Purpose of the ascendant?

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fifteen

Well-known member
I wonder what the ascendant actually means? ascending... it sounds like it is ascending, but to where does it ascent? and if so for what purpose? or is this a silly question?

Also, if I look at a horoscope, can I also read my ascendant? it sits very close to my natal 'house'. My ascendant is Sagittarius and my sun sign is Scorpio.
 
JUPITERASC

JUPITERASC

Well-known member
fifteen said:
I wonder what the ascendant actually means? ascending... it sounds like it is ascending, but to where does it ascent? and if so for what purpose? or is this a silly question?

Also, if I look at a horoscope, can I also read my ascendant? it sits very close to my natal 'house'. My ascendant is Sagittarius and my sun sign is Scorpio.
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Ascendant is the Eastern Horizon i.e. the place where the Sun 'rises' or 'ascends' every morning whereas the Descendant is the place where the Sun 'sets' every evening.... Of course we are now aware that the Sun does NOT orbit Earth! Instead, while turning on its axis, Earth orbits Sun. So the optical illusion is it just SEEMS AS IF 'the sun is rising' - you may find this video useful as well since it explains the differences between Sidereal and Tropical charts :smile: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82p-DYgGFjI&feature=related

There are more than thirty different house systems, fourteen of which are available on astro.com Extended Chart Selection Page and using Whole Sign houses, if a natal Ascendant is Sagittarius, THEN the entire first house is also Sagittarius. Interestingly, the house location of natal planets is entirely dependent on the chosen house system

useful article at http://www.librarising.com/astrology/misc/wholesignhouses.html
 
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fifteen

Well-known member
Nice! :smile: Learning..

I originally imagined that the ascendant must be something that is ascending to my Sun sign or MC, a sort of learning curve. Ha! I was wrong :joyful:

Interesting video. It's more complicated than I thought. I also glanced over Vedic astrology, where my sign should be Leo. I also find many things in it that seem to fit. Maybe because most of my planets are in Leo. :happy:
 
JUPITERASC

JUPITERASC

Well-known member
fifteen said:
Nice! :smile: Learning..

I originally imagined that the ascendant must be something that is ascending to my Sun sign or MC, a sort of learning curve. Ha! I was wrong :joyful:

Interesting video. It's more complicated than I thought. I also glanced over Vedic astrology, where my sign should be Leo. I also find many things in it that seem to fit. Maybe because most of my planets are in Leo. :happy:
Click to expand...
Different astrologers have their own different opinions so there's no need to rule anything out... :smile:
 
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dr. farr

Well-known member
JUPITERASC said:
Different astrologers have their own different opinions so there's no need to rule anything out... :smile:
Click to expand...

Quite true! Now I am a 100% tropicalist as far as the 12 signs are concerned, yet I fully accept the influence of the constellations-including the 12 sidereal zodiacal constellations of Vedic astrology-as very significant and important modifying factors (as I also accept the often overlooked importance of the fixed stars) I don't think we have to be "either/or", one is "true" one is "false", in our outlook and approach to astrological analysis; I think we can be "both/and" in our outlook, and I think we can often obtain better insights with such an attitude...
 
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