Descendant

dih-SEN-duhnt

latin: Descendens

Definition

The Descendant (often abbreviated DSC) is the point of the zodiac setting below the western horizon at the moment and place you were born. It sits exactly opposite the Ascendant, the point rising in the east, and in most house systems it marks the start of the 7th house. Together the Ascendant and Descendant form the horizon line of your chart, splitting it into an upper half (the part of the sky above the horizon, by day) and a lower half (the part below it, by night).

In Tradition

In the Western tradition, the Descendant is tied to partnership — marriage, close relationships, the people who matter to you, and open enemies too. Where the Ascendant stands for you, the Descendant stands for the other person, the one you meet across the table.

In Practice

To get a feel for someone's partnership patterns, astrologers look at the sign on the Descendant and the planet that rules that sign. In synastry — the comparison of two people's charts — a planet from one chart landing near the other person's Descendant tends to be read as a marker of attraction. In horary, the branch of astrology that answers a specific question from a chart cast for the moment it was asked, the 7th house stands for the other party: a partner, the person you are negotiating with, or a known adversary.

Historical Origin

The 7th place appears in Hellenistic sources as one of the four angular positions, the kentra. In the Egyptian tradition the western horizon was linked with Amentat, the "place of rest," which gave the Descendant its long-standing associations with decline and with the other.

Etymology

Origin: Latin. Meaning: From descendens, meaning "descending" — referring to the point where celestial bodies descend below the western horizon. Abbreviated DC or DSC..

Definition

In Tradition

In Practice

Historical Origin

Etymology

Further Reading