Accidental versus Equatorial Ascendants in a Natal Chart

When it comes to interpreting a natal chart, there are few things that are more important than the ascendant. The ascendant is the sign that was ascending on the eastern horizon at the time of birth. Understanding the ascendant is important in understanding how somebody relates to the world, the face or mask that they wear in public (which is often quite closely related to their inner self). There are a couple of variations of the ascendant in a quality astrological reading - the accidental ascendant, and the equatorial ascendant. We look at these phenomena today.

Ascendants in general

Here are a couple of points to remember about the ascendant in general:

• The ascendant sign represents how a person interacts with the world - their exterior persona
• The closer towards the beginning of a sign the ascendant falls, the stronger its influence in a birth chart
• When the ascendant falls close to the start of a sign, most of the first house falls into that sign also.
• When the sun is in a weak position in the chart, the ascendant is usually strengthened
• People are thought to become more like their sun sign after around the age of 30, and less like their ascendant, because they grow in confidence and have less need of a public 'face'

Equatorial ascendants

The equatorial ascendant is the sign, and the degree, rising over the Eastern horizon at the Earth's equator. It is also the point where the Earth's equator intersects the ecliptic. In very rare occasions, the equatorial ascendant might be different to the birth latitude ascendant - this would happen more frequently when people are born near the poles.

Accidental ascendants

Accidental ascendants are the ascendant for the date and time relevant to a question being asked - for example, the date of an exam, or a marriage, etc. An astrological reading might superimpose the querent's chart on the ascendant for the actual question, to combine trends and make a prediction.