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By\u00a0Dawn Bodrogi<\/a><\/strong> for Sasstrology<\/p>\n We\u2019ve all felt it at one time or another, that feeling of instant \u2018ooo la la.\u2019 Our eyes meet another\u2019s, we feel a frisson of electricity, and then we know. We\u2019re at home, at peace, and it feels good to be known. We\u2019re complete. This is the \u2018other\u2019 we\u2019ve been waiting for.<\/p>\n There are a lot of aspects that are responsible for this kind of sudden attraction, usually from the outer planets:\u00a0Uranus<\/a>,\u00a0Neptune<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Pluto<\/a>. The \u201cthree bullies,\u201d as I call them, all act as magnets when they attach themselves to one of our more personal or sensitive areas.<\/p>\n But the most potent, and dependable, source of attraction is something a lot of people don\u2019t pay enough attention to in synastry, and that is\u00a0planetary contact with the angles and angle rulers<\/strong>. (The \u201cangles\u201d are the Ascendant, IC or Imum Coeli, the Descendant, and the MC or Medium Coeli.) It doesn\u2019t matter what planet it is; if it falls on your angles from someone else\u2019s chart\u00a0you will feel it<\/em>\u00a0immediately, and often profoundly. And because the angles are what they are, they provide a kind of intimacy that often eludes the outer planet attractions.<\/p>\n Comparison of angles and angle ruler contacts used to be considered crucial in synastry.<\/strong>\u00a0In fact, it used to be an astrological \u2018rule\u2019 that you couldn\u2019t have a long-term relationship unless the angles of one person hit the relationship planets (Venus-Mars, Moon-Saturn and the Sun) of another, or the angle rulers were in contact, in some way.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Sun<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Moon<\/a>\u00a0are a natural archetypal pairing, much like Yin and Yang. But the other planets here are considered relationship planets because they have to do with our relations with the external world. We have the polarity of Aries-Libra, and their natural association with the Ascendant\/Descendant and \u2018Self\u2019 versus \u2018Other.\u2019 But we also have the polarity of Cancer-Capricorn and Moon-Saturn.<\/p>\n This is the polarity of \u2018inside\u2019 (Moon) versus \u2018outside\u2019 (Saturn): What I have within versus what I must make of myself. And these are the natural rulers of the fourth and tenth houses, representative of yet another angle, the MC\/IC (Imum Coeli\/Medium Coeli). Who can deny that both conditioning (IC) and status\/growth (MC) play their part in our attractions?<\/p>\n In essence, our relationships are determined by the archetype of the cardinal cross. Cardinal signs are known by the keyword \u2018initiation.\u2019 In other words,\u00a0our cardinal houses, and our angles, get things going<\/strong>. This is how love makes the world go round. It\u2019s no accident that our relationships are often the greatest spur to our spiritual growth.<\/p>\n But, for some reason, angles are not treated with the respect that they deserve. While we\u2019re all busy figuring out the meaning of the midpoint between Ceres and the Black Moon, the angles languish in confusion and anonymity. A lot of people are uncomfortable with the idea of the rising sign itself, and mostly we relegate each angle half to one or two keywords: the Ascendant is \u2018the mask,\u2019 the IC represents \u2018family,\u2019 the Descendant is \u2018partner,\u2019 and the MC is \u2018career.\u2019 What a sad and simplistic description for so dynamic and active a cross.<\/p>\n Our angles are gateways to our own becoming, which is why they are so potent in relationship ties. Angles aren\u2019t static, but are descriptive of who we are as a work in progress. (In fact, you can see this clearly if you work with secondary progressions, in which the role of the angles becomes crystal clear.)\u00a0<\/p>\n When something touches our angles, it touches the deepest part of our experience as human beings<\/strong>. <\/p>\n Angles open up the floodgate of meaningful experience. This is why transits to angles are often more potent than transits to planets.<\/p>\n \n Synastry Q&A: MC\/IC Angle & Ruler Contacts in Astrology<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\nAngle Ruler Contacts<\/h2>\n
Angles and the Cardinal Cross<\/h2>\n
Angle Calculations<\/h2>\n