Zonark
Well-known member
I made a short list of the most to least elevated planets in my natal chart and I think it shows something about the self and the way the planets affect the native.
While the most elevated planet doesn't necessarily make it the strongest planet like the chart ruler would, I think the relative closeness to the Midheaven indicates influences which the native seeks, much in the same way the native seeks to actualize the influence of the Midheaven. Similarly the planets closer to the Imum Coeli, directly opposite the Midheaven are influences the native seeks only after the influences of the preceding planets have been sought. Or, to put it another way, the planets more readily accepted are the ones closest to the Midheaven by order of degree and the further a planet is the more the native rejects or resists its influence and energies in their life.
I'll use myself as an example, the number by each planet is the number of degrees of separation from the Midheaven. This number will obviously never be greater than 180 as the Imum Coeli is the furthest point from the Midheaven, the chart's low point and the native's resting place;
Most to Least Elevated
Pluto (6)
Mercury (48)
Uranus (56)
Neptune (63)
Ascendant (65)
Saturn (70)
Sun (75)
North Node (88)
Venus (95)
Jupiter (100)
Chiron (107)
Moon (109)
Mars (167)
IC (180)
Pluto is my most elevated and the energies of Pluto have dominated my experience of life. Granted both Pluto and my MC fall in Scorpio making the influence that much more obvious but I think it is safe to say that for everyone, the high point of their chart (the MC) and what is nearest to it marks what will be highest in the native's conscience.
If I look back on my life, my interests and my overall mentality, it is dominated by Pluto. I have had astrologers here ask me if I was a Scorpio or had a Scorpio Ascendant. I do not, but the influence shows itself in a cumulative, overarching way. I think this would hold true in all charts. Pluto touches nearly every aspect of my life.
Now instead of passing through all the planets one by one trying to rate their influence on my life I'll cut right to the least elevated planet in my chart to explain the other half of this.
The least elevated planet in my chart is Mars. This is the influence that I keep to myself and try to smother (the IC is ruled by Cancer, whose energy smothers instead of defines like the MC's Capricorn ruled energy).
So there is a duality, a struggle of energy between the MC and the IC, of a need to define oneself and a need to protect and smother oneself. The closer to the MC a planet is, the more definite its influence in the native's life. The further from the MC and the closer to the IC, the more the native begins to smother and subdue the energies of the planet.
I am the least Martial person I know, my aggression and drive to act in the world is put on the backburner, subordinated to every other planetary imperative which comes before it. Having Mars in Taurus and the 4th house only exacerbates these tendencies. I do everything before acting and any time a situation requires I act, I always wait until the absolute last possible moment.
When the native moves through the world, their being will cycle through a process determined by the most to least elevated planet. This process is like a computer program cycling through a series of commands, only it is the human soul cycling through a series of archetypal responses and urges.
If you break the planets down to very simple ideas as to what they urge the native to do you can get a sense of what kind of process the native will tend to go through during an entire cycle of becoming.
While the most elevated planet doesn't necessarily make it the strongest planet like the chart ruler would, I think the relative closeness to the Midheaven indicates influences which the native seeks, much in the same way the native seeks to actualize the influence of the Midheaven. Similarly the planets closer to the Imum Coeli, directly opposite the Midheaven are influences the native seeks only after the influences of the preceding planets have been sought. Or, to put it another way, the planets more readily accepted are the ones closest to the Midheaven by order of degree and the further a planet is the more the native rejects or resists its influence and energies in their life.
I'll use myself as an example, the number by each planet is the number of degrees of separation from the Midheaven. This number will obviously never be greater than 180 as the Imum Coeli is the furthest point from the Midheaven, the chart's low point and the native's resting place;
Most to Least Elevated
Pluto (6)
Mercury (48)
Uranus (56)
Neptune (63)
Ascendant (65)
Saturn (70)
Sun (75)
North Node (88)
Venus (95)
Jupiter (100)
Chiron (107)
Moon (109)
Mars (167)
IC (180)
Pluto is my most elevated and the energies of Pluto have dominated my experience of life. Granted both Pluto and my MC fall in Scorpio making the influence that much more obvious but I think it is safe to say that for everyone, the high point of their chart (the MC) and what is nearest to it marks what will be highest in the native's conscience.
If I look back on my life, my interests and my overall mentality, it is dominated by Pluto. I have had astrologers here ask me if I was a Scorpio or had a Scorpio Ascendant. I do not, but the influence shows itself in a cumulative, overarching way. I think this would hold true in all charts. Pluto touches nearly every aspect of my life.
Now instead of passing through all the planets one by one trying to rate their influence on my life I'll cut right to the least elevated planet in my chart to explain the other half of this.
The least elevated planet in my chart is Mars. This is the influence that I keep to myself and try to smother (the IC is ruled by Cancer, whose energy smothers instead of defines like the MC's Capricorn ruled energy).
So there is a duality, a struggle of energy between the MC and the IC, of a need to define oneself and a need to protect and smother oneself. The closer to the MC a planet is, the more definite its influence in the native's life. The further from the MC and the closer to the IC, the more the native begins to smother and subdue the energies of the planet.
I am the least Martial person I know, my aggression and drive to act in the world is put on the backburner, subordinated to every other planetary imperative which comes before it. Having Mars in Taurus and the 4th house only exacerbates these tendencies. I do everything before acting and any time a situation requires I act, I always wait until the absolute last possible moment.
When the native moves through the world, their being will cycle through a process determined by the most to least elevated planet. This process is like a computer program cycling through a series of commands, only it is the human soul cycling through a series of archetypal responses and urges.
If you break the planets down to very simple ideas as to what they urge the native to do you can get a sense of what kind of process the native will tend to go through during an entire cycle of becoming.