Читать книгу Astrology for the New Age - Marc Allen - Страница 24

A chart is a picture which represents the solar system — quite accurately, actually — as it appeared or will appear to us at any particular time in which we are interested.

The Ascendant, or the line directly off to the left from the center (at the 9 o‘clock position), represents the Eastern horizon, where the Sun and the Moon and all the planets rise. The Midheaven (at the 12 o’clock position) shows which planets are directly overhead. The cusp between the 6th and 7th houses (at the 3 o‘clock position) is the Western horizon, and the Nadir (opposite the Midheaven, at the 6 o’clock position) shows what planets were directly below us, below the horizon.

Because the solar system is relatively flat (with the exception of Pluto, which is way off the plane of the rest of the solar system), it appears to us here on Earth as if the Sun and Moon and all the planets rise in the same place, travel thru a similar path thru the skies — the ‘ecliptic’ — and set in the same place. The background of this path just happens to be a series of 12 constellations, which from ancient times have been known to us as the Zodiac, and which form a convenient means of mapping the positions of the planets. For purposes of convenience, each constellation is said to comprise exactly 30° of the circle (so that the 12 constellations equal 360°, the full circle).

So, a chart is an actual map of the solar system, as it appears from earth. If you were born at noon, the Sun will be directly overhead, in the Midheaven; if you were born at sunset, it will be on the 6th-7th house cusp, the ‘Descendant’; if you were born at dawn, it will be on the Ascendant; if you were born at midnight, it will be on the Nadir.

All of these are considered power points.