An anisotropic orientation of the figure axis of elec. dipolar ICl is forced by a strong homogeneous elec. field. The mol. is transferred into a pendular state and shows optical anisotropy due to the body fixed mol. transition dipole moment. This holds in exactly the same way for magnetically dipolar mols. in a homogeneous magnetic field. A simple geometric model is applied which simulates all spectral features quant. without any fitting procedure for both the elec. and the magnetic case. The sparse structure of polarization spectra of such a sample allows for easy reading of spectroscopic consts. and study of electronic states of even large mols.