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Previous Ask an Astrologer Questions:
The Descendant is the point exactly opposite the Ascendant, 180 degrees away.
So, the Ascendant is the exact point of the exact sign rising in the eastern horizon at
the date, time and place of your birth - the descendant is the exact point of the exact
sign setting on the western horizon at the same time.
So, if your Ascendant was, say, 10 degrees Capricorn, your Descendant would be 10 degrees
Cancer. The descendant is also the cusp of the 7th house, just as the Ascendant is the
cusp of the first house. Generally speaking, the Descendant shows us what we experience
from others, and also the weaknesses in our own life strategy (as symbolised by the
Ascendant). It's not much used in modern astrology, to be honest, apart from as the cusp
of the 7th house, the whole of the 7th house dealing with relationships. The only time the
descendant really becomes important is if there is a major aspect to it - if a planet is
exactly 90 degrees away, for instance, or 120.
What are Midpoints in the Natal Chart?
A midpoint is, as you might expect, the mid-point between any two given points
in a chart, usually between two planets. There are 2 midpoints between any two given
planets - the nearer point and the further point
around the arc of the circle of the chart. The points are found by adding together the
absolute longitude of the two planets and dividing by 2.
Midpoints are not used by that many astrologers, but they can be give a great insight into
the interpretation of a natal chart if used properly. They take on significance when the
midpoint is occupied by another planet or point, or when another planet makes a strong
aspect to the midpoint.
For instance: One might find in a particular chart that Mercury is at 90 degrees, 30
minutes and Neptune is at 23 degrees, 41 minutes. The near side midpoint for this gives 57
degrees and 06 minutes, which just happens to be,
within a degree or so, the home of Mars in this particular chart. So what might we expect
from this?
Mercury-Neptune contacts usually result in some kind of swindling, confusions, fantasy,
lying, vivid imagination or fiction. The mars energy brought into this equation could
bring the swindling or the fantasies to life. This person could therefore be a successful
writer - or con artist. If instead of Mars the midpoint was occupied by Saturn, we would
see Saturn depress the imagination and fantasy of Mercury-Neptune - in this case, it would
result in a lot of cynicism and perhaps a morbid frame of mind, even morbid fantasies.
The golden rule is to establish the meaning of the two planets concerned before finding
the midpoint, as if they were in conjunction, and then find the midpoint. Whatever meaning
you have established for the two planets, think of it in a neutral kind of way. Then, if
there is a 3rd planet on the midpoint, let the energy of that planet 'colour' or modify
the meanings of the first two.
Why is it that Horoscopes often say it will be a bad
day if the Moon is in the sign opposite to your Sun Sign? What if my Natal Moon is in the
opposite sign to my Sun anyway - then surely the transiting Moon being in the same sign as
my natal Moon should be a good day, right?
Well, the short answer is that you should only ever treat horoscopes as
entertainment anyway, not as anything to be relied upon. Making generalisations about
one-twelfth of the whole world, as horoscope writers have to, can only at absolute best be
an educated guess, nothing more than that.
The Moon being in the opposite sign to your Sun sign basically means nothing at all. The
Moon being in exact opposition to your actual Sun position within your sun sign IS
significant, but this is something that has to be calculated for each and every
individual. You say that you already know your Moon is in Pisces - but again, the
Moon being in Pisces on any given day means nothing for you, unless the Moon happens to be
in exactly the same place as your natal moon, which it will be roughly one a month. And
even then, all that means is that on
that particular 36 hours or so you should be feeling able to express your emotions freely.
With your Sun in Virgo and Moon in Pisces they may or many not be exactly 180 degrees
apart and therefore in opposition (I can't say without knowing your birth details). If
they are then that would have an impact on your personality - but if they are not then it
is not really significant.
So - the basic rule is that all of these positions are only relevant to you if they
involve the actual degree placing of your natal Sun and Moon. Something happening just
within the same sign or other does not
necessarily have any impact on you whatsoever. And horoscopes are only ever entertainment.
I recently found out that my ex-partner's
Ascendant Sign was the same as my Sun Sign - could that be why we 'clicked' so well?
It's difficult to tell whether this was a factor in your 'clicking' or not,
without both sets of birth details. If your Ascendant and their Sun was close enough to be
in conjunction (within 8 degrees of one another) then that would certainly be a major
factor, and is a very positive link in astrological compatibility.
However, just being in the same *sign* doesn't really mean anything without the
conjunction being in place. In other words, you are not guaranteed to get along with all
Sun-in-Virgo people just because your Ascendant is Virgo. Equally, if there was not an
Ascendant-Sun conjunction between your two charts, you may still have got along famously
thanks to other strong links between the charts - links between Moon, Venus, Mars, Neptune
and
Uranus are particularly important in synastry (chart comparison). We have to look at the
charts a whole - no single good aspect is enough to salvage two charts which are
fundamentally at odds with one another, whereas no single *bad* aspect is enough to
scupper a relationship where the charts are otherwise strong. And it's also important to
note that no relationship is perfect, so all relationships have a mix of good and not so
good aspects, it's just a question of weighing up which are the strongest.
'Triple...' anything in this context usually means that your Sun, Moon and
Ascendant are all in the same sign, making this sign a very strong driving force in your
natal chart, very likely the strongest sign of all.
Like many people, I'm looking for love. Is it possible to determine the birth date of the one man who would be
most compatible with me?
Technically this is *possible* but it would be an enormous exercise and so in
practice I very much doubt you would ever find an astrologer with the time or the patience
to undertake this task for you! In order to find the birthdate of this perfect partner, we
would have to calculate millions of natal charts for every day of your chosen age range,
and then painstakingly analyse each resulting chart against your own, looking for hundreds
of points of potential compatibility - not at all practical, as you can imagine.
Even then, we would face the problem of the Ascendant, probably the most important point
in any birth chart, which changes every four minutes of every day - so as well as finding
a single birthdate we would then need
to calculate hundreds of charts for that individual date in order to find the most
compatible Ascendant point.
In short then, although technically feasible it is realistically not possible to find the
birthdate of your most compatible partner. It is, however, very straightforward to analyse
the compatibility between yourself and any other known individual. Finally, it's important
to remember that astrology is a tool which is meant to enhance life, not take it over! You
will know yourself when you find the right person - and astrology would be able to confirm
that for you, but not replace your gut instincts.
If two planets are in neighbouring signs, say
Moon in Leo and Mars in Virgo, can they still be considered to be in conjunction, if they
are within 10 degrees, or must a conjunction always be within one single sign?
Any two planets within (usually) 8 degrees of one another are in conjunction,
regardless whether they are in different signs or not. If the planets are in the same
sign, then the energies of that particular sign are very well focused through those 2
planets. If they are in different signs, there is a slightly different slant to the
interpretation, as it is then a total of 4 energies (2 planets and 2 signs) merging
together.
In your question you mentioned an orb of 10 degrees - I personally would consider that
rather wide for natal astrology. As I say, 8 degrees is usually the cut-off point, and the
closer the planets are together the
stronger the conjunction becomes.
What is the significance of the Sun not
being in any House?
This is not possible. Every astrology chart is divided into houses, starting
with the Ascendant line and working anti-clockwise around the rest of the chart. So the
Sun (and all of the other planets) are necessarily always to be found in *a* house,
whichever one that might be. Astrologers use a variety of house systems - there are always
12 houses, although they are not always equal in size - but the Sun is always in there
somewhere.
What is the easiest way to predict death from the
natal chart?
There are no easy ways to do this, or indeed, in my own view, any accurate ways
even if complicated.
The problem is that death can take place under many astrological influences. For some it
is a sudden shock, which would might occur under a mars-Uranus transit if an accident, or
a mars-Uranus-Neptune-Scorpio influence if foul play. For others death is a release, even
a blessing, if they are suffering - in this case it might take place under a
pleasant Venus influence, especially a Venus-Neptune transit. Some will simply die of 'old
age' which may well take place when their natal Moon is transited by Pluto, Uranus,
Neptune or even Jupiter.
Even if one knows the person well, and therefore has knowledge of their current health
status etc, I still don't believe it's possible to accurately predict death from a natal
chart. Some classical astrologers use points called hyleg and alchochoden to do this -
there is a previous 'Ask an...' answer about this here - but this
is a very complicated method and doesn't really have any statistical evidence regarding
its reliability.
Death is usually easy to spot in a natal chart AFTER the event - but then we can all be
clever with hindsight. The code of ethics of the two UK governing astrology bodies
expressly forbid attempts at predicting death - not only because it is so notoriously
difficult, but also because of the distress getting it wrong (or even getting it right!)
may cause a client. I can't speak for astrologers in countries outside the UK, but if
someone does predict death for you or for someone close, please take it with a pinch of
salt.
Does a Capricorn Ascendant indicate emotional
maturity?
Very possibly, yes, but the position of Saturn would be the determining factor.
A strong Saturn (in Capricorn, or Taurus, or Virgo, or conjunct Ascendant or in strong
positive aspect to ruling planet) would definitely indicate emotional maturity whatever
the age, but a weak Saturn (negative aspects from Ascendant, Sun or Moon, or Saturn in
Libra, Pisces or maybe Cancer) would counteract the maturity that a Capricorn ascendant
brings. A neutral Saturn (i.e. none of the above) would probably err on the side of
maturity through the Capricorn
ascendant. Other chart points would have to be considered for the full picture, as we
can't usually draw firm conclusions from a chart unless the conclusion is backed up
through several different indicators.
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