IC/MC as crisis point?

ncefafn

Hey, y'all, I have a beginner type question. Whenever the Sun rolls over my MC/IC axis, I have some sort of a crisis. It may be small or big, but there's nevertheless a crisis, which can end up being a turning point in my life. Is this the MC/IC that's laying the foundation for this transiting crisis, or should I look elsewhere?
 

dadsnook2000

MC--IC; a polarity issue

Hi, I see this axis first as being a "polarity" issue. Most of our books see the MC as our work, our goals, our status. Yet, if this was true, what would the opposite angle be? How we choose to be lazy, what we try to avoid, our lack of importance and relevance? No, this doesn't seem to be right.

Perhaps we need to re-look at what these ends of the axis represents. I'm not saying that I have the answer, but I do have some thoughts.

Historically, the 4th house is seen as the start and the end of things. If true, the 10th house end of the axis would represent the culmination or validation point of what was started or what needs to be ended. Well, at least that is a polarity-type of meaning.

Polarity isn't a fixed relationship. Polarity is an opposition within a moment of time, while development over time is another way of reaching an opposition. So, recognizing that we are dealing with "cycles" lets again look at the MC and the IC.

The IC as a starting point of our life, represents the environment that we are incarnated into, the nature of how we will be launched in life, the direction that we will be started on. The MC is what we have become after following that direction, building upon and from the environment we started from.. So, that is how we arrive at status, goals, achieving a public posture.

But, as we all come to know, once we achieve something it is often necessary to put it behind us and move on. If true, the MC also has to be seen as what we leave behind for others --- either to deal with, or to benefit from. This relates to the status we achieve, the aclaim and recognition that we are to receive.

What this leads us to is the recognition that these cycles are a "process." So, as we move past the Ascendant where we have to face ourselves and others, we continue to move towards the IC again. Now, as we approach the IC we might be dealing with the end of something, the need to have been preparing for something new, better, different. This is where the "end" comes into our interpretation of the IC.

I think that we all have a few crisis points built into our charts. The fact that you, ncefafn, have clearly identified this vertical axis as a crises axis is good. Is it only the SUN that triggers this crises? Do you have other planets in aspect to the Sun? Do those planets also activate this crises point? An interesting focus question. Dave
 

ncefafn

It's not just the Sun, but being as the Sun hits it only twice a year, at regular intervals, I know and can plan for it in advance. When Uranus & Neptune hit my MC a few years ago, the result was traumatic and effected my life for several years to come.
 

Minderwiz

A digression on polarities

Well historically the tenth house was the house of the King/Emperor/Oligarchs. That is, the house of the government and state. Today we would broaden this to include the President or cabinet or central committee or indeed the military junta.

The basis for this is that the MC marks the culmination point, especially of the Sun and most of us are familiar with Louis XIV's statement that 'l'etat, c'est moi'.

Remember that in medieval times the 'King' was the fount of all honours and preferment. If someone was going to progress in life they needed the protection and sponsorship of the 'king' directly or one of the nobles, whose own preferment depended on the 'king;. If I wanted a job as an Astrologer I would need the patronage of a rich noble or merchant (who in turn was only rich because of patronage). My 'career' or 'profession' depended on patronage. Even today public sector jobs are in the gift of the 'king' or 'president' - the bigger the public sector the more people are dependent on it for 'preferment'.

By Lilly's time the tenth not only incorporated kings, princes, and nobles but also 'judges, prime officers, commanders in chief, whether of armies or towns, all sorts of magistracy and officers in authority, honour, preferment, dignity, office, lawyers, the profession and trade any one useth'

Now Dave talks of polarity, which tends to evoke opposites in the black/white sense, rather than opposition - a force which reacts against a proposed action or situation. The tenth/fourth does have a polarity in this sense, the polarity between the light of the culminating Sun and the dark of anticulmination on the IC. A moments reflection tells us that this polarity is part of a the cycle of dawn, daylight, dusk, darkness - it's not a particularly accurate polarity. For the tenth house of state the contrasting or opposing force is that of the family. The fourth signifies the family in the widest sense, not just father and mother but uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents and forebears. Indeed it includes the family property (lands, estates, buildings). I may gain preferment from the king but my family may also be able to offer security and protection. Indeed if my family is strong the king may be more prepared to grant honours and preferment. Few kings are so strong that they do not need allies. So fourth and tenth may actually be intertwined. The symbol of the family is usually taken (in our society) as the father. so if we only want to symbolise one member of the family by the fourth, it is the father and there are rules for working out the house for any other family member we wish to single out. The two most obvious being the mother (tenth), siblings (third) and children (fifth).

Indeed if you think of the father/mother dichotomy you can see the issue with 'polarities' - they may be of opposite sex but share a lot of attributes, being members of the same family and partners in our upbringing (whether equal or not). The same issue can be seen in the first/seventh opposition - the seventh is the house of our partner (and indeed our open enemies).

Astrology is a little more subtle than simple polarities - Manilius saw the tenth as symbolising honours, the fourth as symbolising wealth - not much of a polarity there.
 

Minderwiz

Back to the main theme,

ncefafn,

it's difficult to answer your query without refering to your natal chart, if you've got a link it would help. It's possible that the transit of the MC is incidental to activating an aspect to another planet or point
 

ncefafn

Here's the image of the chart from Astrodienst.
 

Minderwiz

Thanks,

How long has this been going on for and was the worst time around 2001 to 2002?
 

ncefafn

The first time I can recall it as a timing issue was July 13, 1984. I had a lot of stuff going on in terms of transits at that time, but the Sun was at 21 Cancer when the trigger went off. During a review of major life events a few years ago, I was surprised to find a couple of other major occurrences at Sun 21 Capricorn, but it was in 1994 and 1996, the latter a major car accident that occurred while on my way to work.

In addition, my ex-husband, my stepson, both parents and my grandmother all have at least one planet at either 21 Cancer or 21 Capricorn.
 

Minderwiz

I'd been wondering if it was related to your progressed MC applying to conjunction with Saturn. The aspect was perfected around 2001, so it's a little late, unless that marked the beginning of a fall off.

Ah well back to the chart LOL