In an opposition to the Ascendant, the Descendant or, most of the time, the 7th house’s cusp, describes what in us we are often unable to see by ourselves. If the Ascendant’s information is the front page of our body and of our personality, the Descendant’s information is on our backs. It is part of us. It is ours, alright, but we cannot see it alone: we need a mirror or someone else to describe that for us and tell us what is there, what’s it like.
Naturally, the 7th house introduces our ability to relate with people as a pair. It is our ability to bond with others, to form strong, substantial alliances. There is compromise in these relationships. Here we are interested in sharing our life experiences with our significant others while also being able to be there for them too. It’s about living together, celebrating in communion the breath of life (airy house).
However, as genuine as this interest in others may appear to be, it is not purely unselfish. The Descendant demonstrates that together we are able to achieve things we could never achieve alone, thus it introduces all houses above the horizon (8th to 12th). We’re interested in others mainly because they remind us of what we could be. As part of our chart, our Descendant is about that twilight part of us, sleepy and less conscious, that is just waiting to be awakened by our contact with some other person that is conveniently especial to us. And when this less conscious part of us is finally made conscious, we must recognize it as ours, else we’ll start projecting traits on our partner.
So on the Descendant we must be constantly reminding ourselves of what belongs to us, what belongs to our partner and, naturally, what belongs to both! The purpose of this post is to help us figuring out what traits we should pay more attention to, since they are part of us too. When we integrate our Descendant more consciously with our overall personality, we are able to relate more harmoniously with others, since we’ll be then separating what is ours from what is not.
Moreover, again understanding the Descendant as that which is on our backs, the Descendant’s information has a critical participation in describing how our allies, partners, lovers and intimate friends see us, thus this should be balanced with the Ascendant’s information to build a more complete image of what others see in us.
Aries Descendant; Libra Ascendant: as a Libra Rising, you are instinctually considerate and thoughtful towards life in general. You dislike conflicts, so when you’re involved in one, your instinct is to dissolve that with your ability to understand and defend other people’s interests. Your relationships, however, ignite in you such a competitive, independent energy, that you may have some trouble realising it is actually yours. Your allies, when close, discover your more combative, headstrong side. You’re not always so cooperative as they thought you were. In fact, in your relationships you tend to make your will prevail over others’. Receiving Aries’ self-awareness, your relationships, many times, are about what you want and what you feel. When you’re not conscious of this, maybe it’ll be hard to understand why relating to others is difficult in the long run. You attract people that are very clear and exuberant about their wishes too, so balancing your need to be independent in your relationships with your diplomatic nature will help you building a more stable alliance.
Taurus Descendant; Scorpio Ascendant: mysterious and observant (Scorpio ASC), you’re worried about your role in this world and the purpose of your existence. Your instinct is to understand and interpret the world’s secrets, because only by doing so you’ll be able to exert your power in its fullness. You want to destroy things. You want to be impactful. You want to bring the end so that new can arise… It’s striking to your allies, then, that you’re not always so intense and focused on transforming things. In reality, when you meet an ally, they’re quick to find that you’re rather easy to deal with. What is “on your back” and that you’re often unable to see is your ability to be confident, secure and stable by yourself, and so you think you need someone who’s predictable and easy-going in order to bring stability into your life when, in fact, you’re the one to be so calm and steady in your relationships. You dislike conflicts, and you’re quick to annihilate anything that threatens your alliance’s durability, even if that means giving up on your own desires for the sake of peace and security. If you’re not conscious about your own ability to be secure by yourself, you’ll find it hard to stop controlling your partner, so your possessiveness and over-attachment are the greatest threats to your relationships.
Gemini Descendant; Sagittarius Ascendant: your abstract thinking and your optimistic nature towards life is very charming. Your instinct is to produce concepts about the truths of this world, as you’re constantly interpreting everything that’s happening around you in order to integrate all of it in a striking philosophy that will guide your steps through life. You’re so educated and enlightened. And you’re always with your eyes on a future target, dreaming. It’s a surprise for your partners, then, when they discover a less opinionated and pompous side of you. When they get to know you, your allies get a feeling of camaraderie towards you. You may like being able to talk and exchange ideas with your partners just for the sake of information, without actually judging everything they say, and suddenly all that focus on abstract knowledge can be expressed by logical, down-to-earth thoughts. Your partners see you as a versatile person who’s always changing because of how quickly things shift inside your mind. Naturally, you’ll attract somebody that is intelligence and communicative. However, as long as you’re incapable of seeing this more talkative and superficial part of yourself and acknowledging it as yours, you may find it difficult to preserve your relationships. You may think your partner as too shallow or too inconsistent for you.
Cancer Descendant; Capricorn Ascendant: being a Capricorn Rising it’s like walking around in suit and tie. You present yourself as a dutiful and disciplined individual, and your instinct in life are usually to seize control of all situations. Your life in general is quite structured and organized, as you have a methodical approach whenever you’re starting something new. It is often a shock to your partners, then, when you open up to reveal such a sensitive and caring side. In your relationships, you are soft and gentle. You enjoy protecting your significant ones and shielding them from everything that is rough in this world. Moreover, you can be quite receptive to your partner’s feelings and needs, and you’ll be proud to be the one to provide for them a stable life. However, if you’re not aware of this more sensitive side of yours, you’ll tend to project it on your partner, threatening the alliance’s balance. When this is happening, you may think that they’re too insecure, smothering, moody or even too emotional for you. To acknowledge and embrace your vulnerability is the path to build the more fulfilling, long-lasting relationship that will provide you the emotional security you’re looking for.
Leo Descendant; Aquarius Ascendant: you present yourself as someone who’s very easy-going, tolerant and friendly. You stand out through your striking intelligence and your eccentric ways. Your presence in other people’s lives is refreshing, because you’re always seeing things from a different angle and sharing your experiences and brilliant thoughts with others. Moreover, you’re somewhat detached and independent. You don’t instinctually like drawing attention to yourself: you’d rather talk about your ideas emphasizing the idea itself and not the fact that you thought about it. It can be a surprise, then, when eventually your allies see a more proud version of you. A lot of times, you want your partner to admire you. Actually, you want a passionate relationship, something romantic, with rose petals and dignified declarations of love; something that will boost your self-confidence; something that will, for once, draw all the spotlights to the radiance of your personality. And if you’re not consciously aware of these tendencies, your relationship will be threatened by your projection. You may think your partners are too selfish, vain or self-centered. Their melodramatic attitudes may annoy you. When you recognize that you wish to be adored, you’ll grow more loving and accepting towards your partnerships.
Virgo Descendant; Pisces Ascendant: subtle and elegant, when people meet you, they see no clear form. They see you as gentle, sympathetic individual that is more sensitive and tolerant than most. You like making people dream and feel, and you remind them of how beautiful this world is. You remind them of all the things that the eye cannot see, but that the heart can feel, as you seem to be somewhat connected to a world fantastical, gliding over the ground when you walk. It can be a bit striking, then, when your allies see your more practical, analytical side. You’re considerate of your partner’s needs. You’re thoughtful and you seek to improve their life by the details that never miss your clever eye. But perhaps your most stunning trait is that you admire your partner because of what goes on their head, the purity of their morals and their humble nature. You’re proud to be at their side. However, if your more discriminating and more skeptical traits escape your consciousness, you’ll maybe think that your partner is too judgmental and perfectionistic. You must realise that you can be both practical and idealistic in order to build a relationship that will be healthier for both.
Libra Descendant; Aries Ascendant: people can clearly see how active and independent you are. Your instincts, after all, are focused on being confident and assertive of your own wants. You’re fearless when it comes to facing life’s obstacles, and you push through them with striking courage, and when you remind to look back over your shoulder you’ll see that people have been following your lead all this time. You inspire independence like no other. It’s quite a surprise when your partners discover a more calm and cooperative part of you. When you’re in a relationship, it’s like you’re blooming into a beautiful flower. You show your more considerate side and prove people how charming and pleasing you can actually be. You like sharing your thoughts and you need to listen to your partner’s opinions on the relationship in order to feel like things are going well and balanced. If you’re not aware that you can be this way, however, you may feel like your partner is too indecisive or that they lack confidence and independence. Their superficiality and need for harmony can be annoying to you. So to come into contact with your aesthetic concerns and embrace them would be beneficial, balancing them with your assertive nature.
Scorpio Descendant; Taurus Ascendant: at first, you appear to be quite predictable and dependable. You inspire stability. You seem to be very sure of everything you are and everything you say, so people gravitate naturally towards you, searching for a secure lighthouse when they’re suffering from an emotional storm. You enjoy being so practical, consistent and trustworthy, but people can be surprised to find that you are quite the emotional storm yourself. In a relationship, your feelings are extreme. There’s nothing passive about them. When you love, you’re passionate. When you admire, you adore. When you’re with someone, you want that to be profoundly meaningful, so you make it so. Your feelings towards relationships are complex, and when you’re not being private about them, you’re trying to transform yourself and your partner through the intensity of it all. However, if you cannot see how you can be this way sometimes, you will probably find your partner too obsessive, overwhelming or too secretive, and their supposed destructive nature will scare you. It’s important to balance your stable, conserving ways with your need for deep relationships with people and realising that you are confident and resourceful enough to survive the emotional losses of a transformation process.
Sagittarius Descendant; Gemini Ascendant: you are communicative, and people quickly realise that you got a clever mind and are interested in a lot of what is happening around you, with little filter to focus your attention. You’re curious and sociable and you learn pretty quickly about whatever it is that interests you. Moreover, you’re pretty versatile, and your instinct is to always adapt to your actual circumstances in order to gather more and more information and extract from that environment everything that it haves to offer in intellectual terms. It’s surprising for those close to you, then, how opinionated and focused you can actually be. With these especial people, you show your wiser side. You become the one who loves to give advices, talk about ideals, morals and truths. You are an optimistic with your partner, and you encourage them to be the best that they can be while also being at their side and supporting them through difficult times with your visionary nature. However, when you’re not conscious that you can be intellectually pompous and extravagant, you’ll think these are your partner’s traits. You’ll feel like they’re too dogmatic or opinionated for you, who is so tolerant and flexible, when it is you, in fact, that can be that way too. Bringing these traits to your consciousness, being aware of them and embracing this part of you favours the establishment of harmonious relationships.
Capricorn Descendant; Cancer Ascendant: you’re obviously sensitive, since you’re dealing so intimately with emotions from all origins. You’re soft and sweet when it comes to others in general, and you seek to soothe their sufferings and to provide emotional warmth for them. All of your sensitivity is here clearly exposed through your Ascendant, and at first glance you seem to be pretty vulnerable. It’s surprising for your allies, then, to find that penetrating in your intimacy is not that easy. You draw clear limits between yourself and people, because you like your relationships to be structured and reliable. You’re mature towards your partners. You want to make the relationship solid, and you contribute a lot to that objective of yours. You’re methodical when you need to and you are hardworking in terms of carefully showing your significant other that they can trust you no matter what, and that you’ll be there for them, to help using all your resourcefulness and your maturity. However, if you’re not aware of this part of you, you can think that your partners are too controlling towards you. They’ll appear to be conservative, rigid and extremely inhibited towards emotions and feelings. So you bringing that to your consciousness and being aware that you can be this way can help you build the stable relationship you desire.
Aquarius Descendant; Leo Ascendant: you’re funny and confident, and you never stop to inspire people wherever you go. Your star shines so brightly, that people have no other choice but to stop and soak in its greatness. Through your Ascendant, people already see you as a noble figure, someone to be admired and to look up to. You’re loving and very generous to your peers. To them, you’re an expressive and charming leader. However, when you compromise yourself in an alliance, you take off your crown, your magnificent clothes and shoes. You’re just another human being, and you’d like people to see you as such. Your passion towards life is somehow balanced with your friendliness towards your allies. You set them free of your domain, so that you can build an equal, liberal relationship. You show yourself as quite the tolerant individual, sensitive to your partners needs but still healthily detached enough as to respect their privacy. Your partner awakens in you your interest towards everything that is eccentric or intellectually brilliant. However, if you’re not conscious of these traits of yours, you can think that your partner is antisocial, weird, undisciplined, unpredictable or even detached. To balance this, you should embrace your need to be original. When you’re confident in your own originality, you’ll be able to build healthier relationships.
Pisces Descendant; Virgo Ascendant: your instinct is to be knowledgeable and useful to everyone around. You want to know things in order to improve your experiences and those of others too, and for that purpose you use your discriminating eye, your analytical abilities to interpret reality and your disciplined ways to efficiently get to the best results. You’re helpful like no one can be, so it can be surprising when your partners come into contact with a more dreamy and poetic side of you. You commit to your partner’s dreams, and you’d do anything to see them realised. With your surprisingly sensitive nature, you interpret your partner’s feelings, easily diving into their emotional universe. You’re gentle and compassionate, and you wish to be connected to those who are special to you in such a deep, spiritual way, that you can grow to be inspired by the most beautiful fantasies involving your partner. If you’re not aware of this sensitive and poetic side of you, however, you’ll think your partner is too impractical for you. They’ll be chaotic, confused; too vulnerable, hypersensitive or constantly playing the victim. Being conscious of how Pisces is integrated into your personality is essential to experience more fulfilling, empathic relationships.
Detail: Sir Frank Dicksee, “The Mirror”; 1896.
