In astrology, the Imum Coeli (IC; from Latin for "bottom of the sky") is the point in space where the ecliptic crosses the meridian in the north, exactly opposite the Midheaven.[1] It marks the fourth house cusp in most house systems (this is reversed in the southern hemisphere).[2]
Astrological significance
editThe Imum Coeli is said to refer to people's roots and also to the least conscious part of the self. It symbolizes foundations, beginnings in life, what may have been experienced through parental inheritance and homeland influences, need for security and relationships with the home and family life. It also may describe the circumstances that someone will encounter at the end of their life.[3] Because this house was the most distant point possible from the visible part of the horoscope, Hellenistic astrologers considered the IC to be the home of the underworld, or Hades.
In many cases the IC refers to a parent—traditionally, the mother.[4] Modern astrologers may use the IC as a significator for the father,[4] or for both parents. There is no consensus in modern usage for which parent is best represented by the IC. The point is moot for Hellenistic astrologers who considered the fourth house the house of the father, but did not use the Imum Coeli as the cusp of the fourth house.
Using the natural houses system (see cadent houses) and modern quadrant house systems in which the IC is the cusp of the fourth house, some modern astrologers see a correspondence between the fourth house and the astrological sign Cancer.[5] However, traditional astrologers, using whole-sign houses, never made this connection.
In whole-sign house systems the signs and houses have the same boundaries; hence the Imum Coeli can actually appear in the third house, the fourth house or fifth house; in cases of extreme terrestrial latitude, it may even fall in the second or sixth houses.[6]
References
edit- ^ Gene F Collins Jr (2009). Cosmopsychology: The Psychology of Humans as Spiritual Beings. Xlibris. p. 77. ISBN 9781469122625.
- ^ Donna Woodwell (2019). The Astrology Dictionary: Cosmic Knowledge from A to Z. Adams Media. pp. 52–53. ISBN 9781507211441.
- ^ Burk, Kevin (2001). Astrology: Understanding the Birth Chart: a Comprehensive Guide to Classical Interpretation. Llewellyn Publications. p. 177. ISBN 9781567180886.
- ^ a b Banzhaf, Hajo; Haebler, Anna (1996). Key Words for Astrology. Weiser Books. p. 121. ISBN 9780877288756. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ March, Marion; McEvers, Joan (1980). The Only Way to Learn Astrology. Vol. 1. Astro Computing Services. p. 35. ISBN 0917086007.
- ^ Ben Fitch (2016). Science of Astrology. eBookit.com. ISBN 9781456627072.