The Four Angles

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THE FOUR ANGLES & THEIR ZODIACAL POLARITIES

Dane Rudhyar

In the proceeding chapters I discussed the meanings of the twelve houses as related and sequential fields of experiences. The individual must pass through and absorb the contents of these twelve basic types of experiences in order to actualize, in concrete terms and under the conditions prevailing in the Earth environment in which he lives, the potentialities inherent in his moment of birth. Defining the seventh house as the field referring to experiences of partnership tells nothing about the character of these experiences in the life of a particular person, nor does it tell us how he will tend to approach and respond to his closest associates. The astrologer tries to understand these factors, and the nature of the individual's actions and reactions, by considering (1) the zodiacal sign and degree at the cusp of the house; also the number of degrees in the house and whether or not it includes an "intercepted sign," (2) the planetary ruler of the sign on the cusp, and (3) whether a planet or several planets are located in the natal house.

Astrological textbooks usually tell, often with a very unfortunate kind of definiteness, what can be inferred from the presence of every sign of the zodiac at the cusp of every house. I stress the word "inferred" because this is merely an inference, a possibility, at best an expectable trend. "Textbooks" present quite inevitably an analytical picture of what everything may mean; and often the meanings listed under each heading in the textbook refer to very different matters which at first glance can hardly be related to one another. If the descriptions and listing are sound there is nevertheless a basic relationship between the traits of character or the type of events listed. Yet a house, for instance, on whose cusp we find the "expansive" sign, Sagittarius, ruled by Jupiter may also contain Saturn, a planet whose nature is limiting, constrictive, and often frustrating. The basic problem one has to meet in interpreting an entire birth chart is how to synthesize these opposite meanings. Another problem is what is best to tell the person whose chart one is interpreting, considering his age, his or her present circumstances, and the probable ability he or she may have to respond constructively to what is being said. But these are matters which cannot be discussed here, and the reader is referred in particular to my series of booklets on Humanistic astrology.

In these booklets I have explained the difference between a holistic and a strictly analytical approach to astrology, between "person-centered" and "event-oriented" types of interpretation. If I mention these matters here it is because in this chapter and the next I shall attempt to clarify some points which refer to the usual text-book type of analytical interpretation. To do this seemed necessary in order to bring a degree of definiteness and practicality to the general principles formulated in the preceding chapters.

Even if the astrologer has to focus his attention analytically on one single factor in a chart, there are nevertheless certain basic facts he should always hold in mind. The most important of these are that everything in a chart has its polar opposite, and that any factor can have a negative as well as a positive significance, regardless of whether it is usually classified as good or bad, fortunate or unfortunate. This principle of polarity is the cornerstone of any sound astrological interpretation, and it is particularly in evidence when we deal with axes in a chart. The horizon and meridian are axes; the Ascendant and Descendant, the Zenith and Nadir are the theoretical ends of these axes as they cross the ecliptic. Likewise the North and South Nodes of the Moon, and of all planets, are the two ends of axes. To define the meaning of one end without including in the definition the meaning of the other end simply does not make any sense, at least if one wants to present a complete picture of a situation or a personality. Yet this is what is commonly done.

What I mean, for instance, is that if one wishes to describe the characteristic qualities of a Leo Ascendant — that is, how the person's self-image has a Leo character — one should take into consideration the inevitable fact that his approach to partnership — Descendant — will have an Aquarius character; and vice versa. One cannot separate the way one sees oneself — which means also the best way to experience one's essential individuality and unique destiny — from the manner in which one meets people and enters into various types of partnership. These two factors in the personality — selfhood and relationship — are constantly interacting because they are two interdependent aspects of one fundamental drive, the drive to full individualized consciousness. You cannot be conscious alone, in a vacuum; the types of relationship implied in the seventh house must involve some degree of conscious awareness of the self and of the other person or persons.

Thus if an astrology text lists the characteristics to be attributed to Aries at the Ascendant the list should include traits which can also be referred to Libra as the sign at the Descendant. This is often done, but without making clear how the characteristics come to be included in the description of the Ascendant, and this can be confusing. In most cases, however, the astrologer does not think at all of the Libra Descendant when he is telling a client about his Aries Ascendant, and in such a case the interpretation must necessarily remain essentially incomplete. I shall therefore indicate sketchily how one can approach a bipolar interpretation of the natal horizon as a whole, which includes both the Ascendant and the Descendant. Such an interpretation will be in terms of the zodiacal signs found at both the eastern and the western ends of the horizontal line in our present-day two-dimensional charts. Then I shall do the same with the vertical meridian axis, which links Zenith and Nadir — or, in terms of the zodiac. Mid-heaven and lmum Coeli.

I shall now simply restate that the horizon refers essentially to consciousness; the meridian, to power. The Ascendant — eastern section of the horizon — represents the inherent and intuitive awareness of self, or of individuality. Here a human being discovers his uniqueness, his spiritual identity, which also means the keynote of his destiny. Here also a person realizes his difference from other persons. On the other hand, the Descendant — western section of the horizon — symbolizes the individual's special way of approaching the problems and opportunities derived from interpersonal relationships, and in general from all relationships in which he is willing to enter on a basis of equality and mutuality. Here the individual's difference has to become adjusted to other people's differences; this becomes possible through cooperation and in a spirit of love and sharing — or, negatively, of enmity and conflict.

The meridian refers to the power that comes from the integration of many elements within an organized and structured existential whole. In the fourth house what is involved is the integration of the personality and the stability of its operations and basic approach to life, whether this approach is determined by family or national traditions, or by the person's own rhythm of being. The tenth house indicates the most natural and best way in which the individual can become integrated in a collective organism, that is, a community, a profession, a national state.

Keeping these principles in mind we can then proceed with a brief characterization of the different types of natal horizons and meridians.*

*For a detailed psychological study of the twelve signs of the zodiac, the reader is referred to The Pulse of Life (new edition by Shambhala Publications, Berkeley, California).

The Aries/Libra Coupling

These two signs are equinoctial signs of the zodiac. Throughout the annual solar cycle two forces interact which I have called the Day-force and the Night-force, and which correspond to the Chinese polarities Yang and Yin. At the spring equinox the Day- force and the Night-force are of equal strength; that is, days and nights are of the same length. But the Day-force is in ascendancy, filled with dynamic intensity as it overcomes the Night-force. At the fall equinox the two forces are again equal in strength, but now the Day-force is waning, retreating, and the Night-force is eagerly increasing its power and its control of the situation.

Aries represents a straightforward movement of life toward a concrete, tangible, and personalized state of existence, because it is the nature of the Day-force to seek manifestation through differentiation and personalization at any level. Thus, if Aries is the sign rising at the eastern horizon when the first act of at least relative independence is performed — the first breath — the child's latent consciousness is stamped with a rather impulsive and impetuous eagerness to assert his uniqueness of destiny — his dharma — and to attempt to define more clearly who he is by taking a lead in life situations.

Aries is a sign closely linked with the spirit of adolescence. At this time the Day-force is just beginning to display its strength; it is still insecure. But being insecure, it compensates by appearing aggressive. The person with an Aries Ascendant may tend to romanticize his selfhood. He may be full of yearnings and desires for anything that mirrors to himself his essential and unique self. The objects of his desires and the mirrors of his true self will tend to have Libra characteristics, for Libra will be the sign at his western horizon, the Descendant, thus the symbol of the way he will — or should — approach interpersonal relationships.

Libra represents movement toward the development of a social-cultural consciousness, the eagerness for an "I" to interact with a "Thou," so that through this interplay a greater life may be experienced. Because the Aries Ascendant stimulates the typical adolescent yearning for self-expression and the assertion of uniqueness, it requires as a balancing force a sense of social values. One has to have something to assert oneself in or for, but at the Aries level this should not be too much of a challenge; it is better that it should take the form of a group, a collective set of values, a noble ideal, or perhaps faith in something that would allow the Aries drive for self-actualization to take form in the release of impersonal or transcendent spiritual energies.

When the reverse situation presents itself, that is, when Libra rises and Aries sets at birth, the individual tends to be a field of operation for collective urges and group ideals, for it is in terms of group activity, or at least in terms of a strong and idealized partnership, that the individual will learn what and who he is. This does not at all mean that the person will be "balanced" — the Libran symbol of "the Balance" is not really understood by astrologers* — but rather that he will be much concerned by his social or cultural role, by the value of his acts of self-expression. It will not be easy for him to find himself in aloneness, and he may experience insecurity and inner confusion until he has found his place in some land of group or society which he intuitively feels to be where he really belongs.

*What matters is not the way scales traditionally look, but what they are used for. They serve to weigh an individual's contribution to society or to a group relationship in terms of some collectively accepted standard of value. In Libra the collectivity sets standards which determine the worth of the individual participation in any group process.

This person will need an individualistic, self-actualizing, emotional partner to help him find himself through their relationship. This may mean at times forcing one's way into a partnership in a rather adolescent manner, or rushing into a devotional commitment to a person — or a personalized cause — in relationship to whom the individual with the Libra Ascendant can display his capacity for group organization and social, cultural, or religious enjoyment. Any group experience requires the catalytic presence of an individualized vision or release of energy.

The meaning to be attributed to the presence of Aries and Libra at the two ends of the chart's vertical line follows the principles stated above, except that now we are dealing with the capacity for organization and integration at both the private-personal — fourth house — and the public-professional — tenth house — levels. We should be thinking therefore of the best kind of power to be sought and experienced in this process of personal and social alteration.

Aries at the cusp of the fourth house stresses the need for sharply focused activity and enthusiasm, or faith, in the search for personal foundations and inner security. Security is not too likely to be found in passive subservience to a tradition or family pattern. As an English philosopher wrote during the early nineteen thirties: "The only security is no-security"; or, one might say: The best defense is to take the offensive. The problem is: Where does one want to go?

The zodiacal sign at the Mid-heaven should provide the answer to this question, and this sign is invariably Libra. Thus the goal should be to participate in a definite social activity and perhaps in the establishment of new social values. This sense of participation in a communal enterprise can be so overwhelming as to imply the sacrifice of the values attached to a strictly personal life — especially in a case where Sagittarius is at the Ascendant. Such a total devotion to a social-cultural process, perhaps a deeply transforming or even revolutionary process, may hide a deep sense of personal insecurity, which in turn may mean a quasi-adolescent and unstabilized approach to home situations, perhaps a revolt against the mother and all binding forms of possessive love. A solution for personal problems of integration should be sought in those tradition- transcending values which participation in a large, future-oriented or spiritual- religious community might — hopefully! — reveal to the soul operating at a critical state between two psychological and mental stages of human evolution.

There should be some discussion here of an important factor so far merely hinted at in my analysis of the Aries-Libra coupling — that is, the position of the planets that rule the zodiacal signs, Aries and Libra, and the Aspects these planets make to the other planets. It is impossible, however, within the confines of this book to discuss this factor and all the problems to which it gives rise. Today the concept of "planetary rulership" is rather ambiguous. It made very much sense in the old geocentric Ptolemaic system, as it was formulated in terms of the Sun-Moon polarity and the five levels of planetary activity, each ruled by a planet. But since planets beyond Saturn are now being used, the symmetrical picture presented under the old system is destroyed, and rulership should probably be understood in a different way according to our modem concept of the solar system.

Still, even in this awkward and transitional situation, a study of the planets which traditionally rule the four angles of the birth chart can be very significant, especially in terms of the house in which the rulers of the zodiacal signs at the four angles are located. For instance, if Mars — ruler of Aries in the old system — is placed in a person's seventh house, the Martian function he should most effectively use in discovering his identity and his destiny is definitely involved in marriage or partnership. The key to the discovery of the self lies in the type of relationships the individual will assume. If Mars were in the fifth house, the individual would most likely come to discover who he is in the mirror his creations or his children — or any dynamic attempts at projecting outward what is active within him — will present to his intuitive perceptions. In the sixth house, the planet ruling the Ascendant would suggest that the key to self-discovery lies in devoted work, service, or discipleship.

The same type of reasoning could be used with regard to the other angles of the natal chart, and possibly — but far less effectively — it could apply to the planets ruling the zodiacal signs on the cusps of the succeedent and cadent houses. A person with the ruler of the sign on the Descendant located in the second house may see his intimate relationships closely involved in financial matters and requiring a close management of his innate resources and abilities; in the eighth house, it might refer to the need for regeneration through experiences of ego surrender if the marriage is to actualize its transforming potentialities, or to a careful consideration of the financial outcome of a partnership if the latter is to prove significant and valuable.

The possibilities offered by such a technique are numerous; they may be used particularly in vocational guidance with respect to the tenth house and the planetary ruler of the sign culminating at the Mid-heaven. If this ruler is in the fifth house, self-expression is necessary for success in communal activities, or in one's profession. If Libra were then at the Mid-heaven — Venus being then the ruler of this tenth house — the possibility of success in some creative occupation, or of giving birth to a gifted child, would be evident. But if that planet is in disharmonious and tense relationships to other planets, the realization of these possibilities would require great effort and determination. An opposition between Venus and Saturn would tend to delay success, or to require a great depth of inquiry and perhaps a struggle against set patterns of social operation or conventional friends, who nevertheless in the end could be won over.

From all of this it should be clear how important it is that the house pattern of a birth chart be exactly established and that the angles be calculated for the precise moment of the first breath. It is also clear how incomplete any system of "equal houses" must be which does not take into consideration the two axes determined by the time and place of birth — or any system which fails to consider the houses.

The Taurus/Scorpio Coupling

These two signs represent the reaction which follows actions begun during the equinoctial periods. They refer to a process of coalescence and stabilization dominated by a definite organic purpose. In Taurus the process operates mainly at the biological and instinctual level; in Scorpio what is implied is identification with forces which aim at the interpenetration of individual units for the purpose of building a larger social or "occult" organism — an interpenetration which, in order to be effective, must reach the very roots of the being (thus the connection of Scorpio with sex). Yet it is Taurus which symbolizes the operations of the natural and biologically compulsive sexual function, while in Scorpio sexual activity has a personalized character. In Scorpio, it meets human needs and answers individual yearnings. Its compulsions are psychological, rather than glandular and instinctual; thus it is possessive in a personal sense and subject to all kinds of perversions, but also to transmutation. In Taurus, on the other hand, it is simply a procreative instinct aiming at producing a progeny, or a strictly natural release of biopsychic energies.

With Taurus at the Ascendant a person normally discovers his true nature through productivity, at one level or another. He or she produces and tends to cling to the products. There may be a thorough identification with both the process of production and the person or group whose needs this process will satisfy. There may be not only a fixity of purpose, but pride in accomplishments, biological or social, and as a result a good deal of self-centeredness and a somewhat narrow horizon. Still, within the particular field of production in which it is the dharma of the individual to operate, great results can be obtained. Spiritually or even psychologically speaking the problem is not to become too personally attached to the results of one's activity, and to allow nature or life to act through one's person.

A Taurus Ascendant implies inevitably a Scorpio Descendant. The individual will have to surrender at least partially his ego attachment to his own products by relating to persons who have a more social vision or who need to experience the spontaneous and natural release of organic energies. Such relationships strengthen the part of his nature that seeks broader horizons and in many cases a more conscious and controlled approach to productivity — also a more responsible approach in terms of group purpose. The individual may seek partners through whom he may become more fully aware of larger social, moral, or political issues.

In the reverse situation the person with a Scorpio Ascendant will often seek to fulfill his role in society by drawing power from persons very close to him. Numerous political leaders have been born with Scorpio as their rising sign — Disraeli, Gandhi, Lenin, Stalin, Mussolini. These people enjoy the use of social power and identification with the need of their people to achieve some sort of organic integration at the national level; but, as they relate to their partners, they draw vital forces from them and they demand concrete results along fixed lines of activity.

The fixity of purpose and natural organic productivity of the sign Taurus when related to the fourth house stresses the importance to the individual of deep roots in a particular land and tradition, and of a solid home foundation. But, as in every other case, the character of this foundation depends a great deal on what zodiacal sign is on the Ascendant, for the Ascendant is at the source of all that characterizes the essential function of the individual as an individual, that is, his identity as a unique person. In temperate regions of the northern hemisphere if Taurus is at the Nadir point of the chart one can expect Capricorn, Aquarius, or even Sagittarius at the Ascendant. The "Earth" character of Taurus would be strengthened by a Capricorn Ascendant, and the Cancer Descendant would add to the concentration on productivity within the radius of the home or of a well-defined field of activity. I need hardly repeat here that any astrological indication must be related to many others — indeed to the whole chart — before one can grasp its meaning in terms of a person's character and destiny. The individual personality is a chord of dynamic factors, and no one factor can be understood if taken out of the context of the whole chart — which is why such analytical characterization as suggested here can be tentative and only partially valid; they deal only with general principles.

Taurus symbolizes in the cycle of the year the evolutionary ascent of life toward the Sun, the ascent of the sap which nourishes the plant and culminates in the blossom. The Scorpio Mid-heaven, which polarizes this ascent if Taurus is at the cusp of the fourth house, represents the flowering of the life energy in the at least relatively full-grown organism of personality — thus the glamour of youthful bodies enamored with one another and, through sexual embraces, seeking to reach the experience of power which expresses itself through the union of life polarities. A cycle of experience later, around age fifty, this fulfillment of vital energies may be replaced by the exaltation of social-professional achievements. These also imply a union with a superpersonal reality — a group, a nation, mankind — which releases social power. This may result in the assumption of political leadership, especially if the sign Leo is rising — as was the case in Bismarck's chart, and in that of J. P. Morgan the Elder, the international banker who had much to do in bringing the United States into World War I.

Here again we see polarity at work in the opposed ends of the natal meridian. Nadir and Zenith. In the fourth house the product of Taurean fertility is oneself as a person; in the tenth house, the product of Scorpio's urge to commune in depth with other persons should result in a significant and productive "office." The office-holder and the office depend upon each other. Results are generated by their interaction.

The Gemini/Sagittarius Coupling

The sign Gemini is characterized by a vivid eagerness to extend the scope of one's personal experiences through many kinds of human contacts, and the absorption of a variety of information which is found to be readily available. Gemini is the most typical symbol of intellectual curiosity and of the mind which neatly and analytically classifies knowledge for practical and personal use. The opposite sign, Sagittarius, refers to a more abstract and mature type of knowledge, concerned with the integration of distantly related factors, with philosophy, religion, and any form which the quest for basic values and understanding or wisdom may take. Gemini deals with easily accessible encounters and the concrete mind; Sagittarius with all that expands the horizon, takes one away from routine existence, and incites one to dream great dreams. Gemini represents the type of mental faculty which is concerned with control of the environment for greater personal convenience and the feeding of the ego; Sagittarius is haunted by ever larger horizons, by the thirst for great adventures beyond the familiar.

A Gemini Ascendant often indicates an avidity for knowledge and the deep-rooted expectation that it is through knowledge and a multiplicity of sensations and contacts that one will discover one's own individual identity. Indeed, the use of thought processes will be very important, but the danger is that one may be caught in a web of small concerns, logical statements, experiments, and lost in a maze of information which, while well ordered, may be empty of larger meaning and unconcerned with social consequences. The Sagittarius Descendant suggests that relationships should be based on a larger scheme of values. Sagittarius provides Gemini with its abstract frames of reference, its logical concepts, its dissatisfaction with the near-at-hand and the temporarily fashionable. It makes possible an expansion of consciousness through relationship. The personally assimilated information, even the mental awareness of one's essential nature, should be put to use in terms of human fellowship and a sharing of values with greater minds.

When Sagittarius is the rising sign, the individual may be fond of outdoor life and travel — or so says the tradition! — but far more significantly he is a person who will come to realize what and who he is through involvement in a great cause, a social or religious belief, a search for truth. This sought-after Truth may be so capitalized that the individual seeks to promote or propagandize it with an often fanatic zeal, or at least with great dedication. He may find his own truth and dharma through teaching others what has fired his enthusiasm; but he needs the polarizing influence of the more precise, more empirical and analytical Gemini mind. He should, theoretically at least, seek partners who will cooperate with him along practical lines, perhaps along several lines of endeavor so that his generalizations and his expansionism may be fed with a variety of relevant data and multilevel relationships.

Gemini at the cusp of the fourth house tends to provide changing situations while the process of personality integration takes place. The tree of personality may be like a palm tree or a sequoia with a very wide and extensive network of roots not far below the surface, instead of a deep-reaching taproot. Concentration on very basic feelings may be somewhat difficult. The individual may have antennae feeling for multiple impacts and stimuli for growth, rather than a solid and secure realization of what he actually is and stands for as a person. The danger is for a strong and clever ego to develop as the efficient and perhaps proud organizer of complex life experiences.

Much depends in such a case on the sign at the Ascendant. In most instances it will be either Aquarius or Pisces; only in the far north could it be Capricorn, a steadying influence. An Aquarius Ascendant may stress idealism and/or social discontent; a Pisces Ascendant would tend to give a touch of transcendence and perhaps psychic instability to the Gemini foundation of the personality. And the positions of planets in the fourth house could considerably modify and polarize the typical Gemini characteristics, either adding restlessness or stabilizing the intellectual structures upon which the person depends for inner security.

When the situation is reversed and Sagittarius is at the cusp of the fourth house, philosophical, religious, or ancestral concepts should be sought as roots for the stabilization and strengthening of the personality. A personal ambition to leave a strong imprint upon society may be a significant factor. The early home may be open to many influences and visitors. The mother may have intense religious convictions and impress them upon the growing child and adolescent. There may be early travels in childhood. Later on, in times of crisis, the individual will tend to renew his inner strength by strong acts of faith in his destiny, and by seeking philosophical or moral justification for his feelings and perhaps his social ambition.

With Gemini at the Mid-heaven, intellectual capabilities should be used to the utmost. The assistance of intellectuals, specialists, researchers will be important in the pursuit of a social or professional goal. A quick mind can be most valuable in adjusting to the demands of whatever public situation one has to deal with. This power of social adaptation and the ability to handle information should balance the determination and perhaps self-righteousness and proselytism of Sagittarius at the chart's Nadir. Franklin D. Roosevelt's chart is an example of such a situation, but planets in his tenth house and a massive group in the sign Taurus were even more important in determining his personality and destiny.

The Cancer/Capricorn Coupling

These two signs have their origin in the solstices, the moments at which the two polarities of the solar life power are found in a condition of maximum disequilibrium. In Cancer the Day-force is at the acme of its power, even though the Night-force is by no means annihilated, and from then on it will slowly wax in strength. In Capricorn the Night-force is as dominant as it ever can be. Thus the characteristic features of one of these two forces are exaggerated and overemphasized in these zodiacal signs. This emphasis serves a basic purpose in the over-all pattern of the zodiacal cycle: one of the two polarities is revealed in all its implications and limitations.

In Cancer the Sun which had been moving northward in declination — that is, the sunsets had occurred for three months to the north of exact West—"stands still," which is what the word solstice etymologically means, sol being the Latin for Sun. This symbolizes an abrupt reversal of the process which had been going on for half a year. The Gemini eagerness for conquering more life space and increasing knowledge through all kinds of experiments stops. Symbolically speaking, the young man who had been scattering his energies experimenting with a multitude of things gets a job, marries and settles down to become the head of a family. In this sense, Cancer represents the stabilizing power of a home. Life energies are being focused; and a home can be a narrow and exclusivistic focus of attention, setting a well-defined stage for the birth and education of the child.

This focusing of energy can operate at several levels. Albert Einstein had a Cancer Ascendant. His ideas led to the concept of a finite spheroidal universe and he was concerned with the formulation of one basic principle encompassing all known manifestations of energy. Because the Cancer type strives for the concrete realization of Unity at the root of all modes of experience, it may be led to mystical realizations of a sort. The sign Cancer is often associated with psychic gifts, but the validity of this belief depends a great deal on what one means by psychic. Clairvoyance is usually a holistic process in which the essence and meaning of a situation as a whole is seen by the clairvoyant as a symbol or a scene. Characteristic here is the whole-making activity. Building a home — and not merely a physical house — is a whole-making activity. The bipolar couple, man-woman, is ideally a reconstituted whole, potentially procreative because stabilized as one single biological and social unit.

Capricorn also refers to the achievement of integration, but while Cancer refers to the narrow biopsychic unity of a personal situation, Capricorn deals with the large-scale political or managerial institutions of a complex national state. Modern nations in most cases are not at first composed of people of the same race or culture; indeed, the purpose of a national state — at least spiritually speaking — is to integrate different races and cultures. The problems which all western nations have faced, and are still facing, arise from the fact that several distinct ethnic groups are made to interact and to cooperate in the establishment and above all the maintenance of a perfect union. France is a typical instance, but so is Great Britain, and of course in a special sense he United States.

A Cancer Ascendant will tend to make a person concerned with very definite, perhaps intellectually formulatable or experientially workable goals. The issues are sharply definable and involve individual personalities. A Capricorn Ascendant leads one to discover one's own essential identity and destiny in activities that involve the integration of distant factors or of basic antagonisms which can be integrated only by means of strictly logical systems or legal instrumentalities requiring some type of police force to enforce patterns of order.

What is perhaps even more important is that the Cancer Ascendant person will trust more in the use of personal power and of the dynamic power of love, while the Capricorn Ascendant will resort to large impersonal or superpersonal concepts or techniques of organization. Carl Jung had a Capricorn Ascendant and his system of depth psychology stresses the idea that the power of archetypes of the collective unconscious is ultimately more important than that of strictly personal feelings or intellectual concepts. On the other hand, Adler, another psychologist who also left the Freudian school, had a Cancer Ascendant, and he emphasized the importance of purely personal reaction to some kind of handicap and the will-to-power which compensates for feelings of inferiority by expressing aggressivity.

The person with Cancer as rising sign will also use this process of personal compensation but primarily as he establishes associations with other people. He is afraid to meet them in a person-to-person interaction. He may hide under broad concepts and Capricornian social generalizations. He has to build a social persona, to play a role in which he can appear superior to other people; and clairvoyance may turn out to be quite a remarkable way of impressing the persons with whom one comes into relationship with one's superior faculty of perception, while at the same time one is inwardly painfully aware of one's own individual insecurity.

On the other hand, the person with a Capricorn Ascendant has need of people with whom he can relate person to person, for without such concretizing meetings and close interpersonal empathy he might feel personally over-involved in ambitious schemes and large-scale social planning, or in mystical and cosmic realizations. Capricorn can refer to experiences and faculties that many people would call "mystical," but the reference is rather to the type of consciousness that is able or desires intensely to operate in terms of a transcendent type of order, of a cosmic and — in the real sense of this much abused term — occult use of power. He may tend to overwhelm other people with such power, seeking potential subjects in order to fulfill what he considers his destiny. It could be a catabolic kind of destiny.

A fourth house with Cancer at its cusp indicates a human being in whom the archetypal characteristics associated with the number 4 in numerical symbolism — perhaps the most universal of all symbolic systems — are quite strong. This is because Cancer is also the fourth sign of the zodiac. Indeed, the often stressed identity of meaning attributed by astrologers to Cancer and the fourth house can only be justified on such a numerological basis. The number 4 is die symbol of concrete embodiment and of the most basic feelings associated with the operation of life energies and their psychic overtones — the basic drives studied by psychologists. This number defines the process of integration as it operates at the biopsychic level within human consciousness. It refers to the type of intelligence which works as the obedient servant of the life force in order to provide a secure foundation for the growth of personality — an intelligence whose operations are controlled by expediency, empiricism, and adaptation to concrete organic needs. This intelligence is related to the Moon in astrological symbolism, and the Moon is said to rule the sign Cancer. It refers to the mother only because it is the mother who cares for the baby incapable of meeting his own needs — the need for food, clothing, shelter, cleaning, and also for security and love.

A Cancerian fourth house refers therefore to the particularly strong and probably lifelong need of the individual to focus much of his attention upon his ability to adapt to changing conditions in his private life. This stresses the importance not only of the home life, but of all that refers to the process of personality integration. However, such a concentration upon the near at hand, the organic, the feelings, and upon some sort of Mother-image, could be overwhelming if not integrated with what the Capricorn tenth house implies: that is, an equally strong concern for establishing oneself securely in a social position. The latter provides the social power, the money, necessary to run a secure, satisfying home.

When the situation is reversed, and Capricorn is found at the Nadir point of the chart, public concerns may well dominate a person's private life — that is, if no special planetary "influence" is at work in the fourth and the tenth houses. Professional or social activities, however, will tend to be determined by expediency. Indeed, the public or professional life should be managed with a keen sense of adjustment to the rapidly changing moods of the community. If the individual identifies his own fourth house personality with a broad, social, or cosmic purpose — Capricorn — he will indeed need flexibility of response, a sense of timing, and a "psychic" feeling of what is vital and acceptable to his public in order to succeed. With such a position one most often finds a Libra Ascend-ant. This of course emphasizes the concern with social issues and values, and the ability to deal with groups — and in so dealing to discover one's own identity.

The Leo/Aquarius Coupling

The four cardinal signs of the zodiac refer to four most characteristic types of solar activity insofar as nature in the Earth's biosphere is concerned — equinoctial and solstitial types. These modes of activity become "fixed" in Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius. They are fixed within four specific types of human organisms; they are condensed, concentrated, and given characteristic forms which are filled with specific types of substances — and we know that substance or matter is simply a condensed state of energy. When a creative person composes a symphony, or paints, or when a performing artist incarnates on a theatrical stage the personage of a play, he projects his personal vision by bringing together the esthetic materials his culture has made available to him or he has selected from his natural environment. He "fixes" these material elements in a form which expresses his personal character, or during some collectivistic periods — the character of his culture, religion, or communal way of life.

In Taurus the equinoctial impulsiveness of the Day-force becomes substantiated and incorporated through the use of materials available in the biosphere. In Leo the personalizing characteristics of the summer solstice are given an individual form in which a life species and a consciously developed human person see themselves embodied or reflected. In the opposite section of the zodiac Aquarius gives form to a stabilized social whole — an ethnic group or a nation — producing what we call a culture. A culture is expressed in a wide variety of art forms, social forms, clubs, salons for the discussion of new or old ideas, etc. A culture can only develop where the social will has established its domination over the heterogeneous desires and opinions of the separate members of the community; where a definite "way of life" has emerged.

The individual with a Leo Ascendant seeks to discover who he is by creating mirrors upon which he can project and reveal to his consciousness what his original birth-potential — or Soul potentialities and dharma — is. He seeks to find his self in his creations, at whatever level these creations find their embodiment; thus the creation may be a child, a work of art, a specific kind of social performance, etc. If one understands well this process, two factors will stand out clearly. First, the Leo rising individual has to impose his desire for self-projection upon whatever materials are necessary; he has to see that they are available and responsive to his projected imagination and will force — in Sanskrit, Kriyashakti and Ichchashakti. When these necessary "materials" are other human beings, the Leo person becomes the man who has to lead and even to rule over people or social projects. But the second factor, which should not be forgotten, is that this intense desire for self-projection is rooted in and conditioned by the fact that the individual is not sure of what he essentially is. He tends to be socially insecure because he is uncertain of his dharma. He has to prove himself to himself, to discover who he is in the mirror of his creations. His grand gestures may indeed be compensations for this inner lack. At all cost he must find out how people react to him, and perhaps discover his strength in their subservience. In order to be able to express his unclearly known self, he has to be able to handle cultural products and thus Aquarian symbols, words, concepts. He meets his partners in terms of vast concepts — social, cultural, occult. These are needed to provide basic forms for his will to expression. Thus the Leo Ascendant must interact with the Aquarius Descendant.

When the situation is reversed and the sign Aquarius is rising at birth, the individual tends to identify himself, spontaneously and intuitively, with his culture and all the enjoyments it provides; or with great dreams of reform, challenging old structures, pioneering for a New Age. Then, because these cultural forms can be empty of real vital meaning unless personalized, the individual will seek partners who will cooperate with him — either partners in cultural play or in reform and perhaps revolutionary activities. These partnerships may have a very emotional character, because the individual will demand wholehearted cooperation and often exclusivity.

When the sign Leo is at the cusp of the fourth house, a person's home life and the development of his personality may be conditioned by a feeling of pride and the desire to live in an at least relatively sumptuous residence which will become a stage set for self-expression, or at least in tune with the need for the exteriorization of what the person senses to belong to him by right of destiny. Richard Wagner was an excellent example of such a situation. The fourth house process for personality integration may take on dramatic overtones, perhaps verging at times on theatricalism. The person with Leo at the Nadir of his birth chart may have a somewhat regal but possessive mother. Wherever he is, he wants to be "lord of the manor" — and it may have to be a well-fortified manor with ego-walls.

The Aquarius Zenith usually indicates reliance of the creative person upon professional and social patterns as fields for the projection and stabilization of his personal power. He often seeks some relatively large, and perhaps idealistic, field for public action; he wants a broad stage on which to play his role, a role in which he can shine individually. His whole community should be such a stage, or it might be a professional field which deals with new inventions or offers the opportunity to become a leader or a prophet.

When Aquarius is at the cusp of the natal fourth house, the search for personal integration should be deeply affected by social issues and home life may be inspired or even invaded by idealistic or revolutionary dreams. Then the Leo Mid-heaven will manifest itself as the tendency to pour energies emotionally and dramatically into whatever makes possible the fulfillment of the Aquarian ideals. In such a situation we often find a Scorpio or Libra Ascendant, and this stresses even more the feeling of identification with social or occult groups.

The Virgo/Pisces Coupling

The Virgo type is characterized by his analytical and critical temperament, and by the urge to reorient or repolarize the essential energies of his emotional-personal nature. Virgo is a symbol of psychological crisis, and may also refer to ill health, or to a deep feeling that something is to be done with regard to health. Virgo follows Leo, as trouble usually follows the too personal manifestation of our urge to self-expression at any cost. But it can also mean progression to a higher realm of consciousness and personal metamorphosis.

The Virgo-rising person will seek to single himself out by his progressive transformations, his spiritual overcomings, his bodily rejuvenations. In some cases he may achieve much through a sense of humility and a will to serve others; in others, there will be much criticism or insistence upon technical achievements. There may be a deep yearning for purity and even sanctity, which may lead to self-deception and unsound devotional attitudes.

The Virgo-Ascendant type of person meets his closest associates in a Piscean manner; and where he is critical as an individual, he may easily be much too open as a lover or a partner. He is longing for the loss of himself in a collectivity or a cause, just because he is seeking to achieve his individual status as one who has experienced a personal metamorphosis. He has to be devoted to whomever or whatever seems to embody the state of being which is the goal of this metamorphosis.

Pisces symbolizes a state of social, collective crisis. At the stage of life represented by this last of the zodiacal signs, man finds himself swept by social storms against which he is powerless. He is controlled by the fateful consequences of the "sins" of his fathers, and of his past cycles as an individual. He has to give up all solid things, all comfort or security, and lose all reliance upon social, cultural, or religious structures, if he is to be reborn in Aries as a true individual, a source of new life. In Virgo man has to give up personal limitations which bind. In Pisces, he must give up his allegiance to old gods and ancient laws and face the new God whose countenance is as yet unrevealed.

The Pisces-Ascendant type may be wide open to the collective unconscious — perhaps a medium, perhaps a true seer. But he may also be a crusader, a leader of armies or of groups dedicated to a greater future for their nations or for humanity. This very openness to the unknown will call for partnerships of a critical Virgo type. The Pisces-rising person will demand of his loved ones that they should pass through ceaseless metamorphoses. He may demand rigorous discipline and a spotless conduct from his associates. Having his vision absorbed by vast changes, he will often meet daily trivialities with impatience and meticulous care. For himself he will rely upon intuition, but will seek to find intellect and accuracy of technique in his partners, or will display such Virgo characteristics in his dealings with others.

Because Virgo and Pisces are signs of the zodiac which refer to critical states in the evolution of consciousness and of the ability to use power constructively, it can be expected that when these signs are found at the natal meridian the individual will tend to achieve power and to fulfill his destiny in the midst of personal and social transformation. He may discover where he belongs in the effort to meet issues in personal or social situations which challenge his impulse to serve, or to play a role in revolutionary upheavals.

Virgo at the cusp of the fourth house should normally bring a great deal of self-analysis and self-criticism in the process of personality integration. The value of ancestral, usually taken-for-granted traditions may be questioned; there may be much preoccupation with the improvement of the home situation. The mother's influence could lead to concern about diet and health; the child may feel confused and upset by a critical mother. If Cancer is the rising sign, the possibility of a mother complex against which the adolescent may rebel more or less successfully, may be fairly strong. If Gemini is rising, a greater stress on intellectual processes and analytical procedures is likely.

Virgo at the Nadir point implies Pisces at the Zenith. The public and/or professional life should be concerned with large social issues, especially in terms of a transformation of the status quo. Albert Einstein — With Cancer Ascendant — is a good example of this, for his work involved him directly in changes of awesome magnitude in the conduct of international affairs. He stressed the use of intuition even in scientific discoveries, and his ancestral roots had tragic overtones. Pisces at the Mid-heaven often favors a musical profession, as in the case of Richard Strauss, but a Piscean approach to one's participation in society may take many forms. Much depends as always on whether or not planets are located in the tenth house, and what these planets are. The great humorist Will Rogers had a Piscean Mid-heaven. Humor, in a sense, is related to situations of crisis, because it challenges assumed values and appearances, particularly regarding public figures and institutions. On the other hand. Pope Pius XII, with a Piscean Mid-heaven and a Sagittarian Ascendant, led a religious organization in a time of crisis.

If the situation is reversed and Virgo is at the Mid-heaven — and Pisces, therefore, at the fourth house cusp — one may find a person who identifies with large social trends at a time when it may be his personal destiny to focus forces of radical change.

This in turn forces him to take a critical Virgo approach to social institutions or set professional patterns. We see this strongly emphasized in the birth chart of the great iconoclast Nietzsche and of Benito Mussolini, promoter of Fascism and of the managerial state. (Mussolini even used castor oil as an instrument of political power, his gangs forcing his political opponents to absorb a vast quantity of it on the night preceding crucial political speeches, and votes—with the expected intestinal results for the victims!) Lenin was another example, with a Scorpio Ascendant suggesting passionate identification with collectivizing forces; his Pisces Nadir befitting a homeland in a crisis of total transformation.

In closing this chapter I should stress again that what has been said indicates trends that can be deeply modified by the presence of planets in the angular houses, and by their relationships to other planets. In addition, the importance of the degrees of the zodiac at the four angles of a chart can hardly be overestimated. But this refers to another field of study which is full of ambiguity and of confusing claims, yet most significant. I can only state here that degree symbols can add a new dimension to the interpretation of the internal character of the angles and of all planets. They indicate, at least tentatively, the inner quality of the basic situation and the activity represented by the angles and the planets located on these degrees; the whole set of 360 degrees theoretically can be likened to the set of the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching. But in order to do this, the cyclic series of degree symbols has to prove its validity by its internal consistency and by the structural interrelationships between the symbols, when they are related in several ways.

The only set which I feel meets these requirements are the Sabian Symbols, which were recorded during the nineteen twenties by Marc Edmund Jones and Elsie Wheeler, and which I reproduced with Marc Jones's permission in The Astrology of Personality. However, when this book was written - 1934-36, I had not yet made sufficient use of these symbols to realize that their formulation, and especially their interpretation, needed a great deal of revision. Marc Jones tried to do this in a later book, Sabian Symbols, but I personally am not satisfied with the results. A series of articles I wrote in American Astrology in 1945-46, The Wheel of Significance, also leaves much more work to be done. Yet even in the form in which they are available, these symbols can be a significant tool in the hands of an intuitive interpreter who does not force a philosophical or social point of view upon them but allows every detail of the symbolic image or scene to speak for itself.

The Astrological Houses