Tag Archives: The Ascendant

Your Ascendant Zodiapedia: ‘Just So You Know’ Gemini

13 Tuesday Mar 2018

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So, which one is the Gemini? This Ascendant can get a reputation, if they’re careless. ‘Gossip’ by Eugen von Blaas, 1903 {{PD}}

Is Gemini aware of the Universal interconnectedness of things, of the fine web threading among every single thing in the Cosmos, so that tugging on one bit jostles them all? Do we know if Gemini thinks of this as she moves, like a bee, from point to point, from upturned face to upturned face of so many persons, each of whom blossoms under Gemini’s quick wit and inclusive gaze? Does Gemini know she’s the human glue in all this, or, to stick with our previous metaphor, the one responsible for pollinating the world of ideas? I ask because Gemini can be highly ‘other oriented’ (echoing the twin symbology), to the extent that focus can be almost exclusively on the external—and this ‘looking outward’ could be responsible for Gemini’s reputation for flightiness and a concern with surfaces—but when those surfaces connect large webs of others to one another through shared ideas, they are helping create a lovely interconnectedness, a kind of psychic connective tissue for the Universal ‘body’.

An Air sign, the Gemini Ascendant can present as bubbly and chatty, shallow and unconcerned with what others consider ‘serious’—and yet, Gemini is almost always effectively informed, especially as to what’s current, or what needs to be known in the moment—he or she can’t help that their natural delivery is light and deft. Looking out through the Gemini Ascendant, this individual likely views everything in terms of a network—they see the natural connectedness of all things—and it’s this thoughtful ability to connect the dots that makes Gemini so remarkable, as it manifests more as instinct than as mind. Too, they are highly mentally active from the get-go, and this suggests an early environment where thinking on one’s feet was beneficial to survival; it also implies the possibility that mental interaction with the caretakers and with the world was encouraged—or seen as vital to existence—and these individuals are almost always very early speakers and readers. One thing that Gemini almost insists upon is a response from those with whom he or she communicates, and this can open a chink in that cheerful armor, as exchange is a big part of the Gemini identity, and when denied it Gemini can suffer real mental anguish. The Gemini weakness is that the early environment may have convinced them that everything can be sorted out with the mind—and so others may observe Gemini stumbling slightly behind the curve emotionally, especially during teen and young adult years. Gemini is nothing if not a keen observer, though, and uses the Mercurial wit and alertness to get up to speed in a swift and efficient manner.

The Gemini Ascendant can appear to others to be insecure, even petty; if we look at things from the viewpoint of the twins, however, we see that this impression only arises when Gemini doesn’t feel sure she or he has a good grasp of the facts or the current situation. Nerves can make Gemini clam up, but the mentality is never lacking in wit, and this individual typically loves word games, puns, and challenging puzzles, and so can appear to others a bit of the detective, pursuing answers and looking for ‘why’. There is an instinct within Gemini that honors knowledge, learning and discovering, and the ‘Big Picture’, all expressions of opposite sign Sagittarius; as time goes on Gemini uses the networking ability more and more as a teaching, philosophy spreading, and life-improvement strategy, in service to the wider world, balancing the Mercurial urge with the Jupiterian one.

Your Ascendant Zodiapedia: ‘The Caretaker of Comfort’ Taurus

10 Saturday Mar 2018

Posted by in astrology, Taurus, The Ascendant

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Lovis Corinth ‘Mädchen mit Stier’ (Girl With Bull) 1902 {{PD}}

My Word dictionary wants me to change ‘Taurean’ to ‘tureen’–strangely appropriate, considering the Bull’s affinity for comfort food 🙂  –Tweeted by me 22 January 2014

Being born with Taurus on the Ascendant signals an individual who understands the physical and material pleasures/ experiences of life—and so is attuned as well to their potential origins, losses, or transformation from one state to another (through the opposing sign, Scorpio). This suggests an early environment where the material experience was prominent—either through appreciation for what surrounded the individual (whether that was luxurious or spare), or through lack that focused the individual on the material surroundings via the issue of survival, above anything else. Taurus might have taken comfort in the physical (food, enjoyments, activities, the learning of skills applied to the environment–typically artisanal or artistic–or exercise of talents) to fill some kind of gap, such as a common childhood loneliness or the experience of early caretakers who either made a huge fuss about the physical (and so focused the child’s values there) or who neglected them completely, leaving the young one to fend for her- or himself.

Taurus on the Ascendant appears to others to be grounded, methodical, aesthetically and especially sensually-oriented, concerned at all times with the material experience. Why is Taurus seen as so steadfast, so reliable? Is it because they’re plodding and dull? Nein! It’s because their priorities have both a practical and an aesthetically pleasing tinge—they are ruled by Venus, after all—and of course that fact lends an awareness of the Other in relationship—so it’s only natural that the Bull channels at least some of her or his Taurean response toward the welfare and comfort of those with whom they interact, and so gains the reputation of willingly looking out for others when they fail to look out for themselves—not a glamorous stance, but an appreciated one, in most cases. Since the material is important to Taurus, that’s where her focus stays—and others may unfairly read a lack of imagination in that. Taurus is about creating an atmosphere, an experience, and acquiring the materials and arena in which to do so—and meeting the world in this way makes for someone unusually competent at procurement and at understanding the worth of what surrounds them—practical indeed.

Remember, Taurus is looking out at the world through this lens, and what Taurus notices is surroundings and the way these make the human organism feel; above all, the Bull is tremendously responsive to the environment. Secondarily, Taurus’ focus on the material means he or she immediately and continually assesses and categorizes what is available and what must be done to create an acceptable ‘comfort level’—and this is a highly positive thing, as everyone benefits: Fire signs may be too busy to see to needs, Air signs who may ignore the material world entirely, and Water signs may be too overwhelmed by feeling to worry about fundamentals. This concentration on what’s right in front of her or him is what gives Taurus the reputation of being a plodder, a title bestowed by those who may assume that the details are beneath them—but when those who think like that are in charge, we find the necessities and the niceties aren’t seen to at all, and consequently our animal Selves suffer. Taurus’ concerns are highly practical ones, and as well, Taurus knows the importance of enjoying the experience—something we could all use a friendly reminder of.

It’s important to recognize that dealing with the material is no less spiritual than meditation or prayer; to see it as such is to miss the reason we incarnate in the first place, and Taurus knows this much better than most. The Taurus Ascendant may find the focus on the physical and on comforts becomes detrimental as the social sphere expands and the education goes forward; there are those who would designate material matters as ‘less evolved’ or sophisticated than say, intellectual pursuits, relationships, or finances—and these individuals would be, if not wrong, then really unpleasant in their snobbishness (which is something the less-developed Taurus knows all too well, when the focus is on luxuries and status within the established social standards). Taurus’ reputation for being stubborn comes from a need to feel grounded—and for the Taurus Ascendant, this can play out as a need to feel sure of the identity, including talents and the asset picture, and to achieve physical comfort, before anything else can be attended to. Stability in all forms is the goal of Taurus.

Eventually, the Bull realizes that it’s not all about warm sweaters, cozy fires, and delicious stews (or cool breezes, swinging in a hammock, and a tall fruity drink in one’s hand!) With time, the Taurean becomes more contemplative and less experiential, and begins to look below the surface of things (the complementary energy of the opposing sign, Scorpio), embracing a sense of mystery in the process, in contradiction to their inborn urge toward security and no surprises. They’ve always known that the unseen is there, affecting things, but it takes both a maturing and a certain level of surety within the physical sphere for Taurus to allow exploration of what she or he can’t see. We need to remember, Taurus is a highly sensitive sign; their involvement with comfort may be a response to an early emotional life that was lacking, as much or more than a response to the physical side of things. This kind of experience can make for a wise counselor or one who knows what others need, materially and spiritually, especially after or during trauma or an emergency. Taurus’ sensitivity to the environment and comfort evolves, translating into a sensitivity to the unseen forces of life and the power to resurrect or remake through manipulation of the material world, reflecting its companion opposite, Scorpio.

Viewing the Ascendant in the Whole Sign Chart

02 Friday Mar 2018

Posted by in 1st House, Aries Point, astrology, Cardinal Activity, House Systems, The Ascendant

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The figure in the lower left corner is a great symbolic representation of the Ascendant point of the chart. By an unknown artist. First appeared in Camille Flammarion’s ‘L’atmosphère: météorologie populaire’ 1888 {{PD}}

This is a re-print from an issue of ECLIPSE, with some new material added.

Using the Placidus House system over many years, I came to truly love the Ascendant of a chart; for the individual it’s a declaration, ‘Here I am, and this is who I am!’ literally representing the moment the person arrived in the world, and describing the attitude, the ‘face’ with which they meet everything they encounter. For an event it describes the moment of inception, the event’s first thrust into reality, and for both an individual and an occurrence, the Ascendant describes the character of what’s presented to the observer. This point in the chart both tells us of the initiating nature of the individual or event, and tells us what was on the horizon at the time and place of this ‘birth’. The integration of the point itself into the other points and bodies of the natal chart (by aspect) tells us the story of this entry point, and the character of the first House tells us what outlook supports this personality.

With the Whole Sign system, we see the Ascendant relocated, in a sense, to a point within the 1st; it no longer demarcates the chart in a definitive way, acting as ‘the place where everything begins’, but instead becomes a part of the 1st House itself, with the implication being that the environment of the 1st House determines Ascendant expression. By that I mean, the Ascendant is essentially a reaction to the environment into which one is born; as such, it describes survival skills the entity developed to cope with the early (immediate) environment. It’s a statement of what the individual believes they must do or produce in order to survive—and so can be highly revealing of core beliefs and assumptions about the world, as well as indicative of the individual’s likely natural, initial, instinctive response to pressure/ stress. This is in contrast to the approach in the Placidus system, where we may see the Ascendant nature as a fait accompli at birth, due to its prominence on the horizon of the flat chart. With Whole Signs, we allow for the shaping of reactions and personality, unlike with Placidus, which symbolically fixes the personality to the horizon, to birth, to the moment of entrance, and so imbues the Ascendant with an aura more fatalistic than expressive.

The Ascendant could also be viewed as the individual’s own personal Aries Point, if we define the Aries Point as the place at which the Sun enters 0 degrees of a Cardinal sign, which corresponds with the start of a new season. The moment of birth could be seen to represent the start of a personal new season for the individual. A new life brings a new outlook, and incarnation the translation of the unseen into physical form (that is, the spirit into a human body). We can’t discount what that individual may be bringing with them, consciousness that exists beyond the timeline that begins with the moment of birth, which argues for the Whole Sign system, with the symbolism of the Ascendant placed within the 1st rather than acting as the cusp of it, so that some of that 1st House ‘essence’ is placed above the horizon, symbolizing that non-material state of the spirit prior to translation into human form.

The flexibility offered by the Whole Sign system in relation to the Ascendant, represented by the way the ASC is found somewhere within the 1st House, means that we get a more holistic view of the personality; it presents not as an assertion of personality, a statement of ‘I Am’, as much as an ever evolving viewpoint that rises naturally from interaction with the environment. This means that we are inclined in interpretation to see the personality quirks and difficulties that arise from it not so much as irrefutable facts, but as responses—and seeing things that way offers us the opportunity of modification and change in the moment and in any direction, rather than the linear Placidus model that suggests only a single line of possible development, with much less suggestion of dimensionality.

If you’re still unclear about what I mean, draw on a piece of paper just your 1st House, once with the Ascendant on the cusp (the Placidus model) and then again with the Ascendant sign from 00 to 30 as the 1st House, with the Ascendant placed inside (the Whole Sign model), and see if this doesn’t convey two truly differing impressions of the Ascendant and its possible readings. Both are useful ways of looking at the chart, and both tell a story about who we are.

10 November 2016 Blank Slate

09 Wednesday Nov 2016

Posted by in astrology, Birth Time, Born Today, current events in the sky, forecast, Horoscope, The Ascendant, The Daily Word Image

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An Autumn photograph of Speckled Wood in Ore, near Hastings in East Sussex. Author: Dean Thorpe Aspexphotography Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

An Autumn photograph of Speckled Wood in Ore, near Hastings in East Sussex. Author: Dean Thorpe Aspexphotography Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

The AstroEssence: Birth time  No new aspects perfect today–it’s a blank slate, though we do note the Moon moves through late Pisces and trines Mercury, guaranteeing the fog doesn’t lift just yet–so I’d like to address a topic I’ve recently been asked about: What does it mean astrologically speaking when someone doesn’t have a birth time?

First we need to know what birth time describes in the natal chart: it’s used to locate the positions of all planets in the Houses–that is, it defines the exact point on the horizon (the rising degree, as well as sign, with each sign occupying a space of 2 hours on the horizon every day) at birth according to the latitude (how far north or south of the equator the birth place is), and so determines House position for each body, as they are located longitudinally around the chart–and this is true no matter what House system is used.

The natal chart, then, is a map of the sky as seen looking south (if you’re born north of the equator) or looking north (if you’re born south of the equator) from the exact spot on Earth where you’re born, with the bodies located below the Ascendant-Descendant axis (Houses 1-6) not visible from the birth location, while those in Houses 7-12 are potentially visible, if you have the means to spot them. No matter what the House system used, the Ascendant and Midheaven (and their corresponding opposite points) will always be the same for the individual–but in order to know them, we must know the birth time.

What is missing from understanding the individual if you don’t know the time of birth? When the Ascendant is unknown, we can’t be sure how the individual meets the world: how they present themselves, and what others see on first interacting. It’s the Soul’s ‘point of entry’ in terms of time and space, and it is shaped by very early experiences concerning body concepts, concepts surrounding the ‘I Am’, and survival. Typically, the Ascendant describes, among other things, both the personality and the kinds of coping behaviors the individual learned in the early environment; with the latter, these are behaviors that the individual interpreted as guaranteeing survival. We may observe this when someone feels threatened–often they will retreat to some version of and to behaviors rooted in the energy of the Ascendant sign–and we can observe it as the ‘first line’ approach when someone reaches out to others, as the Ascendant energies are seen by the individual as what others value them for, hence the association with helping one survive.

A couple of examples: my Ascendant is Aquarius, and I tackle everything with the mind first, attempting to understand, especially before I move forward–and in early life intellectual acuity seemed to me to be what allowed for success–but the mind is also the place I retreat to: the intellect becomes my weapon, my ambassador, my defense, and understanding is always the goal, and the only thing that makes me feel safe. My husband’s Ascendant is Sagittarius. He tries to meet the world by knowing ‘the facts’, or by engaging immediately and heading for the horizon to have a Sagittarian adventure; when he defends, it’s also with whatever knowledge he can muster, and when he retreats, it’s to wander, physically or mentally, toward that same horizon! So, when the birth time is missing, we’re missing a vital piece of the puzzle, specific to the individual processing and response to her or his part in the world.

The Midheaven is also unknowable without a birth time, though since it inherently carries a sense of removal (the career is a relatively impersonal thing, as is business, and we have no control over the reputation or the way others know us ‘at a distance’, in an entirely impersonal manner) it is most important in terms of timing, with transits to it–so we lose an indicator for worldly opportunity and involvement, as well as the chance to know the ‘flavor’ of our public persona, which can help tell us what others expect us to be, or be good at.

The other big issue is that we are unable to associate planets and signs with their ‘correct’ Houses for the individual. The best we can do is choose a noon chart, smack in the middle of the day for the place of birth, which offers a kind of mid-picture, and gives us our best guess as to a valid Moon–or we can use a sunrise chart for that day, placing the Sun on the Ascendant, which allows the Solar energy to illuminate potentials for the individual in meeting the world. And of course, not having a birth time puts the descriptive burden on the relationships among the various chart bodies–but there is much to be learned there, so we’re never without recourse for at least some knowledge of the individual, when missing a correct time.

Not all altars are quite so obvious. Vicente Poveda y Juan 'Taufe in Assisi' 1899 {{PD}}

Not all altars are quite so obvious. Vicente Poveda y Juan ‘Taufe in Assisi’ 1899 {{PD}}

Today’s word image is a doe struck and killed by a mini-van, lying in the middle of a busy highway. Unfortunately, this happens when humans and Nature intersect, and in the woodsy area where I live, it’s not unusual. What was unusual about this scene was the stillness of it, a strangely primitive tableaux, the highway emptied of all activity around the deer, the humans gathered and motionless at a slight distance. It struck me almost as a ritual of mourning, a moment taken to grieve what was destroyed, to respect what once lived. If you need to, take a moment to grieve what you’ve lost recently–sometimes in our modern world we forget how important and powerful saying goodbye, or giving thanks for what was, can be.

For those born with the Sun at 18 Scorpio: This coming year, through to your next birthday, you may find yourself with two goals: healing a rift, and pursuing an important goal. Where you find yourself actually, though, may be between the figurative rock and hard place of health concerns and matters ignored or denied; these require attention before you can successfully mend what’s broken, and fulfill that ambition–but once you do attend to these, follow ideals and dreams for the most effective approach to aim attainment. Good luck, Scorpio, and Happy Birthday!