IC (Imum Coeli)

Definition

The Imum Coeli — abbreviated IC, Latin for "bottom of the heavens" — is the point of the zodiac directly beneath you, where the sky meets your local meridian (the north-south line overhead) below the horizon. It sits exactly opposite the Midheaven, the highest point, and marks the lowest spot a planet reaches in its daily arc across the sky. In quadrant house systems, the IC begins the 4th house.

In Tradition

In the Western tradition, the IC is tied to roots and foundations — your home, the family you came from, your ancestry, and the most private corners of life. Hellenistic sources count the IC among the four angular places, the kentra, and modern astrologers read it as the deepest point of the chart: where your origins are buried and where matters quietly come to rest.

In Practice

To get a sense of someone's relationship to home, family background, and inner foundations, astrologers look at the sign on the IC, the planet that rules that sign, and any planet sitting close to the IC itself. When a slow-moving outer planet transits — passes over — the natal IC, that often coincides with a change in living situation or in a person's sense of inner security. Astrologers also read the IC and MC together as a single axis, a back-and-forth between your private foundations and your public face.

Historical Origin

The 4th place appears in Hellenistic sources as one of the four angular positions, the kentra. Its symbolism reaches back to the Egyptian idea of the Duat, the underworld, where this lowest point of the sky was the centre of transformation.

Etymology

Origin: Latin. Meaning: From Imum Coeli, meaning "bottom of the sky" or "lowest heaven." Sometimes rendered as "lowest point of the heavens.".

Further Reading

• Charles Obert, Introduction to Traditional Natal Astrology
• Howard Sasportas, The Twelve Houses
• Deborah Houlding, The Houses: Temples of the Sky