Your IC and Your Appearance

In astrology, you will commonly read that your Ascendant (ASC) or Rising Sign describes your appearance. However, one look at the people who share the same Ascendant Sign at Astrofaces, though, and you’ll see how wrong that is. It’s a great website where people send in photographs of their faces, along with their birth data – but it also shows that our genes, nationality and race have more to do with the way we look, than our Ascendant!

While it’s true that your AC shows the arena of life you perform in – the ‘special subject’ area you are most associated with – the part of your world where you project your personality – it does not generally describe your face, body, hair, or anything else. For that, you need to turn to your IC. Your IC shows your astrological DNA. The number one factor influencing the way you look, physically, is the relative you most resemble.

It is a blend of your IC (where you come from) and your AC (how you project) that best shows what you look like. Of course you will need a strictly accurate birth time to know both of these.

YOUR IC AND YOUR FAMILY TREE

Your IC (Immum Coeli) describes a key person in your family tree. That’s why it’s a much better guide to the way you look and appear, when read in combination with your Ascendant or AC. It’s only common sense to realise you pick up a similar facial shape, height/weight, eyes, nose and other significant features from a relative who influences you most. Just look at Princess Diana. Born with the IC in Aries, the sign of the army, navy and air force – she picked up astrological ‘genes’ from her father in a big way. (Image of Edward John Spencer, the 8th Earl Spencer, at geneall.com). She also picked up his fighter instinct, no matter if she was photographed with the British army, the Red Cross or later on – fighting against landmines in war zones. If you also have  an Aries IC then you may wear a uniform that characterises you in photographs or film. You may inherit your Aries ‘fight’ from a close relative. Your IC shows the family theme you inherit from one or more relatives and frequently shows a strong physical resemblance too.

HOW TO DISCOVER YOUR IC (IMMUM COELI) AND YOUR FAMILY THEME

If you are a Premium Member of this website you can find out your IC sign by entering your time, date and place of birth in your Member Profile. If you don’t know your time of birth, you can narrow your IC choices down to two or three likely possibilities, by using this checklist. Look at the two together, AC and IC, to see where you get your looks from!

ARIES IC
The family theme you inherit here is fighter instinct, the lure of conflict, and very likely a career in the armed forces, the navy or the air force. Most commonly it will  be a male family member from whom you inherit your tremendous drive and refusal to back down. There will be one relative, more than any other, whom you resemble physically – but who also carries this theme in his/her life. You could also go back one or two branches of the family tree behind theme to discover a similar life story and look – which of course you then pick up. In your own life, this may be the only Aries element in the horoscope, so it may not define you. If you are strongly Aries, though, with three or more horoscope factors here (you can check this if you are a Premium Member) a uniform could be part of your career. Police, ambulance and emergency services are also typical of an Aries IC as it’s the action-stations sign. See here how Princess Diana also picked up her Aries IC traits from another ancestor, Albert Edward John Spencer, 7th Earl. You can see the resemblance below. (Image at geneall.com).

TAURUS IC
The family theme you inherit is tied to money, precious possessions, houses, apartments, business and charity. Maybe you have a relative/s who worked in banking, or just the local market. On a more serious level they may have been involved in their local or national economy, or even in political movements like the trade unions or communism. There will be one relative in your family tree, more than any other, whom you resemble – who also sums this theme up in his/her life. If you also go back in their own branch of the family tree, you may well find another person who carries this look or theme. In your own lifetime, you will find that you are drawn to these financial, property, economic or ‘material world’ situations, either through the pattern of your lifestyle or your work. The more Taurus elements you have in your personal horoscope the more classically Taurean you will appear to be.

GEMINI IC
Someone in your family tree was a born writer or public speaker and you have picked up these traits from them. This may be a small part of your personality or a very big part, if you have many Gemini factors in your personal horoscope. You will physically resemble this family member more than any other and may talk with your hands, speak a second language or have a striking voice – which you also pick up from them. Sometimes beautiful handwriting is also inherited. There may be a signwriter, radio announcer, author or singer in your family tree as Gemini rules communication. In your lifetime you may be drawn to professions, hobbies or interests which allow you to get your message across – so you play the messenger role as part of your astrological DNA inherited from a relative.

CANCER IC
You have picked up Cancerian ‘DNA’ in your family tree thanks to a relative who was probably your mother, grandmother or great-grandmother. Cancer rules the female line. Sometimes it is a male who had a ‘mothering’ role so he may have been a cook, teacher, nurse or even raised the children himself. You will physically resemble this family member more than any other. Depending on your personal chart, you may be heavily Cancerian (if you have three or more horoscope factors there) or just find that your maternal instinct shows up occasionally, through particular jobs or interests. In your lifetime you may be drawn to children’s charities, entertainment for children or teenagers, motherhood itself (as a full-time occupation), and so on. Cancer is also very much about patriotism so this family member would have been prepared to fight for/die for the nation. Property also matters with this IC position.

LEO IC
The family theme you inherit here is – the world of children. It may help to remember that both J.K.Rowling and Beatrix Potter were Sun Leo authors. Someone in your family tree may have been a teacher. He or she may have been a full-time parent, really throwing themselves into the role of raising a younger generation. You commonly find that people who lead, mentor or guide the young turn up in the family tree if you have a Leo IC. The relative you most resemble physically may have been a Girl Guides or Boy Scouts leader, or perhaps the coach for the local school football team. You have certainly inherited leadership qualities from this family member and may also have picked up traces of their profile, body type/shape, hair and so on.

VIRGO IC
The family theme you inherit here is all about the body! Consequently you may have a very influential close relative who worked as a doctor, nurse, nutritionist, surgeon, healer or similar. Sometimes the tables turn, so your family member had major health or medical issues to deal with in his/her lifetime. It is common for you to also inherit these. The family theme  you have picked up is the work ethic and its importance in everyday life. If illness prevented this relative from working (he or she was an invalid) then that is a big story in your family tree. Alternatively you may have had a family member who was a famous hard worker, and well-known for his/her duty and service to others, in the field of medicine, fitness, sport and so on – whatever relates to the body.

LIBRA IC
This is the IC position of Prince Charles. The family theme you inherit here is about love and war. The love theme is obvious as your ancestor or close relative may have become so well-known for their marriage or partnership. That’s the ‘love’ part of the family story. The ‘war’ part may have been about the battle for acceptance within the family, or even the battle between partners, if it ended in divorce.

The Libra IC position suggests that not only have you inherited this love/war storyline in your own life, you may also physically resemble the family member who acted it out. It may be an echo of his/her profile, or perhaps your body type and shape. Prince Charles clearly inherited his astrological DNA from Edward VIII who gave up the throne for Mrs Simpson (and love). The abdication created conflict within the United Kingdom, just as Charles’ second marriage to Camilla Parker-Bowles divided British people.

SCORPIO IC
The family theme you inherit here is power and money, sex and money and death and money! Perhaps there really is quite a dramatic story in your family tree. More commonly, you may be looking at a married couple who ran a business together – so their sex lives were mixed up with their money. There will be one relative, more than any other, whom you resemble – who sums this theme up in his/her life. Of course, their own direct ancestor may also carry the family ‘gene’ of Scorpio, so you could pick up elements of their face/body type. In your own life, your pursuit of sex and money, power and money – and the theme of death and money (for example, through inherited property) helps you carry on the family gene theme. The more Scorpio elements you have in your chart the more it dominates you.

SAGITTARIUS IC
The family theme you inherit is travel and also travel in the mind. You clearly have a close relative, or had an ancestor, who was either a migrant or a world traveller. He or she was also a perpetual student of life and always educating himself/herself through books, classes, courses and workshops. Depending on the era you were born into, you may have a pilot in the family tree or a global academic – 0r a market trader who spent his/her life buying and selling foreign produce and acquiring a second language. In your own life you will carry on this family astrological DNA through a life spent online, exchanging ideas with other cultures and nationalities, but also through some ambitious journeys. You may even emigrate. If you have more than three Sagittarius factors in your horoscope (you can check this if you are a Premium Member) then you will strongly resemble this influential family member.

CAPRICORN IC
You were born into a family tree where one relative in particular scaled the heights. This person in your family tree either married up (elevating himself or herself a class above) or worked very hard to reach the top of his/her chosen field. You have inherited this ambition and may either be a social mountaineer yourself, when you need to be, or have already soared in your chosen field. Depending on how many horoscope factors you have in Capricorn, you will either strongly mirror this relative’s life (and appearance) or do so, just slightly. A Capricorn IC position suggests that there is a strong imprint of ambition in your family tree and that at one point, the branch changed considerably as someone broke away from being working class, and moved to the middle class – or moved from middle class to upper middle. Sometimes the break is financial. In your own life you will also explore this idea of ‘moving on up.’

AQUARIUS IC
You were born into a family tree where one person in particular was known for his/her group involvement. This person may have been part of an orchestra, football team, political party or charity. Typically, this very influential family member may have been part of more than one group, like a society or association, and made it his/her own. You will have picked up a family resemblance and it may even go back a further generation, as this relative’s mother or father also carried the astrological ‘gene’ in the horoscope.

The Aquarius IC in your horoscope suggests that you have a humanitarian in the ranks who was more interested in being part of the human ‘family ‘ than his or her actual clan. Friendship rather than relationship or blood ties, mattered to your relative. In your own life you carry on the astrological DNA by being involved in one or more groups. If you have three or more horoscope factors you will be strongly Aquarian and may resemble your relative.

PISCES IC
The family member who influenced you most was mysterious, secretive and hard to know. This person may be a shadowy figure in the family past who was elusive or slippery in some way. Sometimes you discover this relative of yours was in the navy, a sailor, or just a surfer or angler. This added to his/her ‘far away’ personality! It is also common to find drug or alcohol issues with a relative if you have a Pisces IC.  This may be the branch on the family tree that nobody ever felt they understood fully or knew properly. Depending on your personal horoscope you will either be strongly Piscean (if you have three or more factors there) or this imprint will just be a small part of your overall character. Pisces on the IC suggests family secrets, woven around this person, whom you may resemble.

Data for this article – Princess Diana, born 1st July 1961, 7.45pm, Sandringham, England. Prince Charles, born 14th November 1948, 9.14pm, London, England. Cover image Pinterest.