Descendant
The Descendant is the point on the western horizon, opposite the Ascendant: it represents the other—the partner, the associate, the adversary—and it begins house 7.
The Descendant is the degree where the stars set. The Greeks called it dysis, the setting. It always sits exactly 180° from the Ascendant, so its sign is the one opposite your Ascendant's.
If the Ascendant is where you go out into the world, the Descendant is where the other comes in.
What the Descendant describes
The partner and business associates: bonds between equals, with an explicit agreement. Also declared enemies—the ones who fight head-on, unlike those of house 12, who operate from behind.
The criterion joining those domains is not affection but symmetry: every face-to-face bond between peers, whether alliance or dispute.
In horary astrology, the Descendant represents the other party in any matter—and the astrologer as well when someone comes for a consultation.
The ASC – DC axis
It is the horizontal axis of the chart: self and other. Since the two ends are always opposite signs, they describe a complete polarity—Aries and Libra, Taurus and Scorpio, and so on.
The modern reading adds that whatever a person does not recognize as their own tends to appear embodied across from them. It is not Hellenistic, but it rests well on the geometry and does not contradict traditional doctrine.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Descendant?
It is the point on the western horizon, opposite the Ascendant: the degree where the stars set. It begins house 7 and represents the other—the partner, the associate, the declared adversary.
How do I know what my Descendant is?
It is always the sign opposite your Ascendant, at the same degree. If you rise in Aries, your Descendant is in Libra; if you rise in Cancer, in Capricorn.
Does the Descendant show what my partner will be like?
It describes what you look for and what kind of bond presents itself, rather than a description of a specific person. The tradition cross-reads it with the ruler of house 7 and with Venus before saying anything more specific.