Descendant

Once and for all.. I want to know!
What is the meaning of the descendant??
It's the opposite of your ascendant(=libra) --> aries
I read that the ascendant is "you" and how others see you, experience you
The descendant is what you look for in others..
So, ok, Am I doomed to crave for aries-men OR WHAT—

I had my share though.. 😛

Txs!

I was just curious. I find the descendant an interesting fact.
Cause if it really does reflect your needs towards others concerning "deep committed love" you might be looking for that same type of person over and over again. And it might also explain why you're just not interested in a certain person even if he IS good-looking, sexy, sweet, caring, etc..

--> the 5th house governs romance and love affairs

My 5th house is in aquarius.
I found that aquarius-men made me fall in love real quickly, but in a superficial kind of way, not very profoundly. More in the sense of a crush..

--> the 7th house governs what might lead on from that in terms of deep committed love

My 7th house in in aries (hey, what's new...)
I never fall in love overheals with an aries, but I admire their character and the way they think (...SOMETIMES 😛). It goes deeper, it's another (love)-level. E.g. I would have never cried for an aquarius even if I had a big crush on them and things just didn't go my way, but even in a friendship-relation with an aries, there were moments I was very sad because they were "not around" or because I missed them so much! =D

The Zodiac Master...

Shadow Lover: "You're So Not Me!"

On the wheel of the Zodiac horoscope the 7th House is the first time that two individuals choose to come together for the purpose of committing themselves to a partnership.

Swiss Astrologer Gret Baumann-Jung reminds us that the 7th house is likewise one of the places where we can find our shadow and the Shadow Lover.

What Is "The Shadow?"
In a nutshell, "The Shadow" contains those parts of ourselves we've chosen to "give away." We've chosen to give away these parts, because these parts didn't fit into our ego concept of "who we are" and/or "who we should be."

You see... while growing up - society, our friends, and our parents were constantly sending us messages regarding what they considered to be "acceptable" behavior and what they considered to be "unacceptable" behavior. As young pliable children, hungry for love and approval, we quickly learned how to adapt, "fit in," and please those around us. In order to do this, we had to hide away all our more "unacceptable" thoughts and behaviors.

As children, we forcibly stuffed all those nasty unacceptable thoughts and behaviors far away and down into our psychic basements. Driven deep underground, these "unacceptable" thoughts and behaviors eventually fell into the "so not me" Shadow. We mistakenly believed all those nasty unacceptable thoughts and behaviors were buried away and forgotten. We mistakenly thought they were in a place, where they'd never, ever bother us again. We were wrong!

The 7th House Shadow Lover
In the astrological birth chart - the cusp (a fancy word for "the beginning point") of the 7th house is also called the Descendant. The Descendant signifies The Other, The Beloved, the "you're so not me," and/or the Shadow Lover.

The 7th House reflects:

certain characteristics and qualities we've unconsciously chosen to value - but over the course of a lifetime, we've also unconsciously chosen to believe we don't have these valued qualities (and so they've "fallen into shadow"...)

and therefore, we unconsciously look for (and invariably find) these valued shadow qualities when choosing a partner or life mate.
And the main reason we feel these 7th house Shadow Lover qualities are so very attractive and magnetic within other people is:

Deep down we don't believe we have these valued characteristics. And the other person so seemingly, perfectly embodies the qualities for us. So we want, expect, and (yes) demand our lover(s) to "live out" these qualities for us.

Ooh Baby, Ooh Baby!
We want (and are internally programmed to expect) the beloved Shadow Lover to live out and provide all those attractive, magnetic qualities in our lives. We become irrationally (unconsciously) overwhelmed with emotions, feelings, and desires that inform us that we need the qualities of the beloved Shadow Lover. We believe we need the beloved Shadow Lover in order to complete us.

Partners/Opponents?
In the astrological birth chart, the 7th House is traditionally associated with marriage, open opponents, and partnerships. At first glance, it may seem contradictory to include both partnerships and open opponents in the same "class" of human experience. One reason why the 7th House reflects both partnerships and open opponents is that age old "love/hate" thing which so often happens when our intimate relationships start ripping apart at the seams.

You see... the "you're so not me" shadow energies of the 7th house often attract and repel at the same time. You know... you've been there and done that... When our intimate relationships start ripping apart at the seams - then the very same prince or princess, whom you once loved so completely and fervently, is now transformed into an ugly frog or witch that you despise just as completely and fervently...

The very same qualities and characteristics, which once made the person so incredibly attractive and lovable, are now the very same qualities and characteristics (dressed up in slightly different clothing) that repel and disgust you.

Here's a concrete example of how this works:

Positive Shadow: If your 7th House cusp is located in the sign of Aries - then your positive shadow lover characteristic might defined as the quality of "bravery." The warrior-like bravery of Aries is a quality you unconsciously admire (and are attracted to) in other people.

Negative Shadow: Surprise! Your 7th house negative Aries' shadow lover is also related to the quality of "bravery." However, this time around, you don't call it "bravery." More than likely, you call it something like foolhardiness, recklessness, being too brash and/or too headstrong.

SEE!! I AM doomed!! *faints*

"You see... the "you're so not me" shadow energies of the 7th house often attract and repel at the same time. You know... you've been there and done that..."

*sigh*

*faints again*

OVER HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERE Kris! 😉

I'm intrigued by the descendant-sign

The descendant is about your relationship needs. It's what traits in another intimate partner turn you on (similar in many ways to your Venus sign)..we also seem to attract or reinforce these descendant traits in another.

..for eg.

my descendant is in powerful scorpio - i would thus have the relationship *needs* of a scorpio and attract/or mirror those kinds of scorpion traits in another...

*i also have planet *neptune* transisting inside my 7th house descendant - so there too, giving an artsy, mysterious kind of edge to things as well..

**one other important point should be made: the descendant is also be known as our darker half, our more sinister alter-ego...*that shadowy part of us we may find harder to embrace, and at times, may even be ashamed of.. 'the more negative traits of that sign' so-to-speak...eg. for a scorpio descendant; unfounded jealousy, paranoia, possessiveness, etc. etc.

**for an even more complete picture of your own personal relationship needs; combine traits of your descendant sign to your Venus sign...

hope this helps...s~

I'm not sure anymore, but I always assumed that your descendant determined the other person's ascendant that you were attracted to.
Por example, I have ascendant in Libra, so my potential/ideal mate that I would feel would complete me would have an ascendant in Aries.
Does that make sense?