The Imum Coeli
Think of where you come from: the house you grew up in, the family atmosphere, the culture and land behind you, the private self you return to at the end of the day. That is the IC: the root under the whole chart.
The IC is the point where the meridian crossed the zodiac below your feet, on the other side of the Earth, at your birth. Imum coeli means the bottom of the sky. It is always exactly opposite the Midheaven.
- ASCAscendantWhere the zodiac rises over the eastern horizon
- MCMidheavenWhere the zodiac crosses the meridian, high in the sky
- DSCDescendantWhere the zodiac sets below the western horizon
- ICImum CoeliWhere the zodiac crosses the meridian, below the Earth
Arrows: the sky turns from east to west every day, so each sign in turn rises at the Ascendant, crosses the Midheaven and sets at the Descendant.
What the Imum Coeli describes
- Home and family.
- Roots, ancestry and heritage.
- Private life and the inner self.
- The foundation you build everything else on.
The angles are the most personal points of a chart. Two people born on the same day share most of their planets' signs, but if they were born a few hours apart or in different places, their angles differ.
- ASC, the Ascendant The eastern horizon at birth. Cusp of the 1st house: self and presence.
- DSC, the Descendant The western horizon. Cusp of the 7th: partners.
- MC, the Midheaven The highest point. Cusp of the 10th: calling and public life.
- IC, the Imum Coeli The lowest point. Cusp of the 4th: home and roots.
The midnight point
Here is a less-known image. If you were born around midnight, the Sun was near your IC, directly beneath you on the far side of the Earth. Traditional astrology linked this point with what is hidden, buried and ancestral, and with the end of things as well as their beginning: the foundations of a life, and where it returns.
What is rising in your chart?
Your Ascendant and Midheaven, calculated from your exact birth time and place.
