The Destiny Point in Astrology: Where to Find + How to Werk Your Vertex (Not a Medical Thing) 💫
Hello! This is a re-publication of my post, How to Find the Vertex, or Destiny Point, in a birth, transit, or relationship chart! ⚡️🌀✨
I’ve updated it to include more info about what to do if you think your Vertex has been activated (“ew, what does THAT mean?” …read to find out! 😉), with links to free chart generators and instructions for discovering if your Vertex has been “activated” before… whether by a planet, an eclipse, or by somebody else's planets! 🙀
NOTE: I mention and link to my post about when my Vertex was struck by an eclipse in 2021, but just FYI, that post hasn’t been cleaned up or updated in hella days, but it’s def’ on my teux-deux list!
here’s my new take on transits…
Transiting planets (+ Nodes… etc.) are basically stimuli, or engines. 🎆
What exactly do they stimulate?
Our birth chart. ✨
Without transits, nothing would change, nothing could even be realized, including your chart’s hypothetical potential, which is what a natal chart actually is…
…just, potential. 👐🏻✨
Your Chiron is just pain, your Saturn is just boo. ❌
The whole freaking thing a permanent what if…?
But, like—what if reincarnation is totally for real, and there are all these clues, these consistent little evidences that time and space are illusory, and we’re basically in a simulacrum where temporal culture is raging out of control, like malware in our human programming, and astrology can help us pinpoint this malware in our inner narrative, and also use the power of analogy, metaphor, and simile to dissect triggers, omens, and other stimuli as they crest upon our consciousness…
…all so that we might be happier and more effective in our little fate-driven crises…
…and able to actualize our chart potential? 😳
“Free will is the ability to do gladly that which I must do.”
in which case, yes, fate, destiny, and the fulfillment of your potential would and does depend on planet transits! 🤩
Like—no matter how much you invest into LOA, you might still have to wait out a specific transit, one activating a specific piece of your chart, in order for the destined circumstances to come into play…
…or basically, a turning point. ✨
is there anything in our birth chart that might help us examine past moments of “transcendence”, or anticipate these maj’ turning points in our lives…?
YAS… the Vertex, a.k.a. the Destiny Point. 🌀⚡️✨
In a birth chart, the Vertex symbolizes a trigger point, a point in everyone’s chart that can be activated by transiting planets and/or planets in other people’s charts.
When activated by transits or synastry, depending on the planet making the contact, our Vertex indicates the theme (zodiac sign) and experiences (house) of fateful encounters and “destined” feeling moments.
(For better or worse. 😳)
and we need to talk about mine, because my chiron (“soul-wound”) and vertex (“destiny”) were tripped by the gemini solar eclipse in june 2021…
…which was officially the first moment I’d ever been completely self-aware of an astrological phenomenon as it was cresting upon my consciousness… ✨
…though it made me want to ugly-cry from confused humiliation, and then I went twice through the Sbux drive-thru in one day, now you know literally everything. 🙊
below, i’ll show you the 1-2-3s of finding + interpreting the vertex (a.k.a. destiny point ✨) in your own chart…
…plus how to find out when it’s about to get transited (or if it has been transited in the past)…
…and finally, how to evaluate where and how the destiny point shows up in your relationships on a synastry chart! 🤩🥰
I’ll also provide tips on how to cope and manage a Vertex activation, though I am mos’ def’ not an expert, and can possibly only provide hazard signals and warnings!
i provide all the links and step-by-steps for scoring free natal, transit, and synastry charts, but be advised…
…you’ll need accurate birth times (not guess-timates), as well as calendar dates for any spooky-woo moments in your past (that may have been a Vertex activation!).
SO, grab your birth certificate, or start dialing your momma and aunties! 📱
AND BEFORE WE BEGIN, let me better explain the Vertex and Destiny Point.
What is THE VERTEX, or Destiny Point, in Astrology?
TECHNICALLY SPEAKING… the Vertex isn’t a body, such as a planet, but is formed by where the ecliptic (or path of the Sun) intersected the prime vertical: an imaginary line dividing the sky into two halves, a “front” and “back”.
“[L. Edward Johndro] reasoned that if the Ascendant was determined by the intersection of the Great Circles of the Ecliptic and Horizon and the MC was determined by the intersection of the Great Circles of the Meridian and Ecliptic, there should also be a very sensitive point of energy at the intersection of the Great Circles of the Prime Vertical and the Ecliptic. He called the western axis of this point the Vertex and the eastern the antiVertex. He felt that the Vertex was the electrical, the Ascendant the magnetic and the MC the gravity axis in a natal chart.”
— AlicePortman.com, “The Vertex Axis in Relationships”
The Vertex is also referred to as the “Destiny Point” or “Destiny’s Gate,” because of its reputation for culminating into destiny and personal ascendency.
When activated by transit, progressions, or synastry, the Vertex coincides with major turning points
✨ the vertex can only be found on the right or “fate half” of your chart…
…because it pertains to fated encounters and situations, the Vertex is only found in the Fifth-Eighth Houses or right-hand side of our chart (full instructions for finding your’s below ✨).
This right-hand hemisphere (containing the Descendent angle) is known as the “fate” half of our chart, while the left hemisphere (containing the Ascendent angle) is considered the “freewill” half…
…allegedly, because, we have more creative control over the planets, points, and angles on the left half of our chart, and less control over the objects on the right half of the chart (according to Steven Forrest in The Inner Sky).
“The ordinary Ascendant causes us to define ourselves by our experiences; the Vertex concerns itself with what we are (or can be) beyond our external circumstances. Vertex contacts feel ‘fated’ because they lead us to roads we instinctively feel, but cannot yet see. Vertex happenings invoke the Watcher in all of us–the one who knows, the one who works hand in hand with the one who experiences. This is the symbolic reason it appears on the opposite side of the chart from the Ascendant.”
— The Inner Wheel, “The Vertex versus the Nodes, Pt. I”
✨ the vertex is one of four “fate lines” to be found in a birth chart…
The Vertex, or “Destiny Point” is actually two points, comprising an angle stretching across your chart, between opposite signs and houses, known as the Ascension Axis. ⚡️
You’re probably already familiar with the other three “fate lines”, but under different names: the Magnetic Axis (the Ascendant-Descendant), the Gravity Axis (the Nadir-Midheaven), and the Karmic Axis (the Lunar Nodes).
The Ascension Axis is known as the spiritual ascendant, or the angle that draws spiritual, changing experiences to us.
“The Ascendant is who you are and how you express yourself. The Midheaven describes what you do (your career) and also one of your parents. As a result of how you express yourself and what you do, you are expected to express the characteristics and tasks of the Vertex.”
— Donna Henson, “The Vertex Report: Your Personal Destiny”
The Anti-Vertex represents the other half of “destiny’s gate,” and can also be activated by transits and other people’s planets. While the Vertex depends on other people (being on the relationship, “fated” portion of the birth chart), the sign and house placement of our Anti-Vertex speaks to what we cultivate on our own, the abilities, themes, and experiences that eventually lead into our “destined moments”.
Because the Vertex must be activated, it doesn’t reveal itself through our personality, though we might an have intuition, an instinct to develop the abilities symbolized by the planetary ruler of our Vertex sign.
“Ultimately, interpreting the Vertex axis isn’t very different from interpreting anything else in the chart. Whatever house it falls in indicates the realm of experience the ‘awakening’ encounters will occur in. The sign describes the method/process of the experience and also the general flavour of it. The rulers of the Vertex axis play a part, as do any planets conjunct the Vertex axis and the houses they rule.”
— The Inner Wheel, “Synastry Q & A: The Vertex”
But, until the Vertex is activated, we might not realize how those abilities were meant to parlay into our fate, or what role they would play in our destiny.
IN FACT, you might think of a Vertex activation as “puberty” for consciousness. We don’t decide it, we’re not manifesting it, it’s just programmed to happen. Our personality is not a factor in the process, though our personalities can develop and change with the activation.
We don’t choose it, the moment chooses us…
…and, for better or worse, we all do really want to be chosen! 🙏🏻
For more about the Vertex as part of the Ascension Axis (and the other “fate lines” in your chart), check out this post. ✨
✨ what activates the vertex?
There are 3 basic ways to activate your Vertex:
TRANSITS TO VERTEX. Transits by other planets to your natal Vertex (which happens a lot with the Sun, Moon, Venus, Mercury, and Mars). Eclipses can also activate the Vertex, as I’ve discovered. And from the research, it seems like it’s not dependent on one planet transiting over the Destiny Point, but a combination of planet transits, and what else they’re transiting over in your chart.
PROGRESSIONS TO THE VERTEX. Progressions reveal how your natal chart changes over time. If you have any natal planets in your Fifth - Eighth Houses, particularly the Sun or Moon (which progress faster than your other planets), they might eventually come upon your Vertex, and striate your inner awareness with insights related to your destiny process. During this time, you’d be living and breathing synchronicity.
OTHER PEOPLE’S PLANETS CONJUNCT YOUR VERTEX (OR ANTI-VERTEX). The Vertex gets used a lot in relationship astrology (synastry and composite charts). Often, committed couples, besties, and super-enmeshed siblings have strong Vertex connections between their charts. Even without knowing the astrology, these are the relationships described as having a destined feeling, where both people feel the other one play’s a pivotal, supportive role in helping realize their true potential.
✨ what happens when the vertex is activated?
Fateful encounters and destined moments. 👐🏻✨
As one astrologer describes it, Vertex activations instigate a cataclysmic process, where events, meetings, and circumstances arrange themselves in such a way as to break up, dissolve, and dismantle all factors not currently aligned with your personal ascension.
The events and circumstances depend on your chart, and the configuration of transits (or synastry aspects) that helped conspire the trigger moment.
✨ how can you find and use the vertex point?
IN A NATAL CHART > Examine your Vertex in your chart (sign, house, aspects) for hints about your destiny process. This post shows you how to start reading your natal chart, but you’ll need to come back here to find out how to look up your Vertex. ✨
IN A TRANSIT CHART > You can cast charts for upcoming transits, estimating when (+ where) your Vertex might get tripped. Forewarned is forearmed. I show you a couple methods for tracking (or looking up) transits to your Vertex below (👇🏻), and you can learn more about reading a transit chart over here. ✨
IN A SYNASTRY CHART > A synastry chart is created by overlaying one natal chart over another, and lining them up according to zodiac signs. In a synastry chart, you’d look for aspects between each other’s Sun, Moon, Ascendant, Midheaven, Venus or Mars, as well as your Vertex (or anti-Vertex). These connections might tell you if someone is meant to be in your life, and how they support your ultimate destiny. And FYI: Vertex activations aren’t always romantic—you can have a contact point between your Vertex and your kid’s Ascendant or Sun, for example, or connections between you and your mentor’s Vertex. I’ll show you how to find and evaluate the Vertex in a synastry chart below, and you can learn more about synastry here. ✨
✨ btw, the vertex is also known as the “wish point”…
Some astrologers also refer the Vertex as the “Wish Point,” because Vertex transits are reported to come on the heels of actual wishes: for a new life, new love, new purpose…
Often, the fateful meetings and circumstances of a Vertex activate seem like the answer to our secret prayers (uttered in those teary, dark-night-ish moments), and almost always coincide with major shifts in consciousness—often shifts in the very matrix of our life.
Enter “be careful what you wish for—you just might get it” scenarios.
Like—you might be wishing for skills, talents, or gifts you sense rattling around inside, and also feel you can’t access…
When the Vertex is activated, that access point is unveiled. 🔦
SO BASICALLY, by doing Mad Libs-style astrology with your Vertex placement, you might guess the who-what-when-why of these destined moments, whether they’ve happened in the past (or recently), and whether the people involved are meant-to-be!
HOW TO FIND AND INTERPRET THE VERTEX IN A Birth CHART
OKAY, I’m gonna explain where + how to score a free copy of your birth chart showing the Vertex, then share some descriptions and summaries for helping you find your Vertex sign and house…
…after that, I’m gonna show you how to find out what’s transiting your Vertex (if anything), and THEN, show you how to look for and delineate the Vertex in synastry! 😍💞
OKAY, ONE CRITICAL INGREDIENT > You need your accurate birth time for an online software to calculate a chart showing the Vertex. As accurate as you can get, because the degree° numbers of our angle placements (including the Vertex, a.k.a. our “auxiliary descendent” and “spiritual ascendent”) change every four minutes.
Pull up a copy of your natal chart. This post shows you how to get one from Astro.com. When you get to step #6, click VERTEX from the dropdown menu under “Additional Objects”, just under CHIRON. 👍🏻
Look to the right half of the chart, in your Fifth - Eighth Houses, for the letters “VERTE” (it’s missing the ‘x’ for some reason').
Note the zodiac sign on the outer rim of the chart, and confirm the house number between the spokes at center.
WRITE IT OUT > Vertex (any conjunctions?) in (the sign) in (the house). (Add the degree number to be fancy… and super-accurate. ✅)
WRITE OUT ITS OPPOSITE POINT > Anti-Vertex in (the opposite sign) in (the opposite house). (At the same degree, just different sign.)
Now, Google it all out... but don’t worry, I’m gonna link you to hella resources for every sign, house, and type of aspect you’ll need to look it all up! 😎
ALTERNATE VERSION >
Visit + use the Cafe Astrology Vertex Calculator, just plug in your birth data. ☺️✨
HERE’S MINE WRITTEN OUT >
Vertex ☌ (“conjunct” or side-by-side) Chiron in Gemini in the Eighth House. ♊️
Anti-Vertex ☌ Saturn in Sagittarius in the Second House. ♐️
✨ to interpret your vertex, we’ll basically break it down into keywords, mad libs-style…
Vertex (destiny) + Chiron* (soul-wound) in Gemini (connection) in the Eighth House (intimacy + power).
(*Like that? My soul-wound is linked to my destiny. It’s like finding out that Pinhead from Hellraiser is the guardian angel of my destiny process. 😳😵💫)
So my passages through “destiny’s gate” apparently coincide with healing opportunities (vertex conjunct chiron), usually within the arena of my intense resource / psychological issues (eighth house), great. 👍🏻💫
✨ where am I coming up with these keywords for mad libs-style astrology…? 🤔
Retained from hella years of reading hella books + Internet articles…
And also, referring to a spreadsheet where I collect such things as keywords for astrology placements, because…
…idk why I have a spreadsheet, but I guess this is where I use it. 🤓
If keywords don’t zap to mind as you’re doing this exercise, you just need more astrology reading, and are literally remedying that by being here right now, so we’re helping each other out! 🤗💗
✨ once you’ve identified it, google for each component of your vertex placement…
SO, you’ll Google for your Vertex sign, Vertex house, and any aspects to your Vertex.
“Vertex in Gemini”, “Vertex in the Eighth House”, and “Vertex conjunct Chiron, natal” for good measure. ✅
Pop quotes, summaries, and links into a Google Doc, or Pin to your astrology boards, or wherever you like to hold and sift through mind-exploding psycho-spiritual personal data.
(Or basically, start building your own spreadsheet database! 🤩✨)
🌟 WHAT DOES MY VERTEX SIGN MEAN…?
Here are some summaries of the Vertex in the signs and houses to help you out, and links to where you can get more intel!
Remember, the sign of your Vertex indicates the theme, and draws in themes from the opposite sign (where the Anti-Vertex sits).
🌟 VERTEX IN ARIES ♈️ > Destiny process themes includes originality, first hand experience, taking the lead, and rivalry.
🌟 VERTEX IN TAURUS ♉️ > Destiny process themes include the acquisition of beauty, splendor, and comfort, and relationships that cultivate value and artistry.
🌟 VERTEX IN GEMINI ♊️ > Destiny process themes include personal integration, mental or telepathic connections, and being in like-minded relationships.
🌟 VERTEX IN CANCER ♋️ > Destiny process themes include laying roots, heart-centered belonging, and relationships built on sustenance and somatic-level entwinement.
🌟 VERTEX IN LEO ♌️ > Destiny process themes include play, validation, in finding a muse, unlocking creative potential, and relationships based on appreciation.
🌟 VERTEX IN VIRGO ♍️ > Destiny process themes include improvement, utility, ritual, and relationships that help us find our rhythm and honor our personal method.
🌟 VERTEX IN LIBRA ♎️ > Destiny process themes include collaboration, negotiating for truth and peace, and reassessing self-interest in light of others’ interests.
🌟 VERTEX IN SCORPIO ♏️ > Destiny process themes include depth, intimacy, unwavering commitment, and relationships based on intense shared experiences.
🌟 VERTEX IN SAGITTARIUS ♐️ > Destiny process themes include adventure, gaining full perspective, targeting for joy, and relationships based on pursuing and experiencing the miraculous.
🌟VERTEX IN CAPRICORN ♑️ > Destiny process themes include duty and overcoming, building a legacy or something with lasting value, and relationships that help in fulfilling one’s potential.
🌟 VERTEX IN AQUARIUS ♒️ > Destiny process themes include sharing a vision, fashioning an ideology, becoming more of oneself (individuation), and relationships based on true friendship.
🌟 VERTEX IN PISCES ♓️ > Destiny process themes include mystical healing, surrendering ego-fixations, and spiritual-based relationships.
For more summary-descriptions of the Vertex in the signs, check out this article, compare to this one from Siddhantika, and also this one from CafeAstrology! ✨
🌟 WHAT DOES THE VERTEX IN THE HOUSES MEAN?
Remember, the Vertex only shows up in the righthand or “western” side of the chart (the “fate” hemisphere) in one of houses 5-8.
Houses 5 and 6 are considered the last of the “personal” houses, whereas houses 7 and 8 are considered the first of the “impersonal” houses. We internalize the experiences of the personal houses, whereas the impersonal houses are largely externalized.
Whichever house your Vertex lands in indicates the arenas of life where your destined meetings take place, while the sign tells you the themes of the connection.
🌟 VERTEX IN THE FIFTH HOUSE > Destined meetings and fateful encounters in our passion pursuits, where we go to play, in our friendships, or within the communities or causes connected to our fun (anti-vertex in the eleventh house).
🌟 VERTEX IN THE SIXTH HOUSE > Destined meetings and fateful encounters in our daily routines and work-a-day life, with coworkers, employees, the people we service, or in the divine relationship behind and connected to our work (anti-vertex in the twelfth house).
🌟 VERTEX IN THE SEVENTH HOUSE > Destined meetings and fateful encounters in the realm of one-on-one relationships, i.e. with clients, or with professionals specializing in interpersonal services, such as law or therapy, intended to assist our personal image or self-relationship (anti-vertex in the first house).
🌟 VERTEX IN THE EIGHTH HOUSE > Destined meetings and fateful encounters within committed, enmeshed, or sexual relationships, such as with business, investors, or potential marriage partners, or the relationships we form as a means of consolidating our wealth, skills, and security (anti-vertex in the second house).
✨ to round it out, here are a few summaries for vertex house placements…
“In the fifth/eleventh house axis, there could be a propensity to experience fateful romantic or creative encounters (fifth house) through contacts with friends or groups (eleventh house). In the sixth/twelfth house axis, the turning point, or spin out, could effect our day by day living, or our link between psyche and soma (sixth house) through contact with those in the helping professions, those less fortunate or through dreams and creative fantasies (twelfth house). In the seventh/first house axis, sudden epiphanies could radically effect socially significant partnerships (seventh house) through an experience of projecting ourselves out into the world (first house). In the the eighth/second house axis, destiny may arrive in the form of an erotic encounter or intense research (eighth house) perpetrated by a desire for pleasure, security or peace (second house).
The vertex/anti-vertex by sign can signify the way we may experience activation to this axis. Aries/Libra could indicate issues between personal will and sharing, where Taurus/Scorpio may be about security versus risk. Gemini/Sagittarius could contrast knowledge and vision, where Cancer/Capricorn could emphasize protection versus enterprise. The Leo/Aquarius axis might highlight self-expression as opposed to group participation where the Virgo/Pisces might compare structure boundaries to limitless longing.”
— Kim Falconer, Astrology and Aptitude: How to Become What you Are Meant to Be
🌟 WHAT ABOUT ASPECTS FROM MY OTHER PLANETS TO MY VERTEX? >
Aspects describe the relationships between planets, some being softer (sextiles, trines) than others (square, oppositions, conjunctions).
HINT > The elements (fire, earth, air, water) and modes (cardinal, fixed, mutable) represented by the zodiac signs can help you build a picture how how these relationships express themselves and interrelate.
✨ here’s a summary of what aspects to your vertex can mean…
🌟 CONJUNCTIONS TO THE VERTEX OPPOSE THE ANTI-VERTEX > These planets help reveal where you can balance what you have (or know, believe, or do… etc.) against what you are developing.
🌟 SEXTILES TO THE VERTEX ARE TRINES TO THE ANTI-VERTEX > These planets offer an opportunity to develop your higher qualities, while flexing your already developed qualities. The real question: how to work with both in tandem?
🌟 SQUARES TO THE VERTEX ALSO SQUARE THE ANTI-VERTEX > These planets impede your development and the “higher” qualities you draw on from the Anti-Vertex. Hella bothersome. From Siddhantika’s article about the Vertex: “If planets square the Vertex angle, then the development of this planet is crucial to whether or not I become aware enough (and brave enough) to meet my fate. For example, if Saturn is square my Vertex angle, then Saturn development would open the gateway for Vertex-inspired experiences. The more Saturn develops and the more we learn to use it constructively, the greater the possibility of Vertex experience. This could happen natally or it could happen through a contact with another whose Saturn squares my Vertex angle. If another’s Saturn squares my Vertex, their planetary development will affect my spiritual development.”
🌟 TRINES TO THE VERTEX ARE SEXTILES TO THE ANTI-VERTEX > These planets help you ease towards your Vertex qualities, drawing from the Anti-Vertex qualities. We’re floating down a riverrr… to the Verrrtex… 🎶
🌟 OPPOSITIONS TO THE VERTEX CONJUNCT THE ANTI-VERTEX > Presents the path of least resistance, or confrontations with your Vertex development. Might present opportunity to size up your potential, or gauge where your “higher self” potential actually lies, or the flimsiness of your vision for it.
🌟 QUINCUNXES TO THE VERTEX ARE SEMI-SEXTILES TO THE ANTI-VERTEX > These planets present quirky derailments where you’re able to observe and develop (or kind of lean on) the qualities symbolizes by your Vertex. According to some liner notes in Donna Hensen’s example Vertex Report: “Quincunxes to the Vertex are also semi-sextiles to the Anit-Vertex. While you're fated to develop the sign of the Vertex, help from your Anti-Vertex is just beginning to develop giving you little help from previous development. This results in minor irritations that could eventually develop into big problems such as health or financial concerns. To handle this you have to adjust to the differences of the two signs.”
HINT > This CafeAstrology summarizes the Vertex in the signs, as well as aspects to the Vertex from the planets, and for more summary-descriptions of the Vertex in the signs, compare to this one from Siddhantika! ✨
For more insight into aspects in general, here’s that CafeAstrology article again (that I linked to earlier), to be compared to this one from Dark Star Astrology, and this one from Alice Sparkly Kat (very useful for analyzing all the aspects in your birth chart). ✨
ALSO, for insight into the elements + modes (super helpful for building an intuitive picture of how the themes and experiences of your planets are interrelating), check out this AstroStyle article, and compare to this one from CafeAstrology on the same topic*! ✨
(*Build that database, yo’!)
SO, FOR ME, POUR MOI… 💕
Having Chiron in close aspect (2°) of my Vertex entwines my soul-wound cycle and healing with my destiny process. Chiron is a comet-asteroid that orbits between Saturn and Uranus, and indicates our “soul-wound” on our natal chart (read more about natal Chiron here ✨).
STRAIGHT UP, THO…
…in general, Chiron and the Eighth House are tricky to characterize. Both deal with carnal issues, situations dealing with deficiencies / gains, merging / un-merging, and evolved / evolving understandings of personal value and resource.
Having Chiron nearby my Vertex suggests that any and all Vertex activations will entail the similar ripping and flooding experiences that characterize our “soul-wounding” (uh oh).
“Chiron is the essence of pragmatism, of gaining a palpable or ‘hands on’ awareness of ourselves so that we can metamorphose into something entirely new. This Chirotic form of transmutation is so systemic, the change so complete, the experience so intense, that most people forget it happened to them within hours. Often it can only be recognized by its effects, such as a sudden new vision, a complete path alteration in life, a feeling of being reborn.”
— Barbara Hand Clow, Chiron
GENERALLY, when Chiron gets transited (and it’s not along our Chiron Cycle, when our specific soul-wound gets re-triggered ❤️🩹⚡️), the transit coincides with events promoting some kind of re-education about what we might bring and use to transform a situation, based on our personal wounding / healing experiences.
OR BASICALLY, VERTEX CONJUNCT CHIRON IN MY CHART… implies that my path to ascendency involves re-integrating (Gemini ♊️) my wounding / healing experiences, and being led through the visceral resource-and-value scarcity issues that created my soul-wound in the first place. 🙈
AND THE SAME FOR YOU, if you happen to have Chiron aspecting your Vertex! 🙌🏻
IF NOT, or if you have any other planets aspecting the Destiny Point in your chart, you’ll have to do a little Google-snooping to figure out how that might color your fateful meetings and encounters. 😊
HOW TO READ AND INTERPRET TRANSITS TO THE VERTEX
While your natal chart describes potential, transits to the Vertex coincide with actual fated encounters and interactions.
REMEMBER FROM THE INTRO, until activated, everything described in your natal chart is just potential.
Often, when any planet, angle, or point of our birth chart is transited, other people will act as avatars for the transiting planet. It’s as if the planets are acting through people, performing functions related to the planet, “causing” the impact those transits are supposed to have on our charts (learn more about planetary transits here ✨).
With the Vertex, the “avatars” will deliver a message (Mercury) or spotlight a virtue (Sun), dovetailing with what our Vertex describes we’re fated to develop (by sign, house, + other nearby planets).
NOTE > These fated encounters might only happen as interactions, and not develop into lasting relationships (such as romances or friendships), or might occur in already established ones.
In any case, you might as well keep top-of-mind any planet that’s transiting your Vertex sign! ✅
✨ to find out what’s transiting your vertex…
You’ll need to score a copy of a transit chart from the day you believe your Destiny Point got tripped, OR to find out if it’s being transited by another planet.
COUPLE OPTIONS…
🌟 This Astro-Seek calculator lets you calculate aspects formed to your Vertex by transiting planets: just enter your birth data, select a planet from the first drop down menu, a type of aspect* from the second, and “Vertex” from the third. Click “calculate”, and the next page will list the calendar dates when the planet you’ve selected has aspected your Vertex! 🤩
(*Conjunctions and squares to our Vertex are felt most, the most promising for growth. Sextiles might start or inspire something between the points, while trines facilitate and support the direction you’re moving in.)
🌟 This post can show you a full out tutorial for scoring and reading transit charts, but if you want to grab one real quick, hit up the Astro-Seek Transit Chart Calculator, enter your birth data, select a date*, then hit “calculate transits”.
(*It’ll automatically display today’s date. 💁🏻♀️)
NOTE > This is a different chart calculator than Astro.com, but still totally cool, and will automatically display the Vertex in your chart!
✨ when you have your transit chart…
Scan houses 5-8 for “VX”, and see if there any planets hovering nearby. Your planets will be blue and on the inside, while transiting planets will be in orange and outside the wheel.
HINT > Remember to peek at the opposite sign / house to see if anything is transiting your Anti-Vertex!
ALSO, remember that it’s not just the planet transiting your Vertex, but the configuration of planets that are also in transit, and how they’re impacting your chart.
So, note any other “exact” aspects being formed by other planets, which you can spot by clicking the gray tab located over the chart display labelled “Aspects Tables”, which grids out all the aspects for you. Notice which boxes have black lines around them, indicating “exact” aspects. ✅
✨ “what should I know about transits to my anti-vertex?…”
These are also significant, and tend to impact the area of our chart where we’re doing “prep work” or the “inside job” leading into our destiny process.
BUT JUST FYI, I can’t locate much literature about the effects of transits to the Anti-Vertex, but from my own inexpert transit tracking, transits to the Anti-Vertex seem to be a “peek-a-boo” opening, or insight into the destiny process…
…not really coinciding with destined moments. ❌
FOR INSTANCE, instead of a moment of clarity or hit of awareness (such as with a transit to the Vertex), the effect feels more… like… realizing the bath water has turned cold, or waking from a micro-nap, and now a different podcast episode is playing from the one you’d settled in to listen to…
…or basically, transits to the Anti-Vertex feel like something on the backend that needs adjusting or re-calibration* (IMHO). 👍🏻
(*NOTE: My Saturn almost conjuncts the Anti-Vertex of my chart, so, this is a hella biased appraisal. 😕🤷🏻♀️)
ANYWAY, let me provide some summaries for interpreting transits to the Vertex…
…and in the final section, I’ll focus on reading for the Vertex in a synastry chart (💞), which showcases what the Vertex does best. 😌
🌟 SUN-MOON TRANSITS TO THE VERTEX 🌻🌙 > Transits to the Vertex from the luminaries, the Moon and Sun, happen once a month and once a year. Some astrologers claim a Sun transit to your Vertex will coincide with “love at first sight”, but that might depend on other transits (maybe something also transiting your Venus, and Seventh House?). In any case, Sun-Moon transits to the Vertex seem to bring a burst of energy, or a gut-feeling, that furrow you along your destined path (as described by the Vertex placement). Obviously, these effects are amplified by a New or Full Moon. You’d probably feel thunderstruck by coinciding events if an eclipse strikes your Vertex, like literally, which is how EYE felt. This is because eclipses are essentially hyper-karmic New and Full Moon portals. (Read more about my Eclipse Moment here, and learn earn more about astrological eclipses over here. 🌀✨)
🌟 MERCURY-VENUS-MARS TRANSITS TO THE VERTEX 🧚🏻🌸🔥 > Transits to the Vertex from the swifter, “inner” planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars) might bring about actual people, “visitors” or avatars embodying the planet’s archetype: you might receive a special message (Mercury), gratification (Venus), or even a spark of rivalry (Mars), all of which would goad you towards Destiny’s Gate.
🌟 JUPITER-SATURN TRANSITS TO THE VERTEX 🕊🪐 > Transits to the Vertex from the Social Planets are much longer lasting, and more formative. Jupiter conjuncts your Vertex once every 12 years, and will shower blessings on your destiny process, perhaps in the form of a benefactor, patron, or mentor, or coincide with some kind of meaningful opportunity. Meanwhile, Saturn conjuncts your Vertex once every 30 years, coinciding with some tasks that will crystallize the themes and context of your destiny process, perhaps in the form of a authority figure, or just as likely a reconciling or clearing of old karma complicating your route to ascension.
🌟 URANUS-NEPTUNE-PLUTO TRANSITS TO THE VERTEX ⚡️🌊💀 > Transits to the Vertex from one of the heavies (Uranus, Neptune, Pluto) will coincide with social, spiritual, or existential crises. Uranus will bring eureka level flashes of genius, perhaps the arrival of a tool or invention that enables you in some way, while Neptune will bring spiritual awakening, and Pluto will bring a soul-wracking, inside-out descent into the deepest caverns of psyche.
NOTE > The Outer Planets move hellllla slow, and may not ever transit your Vertex (OR Anti-Vertex) in this lifetime, but if they do, the situations will feel far bigger than you or any other single individual…
…or basically, the “fateful encounters” will link you into a “meta” issue that is tied to you destiny process, which could be ideological (Uranus), spiritual (Neptune), or chthonic (Pluto).
Whichever Outer Planet is transiting your Vertex, just note that this drawn-out experience will bring perhaps cruel-bizarre synchronicities, and that the experience itself is informing your destiny process! ✌🏻
ULTIMATELY, the themes (sign) and experiences (house) you will likely have during a transit moment is determined by your Vertex placement, but note where the ruler of your Vertex sign is hanging out on your chart, because that’s the area that’ll get “reworked” by the Outer Planet’s influence!
HINT > Here again is that CafeAstrology article summarizing aspects from the planets to Vertex, as well as a list of which planet(s) rule which zodiac signs.
Oh, and you can learn more about the concept of “rulers” (a.k.a. dispositors) over here! ✨
HOW TO Interpret THE VERTEX IN a SYNASTRY Chart 💞
OKAY, SO…. relationship astrology is where the Destiny Point really gets to shine, and maybe because not many people are tracking their transits (despite my constant admonishing ❌).
Often, the Destiny Point is prominent in the synastry charts of significant relationships. These aren’t necessarily romantic, and can be represented in charts of siblings, mentors-pupils, besties, etc., any relationship that feels destined, or any relationship where the person enters our life through a twist of fate. 🌀
FOR THIS, we’re only locating and interpreting connections betwixt-between each other’s Vertex in a synastry chart, but the conditions of the Vertex in a composite chart* can also be insightful about a relationship.
(*Click that link to learn more, but I have a tutorial about getting and reading a composite chart coming out in a couple months, subscribe to find out when it goes live! ☺️)
FOR THIS DEMONSTRATION, I’ll be using the birth data of the barista I happened to be looking at when the Gemini Solar Eclipse struck my Vertex on June 10, 2021, based on birth data that I approximated based on his phenotype (Gemini Rising), age range (45-46 at the time), and other factors gathered from the Internet and while eavesdropping in the cafe where it happened (bc, I’m creepy 💁🏻♀️).
THIS IS NOT ADVISABLE ❌, not only because it’s essentially stalking with synastry (…and transit charts), but also because the birth data is only approximate, and you definitely want an accurate birth time for the Vertex placement that’s displayed to be exact. 👌🏻
If you don’t have accurate birth data… welp, be forewarned that you might get excited (or frustrated) by synastry connections that aren’t even real or true. 🤷🏻♀️
BUT WHO AM I TO DISCOURAGE YOU, even if you only have approximate birth data, let’s do this, because we’re all learning astrology, right? Let’s put off grad school forever… 💕
Anyway…
🌟 WHERE + HOW TO GET A FREE SYNASTRY CHART…
Go to Astro-Seek.com, and hover over Free Horoscopes on the left-hand side of the navigation, and select “Synastry, Composite, Davison.”
On the next page, from the list of hyperlinks that displayed, click “Synastry charts” at the top.
Type in your birth data: time, date, location. You are Partner A.
Type in another person’s birth data for Partner B.
Below that, click the light gray hyperlink labelled “Extended Settings” and check to display aspects for "Vertex.”
Click the blue rectangle labelled “calculate chart”.
Ta-da, you did it! 💫
🌟 HOW TO READ FOR THE DESTINY POINT IN A SYNASTRY CHART >
Okay—it might seem a teensy bit complicated, but only at first glance.
FIRST, identify which planets are whose. Partner A will be in blue (on the inside), and Partner B will be in orange (on the outside).
NEXT, locate the Ascendants. Partner A’s Ascendant will be on the left-hand side, where the Ascendant angle and First House are usually located on a chart. Scan the rest of the chart for the letters “ASC” to locate where Partner B’s Ascendant has landed. (For me, Partner B’s ASC lands in my Eighth House.)
FINALLY, locate the Destiny Points, which will be labelled as Vx, for Vertex. You will have to approximate the Anti-Vertex, by looking at the sign and house opposite the Vertex (to determine if there are any connections there as well).
REMEMBER, we’re only looking for contact from your Vertex to their chart, and vice versa. You can save the other connections for a deeper-dive later on (again, here’s my synastry tutorial when you’re ready ✨).
✨ FIRST, locate the Vertex in your own chart…
Locate your Vertex (which is in blue). Do you notice any orange planets, angles, or points nearby? List them one-by-one:
MY VERTEX ☌ (“conjunct” or side-by-side)
THEIR ASCENDANT IN GEMINI / MY EIGHTH HOUSE (their first house).
✨ NEXT, locate their Vertex (which is in orange)…
Do you notice any blue planets, angles, or points nearby? List them one-by-one:
THEIR VERTEX ☌ (“conjunct” or side-by-side)
MY ASCENDANT AND PLUTO IN SCORPIO / MY FIRST HOUSE (their sixth house).
HINT 1 > Measure the orb, or “span of degrees” between the Vertex, planets, angles, and any other objects involved. Degrees are represented by the little gray lines in between the darker black lines, inside the boxes displaying the zodiac symbols. Every black line denotes 5°.
Any objects within a 5° orb of either Vertex should be counted, they’re in the mix. ✅
HINT 2 > Click the hyperlink above the chart itself labelled “Aspect tables”, and scan the columns labelled “Vx”. Partner A’s planets + points will be displayed in the vertical column on the left-hand side, while Partner B’s planets + points will be displayed in the horizontal column across the top. These columns display the exact degree° of your Vertex placement (mine is @ 18° Gemini) along with glyphs symbolizing the aspects formed to your Vertex by Partner B’s planets.
🌟 FOR YOUR REFERENCE, this CafeAstrology article displays and explains all the aspects, while this one summarizes aspects to the Vertex from other planets.
✨ LAST, compare Vertex placements between charts…
Recall the theme (zodiac sign) and experiences (house placement) of your own Vertex, and evaluate the same for your synastry partner. Note any orange planets hovering by your synastry partner’s Vertex (also orange). These planets are part-in-parcel to their destiny process, as described by the sign and house placement on their chart.
FOR ME, ON MY CHART… the themes of my destiny process involve communication and a meeting of the minds (Vertex in Gemini ♊️), and ascendency into power and intimacy (my eighth house).
AND IF YOU RECALL, my Chiron (❤️🩹) forms a 2° conjunct to my Vertex, both of which are crowding my synastry partner’s Ascendant.
FOR HIM, THE ECLIPSE BARISTA’S CHART… the themes of his destiny process involves intimacy + intensity (Vertex in Scorpio ♏️), but ascending into a vitality-driven work-life rhythm (his sixth house).
ALSO, the Eclipse Barista has Uranus (⚡️) within a 5° orb of his Vertex, both of which are crowding around my Ascendant…
…which means we share a “double whammy” between our Destiny Points + Ascendants!
My Vertex conjuncts the barista’s Ascendant, and his Vertex conjuncts mine, with my Chiron and his Uranus mixed in.
BECAUSE THE BARISTA AND I SHARE A DOUBLE-WHAMMY OF OUR VERTEX - ASCENDANTS IN OUR SYNASTRY CHART…
…the “fated interaction” might be… if looking dead-on at each other during a “cosmic trigger moment” (the June 10, ‘21 Gemini Solar Eclipse, perhaps 🤔), whereupon either of our Vertex or Ascendants were struck…
…we’d be furrowed into some version of our separate destiny processes.
Or basically, the “fated interaction” and pivotal moment would have been a super-subliminal catalyzing experience, something meant to shock and awaken us to the dormant skills and abilities underlying my Vertex placement.
And with my Chiron so close at hand (❤️🩹), wounding and healing would striate my destiny process, which I suppose ultimately happened (which you can read about at the bottom of my post about Black Moon Lilith in synastry ✨).
“In the Ascendant conjunct Vertex relationship, the two partners work as catalysts for each other’s true potential, wishes, dreams and desires. One of the truly beautiful and admirable things about this relationship is that each partner knows just how to encourage the other person in order to get them to deliver their best, express their deepest truths, and not least own who they truly are and what they truly want in this life. Here are two partners who truly see each other – and inspire and encourage each other to reveal themselves to the rest of the world, too.”
— Access New Age, “Vertex Conjunct Ascendant Synastry”
✨ what if not my vertex, but a different planet, asteroid or point connects to my synastry partner’s vertex…?
THIS IS TRICKY TO FIND! 😫
Planet aspects to the Vertex don’t seem to be felt or used much in compatibility analysis, but can explain the types of energy or function that one person provides the other.
This might even explain how one person can feel as though the other person contributes something meaningful to their life, even if the relationship itself is not very easy, or doesn’t have a purpose or function outside of this contribution. 🤷🏻♀️
REMEMBER, the Vertex in synastry might illustrate a gravitational pull, or feeling that this person is important to where you’re heading in your life…
…but doesn’t necessarily mean that your destined paths will align…
…only that you are engaging in a fated interaction. 🌀
“It is important to note that when romantic partners have conjunctions between one person’s Vertex and the other person’s personal planets (and/or going both ways), it doesn’t necessarily mean the relationship is a blissful, “happily ever after” one. That is hardly the case. However, it does suggest a powerful connection.”
— CafeAstrology, “Vertex”
If you notice one of your planets forms an aspect to another person’s Vertex, it might indicate your relationship is fateful for that person, and that your planet (or angle, whatever) plays into what that person is trying to develop in their destiny process.
What is the meaning, or significance, of the planet or angle from your synastry partner’s chart connecting with your Vertex? What does that planet (or object) signify in your their chart?
AS A REFRESHER, this Labyrinthos article explains the energy, archetypes, and symbolism of all the planets, which you can compare to these explainers from Astro.com! ✨
✨ what about synastry contacts to my anti-vertex (or vice versa)?
WELP, it sounds like synastry contacts to the Anti-Vertex are almost like a “shadow connection”, the way that we tend to project planets in our Seventh House onto others.
“The anti-Vertex allows us to process our divinity through the vehicle of ‘other’–when other’s planets fall on our anti-Vertex, we reveal ourselves through the ‘not I.’ Often, anti-Vertex contacts involve commitment and sacrifice beyond the call of duty, and we usually don’t mind fulfilling those commitments because we feel the divine pulse of our own spirit gradually unveiling in our actions.”
— The Inner Wheel, “The Vertex versus the Nodes, Pt. I”
If someone else’s planet(s) or angle connects with your Anti-Vertex, dig into the symbolism of the connecting planet, and try to evaluate the function of the connection. Compare to your true life experience of the relationship, and what it feels like and means to you.
Does there seem to be a commitment or sacrifice in that kind of relationship?
Does it feel like that person grounds your destiny process in a meaningful way (maybe like a tradeoff)?
ALSO, do you have any planets already conjunct your Anti-Vertex, such as I? 💕
Tho, from the research, it sounds like any planet connections to our Vertex - Anti-Vertex axis are ultimately beneficial, but I would add that, like most of our birth chart, it takes time and experience to tap into the benefits.
AND BE CAREFUL, because you might invest in the energy or function symbolized by that planet into someone else who’s activated your Vertex. 😳😬
what you might want to consider wHEN interpreting the role of the vertex (a.k.a. fateful encounters or destined meetings) in your synastry…
TIMING ⏱ > When did the relationship or interaction start? Did you record the original meeting date in a journal or an agenda? What was the vibe? Who were you with, what was the context? What were the circumstances and vibe of the next interaction?
FIRST IMPRESSIONS 👀 > What were the circumstances of your first meeting? What was the vibe of your interaction? How did those impressions evolve over time, and due to what circumstances or events?
INFLUENCE 🪄 > How would you articulate or describe the role or influence you each play in other’s goals, ambitions, or sense of purpose? Especially note if “purpose” or “fate” have a presence in your relationship. Like—has the other person ever described to you what they feel destined for? Do they know what you feel destined for? Have you both ever discussed what you individually believe you’re fated for, and what you individually believe the other person contributes to that fate? (…Or are you just #NetflixandChilling away your time together…?)
If you happen to have all this info, your Vertex connections in your synastry chart might be able to explain the start, consummation, or special advancement in your relationship!
…but, I know, you’d have to just be the kind of person who documents such things.
If nothing else, maybe the info gathered from your Vertex placements helps you remember or feel back into those initial meetings…
…or maybe even help validate an intuition, some “woo" inkling you felt, about that person or your interactions! 🤯🤩
✨ but shouldn’t fate imply the capacity for some kind of significant bond with my synastry partner…? 🤨😓
While the lore hints that Vertex connections might indicate a metaphysical bond between people…
…the “purpose” of the Vertex connection / fated encounter is to goad us towards destiny, in whatever way described by the connection.
Or basically, aspects between your Vertex and theirs speaks only to interactions… not to the relationship itself.
There are so many other factors to look for in a synastry chart in terms of compatibility (see my synastry post ✨), and a composite chart is where you would look for the “meaning” of a relationship….
But the Vertex is specifically about your destiny process. ⚡️🌀
If you share Vertex connections with someone else, it only indicates that you’re co-engineering your destinies,
…or, at the very least, influencing each other’s destiny process…
…but ultimately, the destiny process itself is an inside job, something you’ll pack up and take with you when you go.
And how wonderful we have these sorts of synchronicities to spurn us onward (yay)!
Tips for Hazarding A Vertex Activation… 🌀⚡️
(…And WHAT I THINK HAPPENED WHEN MY VERTEX WAS ACTIVATED BY THE JUNE 2021 GEMINI SOLAR ECLIPSE)
TO CATCH YOU UP… on June 10, 2021, a Solar Eclipse tripped my Vertex-Chiron, I think at the exact moment I was looking into a barista’s eyes. 👁⚡️
As he called out my drink order, our eyes connected, and I saw a steely-blue flash of light. Two flashes, actually, starting in both eyes as metallic enzo-shaped swirls, which ballooned, then condensed and solidified into metallic glowing orbs, before finally flashing out…
I zombie-grabbed my mocha-drink-latte-thing, then scuttled back to my SUV, and went where I go for hope: astrology newsletters. 💡
I had seen the warnings about eclipse season— “check yo’ planets, check yo’ Nodes”—but I literally forgot about my Vertex-Chiron. Both the Vertex and Chiron are special bodies selected from a separate menu in the Astro.com chart generator, which is where I was casting the majority of charts at the time (now I use Astro-Seek).
So, in some versions of my birth chart, Gemini (where the eclipse was striking) is empty. 🤷🏻♀️
AND, TBH… I was not so far along in my astrology self-study that I actually understood horoscopes and blog posts regarding about eclipses. 😳
Like—when astrologers joke about people taking cover on eclipse days, I thought it was the same as when they’re like, “Ruh-roh, Mercury’s about to Retrograde!” (( said in a Scooby-Doo voice for some reason ))
Not actually like, “FATE. IS. HAPPENING…. Hide somewhere chill!” 😱✌🏻
Within a day or so of seeing the blue light, the barista started acting weird at me, and I believe triangulating me against one of the coworkers he’s been having an affair with. I’m guessing this based on (1) that coworker’s reproachful attitude towards me of late, and (2) because she showed me her natal chart hella days ago in connection to a break-up with her boyfriend/roommate, whereupon I guessed an unwise casual coupling would ensue (not out loud 🤐) largely due to codependency markers in her chart, and the fact that she does work with a janky perv (the barista ✨), though I did not anticipate the coinciding impact of the eclipse 🌗, my seeing the blue flash in the barista’s eyes, or him suddenly dressing like my ex-husband / Art Alexakis and instructing the other baby-baristas to spy and notify him of my cafe solicitations…
…but does that mean he also saw a blue flash in my eyes or is he just responding to my weird vibes and trying to shake off his clingy workplace-lover, AND I’M BASICALLY STALKING EVERYONE IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD WITH ASTROLOGY, hi, I’m Plutonian. 👻
EVENTUALLY, AFTER TEN MONTHS OF TRYING TO START A CONVERSATION ABOUT ECLIPSES WITH HIM… the barista (that fucking cunt 🔥), announced he wouldn’t serve me anymore (again, the full scoop is at the bottom of my Lilith-in-synastry tutorial, with the calendar date and exact time, if you want to peek at the transit chart 🤓)…
…which worked out okay, I guess, since another cafe opened up in town anyway, and I Iearned about eclipses and the Destiny Point in astrology. 🎉
OKAY, THAT’S THE JIST OF IT, NOW HERE’S WHAT I THINK HAPPENED…
REMINDER > The 2021 Gemini Solar Eclipse occurred at 19° Gemini, in a 2-3° orb of my Vertex-Chiron (rad). ♊️✨
Based on the barista’s (hypothetical) birth chart, that same eclipse might have struck within 5° of his Ascendant (positioned @ 14° Gemini… hypothetically 👌🏻).
REPEATING THIS FOR YOUR ASTROLOGICAL EFFICACY…
The Ascendant angle is the “starting line” of our chart, and demarcates the beginning of the First House of Identity, Appearance, and Persona. Planets very close-by our ASC (or even placed in our First House) can influence our phenotype: the tighter the orb to our ASC, the more dramatic the influence… particularly in our eyes. 👁
PERHAPS… when the eclipse tripped my Vertex-Chiron (⚡️❤️🩹), it also struck the barista’s Ascendant (👁), and my visual hallucination was some kind of projection or psychic insight into his own coinciding transits… 🤔
…his Vertex hadn’t been activated though, just mine. 😒
SO, we will never know what he saw on that particular eclipse day (if anything), how it registered (if at all), or its consequences.
I mean—I can hazard guesses (based on intel learned about his life while eavesdropping), but we never had a direct conversation. Any opportunity to have had such a conversation seemed thwarted by his anxiety and angst, which never mixed well with my daily mood instability and tendency to derail small talk with polemic and absurd declarations (“Well, rapists are always circumcised, so…” 🤦🏻♀️).
Or maybe he liked my weird attention, but thought I’d eat his heart and steal his dog (not unlikely), so he needed to create a very confusing moving boundary to keep my attention (without yielding to its weirdness)…
…and, eventually, the ambiguity and ambivalence of our interactions just got too stressful. 🥵
In any case, I super-appreciate all the spooky-cute coincidences* that happened while I was in the cafe trying to extract data…
(*ONE MAJ’ COINCIDENCE… The Vertex / Anti-Vertex comprise the Ascension Axis of our chart, right… and the cafe where mine got eclipse-tripped was called “Ascendo”! 🤯🤭)
…and the barista’s hypothetical birth chart did serve as a useful proxy for deep-learning transit and relationship astrology (always a great career and relationship move 👍🏻).
“Often, Vertex contacts come into our lives, deliver their message, and then disappear just as quickly as they came, leaving us altered in a profound way, but a bit shattered. Can’t get more Uranian than that–Uranus of the higher mind, beyond mere mortality/physicality. The lover or friend who comes ‘out of the blue’ and happens to put us on our path, who helps us know who are we when we are not our earth-created ego, we when we are not our ‘stuff.’”
— The Inner Wheel, “Soul Points in Synastry: The Vertex Versus the Nodes, Part Two”
ALSO, this is crucial… not everyone wants or cares about synchronicity, about woo things that happen in coincidence with astronomical phenomena that we might be able to interpret via metaphor, analogy, and symbolism (a.k.a. astrology).
I mean—is telling a stranger they were part of a a visual hallucination you experienced during an eclipse similar to telling them about your dreams last night, or what a pop song means to you?
“Uhhh… eclipses, ya… cool, dude… thx for letting me know.” 🙄😏
NO, nope, that would have been too weird and cruel to endure…
…especially in light of all the other disillusionment I’d been feeling around that time. ❌
I’d rather crop the experience up to a “fateful encounter” just meant for me, that’s it.
“We can’t figure out the ‘why’ of a Vertex contact, it just is–and usually the sense of ‘fate’ comes from the fact that something or someone is provided just at the point it is most needed; whether or not we ever knew that we needed it before. In an odd way, the Vertex acts as a secret and sacred ‘helping hand.’”
— The Inner Wheel, “Soul Points in Synastry: The Vertex Versus the Nodes, Part Two”
✨ do all vertex activations play out this way, tho?
Nooo, probably not…
..but they do in many cases, according to most Vertex lore I’ve found. 🤷🏻♀️
“However, not all Vertex connections are meant to last. Some can go on for years, others can literally come and go in a matter of minutes. The arrival and departure of the planetary person connecting to the Vertex only stays present until the the completion of the ‘Turning point’. If the romantic partner has a vertex conjunction to their lover, a karmic relationship is indicated between the two - terms such as ‘fated’ is deemed quite appropriate for these relationships. One must be conscious and understanding of how long the relationship is supposed to last.”
— Tumblr, EllieMaeAstrology, “The Vertex: My Wish Come True”
Remember that Vertex activations specialize in fated encounters, so for me, the encounter was supposed to be a learning process (Vertex in Gemini ♊️) and rinse-down of my intimacy issues (Vertex in the Eighth House).
FOR SOME PEOPLE, the activation could involve people they’re already in relationship with, for which the turning point would occur, and then they’d move along their destiny process, with no real impact to the culture and integrity of their relationship.
BUT, IF YOUR VERTEX ACTIVATION ALSO DRAGGED YOU INTO AN AMBIGUOUS-FEELING SITUATION, here’s a caution… 🚩✨
When the Vertex is activated, it’s like getting a charge, a thunderbolt to your psyche. ⚡️
You might walk around carrying the charge, but it needs to be grounded….
…and it wants to be grounded in your destiny process. 🌀
THUS, a Vertex activation delivers on its symbolic promise (to instigate a change in consciousness) as long as the charge it creates gets grounded into a situation that serves your ultimate ascent (as described by your Vertex placement). ⚡️⚡️⚡️
Unless you can see that “relationship” is an important story line in your Vertex placement, or in your birth chart in general, you might be projecting the “destiny inspo” away from yourself, which might be what I did with my fateful encounter with the barista.
SO, try inventorying the other transits in place at the time of your activation, and getting super acquainted with the story lines in your birth chart. ✅
✨ do we only get the one shot, or can the vertex be activated more than once…?
Your Vertex can definitely be activated more than once! 😅
My Vertex has been eclipse-tripped before, by the Gemini Solar Eclipse in June 2011, when I consummated a relationship with my coworker*, who eventually fathered my children and became my husband (not in that order 💃🏻).
(*Who was also a barista, is this my pattern?? 😨)
Anyway, you can use this Astro-Seek calculator to find out when, how, + what has transited your Vertex in the past, and then decide in those calendar dates listed correlate with any meaningful dates in your personal story!
TO USE IT, plug in your birth data, and select any planet from the dropdown menu labelled “Transit”. Start with “conjunction” under the “Aspect” menu, but you can play around with different aspects. Finally, from the third menu labelled “Natal”, select “Vertex”.
You can also choose whether to see transits or transits and progressions! 🤩🥰
Obviously, this might get time consuming, especially if you focus on transits from the Sun, Moon, and other swift-transiting planets, but it might still yield fascinating insight!
IF YOU’RE CURIOUS ABOUT ECLIPSES SPECIFICALLY… use this Astro-Seek calculator, which shows you a 5-year time span for when, where, + what eclipses have struck (or are due to strike) in your birth chart!
Just enter your birth data, and select a starting year from the dropdown menu, your current location (or the location of where you were when you believe an eclipse struck your chart), then the type of aspect you’re interested in (focus on conjunctions, squares, and oppositions).
On the next page, you’ll see a display showing where all the eclipses in a 5-year timeframe had struck your chart!
Peek at your Vertex placement (the chart won’t display it, so locate it by sign and degree°), and see if eclipses have ever factored into your destiny process! 🧚🏻✨
AND TAKE HEART, because the Vertex is an ongoing process, just like the rest of your chart! 💗
Okay—So, WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO IF MY VERTEX IS ACTIVATED…?
🌟 FIRST, DETERMINE THE SOURCE AND TYPE OF ACTIVATION.
Was it a transit? If so, there was probably a correlating encounter or event. Inventory everything about that day, or the few days around that time. What did you do, who were you with, what was on your mind, on your heart…?
Also, check your progressions. Is there a planet conjunct or square your Vertex? When did that happen*? Where is that same planet currently transiting you? Is it also forming an aspect to your Vertex?
If so, there would be a change in tempo. You might have a feeling that something is happening, something significant, though there hasn’t been any event or encounter (yet).
(*Most planets take a year to progress 1°, including your Sun, while the Moon progresses 1° per month.)
Also also, check the synastry. Find some non-creepy way to score birth data for any new players on the scene, especially if spooky-cute coincidences are occurring while in their midst.
If you do have significant Vertex connections in your synastry (like I did with the eclipse barista, mebbe, if the birth chart is accurate), that might explain how that person was highlighted in your fated encounter!
🌟 SECOND, DOCUMENT EVERYTHING.
Without documentation (via compulsive journaling and solipsistic quasi-literary projects such as this, hi, hello 👋🏻), it’s very difficult to match up circumstances and events to your transit-trigger moments!
And once you confirm that this is a Vertex activation, run a little recon. Do you keep a scheduler? Write in a diary? What were your social media posts? What text messages did you send? What does your friend remember you texting her on the trigger day?
If that Astro-Seek calculator can yield specific dates when your Vertex has been activated before, get your hands on those artifacts, diaries, mixtapes, and photo albums STAT.
Just find a way to gain as much scope and leverage of your psyche as you can. ✌🏻
🌟THIRD, BE ADVISED: THE “WATCHER” HAS COME ONLINE.
Idk who the watcher is (our Higher Self…? or original soul…? 🤔), but it miiight sort of feel like… you have a parallel processor… somewhere in your psyche…
…it’s like when you can feel someone watching you, except that their perspective is also part of you.
Oracle card I pulled when meditating on my Vertex moment! 😳🤯🤭
“The point of all Vertex contacts is to reveal ourselves from a perspective that is higher and deeper than ordinary conscious awareness. In a way, the Vertex is beyond the Nodes, which are all about the development of consciousness. The Vertex unveils the ‘Watcher’ in us. The one who knows. The one who is beyond the conscious Self.”
— The InnerWheel, “Soul Points in Synastry: The Vertex Versus the Nodes, Pt. 1”
SO… maybe the Watcher really is some primordial, “original self”, the piece most interested in what we make of our existence, and how we manage to fulfill our wishes and longings with the events, circumstances, and people available to us?
As your own analysis may have shown, your Vertex placement is not particularly rife with information. Your Vertex won’t tell you much about yourself, except maybe hint at some of your secret hopes and intentions….
…but, even then, it’s super vague. 😩😒
The essence of the Destiny Point is that it validates synchronicity, and by keeping it in mind with certain seasons and interactions, knowing about our Vertex can help us learn via synchronicity what is meant for us, and the events and avatars that will aid our destiny process.
ESSENTIALLY, the Vertex is epiphanous, or revelatory. It doesn’t promise anything, except a turning point, or an oncoming transfiguration of our consciousness.
…which is why i should probably mention a roman myth attributed to the vertex, the story of vertumnus, the god of the seasonal change, and his obsession with pomona, the goddess of ripe timing… 🌱⏱
Vertumnus was a lesser deity of the seasons, known for his ability to transform: he could change from a seed, to a root, to a trunk, a branch, a leaf, and finally, to fruit.
Vertumnus used this power in pursuit of Pomona, goddess of fruit, of fruition, and ripening. 🍎
However, the story goes that Pomona was super into her independence, not interested in dating, so to get his fix, Vertumnus had to to change his form every day while passing Pomona’s garden, transforming into a warrior, then a farmer, then a sea merchant, on and on…
…until one day, Vertumnus transformed into a little old lady, then walked into the garden and right up to Pomona, kissed her (😘), and started chatting her up about that way cool fellow, Vertumnus. 😌
Pomona still wasn’t persuaded by this chitchat.
Not until, suddenly, Vertumnus changed into his true form.
In that moment, for the first time, Pomona saw him for what he was (not a farmer, or a fisherman…), and fell in love. 😍
“Finally in exasperation, Vertumnus dropped his disguise and stood naked before Pomona in his true form. She thought she was seeing the sun emerge from behind the clouds and in the glorious light of Vertumnus, she opened her heart and reciprocated his love. Together still, they attend the gardens and fruit trees of the countryside.
The theme of this myth centers on a seemingly chance moment where an outstanding event occurs.
To Pomona, it was like an epiphany, a sudden turn of fate, a radical awakening of perception. ✨✨✨
To Vertumnus, it was at first a well planned strategy, then finally an act of spontaneous desperation. Imagine his surprise when Pomona finally received him!”
— Astrology Study, “Destiny’s Gate or Vertex, the Electric Axis”
What’s useful about this story is how changeability entwines with the ripe moment.
Eventually, our moment does arrive, and our masquerade is not what compels its arrival.
Instead, it’s all the little circumstances and events, the tiny synchronicities leading up to the fateful moment that changes everything.
To everything turn turn turn…
there is a season turn turn turn…
…and a tiiime for evvvery purpose under heaven… 💗🎶
MORE LEARNING RESOURCES FOR THE DESTINY POINT IN ASTROLOGY… 🤓
🌟 If you don’t feel like reading a chart (😵💫), you can find out your Destiny Point placement with the CafeAstrology Vertex calculator! ✨
🌟 VERTEX IN THE SIGNS ♈️♉️♊️…⚡️> To augment my (amateur) summaries above, also check out… this CafeAstrology summarizes the Vertex in the signs (as well as aspects to the Vertex from the planets), and compare to this one from Siddhantika! ✨
🌟 VERTEX IN THE HOUSES… there’s less info about this, and even some terribly wrong info (hint: if summaries include Vertex in the 1st-4th Houses, it’s garbage 😡), and the best intel I found was via Kim Falconer’s Astrology and Aptitude, which also has the full scratch on the Vertex, and every-which-way you can interpret it in the natal chart. 👍🏻
🌟 WHAT ABOUT TRACKING TRANSITS TO THE VERTEX? ⏱ > Memorize the sign and degree° number of your Vertex placement, and use this Astro-Seek calculator to calendar when (+ what) is due to conjunct your Destiny Point! (Do the same for the sign and degree of your Anti-Vertex too!)
🌟 WHAT ABOUT PLANETS CONJUNCT THE VERTEX IN SYNASTRY? > This is tricky to find for the Vertex in particular, but you can look up what the planets in synastry mean in general. This Labyrinthos article explains all the planets, which you can compare to this one from Astro.com! ✨
🌟 WAIT, HOW IS THE VERTEX THE SAME / DIFFERENT FROM THE LUNAR NODES IN SYNASTRY? 🐉⚡️> Check out this article from Dawn Bodrogi! 🕊🙏🏻
🌟 FOR DEEP-LEARNING ABOUT THE VERTEX IN SYNASTRY + TRANSITS > Check out “The Vertex in Synastry and Transits” Part 1 + Part 2. Those articles will help you begin to start picking apart how / where your Vertex interacts with each other’s, especially if there are other planets, asteroids, or angles involved. 🦋
🌟 Also, how does the Vertex factor into a composite chart? (HINT: The Vertex placement in a composite chart can also indicate a super fated relationship, learn more here! 🤩🥰)
🌟 THIS KINDA FASCINATES ME, BECAUSE MY MOM’S TWO MARRIAGES WERE WITH PEOPLE WHO HAD THE SAME BIRTHDAY, BUT DIFFERENT YEARS > “Every now and again, I speak with people who have had two (and sometimes more) ‘significant others’ with the same birth date, but different years. This means that the people they were partnering with had roughly the same degree and sign of the Sun. With the exception of one whose birth time is uncertain, each of these people were meeting more than one significant other whose Sun was conjunct their natal Vertex.” UPDATE: I DID THE CHARTS, IT CHECKS OUT, WTF FOREVER!! 🤯🤯🤯
🌟 APPARENTLY, THE VERTEX CAN ALSO BE ACTIVATED BY RELOCATION > “A location is considered strong if you have one natal planet rising and another on the MC -- add another
on the Vertex – that spot is even more important.”
🌟 “DESTINED MEETINGS” AND LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT STORIES… this might be random, but I thought of it while researching the Vertex: When Brené Brown interviewed Drs. John and Julie Gottman (psychologists who’ve written hella books on marriage and relationships), she asked them, how’d you meet? And Julie Gottman’s description of their first meeting (at the Pony Espresso cafe 😂) totally freaking sounds like a Vertex activation moment! Hear it in the first 10-15 mins of the interview… and if you know of any other stories that sound like the Destiny Point plays a role, hmu! 🤙🏻
🌟 And to get the full scoop on when my Vertex was activated by an eclipse (😌), check out this post, as well as towards the bottom of this post (where the person in my “fated encounter” acted like a butthead, and I realized I have Black Moon Lilith squaring my Lunar Nodes! 🤦🏻♀️)
if you also have any stories related to eclipses, synastry, or the destiny point in your own chart…
…you should definitely drop them into a Voice Memo or essay to be emailed off to me, so that we might share some kind of intimate catharsis about spooky, transcendental moments that only beloveds of the Moirai and fictional characters in Alice Hoffman novels could possibly understand. ☺️
and in the meantime, i’ll leave you with this quote, to deepen your wonder + marveling about your own strange, scary-fated moments…
“The past was what we carried with us, threaded to the future, and we decided whether to keep it close or let it go.
Fate was both what we were given and what we made for ourselves.”
—Alice Hoffman, Here On Earth (omg 🌹)
…and so you don’t forget what we’re all about here 👁🌟…
“The stars are reflected from within the black water in the cistern. I find comfort in the omen I glean from this:
light in the darkness,
truth when it seems there is none. ”
—Alice Hoffman, The Dovekeepers (🤭)
