Chart Points and Bodies Quick Reference Guide
ASCENDANT
The Rising Sun
1st House Cusp
The start of the Natal chart, where the sun rises over the horizon at the moment of birth. The Ascendant is how we see ourselves. It is our tastes, persona, aura, and display. It also represents our basic outlook on life. The Ascendant shows our natural defenses and how we cope with day-to-day issues. The energies of the sign are most overt and obvious to you personally. The Ascendant shows an individual’s first, natural reaction to new people and situations.
MIDHEAVEN
The Highest Sun
10th House Cusp
The highest point in our chart, above the horizon - the middle of heaven. The Midheaven is our achievements and aspirations. This is how we want to be known, admired, and respected — perhaps our career or legacy. The Midheaven represents our most visible attributes in the eyes of society, our public selves, and our overall sense of responsibility and standing in the world/society.
CHIRON
The Wounded Healer
An Asteroid - between Saturn & Uranus
Chiron is our deepest wounds and potential pains, but it is also our largest area of healing and resilience. Chiron in our natal charts points to where we have healing powers as the result of our deep spiritual growth. We must face issues of low self-worth and feelings of inadequacy and learn to rise above these issues of our Chiron sign. We can receive great satisfaction as we learn to use this energy to support others.
THE NODES
Astrological Points
Direction, Lessons, Talents, & Growth
The North Node
The Dragon’s Head - In short, the North Node represents the kinds of experiences we must work to develop for our own growth. It may feel uncomfortable, unfamiliar, or a bit difficult for us. This makes sense, as it will be a fresh start for us in some ways. From a soulful perspective, this is what we must do in order to apply what we have learned from past lessons. It can show us newfound insights, new successes, and new places of interest. It can deepen our understanding of ourselves and open doors where we thought none existed before. Of course, it isn’t easy to see the North Node in ourselves, as it is foreign. But by seeing it from where we stand at the South Node point in our chart, we can see the relationships they have to one another. It is a place to look to for our own expansion.
The South Node
The Dragon’s Tail - The South Node, in turn, represents those experiences and qualities that come naturally to us. Perhaps in some cases, they get too much attention or we fall back on them in moments of fear or uncertainty. Thus, it can be a place of stagnation and comfort. Traditionally, the South Node can be a point of undoing unless we develop the North Node experiences and qualities. So, we see the connection in the two. It isn’t so much an either/or, as it is a “yes, and.” It can be through the lens of the South Node that we can find journeying toward the North Node. They are the lessons of our soul’s past. We bring them into this incarnation to help us and remind us of where we have come from. Thus, consciously working on these life lessons is said to bring us a sense of fulfillment. If we rely too heavily on our South Node at the expense of developing our North Node, we may feel that we are repeating patterns. Cycles are meant to be broken, so new ones can be formed.