posted January 02, 2006 09:44 PM
Hope this helps Salisa, I've included the Ascendant because it goes hand in hand with the Descendant.This is from Phillip Graves over at horoscopeschat
Ascendant, Descendant
The Ascendant signifies affairs pertaining to the First House. Similarly, the Descendant signifies affairs pertaining to the Seventh House; the Midheaven or Medium Coeli corresponds to the Tenth House; and the Immum Coeli or Lower Midheaven relates to the Fourth House. In the judgement of the matters governed by each of these four angular houses, the angle that is on its cusp should be considered by its sign and aspects received (conjunctions being of foremost importance), together with the sign and house placement of, and aspects received by, its Lord.
While any planet in the angular houses is of increased strength, this is particularly so of one posited in the Tenth House or the First House; and additionally if conjunct (as measured by degrees) the Midheaven or Ascendant such a planet will be greatly strengthened in its importance within a figure.
More specific concepts of three of these angles are compiled below.
The Ascendant describes the body and its material wants, physical appearance (both purely structural qualities of appearance, and the facial expression and outward mannerisms), constitution (health), and vital resilience.
According to Alan Leo it also has significant bearing upon the mind, intellect and 'disposition', but above all the brain as the 'controlling centre of the body', and the 'expression of the Ego in the physical world'. He links it to inherited and parentally derived character traits, stating that only with maturity can the inner being represented by the Moon and Sun express itself more freely.
Sasha Fenton states that the Ascendant sign shows 'one's earliest experiences of life' (which include, according to Jeanne Avery, the 'circumstances of birth'), 'early programming', and 'environmental factors' (in contrast to genetic ones) that, as Avery notes, influence the personality and mould the survival instincts. Fenton suggests that the characteristics of the ascendant sign are adopted to fit in with how authority figures early in life are perceived by the individual as expecting him or her to be. Peter Damian regards the Ascendant as showing not only the physical form and early environment, but also the individual's 'aspirations and will'.
Howard Sasportas regards the ascendant as showing our concept of life and existence; our perception of the world outside; and also our expectations when faced with changes and new beginnings, and our way of undertaking them.
According to Dane Rudhyar, the Ascendant signifies the 'intuitive awareness of self, or of individuality', and is connected to 'dharma', highlighting the 'central potentiality which the person should seek consciously to actualise as a vessel or lens through which the Divine may act'.
The Ascendant has been taken to indicate the way in which one approaches and confronts one's environment (especially outside the home); the elements of one's personality that one projects outwardly to others ('outer manner' or image), particularly in impersonal, public situations; and, therefore, the first impressions others obtain of oneself.
Martin Schulman regards it as the personal point of consciousness, likening it to a 'doorway' between the inner being and the outer environment, governing 'the way in which the inner being makes contact with the external environment... [and] receives and gives illumination (from and to the outer environment)'. He also sees it as a 'filter' of the individual's many inner potentials and of the world's many external realities, serving usefully and productively to selectively focus the individual's energies (as shown by the overall birth-chart) upon a 'meaningful field of expression' in the outer world, since it is 'important for us to selectively identify with those [external] conditions that directly affect the evolution of our own [inner] karma'. And through its function as a selective integrator of the inner self with the external world, he sees the Ascendant as determining the individual sense of identity, or ego, and showing the 'way in which we find personal expression through the ego'.
Robert Hand calls the Ascendant a point where 'energies of the self pass from the inner realm to the outer and are made manifest to the not-self'.
Moore and Douglas agree with Alice Bailey's view that the Ascendant shows the 'intended life or immediate soul purpose for this incarnation' and the 'force which, rightly used, will lead the man to success'. They add themselves that it describes 'what a person may become if he can actualise his spiritual potential'.
The Ascendant is sometimes portrayed as a put-on, acted 'persona' or 'mask' of 'psychological devices' that is automatically put up to protect the individual from being truly known by others when he or she 'feels less than safe,... scared [or] uncertain' (Avery): a 'façade' that he or she 'hides behind' for reasons of survival and safety; or (as Fenton puts it) a 'shield' that 'hides and protects the real personality, thereby allowing us to assess any situation before relaxing and revealing our true feelings'. As such it is considered under the individual's conscious control, adaptable to different situations, selectively allowing others to see the personality in a particular light. Yet it will always take the form of the particular sign of the zodiac on it, modified by aspects to it and by the situation of its dispositor. Most astrologers therefore regard it as an intrinsic part of the true personality, although perhaps the most easily outwardly expressed part. Hand notes that it shows the impression that others obtain of oneself and the effect that one has upon others through a combination of personality and actions.
The Descendant describes one's consciousness of and interactions with other people in the environment, and indicates qualities of the type of individual to whom one feels attracted with a view to partnership situations, as well as the nature of the partnerships that one experiences. It also shows some of the qualities we tend least to identify with ourselves.
Rudhyar describes the Descendant as showing the manner in which one approaches interpersonal relationships that involve 'mutuality' and equality, whether through co-operation and sharing, or through conflict and enmity, with others who differ from oneself.