Interpretive Elements

There are additional strong influences in your chart, although they are not planetary bodies.

Ascendant

The beginning of the 1st house is a significant element of understanding your personality. Along with your Sun (identity) and Moon (emotions), your Ascendant is the third of the most important factors astrologers look at in analyzing your personality.

Your Ascendant, or Rising Sign, is the zodiac constellation that was rising on the Eastern horizon when you were born. It is located at the left horizontal line between the 12th and 1st houses of your natal chart. The Ascendant is based upon your time* and location of birth.

Your Ascendant is how you project yourself in life, how others see you. It's also your rose-colored glasses, the lens filter of the sign that was rising at birth.

A Virgo Ascendant may project themselves into life to be of useful service to the world. A Capricorn rising is more likely to take a cautious approach to the world than an adventure-seeking Sagittarius rising.

Knowledge of your rising sign will help you to understand why you project yourself into the world the way you do.

* If you cannot get your time of birth from a birth certificate, family member, or other government record, you can place your Sun sign on the Ascendant. This gives you a symbolic chart that provides accurate planetary placement, with only the fast-moving moon potentially in error. This is the method used for daily newspaper horoscope forecasts.

Midheaven

The Midheaven is the point overhead when you were born. If you were born at noon, your Sun would be near the Midheaven (abbreviated as Mc). The zodiac sign of your Midheaven is located at the top of the line that separates the ninth and tenth houses. The zodiac sign on your Midheaven describes the outward expression of your individuality and ego. It provides information on career, public image, and how the world perceives you. In esoteric (spiritual) astrology, the Midheaven is considered to represent something you need to take to the world in this life.

North Node

The North Node, sometimes called the "Dragon's Head," is a sensitive point where the moon's orbit around the earth crosses the sun's path from South to North. It expresses your dharma, or soul destiny. The sign your North Node is in will tell you about the qualities that you must develop within yourself. A Pisces North Node may need to trust their intuition in order to manifest the highest principles of compassion into the world. The natal house containing your North Node indicates the area of life you will need to bring those qualities into.

South Node

The South Node, sometimes called the "Dragon's Tail," is the intersection point where the moon's orbit crosses the sun's path from North to South. The South Node is exactly 180 degrees away from the North Node. It expresses your karma, or the lessons you need to learn from your past life. If you do not believe in past lives, you can consider this point to be lessons that you need to learn, or challenges to overcome, from childhood. The South Node also gives you hints as to talents that you brought into this life. The South Node is a bit of a “double-edged” sword. On one hand, you have talents in the sign of the South Node. On the other, you need to use those talents to move to the sign of your north node. If your South Node is in Sagittarius, you may have spent many past lives developing wisdom while meditating in a mountain cave. In this life, you may not want to come in to the world from your peaceful mountain. However, you must step into the opposite sign Gemini North Node to do your work in this life. A Gemini North Node person would need to communicate all of that past life Sagittarius wisdom to the world during this lifetime.

Chiron

Chiron, an asteroid orbiting between Saturn and Uranus, represents the wounding we sustain in life. As a centaur (half human, half animal), it represents overcoming our lower, animal nature in order to serve the highest forms of human service. The idea is that we create our own suffering in life because we hold on to ideas, behaviors, and possessions that are transitory. In mythology, Chiron gave up not only his life, but also his god-like immortality in order to release his suffering. His reward was to be placed up in the sky for eternity. Chiron in your chart represents ways and areas where you suffer, as well as areas where you can release your suffering. Chiron teaches you to go beyond your sense of limitation and powerlessness. It teaches you to see the Truth of the Universe. Because Chiron was only discovered in the 1970’s, you will find a variety of opinions on the meaning of Chiron in the chart.

Part of Fortune

The Part of Fortune is a mathematically derived sensitive point in your chart. The symbol in your chart is a circle with an “X” inside it. The Part of Fortune is an ancient Arabic interpretive element usually associated with the physical body, especially health and money. As its name implies, it is an area of your chart that is benevolent, especially when activated by a transiting planet. If you were born at night, you will need to decide on one of two methods for calculating the part of fortune.

Transits

Transits are the relationship of the planets’ current position as compared to where they were when you were born. Some transits help you to get into the flow of life; others challenge you to work through growth issues. Many people see an astrologer on a regular basis in order to get “updated” on how the transiting planets are activating their natal chart. Near your birthday each year, the Sun returns to the same degree of the sign of your birth. A chart is then cast, called a Solar Return, to help you understand the changing cycles of the year ahead.

Progressions

Progressions are a mathematical way of moving the planets in your chart. Progressions show the subtle, inner, and psychological influences that influence you as you grow through life experiences. There are several methods for doing this, but the most common is called Secondary Progressions. The idea is that you take on different ‘flavors” as you grow older. A person who was born on the first day of Sagittarius would have a Sagittarian influence for the first thirty years of life. During the second thirty years of life, she or he would still be a Sagittarius. However, she or he would take on a Capricorn influence. This would flavor the adventurous Sagittarian energy with the pragmatic grounding of Capricorn. The easiest way to understand these changing influences is to schedule annual updates with a competent astrologer.