Ancestral Astrology: Uncovering Lineage Wisdom Through the Birth Chart
Astrology for Ancestral Wisdom
“Your natal chart is like a family tree; individual to your unique self, yet also an extension of a much larger family unit. It can reveal the nature of your upbringing, family dynamics, and how all of that influences who you are today.”
Anna Halper uses astrology as an art for revealing unconscious blind spots, ancestral dynamics, and the deeper medicine within our unique experiences. She believes everything in life is relational, animate, and evolving.
Ancestral Astrology:
Uncovering Lineage Wisdom Through the Birth Chart
Our astrological birth chart can give insight into who we are on many levels. The natal chart is a ‘snapshot’ of the planetary configurations at the exact moment we were born, containing the keys to self-discovery… However, what may be lesser known is that our chart also holds the keys to understanding our ancestors and their influence on us- or what I like to call the ‘ancestral blueprint’.
Your natal chart is like a family tree: individual to your unique self, yet also an extension of a much larger family unit. It can reveal the nature of your upbringing, family dynamics, and how all of that influences who you are today.
To explore the birth chart through an ancestral lens, we begin by reflecting on childhood, upbringing, and relationship to family. We then dive into the deeper aspects of lineage; the ancestors and the ones who have come before us. Who were they? What were their traditions and ways of life? What were they known for?
Astrology and ancestral work make a perfect pair. Even if we don’t know much about our ancestry (due to lost records, adoption, colonization, etc), our natal chart in itself can unveil so much of this mystery by providing an archetypal and visual framework, making ancestral work much more accessible to those who haven’t heard many stories of their people. The natal chart may not convey the family and ancestors in the most detailed way, but it can absolutely be (and I have witnessed it be) a powerful tool for sensing ancestral themes through self inquiry, intuition, and narrowing in on specific areas of the chart called the ‘houses of ancestry’ to speak and reveal our connection to them.
In the 15 case studies I did for my Sky Scholar 3 research project “Astrology For Ancestral Wisdom,” participants came into contact with their ancestral gifts, behavioral tendencies, wounds, myths, and more. Sensing this information through the natal chart can help us find reconciliation or healing of the influences from the past, while empowering us with greater self compassion and supporting our evolutionary growth.
The Astrological Houses of Ancestry
Before we get into it, it is important to remember that everything in the birth chart is connected. Everywhere in your chart can speak to your personal ancestral codes and karma, regardless of if you have any planets or aspects to the ‘ancestral houses;’ The IC/ 4th house cusp, the 8th house, and 12th house. While these houses are direct places to look, the whole chart paints a complete picture. If you are looking at your own chart for family dynamics and you feel drawn to explore a different house (for example: you may have the Moon in the 2nd house), trust in the process that is unfurling for you.
During my research, I found myself following the deeper threads to family and ancestry by looking at the IC/MC axis on initial glance. This is the vertical pillar of our chart, and represents the ‘as above, so below’. The IC and MC is also known as the 4th and 10th house cusp. However, in the Whole Sign house system, the IC can fall anywhere between the 2nd-6th house, and the MC can fall anywhere between the 8th-12th house. Personally, I like using Whole Sign as a starting point to this work because the differing houses can add more to the story. Whole Sign can also provide an easier visual experience if you are new to astrology.
The IC, or Imum Coeli, is the lowest point of our chart, and roughly translates to “bottom of the heavens” in Latin. This is the house of our physical and emotional connection to our ancestors; by blood and genetics. The influence of our childhood environment and experiences are shown here, as well as how we feel anchored to the earth.
I have also found that the IC tends to show the traits of our family members that seem to be strong yet recessive within the lineage, as if we are here to evolve the family by harnessing the strengths and more positive manifestations of our IC placement. We hold the keys that have been passed down to us, and they can be used to unlock new doors for future generations to thrive, even if our childhood and relationship to our family was/is difficult. The way we evolve our family can look a myriad of different ways, and it doesn’t always have to be what is expected or conventional. The IC shows us where ancestral healing can take place, or what type of energy we feel familiar and akin to. Looking at our IC element, sign, and ruler can tell us so much in itself about these dynamics.
The MC, or Medium Coeli, is the highest point in our chart. The MC is not necessarily a direct reference to ancestry, but it is where we draw the connections between our motivations, purpose, and goals in life with how our reality has been shaped and influenced by our upbringing. Working with the MC to reveal ancestral patterns is much about self-inquiry and reflection on one’s perspective and sense of mission, especially when an individual has a lot of planets above the horizon or in that area of their chart, as opposed to the IC region.
The IC is the root system. The MC is the branches extending towards the sky. Both feed information to each other, and depend on each other to thrive.
The Astrological Signs & The Elements
Fire Signs: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius
Earth Signs: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn
Air Signs: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius
Water Signs: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces
Family Dynamics & Your IC Placement
Here are some general interpretations of family dynamics and ancestral work manifested through the element that corresponds to your IC placement…
If your IC is in a Fire sign…
Gifted leadership qualities and initiative that was inherited from within the lineage, ancestors may communicate through spiritual pilgrimages, creative projects, or the individual becoming lucid in the midst of heightened emotions, problem solvers OR they “stir the pot” as an opportunity for the family or community to embrace change and growth. Athletes, action takers. Big feelings that must find a healthy outlet. Having a positive role model who can give affirmation and constructive guidance is very important for these individuals to receive in childhood. Need a healthy challenge every once in a while, they feel stifled or caged when their needs for autonomy are not met.
If your IC is in an Earth sign…
Gifted body workers and bodily intelligence they inherited from within the lineage, established connections to money and resources, hoarding, scarcity mindset, intimate connection with the land but there could also be feelings of being “landlocked”, culinary wizards, architects, green thumb, gut feelings as a way your ancestors communicate with you, prefer simplicity, revelations occur somatically, hard workers, large estate, benefits their lineage by honoring family traditions while embracing different expressions or walks of life, removing judgment of right vs. wrong.
If your IC is in an Air sign…
Gifted communication and social skills inherited from within the lineage, educators/ teachers, scholars, inventors and creative thinkers but may face challenges from stuck, rigid or “black and white” mindsets, freedom lovers, travelers, odd ones or black sheep of the family, there could be difficulty in separating from the family consensus or projections. Intellectual processors. Great at building community and bringing people together. Writers, poets, moving locations frequently in childhood. Your ancestors may communicate to you through meditation, stream of conscious journaling sessions or a suddenly divine idea, motivated to ‘find themselves’ and individuate from the flock.
If your IC is in a Water sign…
Gifted healers and alchemists inherited from within the lineage, emotional intelligence, ancestors communicate to you through dreams, symbols, and divination. Relationship to their mother has been highly impactful, whether it was nurturing or compromised. Caregivers. Needs to have an outlet to express their inner world. Very connected to the spiritual and rituals of the family but there could also be difficulty in moving on from the past or cord cutting, sensitive individuals who get better at adapting as they mature.
These interpretations are only the tip of the iceberg when looking at the natal chart to reflect and understand our role within the family, and what we may have experienced in childhood… but the elements do give us insight into the overall tone and backdrop to a much more intricate and complex system, which is necessary for this introduction.
The other main ancestral houses are the 8th house and 12th house.
The 8th House & Ancestral Astrology
The 8th house is considered the house of ancestral legacy, inheritance, and shadow. Here we are taken to the cave of our ancestors where we find what needs to be healed, resolved, reconciled, and reclaimed as our birthright. The dynamics of our 8th house show us our deeper psychological imprints and what is lurking in the shadows.
Some key words for the 8th house are: We Are, We Have. Everything about the 8th house has to do with ‘We’, and explains the intensity of intimacy and merging. The things we find here are residual influences from our family, which is usually the stuff that doesn’t really get talked about or acknowledged. In the 8th we encounter how our own psyche echoes the hidden components and keys of our family psyche. We are shown what we cannot change within our family, but how we can evolve and transform with these dynamics.
I’ll give an example from my research. Many participants had Mars in their 8th house. Many of their experiences contained the following themes: feeling like they carry the baggage of their families unprocessed anger, the need to have a deep bond with their parents but not receiving it, their family would only pay attention when they go to extremes, severances in family connection, non-conformist, resentment psychically felt in the atmosphere of the home.
By inquiring about the participants' 8th house, we were able to track the stories of their family shadows, and how that made an impact on the participants ability to trust, believe, heal, forgive, and be well.
I don’t mean to make the 8th house sound all doom and gloom. Participants with personal planets in the 8th house have also described the rift in their family is what ultimately led them to their spiritual toolkit, and the desire to seek ancestral healing. These individuals have a robust ritual practice and sharp instinctual wisdom, with the wisdom of the ancestors guiding their steps. Because the 8th house is about “We”. Hardships or trauma in the family is felt between generations past and generations ahead, but the healing and devotional acts of love are felt even deeper.
Overall, the 8th house shows where deepening our own self awareness benefits and uplifts the family as a whole, even if the work is hard and goes unnoticed in your immediate family. In the 8th house we find blessings in disguise, intuitive guidance, and our own superpower alchemized from the forge of the ancestral shadow.
The 12th House & Ancestral Astrology
Lastly, the 12th house: The collective ancestors and cosmic family. This house deals with how our Soul has integrated with our family, and integral parts of our essence that may not be easily understood by our bloodline, but are absolutely necessary for collective progress. The person with 12th house placements has a timeless wisdom, but it’s not always recognizable or understood by family members. The 12th house is where we are tapped into the ancestry of the entire human race, where there is no discrimination. This is the realm of the types of guardian angels and guides we have, and they help us understand the parts of ourselves and our bloodline that needs tended to in our internal world. It can show us the solo inner work we do to keep our soul vital, which is beneficial to our bloodline and the entire world in the 12th house.
The 12th house also rules our preconception, our impressions inside the womb, and the few hours after birth. I have seen individuals with heavy 12th house placements have really impactful birth stories that is displayed on their birth chart, but individuals with no planets in the 12th house have also experienced big aha-moments, a rise of emotion, and accessing the key to the earliest parts of their memory when encountering the relationship to their 12th house archetype and aspects. Any planets in this house can reveal a subconscious impression of our bloodline through synchronicities, dreams, symbols, or reflecting on our earliest memories as a child, and hearing the story of our birth if possible.
The 12th house is how we read the atmosphere and wellbeing of our family from the womb, all the way into the first months of life. The 12th house, to me, is so representative of the fontanelle, or the “soft spot” babies have until their skull develops more. Babies are intelligent because that soft spot keeps them open to receiving the information of their world, environment, and their family. It’s another way to say their Crown chakra is really open and vulnerable in those first few months of life, perhaps even longer.
The information we receive about our world, as babies, is what compromises our 12th house. This is where we sense pre-existing family dynamics, and our birth creates a new dynamic. It is what gets impressed onto our psyche from our first entry into the world.
I believe what we perceive in our 12th house, those earliest memories we are no longer cognitively aware of, are what shape our evolutionary journey in the IC and the 8th house, along with their full spectrum of experiences.
Each individual will have a totally unique experience and I’ve found this really varies on how they were raised. When it comes to the ancestral houses (and astrology in general), you really can’t come up with a cookbook for all the different signatures. Our own origins and evolutionary path will narrate our story in a very unique way. The ancestral houses provide a profound guidepost for this process.
Summarizing the Ancestral Houses
The IC and 4th house is our bloodline, home life, innate characteristics, environment, and physical connection to our family and ancestors.
The 8th house is our ancestral legacy, inheritance, shadow, and psychological impact.
The 12th house is our collective and cosmic family, guardian angels, memories in the womb and shortly after birth, our intuitive sense of our family's psychic atmosphere.
Even though the IC/4th, 8th, and 12th houses are composed of so much nuance, complexity, and vastness… These houses are a wellspring and are archetypally allotted to the element of Water. The deeper you dive, the more you find; making them the perfect terrain to explore our blueprint and mythos. If the ancestral houses still feel daunting, be gentle with yourself and remember the ancestral houses often do not ‘click’ to our rational minds, and I’m still finding myself putting the pieces together after years of this work. It is usually through those ‘aha’ moments, gut feelings, outer reflections, and intuitions that we gain information through these houses and make the connection to our ancestors.
Anna Halper uses astrology as an art for revealing unconscious blind spots, ancestral dynamics, and the deeper medicine within our unique experiences. She believes everything in life is relational, animate, and evolving.
Anna’s technique blends her knowledge in Intuitive, Hellenistic, Evolutionary, and Vedic astrology when giving readings, which allows her to offer a dynamic interpretation. She loves to place emphasis on Pluto, the North & South Nodes, and the outer planets.
Anna has helped a wide range of folks become aware about their ancestral blueprint, family karma, and connect with their lineage regardless of their upbringing.
On the other hand, Anna has also consulted for more practical matters using Electional astrology, which entails selecting the most auspicious time for an event or undertaking to begin. Whether you’re planning a wedding, a project launch, or a big trip, Anna can help you clarify the most ideal times to start your venture.
Aside from musing on astrology, Anna likes to spend her time going down learning rabbit holes, visiting anywhere with a waterfall, practicing herbalism, praying, and going on adventures with her toddler.
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