Committee
Step 3: Look for a committee of rulers.
It is possible for a committee of three or more planets to be at the top of the dispositor tree. To find the committee, you have to work your way through all of the dispositors until you come full circle. As an example, we’ll look at Sylvester Stallone’s chart. He has no planets in rulership and no mutual receptions. So we start with his Sun in Cancer. The Sun in Cancer is ruled by the Moon; his Moon is in Libra, ruled by Venus; his Venus is in Leo, ruled by the Sun—and we now have a closed loop. The Sun, Moon and Venus form a committee that will be at the top of a dispositor tree. As you can see from the illustration below, every other planet in his chart reports to one of the three members of the committee.
            
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