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I have to respectfully withhold agreement here as of yet. It seems to me that a Sextile to the Descendant only results from a Trine to the Ascendant, as much as a Trine to the Ascendant only results from a Sextile to the Descendant. They happen simultaneously at the time of birth of the native, don't they? And maybe I just need to study for a few more years, but I don't feel that mention of a Trine to the Ascendant automatically explains everything happening with the corresponding Sextile to the Descendant -- to me, they do seem like separate aspects with meanings of their own, even if those meanings are inextricably intertwined. Saying we only need to consider one seems to me like saying we can consider/discuss Yang without ever giving any thought at all to Yin. They're both operating, both important, and both worthy of examination and discussion, as I currently see it. And like I said, maybe with more experience, I'll be able to take in and explain the entire ASC/DESC axis at a glance, but until then, it seems far more helpful to look at both halves of the axis-line impact than to just look at the ASC, and stop there. And this principle may even hold more true with respect to the MC/IC axis: why examine the most public self overtly, but skip out on assessing the most private self? Isn't it beneficial to look at the chart from both of those perspectives? But again, it could be that those of you with more years of Astrology under your belts already are including such analysis kind of automatically as you go -- I can't really make assumptions about anyone here on AT, and I'm mostly talking in this thread about authors whose works I've read, and Astrology websites I frequent...
I was hoping that someone would challenge that point, I was being deliberately provocative. Yet there is a real point as it demands some thought about what the IC and the Descendant mean, and indeed where those meanings come from. The latter is a difficult question to answer. We do know that there were at least two systems knocking about, so to speak, at the dawn of Horoscopic Astrology. An eight house system attributed to Asclepius, and the twelve house system, which is still used today. What is clear is that the Sun and planets are seen as young and strong when they rise and old and weak when they set. The Rising Place is stronger than the Setting Place.
As I said earlier the Rising Place is associated with life and that life is the life of the native in Natal Astrology. It's her or his body, mind and spirit, their very being. The oppositie place, the Setting Place has connotations of death (though those were changed to the eighth when the two house systems merged in terms of meaning). But the Descendant still had a strong connotation of 'Not-Me', as opposed to the Ascendant's connotation of 'Me'.
In that sense the Descendant is defined in terms of 'Me'. It's everybody else - that is people who are 'Not-Me' It's easy to then derive specific and important instances of 'Not-Me' and give it to the Descendant - wife, enemy (though originally that was twelfth place), business partner, or indeed the mass of people who are 'Not Me'. Opposites are important in Horoscopic Astrology, opposite houses have a connection.
In what sense can the Descendant have a unique meaning separate from the Ascendant? 'My Wife' is defined in terms of 'Me' (and before I'm accused of sexism, in her chart I'm also defined in terms of 'Me' - 'My Husband'. My business partner's are defined in terms of 'Me' my opponent in a law suit is defined in terms of 'Me', the man who helped me across the road is defined in terms of 'Me'.
The only people defined in terms of 'Me' who aren't covered by the Descendant were initially siblings, (third house), parents (fourth house), children (fifth house) The king or Lord (tenth house) and friends who could help me (eleventh house). Later on we get the second house used for my 'second' in a duel and my supporters.
Now I can use the seventh house to learn something about my wife, indeed I can learn a lot about my wife from my chart. So you are right to raise the issue of the aspects to the Descendant (and the IC) having meaning. But whereas the first is always and only 'Me' the seventh house is not always and only 'my wife' - it's given to her because she is 'Not Me' and she shares it with virtually everybody else in the world.
So can useful information be gained by looking at these two angles - yes! Can aspects to them have separate meaning from aspects to the Ascendant and MC? Yes-But....and the But, is that those aspects only tells us something about things or people who are defined as 'opposites'. Aspects to the Descendant, tell us something about people who are 'Not Me'. Aspects to the IC tell us something about Actions which are either not mine or things that are not connected to my work, actions and social or public life. From medieval times onwards much time and effort was invested in squeezing out as much information as possible about these 'Not Me' entitities. But remember, it's My chart, not my wife's or that of the man who helped me across the road. They may be real objects with physical and cognitive processes who act independently of me (as opposed to being simply parts of my mental perceptions) but all that can be known about them is ultimately derived from Me.
In part the IC does keep something of an original meaning, as the place of anti-culmination. It's the foundation or base of the chart and therefore still retains some meanings related to foundations - family, parents, land, home, buried treasure. But a lot of this is only meaningful if you are aware of the meaning of the meaning of the MC - a visible (at least when there's a planet around' place.
The MC/IC pair also have something about them which show them as secondary to the Ascendant in terms of the topics of life. Originally, in topical analysis - that is the areas of your life - the Places or houses were whole signs, counted from the Ascending Sign. The tenth sign from the Ascendant was referred to as the MC, even if the astronomical MC was not actually in that sign. The were also referred to as Pivots, like the Ascendant and Descendant. The use of the quadrant houses, as now used by most Western Astrologers, was in other areas of Astrology - mainly the length of life calculation. So tenth house topics were not necessarily related to the Sun's highest point on the day of birth.