Planets on the angles, and how high the Sun was

Find the planets that sit on a chart's four angles, and read the sky's real horizon at birth.

Lesson 6 of 18 in Read Along with Umbriel · free to read · no account, no email

The four angles

Every chart has four angles, the points where the sky meets the ground and the overhead line. The Ascendant is the eastern horizon, where things rise. The Descendant, opposite, is the western horizon, where they set. The Midheaven (MC) is the highest point of the zodiac overhead. The IC, opposite, is the point underfoot.

A planet sitting on an angle is turned up loud. Astrologers have said this for two thousand years, and it is the first place to look for what makes a chart obvious from across a room.

Umbriel's angles, tightest first

Umbriel's Ascendant is 3°40'40" Leo, so the Descendant is 3°40'40" Aquarius. The Midheaven is 15°12'09" Aries, the IC 15°12'09" Libra. Now list every planet within a few degrees of one of them, tightest orb first:

• Saturn on the Midheaven, 0°27′. The tightest angle contact in the chart. Its degree image: "A torchbearer races out front, the procession straining to follow."
• Pluto on the Descendant, 0°40′ (opposite the Ascendant). Juno sits with it, 0°35′ from the Descendant.
• Jupiter on the Ascendant, 1°38′.
• The Sun on the Ascendant, 2°02′.

And a quiet one underfoot: Eros sits 0°46′ from the IC. Desire at the root. We will come back to that in the lesson on Lilith and Eros.

Read them as a picture: a public face lit by the Sun and Jupiter, a torchbearer at the top of the sky, and depth waiting across the table. Saturn on the MC is weight, not punishment: a role that asks for structure and repays it.

How high was the Sun?

Angles are drawn on the ecliptic, but a real sky has a real horizon. Umbriel's full house prints each body's altitude, its height above or below the horizon at the birth minute. For angular planets it is worth a look.

• The Sun: +1°37'33". Up, barely. A sliver of daylight.
• Jupiter: −1°00'54". Still below the eastern horizon, about to rise.
• Pluto: −2°02'43". Under the western horizon, having set.
• Saturn: +46°38'13", at an azimuth of 179.21°, almost exactly due south. Standing at the top of its arc.

So Umbriel was born on the seam: the Sun out, the bigger light (Jupiter) still coming, Pluto freshly gone down on the other side. Because the Sun is above the horizon, it is a day chart, which changes how several later techniques work.

What counts as on the angle

Under about 3° from an angle counts as on it, and under 1° is very strong. Check both sides of the line: Umbriel's Sun is in the 12th house, Saturn in the 9th, both technically in the houses before the angle. They still count. A planet a degree or two before the Ascendant or MC is as loud as one a degree after.

One caution. Angles are the most time-sensitive points in any chart. Umbriel's time was chosen and recorded, so these contacts stand. On a remembered time, hold angular planets loosely.

Do it on your chart

1. Open Natal Chart and find the angles and the aspects to the angles.
2. Write down your Ascendant, Descendant, Midheaven and IC degrees.
3. List every conjunction or opposition to an angle under 3°, tightest first.
4. Look at both sides of each angle, including the 12th, 6th, 9th and 3rd houses.
5. Note whether your Sun was above or below the horizon: day chart or night chart.
6. Circle your tightest angular planet. That is often what people notice first.

What that looks like

Umbriel's loudest angles are Saturn on the Midheaven at 0°27′, Pluto on the Descendant at 0°40′, and Jupiter and the Sun on the Ascendant at 1°38′ and 2°02′. The real sky agrees: the Sun was +1°37′ above the horizon, Jupiter still a degree below, and Saturn almost due south at the top of its arc. A torchbearer overhead, light at the door, depth across the table.

What to take away

• Angles are the Ascendant, Descendant, Midheaven and IC. Planets on them are turned up loud.
• List angular planets tightest first; under 1° is very strong.
• Count planets on either side of the angle line, not only those in the 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th.
• Altitude shows the real horizon: Umbriel's Sun was +1°37′ up, Jupiter still below.
• Sun above the horizon makes a day chart. Note it now; later lessons use it.

The common mistake

Ignoring a planet because it is in the 12th or 9th house, when it sits a degree from the Ascendant or Midheaven. Distance to the angle beats the house number.

Try it on your own chart

Do the six steps and find your one tightest angular planet. If you have none within 3°, that is fine and common: the chart speaks more through its aspects and rulers than through any one loud planet. If you have one, describe it as the thing people might clock about you before you have said a word.

Check yourself

The same questions the lesson asks in the app. Open one to see the answer.

The tools this lesson teaches

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